A/N: Sorry for the slight shortness of the chapter, time got away from me. I have also updated my profile with some new and hopefully exciting information so please, peruse at your convenience, and feel free to message me your thoughts.

On we go!

"The long and short of it is, Captain, that unless the pressure can be taken off of Palaven, we can't help Earth."

Victus's face was painted in the glow of the central console in the War Room, the artificial lights making his clan markings stand out in almost ghastly relief. Del sighed, scrubbing a hand over her face.

"We can't take the pressure off Palaven unless the situation at Earth is relieved. We can't relieve the situation at Earth until the pressure is off Palaven," she bemoaned. "Even more reason we need this summit. The asari and salarian home worlds are not yet under attack. If we can get their help, maybe we can turn the tide on our own shores and get this Crucible built before the Reapers can hit them."

"Fear will keep them securing their own borders. They're going to turtle up, you know that as well as I," he said, meeting her eyes. "What we need is the krogan."

Shepard straightened a little, pursing her lips thoughtfully. "Tuchanka and the DMZ is largely untouched by Reaper forces thus far, according to intelligence. They have no ships but they have the manpower and the sheer brute force."

"If we could get the krogan dirt-side on Palaven, get them hitting hard along with my people, that should shift the balance enough for us to be able to commit resources to your Crucible and possibly even ships to take fire off of Earth," he said. "Getting the krogan to cooperate is the hard part. They hold no love for us, or for the salarians, not after the genophage. I don't see how we have any chance to get them to consider showing up at a summit."

"Can hardly blame them," Del replied, "They saved everyone else once upon a time and got infected with the genophage as a reward."

"A necessary step, but the cost is dear now, I agree."

Shepard lifted her eyes. "EDI, contact Tuchanka. Main console."

"Yes, Shepard."

Victus stiffened, lowering his arms. "Captain, even if you can get through to a clan leader, I don't think-"

"Contact established." EDI interrupted, and a shimmering form appeared over the middle console.

"Shepard!" Wrex greeted happily. "I knew it was only a matter of time before you showed up. Big battles brewing, unstoppable enemies…sure as flies to varren shit I knew you'd come circling."

"I don't know whether or not I should be insulted by that comparison, Wrex," she snorted, and he barked a laugh, then hmmed with a wave of his hand.

"So, I heard about Earth. Bad business."

"Bad business that's going to spread everywhere else, Wrex. Even to Tuchanka."

"Don't I know it. I've been trying to get every damn krogan from here to the Traverse back to Tuchanka, before the Reapers come knocking on our door."

"We're not going to let that happen," Del told him.

"Anyone else saying that and I'd laugh in their face," he rumbled. "What are you thinking?"

"We need to work together. Earth and Palaven are in deep, our people are dying. Very shortly, it's going to be the same on Sur'Kesh, Thessia, Tuchanka…every home world and colony across the galaxy. I'm here with the Primarch of Palaven. We're putting together a summit to pool our resources and address the Reaper threat en masse."

"And you want the krogan there?" Wrex blurted, disbelieving. "Rubbing shoulders with the salarians and the turians? Why should we?"

"I'm not asking you to be there for them, Wrex. I'm asking you to be there for me. Earth needs Palaven's fleets, Palaven needs the krogan's muscle. You've seen these things. You know what we're up against. You know even the krogan can't stand against this alone."

"We could, if we weren't all neutered," he growled pointedly.

"Wrex, you know I'm on your side," Shepard told him. "I've always been on your side. All I'm asking is for you to come to the summit, meet with the other delegates. Let's figure something out that's beneficial to all parties."

"That benefit is going to have to be pretty big to get me to even consider helping the turians," he warned her, then rubbed his hand over his mouth. "All right. Give me the time and coordinates of your little summit. I'll come because it's you asking, and because until we get our little wager square I can't have you running off to die on me. Oh!"

He pointed at her, scowling. "I won't meet anywhere but on the Normandy. I'm not setting foot on some turian or salarian ship or world. The Normandy, or no deal."

Shepard looked at Victus, who nodded with barely a pause, then shifted her gaze back to Wrex.

"Done," she said. "We'll transmit the meeting details as soon as we have them."

The big krogan nodded. "All right then. I'm not holding out much hope, but we'll be there. Wrex out."

As the image faded, the Primarch inclined his head. "I'm starting to see where you got your reputation, Captain Shepard. I would have thought getting Urdnot Wrex to the summit would have been all but impossible."

"I don't like the word 'impossible,'" Shepard retorted. "Wrex and I are old friends."

"So I gathered. I'm curious as to his mention of a wager-…?"

She smirked tiredly. "We still need to sort out who would win a fist-fight between the two of us."

He blinked. "No offense, but I'm pretty sure I can guess the outcome."

She shrugged. "Last one came out in a draw."

Ignoring his shocked expression she drew up a display. "All right, so we have the krogan and the turians. Salarians are going to be tricky, especially with the krogan on board. The asari should be easier. What about the hanar, the elcor, and the volus?"

"I'm sure we could get delegates from all three on board, however their military force will be nominal at best."

"Possibly, but right now I'll take even nominal, and their other resources could go toward getting that Crucible complete. We're going to need everything, and sooner or later their worlds are going to come under attack too. They deserve a swift end to this war as much as anyone else."

"I was not trying to suggest otherwise," he replied, then nodded. "I will put in requests with their respective governments. What about the batarians?"

"No one's heard from the Hegemony in months. The batarians were the first ones hit when the Reapers came out of dark space. They've sustained devastating losses, and I doubt they have even a skeletal government left to them. I don't think there's a delegate left to find. Has there been any word on the quarian fleet?"

"Intel outside turian space was hard to come by on Menae. Last I heard the quarians were recalling their pilgrims and stockpiling supplies."

"I'll see if Liara can't locate them and get them word, see if they want to send a chair for the summit. They have the biggest fleet in the galaxy and more well-trained engineers than any other race can boast. They'd be a significant asset and out floating on their own they're exposed."

"Then we have our list of possible chairs, provided their governments are in agreement."

"Not quite," Shepard said quietly, selecting an image on her console and turning it to face him. "There is one more race to try and contact."

The Primarch's eyes reflected the shape hovering there, angular and insectile. His voice was a soft, troubled breath as he spoke two simple words.

"The Rachni…?"

Cortez's dark brown eyes shifted as they followed the form pacing the cargo deck, thin wisps of smoke filling the air, even from this distance, with the unmistakable scent of tobacco.

He hadn't pegged the captain for a smoker, certainly not for one that liked cigars. She'd been down here for the last half hour and hadn't stopped pacing and smoking that entire time. She'd barely even glanced at him when he'd greeted her, save for a half-hearted grunt when she'd walked past.

Like most of the new crew aboard ship, he had heard more than his fair share of stories about Del Shepard. He knew that some of the stories were fact and some simply legend, hear-say, or outright scandalous lie, but it was hard sometimes to draw that line between truth and fabrication. Though he knew she was as human as any of them, part of him couldn't help the tremble of nervousness, knowing he had Delilah Shepard, the Butcher of Torfan, the first human Spectre, intergalactic legend, striding around in his cargo bay like a varren with a toothache.

Robert wouldn't have hesitated to go speak to her, he thought, then let his eyes drop to his console again.

"What's on your mind, Estebán?" Vega asked, dropping some tools in the box nearby and wiping his hands off as he eyed Cortez. "You got something stirring up a storm in there, I can see."

"You couldn't see a fork if someone stabbed it in your nose," Cortez snorted with a smirk. Then he jerked his chin faintly toward the distant captain. "Just an unexpected guest."

"Oh, I see. You got a crush?" Vega folded his arms and canted his head, measuring the distant woman. "Wouldn't blame you. Woman is smoking, and I don't just mean that cigar. Got an edge like a razor, and I'll bet she can hold her Cerveza. I just thought you were on the other team, is all."

"I'm not even going to dignify that," Cortez told him.

"Yeah, well. Not a good idea anyway. Fraternization and all that, and I'm pretty sure she could kill krogan with her teeth."

Cortez chuckled. "You shouldn't believe all the stories-"

"Oh, I'm talking from experience here, pendejo," Vega asserted. "Down on Menae? I saw her take down this husk-thing the size of Wisconsin…with a sword. That katana she was carrying on her weapons pack? Who even carries a sword anymore anyway? She didn't even hesitate, just bam…nerves of ice, man. I'm telling you. She's not human."

In the distance, the captain scrubbed out the last of her smoke and pitched the butt, before heading their direction, her face unreadable.

"Something else you should know about your captain, Lt. Vega," she called as she walked. "She's got excellent hearing."

"Oh, shit-"

"Don't worry about it, LT," she smirked as she drew to a halt, folding her arms. "I can kill krogan with my teeth, after all. A few words aren't going to hurt my delicate little feelings."

"Captain, ma'am, I was just…"

"Don't sweat it. You and I do need to have a chat, however. Just a friendly conversation between friends."

"Anything you say, ma'-"

"Friendly conversation, James. No captain, no LT…just Vega and Shepard."

"Uh…sure, Shepard. Ok." He scrutinized her a moment, then smirked, taking a chance. "You think you can talk and dance at the same time."

"Oy, here we go," Cortez mumbled. Del, on the other hand, grinned, cracking her knuckles.

"Oh…I can dance."

"Hold still, Lieutenant," Chakwas urged, a breath before she snapped his nose back straight. James let out a faint grunt of pain, lifting a hand and rubbing at his reset proboscis as Helen picked up a binder, then swatted his hand away. "Don't touch."

"You are an evil, evil woman, Lola," Vega all but pouted at the smirking captain silently observing from a few feet away.

"You're the one that wanted to dance, Vega," she pointed out. "I trust we have an understanding now?"

During their little sparring match, she'd given him a dressing down for crashing into the Cerberus shuttle at Deseado. He had protested, of course, that if he hadn't done so the data would have gotten off-world and they'd have lost it. She had pointed out how close he'd come to not only killing her, but Ashley and Liara as well, and he then found out just how protective she was over her crew…especially the asari Broker. She had impressed upon him quite firmly that you didn't endanger your team, and that the only reason she hadn't pitched him out an airlock was because his actions had, in fact, resulted in them saving the data.

"Yeah," he agreed, then carefully prodded his nose as Chakwas finished with it.

"I strongly suggest avoiding running into the captain's fist again, Lieutenant," she teased. He snorted at her with a smirk.

"Yeah, not exactly an experience I want to repeat, that's for sure."

Helen gave Del a wink, then discreetly retreated, leaving the pair alone.

"Look, you're a good man, James, and a good soldier," Shepard said seriously. "You've come a long way, you got a lot to fight for."

He nodded solemnly, then met her eyes. "Thanks, Lola."

She smirked. "Lola, huh? What is it with you and the nicknames anyway? I heard you call Cortez 'Estebán'."

He shrugged. "Sometimes people just don't look like their names you know? So I give them a new one, one that fits. Or are you telling me you really think you look like a 'Delilah'?"

She snorted. "Yeah, I know I don't. But why Lola?"

"Had a best friend growing up. His sister's name was Lola. She was hot…and dangerous. Kicked ass, she did. Reminds me of you."

"Yeah, just remember the 'ass-kicking' part, ok?"

"Trust me, I'm not going to forget that any time soon," he said, touching his nose again.

{Uh…Captain? Captain Shepard, this is Traynor. Could you…could I see you a moment, up in the CIC?}

"I'm on my way up, Traynor," Del replied, glancing upward a moment before looking at James. "We good?"

"Square on and five by," he nodded.

"Good, let's keep it that way, ok, Tiny?"

Vega snorted a laugh. "Tiny?"

"If the nickname fits!" she called back, the infirmary door sliding shut behind her.

Ok, just be calm. No reason to be nervous. You're just…talking to your superior officer, that's all. She's just a person like everyone else. Just tell her what you found, and be calm, and-

"Traynor?"

Samantha barely suppressed a faint squeal, jumping slightly and blinking at Del as if the woman had materialized out of nowhere. Immediately the Specialist felt her cheeks heat, her gut tying into a mortified knot.

"Captain! Sorry, I was just…I was distracted, I didn't-"

"It's ok, Traynor, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to startle you," Shepard told her, holding up her hands. "It's my fault. Joker's wanted to tie a bell on me for years."

"Well, you…it's just…I suppose you have a very soft stride-"

Shut up, Traynor, before you make even more of a fool of yourself!

"Seems like," Del smirked. "You wanted to see me?"

"Oh! Yes. I…I think we might have a situation." She cleared her throat, focusing on her console. "Our QEC picked up an evacuation request from Grissom Academy not too long ago. Shortly afterward there was a reply from a turian S&R cruiser that they were on site and affecting the evac."

"Grissom is just now calling for evac?"

"Most students were released shortly after the invasion at Earth and sent home, but it seems a few elected to remain behind with a skeletal staff," Traynor supplied.

"So what's the problem? If the turian cruiser is already there it sounds like they're good to go."

"Yes, so it would seem," Traynor responded. "However something seemed off about the turian signal to me. I couldn't quite put my finger on it so I had EDI run it through her security protocols, and it turns out, it's fake."

"Fake?" Shepard stiffened.

"Yes. According to EDI there's corruption in the secondary encryption, similar to a signal she says lured you into a Collector trap…?"

Shepard's face went dark. "Cerberus."

"That was EDI's conclusion as well. Captain, I think that Academy and those students are still in very real danger."

"I think you're right."

Striding to the galaxy map she drew up the appropriate system and selected the Academy. "Joker, you still on-duty?"

{Was just about to log-off for down-time, Captain.}

"Belay that, we need to get to Grissom Academy immediately. What's our ETA at top FTL?"

{Just under ninety minutes, Captain.}

"Good, get us there, and get some coffee. The Normandy may have to do some fancy footwork when we arrive. I want that Academy scanned on long-range the moment it's in reach and a threat report, dong ma?"

{Understood. Heading to the Academy now.}

Gripping the rail of the promontory a moment, Shepard closed her eyes, feeling the fury bubbling inside her. The Reapers were here, the Earth under direct attack. Millions of people were dying, and Cerberus was still forwarding its own agenda.

How the Illusive Man can still delude himself into thinking he's doing this for the greater good of humanity is beyond me. I swear to fuck if they've hurt a single child at that school…

Straightening she stepped down off the promontory, looking at Traynor. "Good catch, Traynor," she said with a nod.

"I just…it was just luck, ma'am, a bit of intuition, I didn't really-"

Del stopped, fixing her with a look. "Good catch, Traynor," she repeated firmly, a faint smile on her face.

"Th-thank you, ma'am," she replied softly, ducking her head a little with a giddy grin.

"Buzz Garrus and Liara, make sure they haven't racked it yet. I'm going to need them suited and armed. Coordinate with Chakwas and see if we can't find room for these students or suitable transport to safe space. Make sure Helen is prepared for any injuries."

"Yes, ma'am," Traynor agreed. As Shepard headed toward the lift, however, the woman's voice halted her once again. "Um…ma'am?"

Del glanced back at her, lifting a brow.

"I…we haven't really gotten much chance to speak," Traynor told her, straightening to her full height and clasping her hands behind her back as if expecting a serious dressing down. "I just…I wanted to thank you."

"Thank me?"

"Yes. I'm from Horizon, ma'am. Well, my folks were from London and then moved to the colony when I was small. I went back to London when I was fourteen to attend school. My family…well. I was on leave and at home during the Collector attack. I was there, Captain."

"Oh," Del murmured.

"I was near the outskirts when the attack came. You managed to stop them before they got that far. My…my grandfather, my two cousins-…"

She broke off, and Shepard looked at her sympathetically. "They were taken?" she surmised.

"No. You saved them. They were sealed into those…those boxes the Collectors were packing people in, and you got them out before they could load them aboard ship."

Shepard stared at her, a memory snapping into place. "Was one of your cousin's named Esmé?"

"Yes," Samantha replied. "She still tells stories about you, pulling her out of that box, telling her how brave she was. She calls you her 'angel', Captain…her angel that came down and saved them from the monsters. I wanted…I wanted to thank you for that, for her and my family, and for the chance you're giving me here on the Normandy. It's…it's more than an honor to be serving with you."

"The honor is all mine, Specialist," Shepard told her, saluting. Immediately, Traynor's hand snapped up as well as she returned it. Smiling, Del nodded. "Carry on."

"Yes, ma'am," Samantha replied, dropping her arm and turning back to her console. She waited until she heard the lift doors close before she finally let out the breath she'd been holding, gripping her slightly shaking hands and closing her eyes a moment. She didn't think that salute was something she was ever going to forget.

Good catch, Traynor.

A goofy little smile appeared momentarily on her lips before she schooled it. She had work to do.

Del glanced at Liara and Garrus as the two gathered their weapons from the nearby lockers, meeting the asari's eyes a moment before turning them to the display in front of her. "We got eyes-on, Joker?"

{Ten-four, and it's not a pretty sight. We have a cruiser parked at the school. Traynor was right, it's Cerberus. I'm also showing half a dozen small fighters. We're not getting the Normandy any closer without those things being all over us, and between them they got more than enough fire-power to make our day go very poorly.}

{Captain, if I may make a suggestion,} EDI interjected.

"Go ahead."

{The shuttle has similar stealth technology to the Normandy. We can drop it here and use the ship to distract the Cerberus vessels. You should be able to get your team aboard through one of the airlocks opposite the cruiser's station. We are fast and maneuverable enough to keep out of danger and we can use the FTL to fall back to a secondary point and wait for your retrieval signal. I believe it is our best chance to get your team onto the station with a minimum of risk.}

"Sounds like the best plan we got. Drop us here and stay nimble. I want a Normandy to come back to."

{Understood, Captain.}

Picking up her helmet she turned and climbed aboard the shuttle, nodding to Cortez as he settled in the pilot's seat and warmed it up. "Hold still until those fighters are clear, then get us to that airlock as fast as you can."

"You got it, ma'am."

Sitting down on the bench beside Liara, Shepard gave her a wan smile, then looked over at Garrus. "How you holding up, Vakarian?"

"Taking it moment by moment," he admitted. "Trying to keep busy and keep my mind off of it, same as you I suppose."

"You get some rest?"

"A little. No worries, I'm focused and steady."

She bobbed her head, then looked back at Liara. "Tianlán?"

"Just as focused and steady," she assured. "Though this does seem a little strange to me."

"How so?"

"This Academy…having a school devoted to biotics. It is an interesting concept. In asari schools biotics are basic education, the same as math, writing, and philosophy. Though I know better, I grew up taking biotics so much for granted that I still sometimes forget the ability is new and relatively rare in humans. It is troubling to imagine what plans Cerberus might have in store for these students."

Shepard nodded, then sat back a bit. "Yeah, well…we're here to make sure those plans are ruined."

"Normandy is away, the fighters are following," Cortez reported. "Starting our run in to the station now."

"Keep it tight and frosty, Cortez," Shepard said, picking up her helmet and latching it on. "These assholes think they can one up the Alliance. We're about to show them differently."

"Aye ma'am, that we are."

"We've got a handful of students spread around the school, hiding in the crevices," the squad captain reported as he fell into step beside the stone-faced asari. Looming behind her, an ever-dour shadow, the dark form of Thug was inscrutable. "A small group of engineering students are holed up near the armory, and we've got a teacher and a bunch of biotics running around somewhere-"

"Somewhere? Is that your idea of precise intel…somewhere?" Eír asked moodily.

"They were last seen near the main hall," he said helplessly. "I will try and pinpoint an exact location-"

"Do not bother. Thug and I will head toward the main hall. You get to control and try and coax these students into cooperating. We do not want anyone hurt or killed unless it is absolutely necessary."

"Yes, ma'am."

He trotted off and she growled in frustration, drawing up her omni-tool and the map of the facility. "Looks like the three largest halls are in this direction."

{Ma'am, Velento. We have an Alliance vessel that just sailed past. Our fighters are on it. LADAR is painting it as a frigate, ma'am…looks like the Normandy.}

As the report filled her ear, Eír jolted to a halt as if she had collided with an energy field. Her heart actually seemed to pause in its beat a moment, before resuming, a dark and deadly excitement filling her lavender eyes.

"Shepard's here…" she whispered.

"Shepard's dead," Thug promised with a happy growl. Eír's smile grew.

"Indeed."