So... I've moved which is why I couldn't upload any of the story I did write. In the process I had to wait for internet and other things. This is what I do have in the time and I hope you like it. Its been a long process for me so far but I am at the point where I wonder if anyone actually reads this crap. Is it the way I am writing it or something else? No clue but for now I write this for myself as much as anything else.

To say the least, the end of 2174 went out quietly. I arrived back home with the Legion, welcomed with open arms after two long years away from my real family. They had hired out to the Hy-Sec due to the intense publicity and popularity of Hyetiana as a destination. It was a sound move while I was gone. It prevented things from rolling down the hill like a ball of snow.

The trip home took a few weeks but I was happy to be back where I really belonged and not spending day in and day out with learning soldiers. Let me tell you, for all the fun I had, it wore on me. There weren't a lot of great soldiers sent to Rio and I had to weed out the terrible from those who could manage the first few levels of N school. But the few diamonds I did find? It was worth it in the end to know that they were at a level that would take them all the way up to N7.

"Captain?" Gus' voice came over the coms.

"Go ahead," I said, sitting up from the slouched position I had been in.

"We are about twenty minutes out from dock. Thought you should know," Gus said and I swear I could hear the smirk.

"Understand. Stefanos out," I said and cut the coms.

I shut down the datapad I was reading and got up, stretching stiff muscles. Grunting I grabbed my shirt and pulled it on then replaced my shorts with pants. With practice ease my Karpov was attached to the mag plate at my side and I sat back down to put my boots on. Glancing around, everything else was in order and I stuffed my shorts into my pack. Shouldering that, I left my cabin and headed towards the cockpit, setting the pack down by the airlock and sliding into the seat behind Gus.

Gus didn't glance back when he heard Alex sit down, instead he responded to the Port Authority and requested to dock. After a moment the response came back and he agreed, changing the heading towards the private dock that the Legion maintained at the space port. There wasn't a lot to see as he moved the ship from weightless space to thicker atmosphere but when the ship entered, there was a slight jerk.

Ten minutes later, I waited for the airlock to cycle and was met at the other side by Selah, Caro and K'sala. Kela'Breizh slipped past us and greeted her daughter with a quick hug and then they headed off. Gus was behind us and nodded to Selah and Caro before heading to his usual spot at the bar. Caro rolled her eyes and Selah snickered before they both stiffened at the look I gave them.

"Let the man be, you two," I said teasingly then Caro laughed and reached out, pulling me in for a bear of a hug.

"Everyone missed you," she said and then let me go.

"Missed you all too, Doc. They were great friends but this… you all are my family and I missed home. This is my home and even Dad understands that though I should warn you to expect a few visits from him in the future. Come to think on it, I think he mentioned Ren and Mel coming with their families too. Should be interesting to say the least." I grinned at them and then tilted my head.

"Oh, right. Yea lets get you home. Knowing you, you'll want to plant yourself in your chair at the bar and have a few," Selah said with a smirk.

I eyed her a moment and then reached out and held my hand out to her. She didn't hesitate as she slipped her hand over mine and sent a brief surge of emotion to me. I smiled at the contact and nodded, opening myself to her a moment. She pulled away first and sighed softly.

"Don't worry. Henry brought me up to speed," I responded which made Selah relax.

"Well there will be enough for you to do tomorrow and for a while, right now we have a group of antsy Legionnaires wanting to greet their Captain," Caro said and gave a wry smile to me.

"Of course. Time to reassure them that their leader is back," I said with a laugh. Yes, it was good to be home.

Hours later I was laying down on my bed, my head slightly spinning from all the drinks they had pushed on me. I managed to drink Kraz under the table and Rynacol was not an easy drink to take even for a Krogan. Pushing myself up, I got a glass of water and drained it to sooth my raw throat then laid back down. My eyes closed and the next thing I knew was a beep woke me up the next morning to notify me there was a message waiting for me and that it was time to get up.

Sighing I got up and set my feel on the floor then peered at my omni tool. The message could wait. I pushed myself to my feet, stretched with a groan then took a shower. Refreshed I got dressed in the standard fatigues of the merc group and headed over to the new mess hall for breakfast. Entering, the smell of coffee made me amble on over and grab a mug. It wasn't any of that fake stuff either.

Anyone that might have looked at me at that moment would have seen a serene smile on my face as I sniffed the coffee. I poured myself a mug of it and then got some food waiting for me. I settled down at the nearest table and started to worship the real coffee I missed while on Earth. And that's how Nar found me, savoring every sip of the coffee with a happy smile.

The Turian gave a raspy chuckle as he settled down in the seat across from me. "Good to see you back and enjoying yourself way too much over a drink."

The corner of my mouth twitched into a slight smirk before I took another sip then set the mug down. "Sorry, I haven't had the real thing since I left. Most of the time it was that synth crap they pretend is coffee there. You'd think they'd pay for the real stuff considering where the school is. Hell I could have picked the beans up myself in the hills."

Nar hummed and nodded then started to eat. "Things have been rather normal without you here. I kind of miss the old days already. If I had known this would happen, would have sworn at you for trying to take me away from my happy spot."

I snorted slightly and took another sip of the coffee. "Too much work Nar?"

"Too much," he agreed with a laugh.

"Too bad," I responded with a grin. "You are stuck now unless you want to leave."

Nar shook his head. "Which is why I say nothing else. I like it here way too much to just leave and my brother would have my spurs if I left him here by himself."

I laughed at that. "You have a point now." Then I leaned back and sighed after draining my mug. "Think I'll have them send a pitcher of this over. I have a feeling I am going to need it today at least."

Nar arched one of his brows and then he realized I was talking about the coffee. "I'll see to it then. Your office?"

Sighing, I gave a nod. "I am really sure I have tons to review from the past few years."

Nar shook his head slowly. "Not as much as you think. Maybe from the last few months and a few things none of us knew what else to do with. We've handled everything in your absence Alex."

I gave a faint smile. "Call it me mothering you all then. I just want to make sure for myself."

Nar gave a half shrug. "Its up to you then. I will have the staff send a pitch of coffee to your office for you."

"Thank you Nar," I said softly as I got up and then brought my plate and mug to the dish pile waiting before leaving to hit my office and the message that awaited me.

Nar wasn't quite lying about the amount they had left and had no idea about. There was some requisitions for new armor and weapons that were a bit beyond the normal budget. I set them off to the side for now. Silent-Step interrupted me but he wanted to go over the finances of the group and I spent about an hour with him making decisions on where our money would go which helped me open up some credits for the upgraded armor and weapons. With the mathematical Elcor gone I turned my attention back to the rest, slowly reading over the reports which included commendations and disruptions from various members of the Legion.

One thing that caught my attention was one of the newer recruits being brought in to the infirmary a few weeks ago and well beaten. Furrowing my brows I brought Caro up on my omni tool.

"And what can I do for you this morning Capt'n?" Her cheerful British voice came through and I smirked.

"Update me on Recruit… hmm, Farrel, please?"

Caro nodded. "Ok, I will be over in a moment. I need to gather up some paperwork."

There was something about her voice that made me notice and I smiled. "Ok, no rush. I have some coffee waiting."

While I waited for her I pulled out a datapad of information that had come from the last raid one of the units made on a pirate base. More of the normal-ish data though it left more questions than answers. I set that data off to the side as Caro entered and graced the chair on the other side of my desk.

"Well, Captain, Recruit Farrel suffered a pretty hard beating, enough he doesn't remember what happened. Or so he says. The beating was pretty methodical, lots of bruising but no broken bones. So someone knows how to make things look pretty bad without damaging. He's still resting in the infirmary if you want to talk to him. There's a lot about his story that has my BS radar going off." Caro shrugged and leaned back after picking up the mug of coffee and taking a sip.

"Hmm," I started and stared at the wall a moment in thought then shifted and brought up the recruitment papers. Nothing stood out to me, it was all pretty plain and basic. My brows furrowed deeply though. It was basic and plain and struck no warnings. "Nothing about his recruitment strikes me as abnormal. And that is abnormal. It's almost too perfect. Why didn't anyone catch this?"

Caro shrugged. "Most likely because no one knew what to look for."

"Shit. What has Cari been doing all this time?" The salarian that Nar's uncle had recommended was a god send but wasn't this something he should have picked up?

"His job, Alex. He's been making connections from all the data we've taken in the last 5 years. The little guy barely sleeps but he's sharp as a tack," Caro said softly.

I shook my head slowly. "Well if no one saw this, can't fault him for not catching it," I said begrudgingly.

Caro just nodded. "This is all the data I have." She slid over the pad and I nodded.

"I'll get Cari on this then, give him a break. Little bastard might enjoy it," I said with a smirk.

"Indeed," Caro said with a grin and then left the office.

Leaning back, I finished my coffee with a sigh, refilled my mug then called Cari to the office.

"Captain. I've made so many connections to the data you have given me. There is a big job that will be done by the pirates via the Hegemony's backing. If you see here, they have increased the credit flow by at least five-hundred percent. Recruiting from those groups has risen too," the Salarian spewed out without a breath and left me blinking a moment as my mind caught up.

"I see," I said slowly and then motioned for Cari to sit. "We have a problem closer to home I would like you to look at." I pushed the datapad Caro had left for me towards him.

Cari leaned forwards and picked up the data then set it back down. "I see. Yes, yes. Plant in our group he is," the Salarian said with a wave of his fingers. "Caught it the day after he arrived. Been waiting for him to mess up."

I blinked again then snorted softly. "I am very glad to hear you knew of this. I was rather pissed that no one else had seen this."

Cari gave a big grin. "Yes, said recruit messed up and that is why I was on my way here when you called me, Captain. This is all you need to have him by his, what is that expression…. short hairs?" The Salarian tilted his head slightly, curious.

I couldn't help it when a laugh burst out of my mouth. "Good enough for me Cari. Do you have any recommendations?"

The Salarian paused a moment, one digit going to his bottom lip as he briefly thought about it. "Too low in rank to really know much but I could talk to him and wring out anything he knows. I won't tell you. Better to leave you in the dark than in the know. Yes, yes. Will have whatever information he has out of him."

I nodded. "Let me know what you find. I will leave that to you." It really was best that I didn't know what the ex-STG could and would do to the recruit.

"Captain," Cari said with a slight smile and then walked out.

I sighed softly and rubbed my hand over my face. Already a long day and it just started. Grunting I started looking at the rest of the things that needed my approval. It wasn't till lunch came around that I took a break, standing with a groan. My back told me I had sat down too long.

I headed over to the mess and got more coffee and what looked to be beef grilled with some Hyetiana vegetables. I had just finished eating when my omni tool beeped at me. I glanced at it and then furrowed my brows up. I had a visitor and didn't have a clue who it was. Taking a to-go cup of coffee with me I headed back.

One of the recruites who was my aide today stood up quickly when I entered my outer office. "Ma'am, they are waiting in your office."

That stopped me cold and I arched a brow. "They?"

The recruit nodded. "A human male and female ma'am." The Turian wasn't quite sure what to make of it but the male had similar features to his Captain so he let them in there.

"Thank you, Recruit. If you wouldn't mind, could you get the mess to bring over coffee for us?"

"Right away Ma'am." The Turian left and I turned to the door and then entered.

Ren was sitting there and so was Rebecca looking quite ready to pop any day. I blinked at them both a moment then sighed and sunk into my seat. "This is quite unexpected Ren."

Rebecca glared at her husband a moment then slapped him lightly on the arm. "Didn't you let her know we were almost here?"

Darren yelped slightly as his wife slapped his arm and rubbed the spot. "I did. I swear."

"Let me guess, you left me a VM, right?" That must have been that message waiting for me and I sighed. "I've been running around since I woke and didn't have time to check. That's my fault."

Darren grunted at me a moment then Rebecca eyed him and he closed his mouth before he could say anything. "Sorry Alex. Things have been quite eventful for all of us." Rebecca rubbed her stomach lightly and then sighed. "We both came to take you up on your very generous offer."

I sat back and then glanced at the both of them a few times then arched a brow. "What happened exactly?"

"Red tape happened," Rebecca said with a smirk.

"After I left you in Rio, we talked about our options. About the time we decided that Rebecca was going to come here and I would follow after my time came up, someone must have reported the both of us. If not for Dad, I would still be in the brig waiting for them to finally court martial me. As is, I was discharged."

My jaw must have dropped because Rebecca laughed. "When they did that, I resigned. And here we are."

Snorting, I shook my head and eyed my brother a moment then turned to my sister-in-law. "Well we all know you are the brains of your family," I teased and she smirked at me. "Ok, ok. I did promise you Ren. As it happens, we are finishing up the repairs of one of our newest ships. It's a frigate like the Vengeance but a bit larger. She's been christened 'Warhound'."

I tapped a few buttons on my datapad and sent the information over to Darren's omni tool.

Darren opened it up to check the specs with a slow smile. "She's quite the catch Alex. Where did you get her?" He looked back up to me.

"Looted a year ago taking down a pirate base apparently. They've been working on getting her back into order since then. With the people we know, it wasn't hard to get workers that know how to fix things. She will be ready for her maiden run in about 5 weeks. I'd like you to take over surveying her while they finish up the repairs. That means both of you," I said and met my brother then my soon-to-be sister-in-law's eyes.

Darren nodded and Rebecca leaned closer to look at the specs I had sent him. "Hmm, she's got the standard core but it looks like you've updated it for a larger ship… ah. She's got firepower I see." Rebecca caught the updated weapons systems we had added. "Oh wow, that's different. You have long and short range GARDIAN lasers. Explains the core. That will be a freaking huge job. I don't know what to say. That is certainly a job in itself. When can we see the ship?"

I smirked slightly and then lifted a brow at my brother. "We can go see her later but I think I need to show you around first. And you, Becca, need to meet Caro." I leaned back and furrowed my brows at Darren. "And then can you explain to me why you two haven't tied the knot?"

Darren wore a look at that moment that had both I and Becca bursting out in laughter. She pointed at him a moment and he gave a sheepish grin and shrug. "Between the red tape and everything, didn't actually have the time," he said with a slight frown.

"Well you better make my niece or nephew legit," I teased him and he snorted.

"Believe me, Alex. It has been on my mind for a while, since I learned we weren't careful enough," he responded with.

I nodded and then sighed. "Well at least you weren't like Kat was. That would have bene a mess and I would have turned Becca loose on you."

That got a grin from the woman in question and Darren rolled his eyes. "I can see I am not winning here. Papa is going to kill me and Kat might raise me back up to kill me again if they are not here to see us married."

I nodded slowly. "Family is everything, I know."

Darren eyed me a moment then gave a faint grin. "It's not like we have to worry about you any time soon. Never seen you look at a man or woman like I've seen Greg and Kat look at each other," he teased.

Becca swatted his arm and shook her head slowly. "Not sure why you want this idiot for your brother but you're stuck with him."

I laughed. "Yes well he's better than Papa is by far. I take more after Papa than he does. And I've yet to find a guy that meets my qualifications."

Darren snorted but didn't say anything about that. "Well lets go see everything and then get the call out. Not quite sure if there is anyone here who qualifies to marry us."

A laugh behind Darren and Becca made us all look up to the door. Caro was there and I arched a brow. "Well, twice in one day. What will I do," I teased her and the older woman snorted at me.

"Well one gets curious to see a pregnant woman entering into your office with another man. I assume this is your brother and his… fiancé?" She raised her brow and I nodded.

"Caro this is Darren and Rebecca. He will be captaining the Warhound and she will be the Lead Engineer when she's fit for duty. So what actually brought you back?"

Caro crossed her arms over her chest and pondered the question a moment. "Well Cari took Mr. Farrel away, I assume on your orders?"

I gave a nod to her. "Yes, he is going to find out what the recruit knows. I would say that its best to forget about him."

Caro nodded softly. "From what you say I probably should give Ms… I beg your pardon, but I never did get your last name Ms. Rebecca."

Becca laughed. "By the time you remember it, it will be Stefanos… I hope," she gave my brother a bit of a glare and he grinned at her. "But right now it's Dietrich."

Caro nodded. "Why don't I take Ms. Dietrich for a checkup and you show your brother around. I'll let Ortega know we have a couple of new ones who need shared quarters for you, Captain?"

I nodded. "Please? After I am done, I'll bring Darren over to Med and grab Becca. They are both eager to see their new berth."

The British woman smiled. "Excellent. I need to do a checkup with your brother before they go starry eyed at the Warhound." She tilted her head slightly. "Captain." Then she left.

Darren shook his head slowly then eyed me. "It will take getting use to calling you that."

I laughed. "Only when protocol is needed Ren. Otherwise I am just one of the crew. I'd prefer that to being singled out."

Darren nodded in understanding and then got up out of the chair and helped Becca up. "Well lets go see your outfit then Alex."

I smiled at them and stood, stretching. "Yea, I need to take a walk anyways, been sitting here all day except for lunch time."

Darren chuckled. "You never did like sitting for too long."

"Nope," was the only response I gave as we walked out of the office.

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