Hannah carried her bag slung over her shoulder as she kept pace with Maddock. They had docked about an hour ago and both remained on the Einstein until night watches had been arranged. Now they were heading back to Maddock's apartment for some much needed R&R.

Hannah rolled her eyes to the left, glancing at Maddock with her peripheral vision. His hair was graying and wrinkles had appeared on his face, but he was still in perfect shape, still all muscle. She had such a strange relationship with him since she lived with his family, yet worked under him aboard the Einstein. She never knew how to talk to him. Should she speak as a peer or a subordinate?

"I've never been happier to be going home," Maddock breathed out.

Hannah turned her head to him, trying to assess if he expected an answer. She caught Maddock looking at her out of the corner of his eye.

"At ease, Commander," he said. "I'm not speaking as your captain now."

Hannah nodded. "Then, I was just wondering how so. Why is this time different?"

"Mindoir," Maddock stated. "Nothing like the deaths of your comrades in arms to make you want to hold your family close again."

"That's true," Hannah agreed. She couldn't wait to see Jane. At least, she couldn't wait to hug her, to be close to her again. The whole dating a twenty year old thing, that she wasn't looking forward to.

"I just want to see Lourdes and Jules more than I have before," Maddock continued, speaking openly.

"And I Jane," Hannah added.

The apartment was now in sight. Maddock increased his pace and the door slid open at his approach. Lourdes, who had been sitting in the recliner, jumped to her feet, rushing over to him. They enveloped each other in a tender hug. Hannah watched them, standing to the side, a hint of regret and sadness squeezing her heart. If only she could hug Daniel again, feel his arms around her. She stopped her mind from continuing the thought. Dwelling on what she was missing never helped her live like she needed to.

Instead, she walked up to Lourdes, who let go of Maddock and then hugged Hannah. "Welcome back!" she declared.

"We're glad to be home."

"I should say so," Lourdes declared. "It was awful here," she continued, looking to Maddock, "they informed the military families here that an incident had taken place, but they didn't release names until three days later. When we saw the Einstein on the list, I think all of us almost lost it, but your names weren't on it." Lourdes' eyes had filled with mist. Maddock put a hand on her shoulder. She squeezed his hand with her own, then sighed loudly. "Well, anyway, you're here, that's all that matters."

"I'm going to change and then wait for Jane," Hannah said, excusing herself from the living room to give Maddock and Lourdes time alone. She went back to the bedroom she and Jane shared, grateful to get out of her uniform and slip into her comfortable sweats and t-shirt. She was nervous to see Jane, to have to confront her. She hated arguing with Jane. She began to wonder if Lourdes knew anything about this guy Jane had met. After a while, when she felt she'd given Maddock and Lourdes enough time, she ambled slowly back to the living room. Lourdes was alone, sitting in the recliner again, reading her data pad. Hannah sat down on the couch and Lourdes looked up, smiling.

"Feel better?"

"Yeah," Hannah conceded. "It's always nice to get out of uniform and relax a little."

"Well, Jane's good," Lourdes concentrated on her data pad again, but kept speaking. "They'll be out of school in about forty minutes."

Hannah nodded. "Yeah…"

Lourdes glanced up at her. "Let me guess. You're thinking about Terry."

"Is that his name?" Hannah asked, trying it on for size inside her head.

"Yep. And Jane's awestruck."

Hannah sighed. "How much has she told you?"

"Well, not much, really. I just gather they have a lot in common, same interests in music and books. She says he's deep, but the few times I've met him, I mean, how much can you tell?"

"You met him?"

"She hasn't gone on any dates," Lourdes assured. "I told her you were the one she had to ask about that. But he did come by to walk her to school each day last week."

"Great," Hannah muttered.

"I don't think he's really that bad," Lourdes asserted gently.

"But Jane's only sixteen!" Hannah protested.

"That's true," Lourdes consented. She focused on her data pad, obviously not wanting to provoke Hannah any farther.

Hannah crossed her arms over her chest. Lourdes' comment sent her thoughts into confusion. She'd come back on station determined to lay down the law with Jane and tell her she couldn't date this guy. But Lourdes seemed to like him. Am I just being a stodgy old mother? Hannah asked herself. She stewed in her own mind for the next forty minutes until the door slid open and admitted Jane and Jules. Hannah stood up to greet Jane.

Jane ran over to Hannah, squeezing her in a bear hug. "I'm so glad you're back!" She pulled back from Hannah, her eyes gleaming. Hannah recognized in her daughter a new type of liveliness she'd never seen before. Oh the joys of ignorant puppy love, she thought to herself.

Jules said a quick hi to his mom, then stomped off down the hall, throwing a furious glance at Jane as he went.

"I'll go talk to Jules," Lourdes offered, standing and exiting the room; Hannah suspected she wanted to give her some alone time to talk to Jane.

"So what happened on Mindoir?" Jane asked, dropping her school bag to the floor and plopping down on the couch. Hannah took a seat next to her.

"There isn't much to it," Hannah said, not wanting to go into details. "Batarian slavers attacked the planet, we rescued those we could."

"Come on, mom, lots of marines died. There was more to it than that." Jane eyed Hannah with a knowing look.

"Yes, but it isn't pleasant to discuss. Let's just say batarian slavers are vicious, ruthless animals. You never want to be caught by one of them."

Jane nodded. "Alright. I get it. I know they're bad…Did you go down to Mindoir?"

"Why is Jules upset?" Hannah asked, evading the question.

"Oh," Jane said, glancing down the hall towards the bedrooms. "Well, he thinks I've been spending too much time with…uh, Terry." Jane stared intently at Hannah, apparently trying to read her mother's reaction.

"What have you been doing with Terry?" Hannah asked, trying to make her voice sound curious and not demanding.

Jane seemed to take Hannah's question as a good sign. "He's been walking me to and from school. We met in the shooting range. He saw how good I was and then we got talking and we hit it off right away. He's a really good guy."

"How long have you known him?"

"Well, um…" Jane paused, as if thinking back, but in reality, Hannah perceived she was delaying a response. "Like, uh…maybe two and a half weeks."

"Two weeks?"

"And a half. But he's so awesome, mom. I mean, he's really great. You just have to meet him."

"And he's twenty?"

Jane sighed. "Yeah, but that's only four years between us. Terry says I'm so much more mature than other girls and he sees me as older."

Hannah took a deep breath. "Jane, I know you like this boy and maybe he's a good guy, but he's twenty and you're sixteen. You don't really know him. And trust me, I know marines, and a lot of them only want one thing out of young girls."

"Oh right!" Jane shouted, standing up and starting to pace the living room. "I knew this was what you would say. Terry's not like that at all."

"I'm not saying he is. I'm saying he might be and you don't really know him enough to know yet."

"We've talked for hours, mom. I know him."

"I know you think you do…" Hannah began when Jane interrupted, pointing a finger at her.

"And how long did you know dad before he proposed?"

"That was different!" Hannah exclaimed.

"You'd been together, what, a month? And you married dad then."

"We knew each other before," Hannah tried to reason with Jane.

"Yeah and dad kissed you when you were twelve! I'm sixteen and no one's ever kissed me!" Jane stopped pacing and fell into the recliner, her face turned away from Hannah.

Hannah stopped herself from launching into all the reasons she'd concluded Jane wouldn't be dating this Terry. Instead, she tried to remember what it was like to be Jane's age, to feel awkward and especially unloved when boys didn't notice you because you were too intimidating. She understood, but it didn't mean she felt alright about Terry.

"Jane," Hannah began, sitting forward on the couch, her elbows on her knees and her chin in her hands, "You're a beautiful and smart girl. Just because a lot of boys don't ask you out doesn't mean you aren't. You can't base your worth on boys."

Jane blew out an angry breath. "I'm not. I just like Terry."

Hannah shook her head. She hated to do this to Jane. She didn't want to hurt her self-esteem, but there was no way she was letting some random marine date her daughter. "I think you need to…"

"Mom," Jane said suddenly, sitting up and staring straight at Hannah, "I finally have something that makes me happy. When I think about Terry, then dad's death doesn't torment me as much. Please don't make me give up Terry. I need him."

Hannah felt chastised by Jane's words. Of course. She didn't know why it hadn't occurred to her before. For two years Jane had struggled to put on a happy face, to pretend her dad hadn't left her. This was the happiest Jane had seen her daughter in a long time. Hannah's decision regarding Terry did a 180 in her mind. Maybe it wasn't such a bad thing that Jane was getting to know this boy, but there would have to be rules.

"I want to meet him," Hannah said, sitting back against the couch.

Jane's eyes lit up in excitement. "So, I can see him?"

"Tentatively," Hannah clarified. "I want to meet him personally first."

"Good, because he's taking me on our first date tonight. I'll call him and tell him to come by early. Thanks, mom!" Jane bounded off down the hall before Hannah could interrupt and respond.

First date? Tonight? Hannah lay down on the couch, completely flummoxed. Daniel, she spoke inside, I really wish you were here right now.

The chime to the apartment sounded at 1830 on the dot. At least he's punctual, Hannah thought to herself. Jane flew down the hall to answer the door. Hannah noticed she had actually put on a dress. Jane usually refused to wear dresses unless forced to. But now she was wearing one Hannah had bought her, a knee length fancy turquoise one with gems sewn in a pretty pattern down the left side. Hannah thought she also spied makeup on her daughter, but where she'd gotten that, Hannah didn't know.

The door slid open and Jane warmly welcomed Terry inside. Hannah stood in the living room, sizing up the young man. He was clean cut, tall, broad-chested. He'd obviously dressed for the occasion, decked out in his dress uniform. Maybe someone had informed him whose daughter he had fallen for and who she lived with. Indeed, Maddock was also present, sitting in the recliner, his face solemn.

Terry glanced nervously around the living room as Jane took his hand and led him into it. He stood straight as an arrow, at attention.

"This is my mom," Jane introduced.

Hannah held out her hand and Terry took it. "Terry." She felt nervous tremors in his hand as she shook it.

"Commander," Terry greeted in a strained voice.

"And this is Captain Maddock," Jane said, pointing to Maddock, who had stood and walked to Terry to also shake his hand.

"Captain," Terry said, shaking his hand, then saluting.

"At ease," Maddock commanded. Terry put his hand down, but he certainly didn't seem at ease. "Have a seat."

Terry sat on the couch along with Jane, while Maddock went back to the recliner and Hannah sat in the love seat across from the couch.

"So, Terry," she asked, "Where are you from?"

"Uh, Earth, ma'am," Terry spoke. "Kansas."

Hannah nodded. "How are your parents?"

"Oh, fine. I don't see them much. They still live in Kansas. My dad's a computer engineer there. My mom's a school teacher."

So far, so good, Hannah thought, though she didn't know how much you could really tell about a person from his parents. Terry kept shifting his eyes to Maddock, who sat silently in the recliner, his eyes boring into the marine. Hannah hoped Terry was getting the message Maddock was sending: mess with Jane, mess with Maddock.

"You're a marine. Why?"

"Uh…" Terry ran a hand through his hair. "Just, adventure, I guess?"

Hannah took a breath. So, he wasn't grounded yet, that was for sure. "What do you want to do with your life?"

"Uh, I don't know. Marines for a while, then figure it out along the way."

Jane and this guy have a lot in common? Hannah asked herself. Jane was far more planned, already checking into colleges with degrees in alien languages.

"Where you going tonight?" It was Maddock who suddenly spoke, his voice low.

"Restaurant," Terry squeaked out, "Starry Night."

Maddock nodded. "You'll have her back by 2200."

"Yes, sir," Terry agreed swiftly.

Silence descended on the living room. Hannah couldn't think of anything else to ask Terry without making it too personal and embarrassing for Jane. What she really wanted to ask was: Are you trying to get in my daughter's underwear? But she didn't bring the subject up. She gazed at Jane who was beaming at Terry as if he was the only person in the room. She shook her head. Her daughter had fallen hard for this guy.

"Well, go ahead, then," Hannah said, standing. "Have a good time."

Terry and Jane stood, then walked out the door, Jane waving to her mother as the door shut.

Hannah turned to Maddock. "What do you think?"

Maddock shrugged. "Typical clueless newbie. No ambition. Maybe he's good, maybe he isn't. Wish they wore character signs to identify which they are."

Hannah could agree with that as she contemplated the door. If he did anything to Jane, she might find herself in jail for murder.

Hannah managed two hours of waiting before she couldn't take it anymore. She kept looking at her data pad for the time. It was 2016. She couldn't keep her mind on anything but Jane alone with a possibly hot to trot marine. She finally gave up on the book she was reading after she'd read the same sentence ten times. She stood and paced in the bedroom. Her eye fell on a picture sitting on her night side stand. She picked the frame up and stared at the picture. Daniel and herself stared back at her. The picture had been taken on one of the mountains of Eden Prime when they'd gone there for their 15th wedding anniversary. Love had seemed so simple between them. Daniel had been straightforward about his intentions. They hadn't even dated really. They had just known it was right.

But Jane? Jane was so young, with no experience in love at all. How did Hannah know she could trust the man Jane was with? How could she place her most precious treasure in his hands?

"Daniel," she spoke to the picture, "What would you do?" She thought a second, then laughed. Daniel would have met Terry at the door, shotgun in hand.

Hannah abruptly turned and opened the closet, picking out a pair of dark pants and shirt and slipping them on. She marched down the hallway and through the living room, where Lourdes and Maddock were watching television.

"I'm going out," she commented. As she glimpsed back as the door slid shut, Lourdes winked at her and Maddock nodded, completely aware of what she was up to.

Hannah had to admit she felt guilty spying on Jane. It wasn't really spying, she tried to convince herself, she was just making sure Jane was okay. She made a beeline for the Starry Night first, but they had obviously already left. That was when Hannah told herself she was overreacting and she might as well go back to the apartment. They could be anywhere.

She'd almost headed back to the Maddocks', when she caught sight of a turquoise color several meters away from the restaurant. She sat down on a bench and strained her eyes trying to identify the person in turquoise. It was Jane alright. She and Terry were sitting at an ice cream parlor, having desert, Jane doing most of the talking, Terry watching her appreciatively.

So, Hannah thought, they're doing nothing but innocently having ice cream. Why are you out here? Go back home.

But then Jane and Terry stood up and strolled hand in hand down the hall. Hannah couldn't help but satisfy her curiosity. She followed several meters behind them, keeping out of their line of sight. They left the "family" entertainment district and headed down to the lower levels. Hannah wondered where they could be going. Jane didn't seem to know as she shrugged and shook her head at Terry.

They finally stopped on a level that contained several shops. Hannah continued to shadow them, thinking maybe Terry wanted to buy Jane a gift. But he directed her past all the shops and made directly for the venue at the end of the level. Hannah almost ran up to them to grab Jane and take her back home, but the fear of breaking her relationship with her daughter held her back. Terry had taken Jane straight into the Crow's Nest, a well-known club catering to the marines on station. It had an acceptable reputation, but Hannah did recall several fights taking place there and she assumed it was full of drunk marines whose inhibitions removed could cause them to go after any naïve young woman that drifted into the place.

Hannah entered the club, tracking Jane and Terry to a table where they sat down. Hannah found an empty table on the second level, a perfect position from which she could watch Jane. Jane was still underage. Terry had better not order her an alcoholic drink.

Terry spoke to a server, smiling at Jane, who smiled back. After a while, the server returned handing Terry and Jane a couple glasses. Hannah couldn't tell what Jane's contained. She watched them drink, but suddenly became more agitated when four other marines appeared and sat down at the table. Terry's friends, she guessed.

Everyone at the table began to talk and laugh. Jane looked out of place among them, but she was holding her own, offering comments here and there. She seemed to be getting along well on her own. Hannah's feelings of worry began to fade. It was good seeing Jane enjoy herself. She deserved some fun after the last two difficult years.

"Can I buy you a drink?"

Hannah looked up, startled at the deep voice that sounded above her. A handsome man with skin the color of chocolate smiled confidently down at her. She estimated he had to be about ten years younger than her.

"Uh…" Hannah didn't know what to say. "I don't really want anything, but thanks."

The man sat down at her table. "I'm not coming onto you, if that's what you think."

Hannah couldn't help but smile ironically. "Well, I did wonder why a spring chicken was asking an old hen if she wanted a drink."

The man laughed. "That's a strange saying."

"My dad's," Hannah said, laughing along with him.

"I'm a friend of Lieutenant Griffin's. He pointed you out."

"Oh. He's here?"

The man pointed and Hannah saw Griffin sitting with a group of marines from the Einstein. He waved at her and she waved back.

"So, why did you come over then?"

"Griffin's been bragging about what you did on Mindoir. Sounds impressive and worth toasting."

"Well, we were lucky, that's all."

"Sure. So, you want a drink now that you know I'm not looking to get some?"

Hannah studied the man in front of her. He may have been younger than her, but his careworn expression revealed someone who'd already faced a lot at his age. Even through his laughter, she sensed unvoiced pain. "Why not?" she said. The man called over a server. Hannah turned her eyes back towards the table on the far side of the room. Jane was speaking animatedly to the group of marines.

"So, who are you here to spy on?"

"I'm not spying!" Hannah defended a little too adamantly, turning back to the handsome man.

"That's what it certainly looks and sounds like."

Hannah sighed. "My daughter."

"Ah, here with a marine?"

"Yeah."

"I understand. Mother hen, right?"

Hannah chuckled. "Something like that."

"Who is he?"

Hannah nodded her head towards Jane's table. The man peered down at the lower floor. "Well, I'm guessing she's the teenager surrounded by marines down there?"

Hannah nodded.

"Terry Taggart. Is he the one?"

"That's him," Hannah assented. "You know him."

"Not well. He's too immature, if you ask me. Directionless."

"I caught on to that."

The server returned with the drinks. The man held his drink up and Hannah copied his movements. "To a commander who kicked batarian ass on Mindoir."

Hannah smiled and took a swig, then placed her glass on the table.

"I don't think you're going to need to worry about Terry," the man commented.

"Oh?"

"Your daughter's doing a good job of taking care of him for you," he said, gesturing with the glass in his hand towards the floor below.

Hannah turned to see Jane standing at the door to the club, obviously angry, motioning wildly at Terry who had his hands up in a gesture of surrender. She was yelling something, but Hannah couldn't hear through the noise of the club. Jane turned on her heel and left the club in a huff, Terry throwing his hands in the air and sauntering back over to the table where his friends still sat.

Hannah looked back at the man she'd just shared a drink with. "I'm sorry, I've got to go."

"No problem," the man answered.

Hannah stood up and headed towards the entrance, only half-hearing Griffin call out to the man, "Hey, David, ask the Commander to join us!" and the man named David answering, "She's busy."

Hannah forced herself to take her time getting back to the apartment. She didn't want to show up too soon after Jane and awaken any suspicion concerning her activities in the last hour. When she felt the gap in time was enough, she went back to the apartment. Jane wasn't in the living room. Lourdes and Jules were, though, playing a game on a video board. Lourdes nodded with her head down the hall.

Hannah returned the nod gratefully and walked down the hall to the bedroom. The door was closed. Hannah knocked before entering.

"You can come in," she heard Jane answer glumly.

Hannah touched the panel on the side and the door slid open to reveal Jane already in her pajamas and in bed.

"Hey," Hannah said.

"Hey," Jane answered, reaching out for her data pad and flicking it on. As Hannah began to get ready for bed, she glanced over at Jane, perceiving her reading was a farce, as her eyes kept wandering up and glazing over as if she was thinking of something else. Hannah brushed her teeth and hair, then climbed into the bed on the other side of the room from Jane's. She lay on her side, her head propped up by her arm.

"So, how was tonight?"

Jane shrugged her shoulders and focused on the data pad. Hannah sighed, laying down on the bed and closing her eyes. Maybe Jane would open up tomorrow. She felt the darkness of sleep descending, then a far away voice called her back to wakefulness.

"Do you hate batarians?"

Hannah opened her eyes, turning her head to look at Jane. "That's a question from out of nowhere."

"Well, do you?" Jane stared at her intently.

Hannah contemplated. "Well…" She could honestly say she certainly harbored no good feelings towards Balak or the batarian slavers that had attacked Mindoir. But did she hate batarians in general? Her mind drifted to Keta, who she hadn't seen in years, but who she still respected.

"Not all," she finally said.

"But you do hate some of them?"

Hannah rolled back over onto her side, her head propped up again, looking at Jane. "I think of them as individuals," Hannah explained. "You have to look at the individuals, not just the species. I'm not sorry batarian slavers died on Mindoir. But not all batarians are like them. A lot of them are sequestered by their government on their planet and I'm willing to bet many of them are honorable."

Jane nodded thoughtfully. "Just like turians. Not all of them wanted the First Contact War."

"Yes, like that," Hannah agreed. "You can't judge an entire race through one incident. Your father learned that the hard way."

"He did?" Jane asked, sitting up in her bed. "How?"

Hannah sat up in her own. "I didn't think he'd ever told you what happened on Shanxi."

"He just said he fought them and he thought everyone in the galaxy should try to get along."

Hannah smiled sadly. "He found a photo album on a dead turian with videos and pictures of him with his family. He realized then how you couldn't generalize another species."

Jane nodded. "No wonder he wanted the galaxy to get along."

"So, why the sudden interest in batarians?"

Jane twisted her lips, thinking. "Well, it's not just batarians, really. Aliens in general." Jane blew out a long breath, then fixed Hannah with a gaze. "Terry and I were having a good time, but we went to a…uh…club." She scrutinized Hannah to see how she would take the news. Hannah didn't react, so she went on. "And his friends came over and they started to talk about batarians and how much they hated them, which I guess didn't bother me right off because of Mindoir. But then they started bashing all the other races in the galaxy, saying how humanity was so much better and we should wipe everyone else out of the galaxy." She paused, Hannah waiting a moment to determine if she was finished. Jane started talking again after a few seconds. "And I told them I wanted to learn alien languages, and they started to make fun of me and asked if I even cared about humanity." Jane looked angrily at Hannah. "Of course I care about humanity! That's why I think we should get along with aliens!"

Hannah nodded. "You're right, Jane."

"I know, but Terry didn't think so. Though, there was one guy in the bunch, he was N7, he actually agreed with me and they gave him a hard time, too." Jane sighed. "So I just left." Jane put her data pad on her night side stand and lay back forcefully on the bed. "Guys suck."

Hannah laughed inwardly, but controlled her voice when she spoke aloud. "Not all guys suck just like not all aliens are bad. You just have to be careful, watch a man's life and character, make sure he's a guy you're really willing to spend your life with."

"Yeah," Jane assented quietly, her eyes on the ceiling. "Dad was a great guy."

"Yes, he was," Hannah said softly. "Don't worry Jane. Someday you'll find the right one and when you do, make a commitment to him. Always love him."

Jane turned her head to look at Hannah. "Okay."

"Ready to sleep now?"

"Yeah."

Hannah touched the panel next to her bed and the lights in the room faded out.

"Mom?"

"Yes?"

"Thanks."

"You're welcome, honey."

Hannah soon heard Jane's soft breathing coming from across the room, but she was still wide awake. She was thinking of Jane getting married someday, having children, making a life of her own. What did Jane's future hold in store? And what man would she give her heart to? He had better be a good man, or he'd find his mother-in-law breathing down his neck for the rest of his life.