Greetings All. Wishing you a belated Happy Holiday however you celebrated and best wishes for a Happy, Healthy, and Prosperous New Year for us all. Still working on getting the order right with my stories. The ideas don't always come in order; but hopefully they'll keep coming. A huge thank you to all those who have faved, are following, or have commented on my stories. You guys rock. If I've made a mistake please let me know - I'm far from perfect. Have a great one. Cheers.

Special Delivery

Shepard

In two hours all the different groups met up at the food court near the Presidium. The court was mostly for the convenience of the day-to-day workers. The Councilors and their august staff wouldn't deign to eat in so unsafe a place, at least that's what Vakarian told her.

Shepard wasn't sure she was buying it. Given the level of snobbery on the part of the Tevos, Valern, Udina, and Sparatus; she was frankly sure that they wouldn't lower themselves to dine with the 'unwashed' (her words on their thoughts) masses.

Her uncharitable (to say the least) thoughts about the Councilors were erased by watching the kids gather in a chattering mob to show off their new treasures and ooh and ahh about the others. She was secretly delighted to see them all acting like what they were – kids. Stars knew that life would probably knock a lot of that innocence out of them soon, if it hadn't already; but for now they were a bunch of excited kids.

One of the stars, so to speak, was Seena who was, what was it they said about runway shows – rocking a sparkly Blasto T-shirt. Shepard glanced over at Liara who had the grace to blush at her inquiring look.

"She wanted it so much; and it wasn't really that expensive, Commander." T'soni admitted, guiltily. Beside her Tali's body language said she'd somehow been involved in that purchase.

"It's okay, Liara, Tali." Shepard grinned. "If it makes her happy. It's well worth it." She pointedly didn't mention the Blasto backpack that Seena was also carrying.

The real show stopper to her intense embarrassment was Halsen. Civies are one thing; but she was now wearing armor. Granted it was used, lightweight juvenile armor for a growing adolescent; but it was still armor. Shepard had gotten a lot of help from Walea and Vakarian both. Walea on what the girl would be allowed to keep and Vakarian on what mods she'd need in basic that would work for a biotic.

Seth was utterly captivated by it, or her, or both her and the armor.

"Do you think it's Halsen or the armor he's more enamored of?" She whispered to Vakarian.

Before the Turian could answer, Kaidan interjected. "He wants to be Alliance, Commander, so it's the armor."

Shepard didn't say anything; but his interrupting somewhat annoyed her. Vakarian just flapped his mandibles and lifted his eyebrow plates at her and stepped back out of the way. If the Turian had done that to him, she was fairly sure that Alenko would have been pouting slightly. She'd be having a little talk with Kaidan, once they got back aboard, about his manners towards the non-human crew. He wasn't being malicious but sometimes he was just too damned oblivious. Besides if he tried that stunt with Wrex, the Krogan would probably bounce him around the cargo bay; and the Battlemaster had the biotics to back himself up.

Handing a credit chit to Garrus she told him to go get some High Energy bars, the dextro version, whatever he thought that Halsen and Walea would enjoy. She went over and bought some levo ones with Liara's help.

Once she got back to the group she distributed the levo ones to Seth and Amanda, Acia, Seena, and Dresle. Garrus divided his selection between Walea and Halsen.

"Commander?" That was Walea, stowing hers in her armor after she showed Halsen where to put hers.

"Knowing bureaucrats you're liable to get stuck waiting around for hours so I want to make sure you've all got something to snack on."

There were murmured thanks from all of them.

Shepard was about to move her little group out when Acia spoke up. "Commander?"

"Yes?"

"We…I…thank you for all you've done for us." The Asari stammered out.

"I'm glad that I.." She motioned to her crew, "..we could help."

Shepard smiled, warmed on the inside. It wasn't often they were thanked or that they were even around to be thanked for their efforts.

"But you all owe the biggest debt to Walea. Without her leadership, you would never of escaped for us to find you."

Turians couldn't blush; but given her experiences with Vakarian, she was fairly sure that the normally cool and collected Cabal was doing a very good interpretation of the Turian version.

Trying to wrangle her group together again, she overheard Acia talking to Walea.

"I wish I still had my omni-tool. I don't have anyway to take contact information."

Damn, Shepard swore mentally, she'd forgotten about that.

"I believe that I may be able to help." Tali spoke up shyly; and pulled several older model OSDs from one of her suits hidden pockets. She activated her omni-tool and wiped their memories.

"You can input whatever information you want and then later transfer it to an omni-tool." With that she handed them out.

There were a few confused minutes as everyone made use of Tali's, Ash's, Liara's, Kaidan's, and even Garrus's omni-tools to exchange info.

Finally..

"Everybody set?" Shepard asked after the last OSD was coded then safely stowed away.

She got nods all around and with that she led her group up onto the Presidium.

Her first stop was the Earth Embassy.

She left the others outside, though she was sorely tempted to 'invade' Udina's space with non-humans, as she dropped off Seth and Amanda with one of Udina's aides. One of the more humane ones. She'd noticed her, on occasion, shooting barely restrained glares at the Councilor. She didn't comment on it, she just sought the woman out. She also left a copy of her report and the receipts for today's purchases.

Next, they went to the Asari Embassy. Far bigger and grander, and far, far older than the Earth Embassy.

She had to make heavy use of her Spectre status to get them to even pay attention to her; but Shepard wasn't about to be thwarted by Asari snobbery.

When they finally realized why she was there and who the three Asari with her were – their tunes dramatically changed.

About damn time, Shepard had thought, as various aides fluttered over Acia, Seena, and Dresle.

She was turning to go when Seena startled her by running over and giving her a big hug; then running back to her mother.

Shepard was still blushing when she got outside to the others.

"You're blushing Skipper." Ash was startled. "What happened?"

"Seena." Shepard mumbled and it was Ash's turn to blush.

"Yeah, kid's a hugger." The Chief coughed to clear her throat as Kaidan and Garrus looked at each other in question.

As they headed for the Turian Embassy.

"Commander, the Hierarchy has offices here, separate from the Embassy." Walea spoke up diffidently, looking up at the imposing Turian Embassy. It radiated controlled power and age.

"I know." Jess informed her. "But the embassy works better."

Walea shot a curious glance at Vakarian who gave her a puzzled hum and a click.

This time, to Alenko's slight frown, she took Vakarian with her when she left the others outside.

"You do know that Sparatus is in a Council meeting at this moment, Commander." Garrus pointed out as they walked inside.

"I know."

Garrus turned to look down at her. "You're up to something aren't you, Commander?"

"Would I be up to something, Vakarian?" She returned innocently with a sugar sweet smile.

He let out a faint groan at that and his mandibles clapped tight to the sides of his mouth.

It took them a little longer to find an aide willing to deal with her and the Cabals; even then she had to pull rank to be acknowledged.

"I'm Council Spectre Shepard." She said coldly to what looked to be an aide to an aide.

Youngish, she thought, fancy armor that had never, she was certain, seen real combat; and a very snooty look to his face if she was any judge.

He was about to wash his hands of them when there was a low…growl?..out of Vakarian. It wasn't friendly sounding.

The 'aide' locked eyes with the former C-Sec officer in what Shepard recognized as a low-key type of Turian dominance battle. She'd had a few of them before she found this aide; and she hadn't lost any.

Almost instantly the kid looked away. Right then, Shepard realized that he had probably never been in a serious dominance battle; used to using his position to get what he wanted.

Welcome to reality, kid, she thought uncharitably.

"What can I assist you with, Spectre?" He asked. He was putting off some low sub harmonics that got another, nastier growl from Vakarian. The sub harmonics silenced instantly.

"This is Sergeant Despreta of the Blackwatch Cabal and Cabal cadet Halsen." Shepard resisted the urge to gloat. She wouldn't be the one to suffer a backlash if she did.

"She and others were taken by slavers, then escaped; when I and my crew found them. My mission from the Council doesn't give me leeway to deliver her to the correct base so since I was due at the Citadel – I decided to bring her here."

She handed over the OSD to the aide. "That is a copy of my report, revised and updated with my letter of commendation for Sergeant Despreta." Walea was startled at that.

"I've also included any additional information that the Councilor should know."

"I'll see that this is filed properly."

Taking it for the threat it probably was, as she turned to go with Vakarian. Giving Walea a small salute from one soldier to another. The Cabal snapped off a crisp Turian salute in return then gave her a faint smile.

"I'll also be filing a copy directly with the Council and with Councilor Sparatus."

There was a half heard squawk out of the aide and Shepard caught the ghost of a smirk on Vakarian's face.

"I'll be out of communication on Spectre business for approximately three hours. The Councilor can reach me anytime after that."

"Yes, Spectre." The kid almost sounded defeated.

As they were walking out of the Embassy down a hallway dominated by statues of past Turian warriors, she glanced p at her companion.

"What was he saying when you growled at him the second time?"

"I wasn't growling." Garrus scowled. "I was chastising him for being extremely dismissive of your rank. Were you Turian he would not have dared do so. Nihlus would have called him on it and Saren would have literally ripped his fringe off for it."

She stared at Vakarian in shock. "He didn't?"

"Very early in his career, an aide was rude to Saren." Came the explanation. "No one was ever openly rude to him after that."

"Damn. Obviously Turians don't know that old human adage about people."

Garrus cocked his head in question.

"If you want to know what a person is really like, see how they treat the little people – waiters, secretaries, and aides. It is a far better window on their inner selves than what they say."

Vakarian considered that silently for several moments as they walked. By now she'd learned that he was quiet when he was thinking over something.

"That actually makes a great deal of sense." He commented finally.

"See, squishy pyjaks can have good ideas." She teased him and got a derisive snort back.

Just before they reached the others.

"Er, what Spectre business do you have, Commander? If it isn't prying?" Vakarian was diffident.

She gave him a big shit-eating grin. "Lunch!" That got a chuff of amusement out of him.

"We all done, skipper?" That was Ash as she stood up and stretched from where she'd been sitting on a bench.

"Yup. Now we go get lunch and since we'll be 'discussing' strategies." She air quoted 'discussing', "it's on the Council."

She was turning to ask Vakarian, the local expert, where they could all go to eat when Kaidan spoke up excitedly.

"I hear there's a new human centric on the plaza below the Presidium."

"Oh, yes, I've heard a lot about that." Liara exclaimed, excitedly. "It supposedly has all sorts of regional human foods, even something called a burgerandfries."

"I'd kill for a good burger." Ash spoke up and Tali squeaked at that.

"Just a figure of speech, Tali." Ash reassured her.

"Oh, I wondered."

"I have heard of that place – Denebras – I believe it's called." Garrus said quietly. He pointed to a nearby mult-species sign extolling the virtues of Denebras and offering directions.

Shepard turned to him to say something and saw an odd look flicker across his features as his mandibles pulled tight to his face.

"Commander, may I be excused? There is an old contact I want to try to get in touch with while we're here." Garrus's voice had gone quiet and formal.

"Of…course, Vakarian."

"If you don't mind. I think I'll go see if I can find someplace that stocks Quarian food." Tali spoke up.

Given some of the looks Tali had been getting, Shepard felt that it wasn't a good idea for her to go off on her own.

She motioned Garrus over to the side.

"Commander?"

"Garrus, would it interfere with you finding your contact if you accompanied Tali? She shouldn't be on her own on the Citadel." Shepard knew that she could order him; but found herself reluctant to do so. Garrus glanced at the Quarian and then at some of the not quite glares she was getting.

"You're right, Commander; and it won't interfere." He gave her a brief smile as they walked back to the others.

"Tali, Garrus will go with you. Besides, if anyone knows where to find Quarian food – it would be him."

Tali glanced up at the Turian. "You..you don't mind?"

She wasn't as leery of him as she was of Wrex; but the uncertainty of him being an authority figure (C-Sec) still lingered.

"No. I actually know of a place that carries a large stock of dextro foods, both Turian and Quarian." He reassured her.

"You two be back to the Normandy in 135 minutes." Shepard said as they got ready to leave. "Here, wait a minute."

Shepard pulled up her omni-tool and tapped in some commands to send some credits to each of their omni-tools.

"You two get yourself some delicacies, or even some junk food."

"Trash food?" Tali sounded really confused by that.

"Human expression." Shepard heard Garrus rumbling in explanation as they walked away.

Between the street ads and instructions that she found that Vakarian had discretely sent to her omni-tool they soon found Denebras.

As advertised, it featured human food with a small side menu of Asari dishes. Most of the customers were human, with a sprinkling of Asari, a couple of Salarians, and, wonder of wonders, a solitary Krogan sitting outside on the patio eating a small mountain of french fries coated with cheese and what looked like jalapenos.

Shepard shuddered at that. She'd tried one once on a dare, and had sucked down two gallons of milk as a result.

They were quickly seated, obviously being soldiers, and given menus. Shepard wondered what C-Sec thought of this place, given the less than positive attitude towards humans many aliens had.

A waitress was there in moments.

"Hello folks." She smiled. "My name's Mary, what can I get for you?"

Ash quickly ordered her burger with fries and something proclaiming to be a soda.

Kaidan went for a pizza with everything on it.

Liara wanted to try everything; but they got her to settle for a sampler platter of Japanese food. Shepard went for some sushi.

After their orders were placed, Ash excused herself and went in search of the bathrooms.

Once she was out of earshot.

"All right, what the hell was that about, you two?" Shepard's smile vanished.

"Was what?" Kaidan looked genuinely surprised as did Liara.

"Are you two that oblivious?"

"To what Commander?" Kaidan was still confused.

"To deliberately excluding two of the ground team from lunch." Shepard snapped. "This is a strictly levo restaurant and there are NO dextro places around here."

Liara got it before Kaidan did.

"Oh, goddess we didn't even think of that. Garrus and Tali wouldn't have been able to eat anything here." She looked, to Shepard, like she was genuinely sorry about what she'd done.

"No, and as ex C-Sec, Garrus has to have known what restaurants are located here – so you two effectively made it very clear that neither the Turian nor the Quarian would be welcome at lunch."

Now Kaidan got it and he looked embarrassed. "We didn't mean to do it, Commander."

"If wishes were horses, beggars would ride." Shepard quoted an old line she'd heard long ago. "Why the hell do you think that Vakarian and Tali went off on their own?"

Kaidan started to say something and she silenced him with a sharp motion of her hand.

"The only way this mission is going to work is if the ground crew all trusts each other implicitly. After today, it's going to take a bit of work to get that trust back. Tali doesn't think of herself as important; but Garrus does and he was well aware of what you were doing. So now he'll probably go back to being reserved around you two. Just as I was beginning to get him to drop that armor plated Turian mentality."

"Commander…" Kaidan began.

"You've got to learn to stop and think before you open your mouth, Alenko. Stars know, I've put my foot in it with non-humans before, but not, I hope, this bad a screw up." She was blunt.

"What of Ash?" He interjected. She thought he was trying, a bit, to wiggle out of blowing it.

"Ash might not of wanted them here; but she would have accepted it quietly. She also knows little about the Citadel – so she gets a pass – about this." Shepard told him.

Spotting Ash heading back to the table and also their waitress heading their way with a huge tray.

"Now let's enjoy lunch before the calls begin."

"Calls, Shepard?" Liara questioned.

"Do you really think that Tevos, Udina, and Sparatus aren't going to have something to say to me?" Shepard smirked as large and tasty platter of sushi was set before her.