Author's note:
This chapter is something of a character experiment for me. Hopefully the pacing doesn't suffer for it.
Whether approving or critical, I appreciate the reviews. They're good feedback and motivation.
The Citadel was once a place of happy memories for her, a marvelous sight that held the promise of a few days of contentment. The same was true of many women she knew, but for them the ancient space station was a place of amazing variety in food, trinkets, fashions, new friends, and entertainment. In truth, it had once been all of that to her as well, but they had never been the primary reason for her visits. And those visits had stopped two years earlier. Enveloped in an ethereal lavender nebula that cast the 'sky' from the Wards in a magical glow, the Citadel was deemed home or paradise by millions, a place of comfort or wonder. For Hannah Shepard, it was the last place she had ever seen her son alive.
Even in victory, the Alliance Navy had been throw into turmoil at the news that a geth armada following an immense dreadnought had cost them and the turians a combined total of almost thirty ships with dozens of others crippled. The Kilimanjaro, on which she served as XO, was quick to arrive on the scene to support the battered turians. At the time, she had never been so proud and happy to see her son.
A bitter smile pulled weakly at Hannah's lips while she watched the flow of traffic to and from the Citadel from her place at the conference lounge abutting the navigation bridge. The memory was still painfully vivid.
Flux seemed a decent enough place, even if the music was a bit loud for ears accustomed to stringed instruments and the soundproofing of spaceships. Karin Chakwas had directed her to the club with obvious irritation that her patient had used his spectre status to get himself off the ship and out of her observation, but there was a hint of amusement in the twitch of her lips while she'd relayed the information. Hannah had a feeling she'd be keeping in contact with the good doctor in order to gain some amusing anecdotes about what her son had been up to on his first command.
Hannah stepped inside after showing her identification to the bouncer and tipping him fifty credits to keep her presence unannounced. She gazed around the club, torn between excitement and apprehension. A large portion of the crowd wore casual Alliance uniforms, too many to be from the Normandy alone, and there were quite a few civilians on the arms of celebrating sailors as well as a party of armored salarians. All in all, it looked like quite the celebration.
Her cerulean eyes stopped wandering when they came across an isolated table at which a rather large krogan sat pounding back a drink with a blue-armored turian while an asari, a female quarian, and a bearded lieutenant watched with rapt attention. It amused her that she already knew all their names, even if her son hadn't included images. When she first read that four out of the six on his ground team were aliens, she'd been skeptical. It was hard to erase the memories of the fear she'd endured as a mother of a three year-old while her husband was off engaging the first species humanity had ever made contact with, or the anger she'd felt when he'd returned home recovering from a spinal injury serious enough to convince him to take medical retirement. It was her son's written anecdotes about all the ways they'd saved each other's lives that left her wanting to meet them all.
When Garrus and Wrex slammed their mugs down on the table while Joker cheered enthusiastically, she watched as sapphire and silver eyes flicked away from the display and toward the dance floor. She grinned when she followed their gazes to their target. Ah. That explained it. Hannah couldn't help but laugh when she saw a stunning brunette poking at her son's ribs in what was no doubt an attempt to get him to move more than halfheartedly. For someone who had grown up at home climbing trees and jumping fences, he apparently had all the grace of a krogan on the dance floor. And if the smirks they were trading were any indication, whatever they were bantering about was apparently familiar. Snickering, she made her way over to the dance floor until she was close enough to hear his familiar baritone voice.
"Ash, I swear, if the three of you keep dragging me onto the dance floor I'm going to pay Wrex ten thousand credits to take my place."
"Well, skipper, you could always just shoot us. Oh, wait, I forgot." She sighed dramatically. "You're a gimp."
'Skipper'? Aha. Williams. Definitely the gutsy type. Especially with the saucy grin she was flashing her commander. With one of her own, Hannah stepped up beside them. "Actually, I bet the commander can shoot equally well with either hand. May I cut in?"
The look of surprise on her son's face was enough to make her want to break out into laughter, but she flashed him a warning look and a wink before glancing back at Ashley, who had suddenly broke into a frown.
"Actually-"
"Sure, why not?" The spectre grinned and pulled a credit chit from his pocket, depositing it in Ashley's hand. "I'll only be a few. Buy everyone a round for me, Chief."
The mention of her title made Williams nod curtly and give an 'aye aye' before she reluctantly wandered off. Hannah heard her mutter something about cougars, but she waited until the chief was safely out of earshot before she broke into laughter and gave her son a tight hug which he returned with one arm. Hannah ignored the unfriendly stares she was receiving from three females and turned.
"I'm not sure whether to say 'thank you' or to call you a pain in the ass, mom."
Pulling back, she returned her son's wry smile with a charming one of her own. "And here I thought you'd appreciate having three women glaring at your dance partner with jealousy. But I suppose I could always chastise you for being on a crowded dance floor with one arm in a sling. Or berate you for nearly letting yourself be crushed. Or-"
"Oh, be quiet."
She ignored the embarrassed way he rubbed the back of his neck and grinned insouciantly. "Anyways, I'm not sure why they're jealous of a woman who has twenty-four years on you. Just what have you been doing in your free time?"
He rolled his eyes and took her hand, pulling her from the dance floor. "Other than avoiding you? Well, let's see. I maxed out my bank account at ten million credits, racked up around six hundred kills, learned Prothean, talked a rogue spectre into blowing his own head off, and helped bring down an ancient sapient dreadnought that's the vanguard of galactic extinction every fifty millennia, all the while having to tell the Council to go fuck itself while they nearly got the entire galaxy annihilated because of their stupidity. What about you?"
Hannah blinked at the ice her son's voice acquired while he spoke. It was a tone she hadn't heard in years, one she hoped she'd never hear again. Where had it come from? A minute ago he was fine. Just what exactly had he been through?
"Sorry." He sighed and rubbed his temple, dropping into a bar stool at the end of the counter with a weariness that surprised her. "I didn't mean to... not sure what came over me."
She slid to a seat beside him and took her hand in his to squeeze it warmly, giving him the patient, loving smile she rarely used but instinctively knew as a mother. "After what you've been through over the last few months, it's okay. Why don't you start at the beginning?"
The tired and grateful look he gave her should have broken her heart, but instead she found it warmed with the reassurance that he hadn't slipped back into his old cloak of bitter anger. And he wouldn't, she decided. Not if she had anything to say about it.
"Captain? ...Captain Shepard?"
"Hm?" Hannah looked up from her reverie to see a young crewman giving her a hesitant look. "I'm sorry, what was that?"
"Commander Narita wanted me to inform you that the first shuttle will be departing in thirty minutes, ma'am."
She sighed inwardly. A request from humanity's councilor could hardly be ignored, even if the man should have known better than to ask her to set foot on that station again.
"Very well."
Waking up to the sensation of a heavy weight upon her backside had been disconcerting, but the feeling of strong fingers pressing skillfully into the muscles of her lower back had been enough to make her purr out a rich moan and go limp on the cushioning of the soft bed. After the events of the previous day she should have been sprinting down to engineering to make herself useful, but those four extra digits of his were working some serious magic. If that massage hadn't been enough to start her day off wonderfully, the breakfast of flavorful soup she was brought completely sealed the deal. She had to admit, she'd found herself suspicious, but it didn't stop her from stripping off her suit in the sanitized washroom and getting the water hot enough to make the mirror fog up... after taking a pair of injections and telling her boyfriend to join her in five minutes. And when she felt her back pressed into the shockingly cold metal wall while hot water cascaded down her front and a pair of lips found their way onto her breast, she wondered if she was in what Ashley had called 'heaven' while she uttered a low moan.
"Joker to Shepard."
"Bosh'tet!" "Son of a-"
They both growled out the words at the same time before Shepard shook his head and called out. "What, Joker?"
"Uh... is this a bad time? Sounds like you're in the shower." Tali tried with limited success to stifle a giggle.
Shepard scowled at the 'Definitely a bad time' he heard muttered over the comm and tried to ignore the soft fingertips that were tracing a dangerous path down his stomach. He failed miserably and squirmed. "You've got five seconds to spit it out, Joker."
"We'll be docking at the Citadel in an hour, Commander, and Miranda said she needs to discuss a few things with you before we arrive."
"Noted. Inform her of the following, and keep careful note of it yourself: my omni-tool has the standard scheduling functions that everyone else has. I do not need reminders, and even if I'm late, I'm the commander of this damn ship. My schedule is the only one that matters. You got that?"
"Uh, yes sir. Joker out."
When the comm beeped to signal the end of the transmission, Shepard met Tali's intense stare and shrugged. "What?"
"Have I ever mentioned how exciting it is when you take charge like that?"
She purred the words in a way that made his lips curl in a predatory smile and he captured her hands in his, pinning them into the wall above her head. "Good to know," he murmured, pressing up tightly against her and bringing his mouth onto hers in a searing kiss that made her moan and arch her shivering body.
"Commander, I'm sorry, but I really need that-"
Shepard held out a datapad when his XO smoothly fell into step beside him and she hesitated a moment before taking it. Her brows rose while she read over the updated and approved procurement list and her surprise left a tight smile on his face. Being able to surprise Miranda was just one more benefit of waking at too early an hour, along with preparing soup for his girlfriend and being invited into a very long shower. "If you haven't, solicit ideas from the crew. I didn't have a list of everyone's favorites my first time around. Actually, take Gardner and Kasumi with you. He's the cook, and I bet she hears everything that goes on around here, including culinary preferences." The thought put a hitch in his step and he reminded himself to have Tali Kasumi-proof his cabin door lock.
"Mind if I tag along as well?"
Kelly's voice turned them away from the elevator doors. Shepard didn't miss the frown that manifested itself on Miranda's face for a split second and he hid a wicked grin. "I'm sure they won't object. Right, Miranda?"
"Of course not, Commander." For her part, the XO didn't miss the small, secretive smile on Kelly's face or the tone of her voice, which had been a touch too innocent. Whatever was on the cheerful yeoman's mind, she had a better chance of discovering it with the redhead near at hand.
"Good. Keep track of the evil trio while you're at it. I have a bad feeling about the kind of trouble they're capable of getting into." He grimaced. "Even so, I don't want to be disturbed unless someone ends up shot or in a C-Sec holding cell."
Miranda smirked at that but said nothing, signing off on the pad and reaching for the elevator call button. The doors slid open and she was nearly bowled over by two meters of armored turian. "Damn it, Garrus, please watch-"
"Shepard, can we talk in private?"
Being ignored by the former vigilante put a frown on Miranda's lips but Shepard gave her shoulder a calming pat. "Be back in a few."
As the spectre and his cohort stepped into the elevator, Miranda sighed. Somehow it felt as if this trip to the Citadel was going to be about far more than stocking up on provisions and a family reunion. Especially when Jacob stepped out of the armory with a subdued frown and headed her way.
"Miranda, do you know if Shepard's scheduled that detour out to Aiea yet?"
She couldn't deny that Jacob had been a fine sport about treating the possibility of his father's survival as something other than an immediate priority, but the downtime they had was giving him time to worry about it. She nodded. "It's currently on the itinerary after our departure from the Citadel. The commander hasn't picked a time or a dock to get the new armor installed yet, though."
"One out of two works for me," he said, managing a slight smile. "Have you had a chance to speak with Shepard about doing some surveying? We're going to need more palladium than I thought to get it installed, and I don't think he'll want to pay current market prices for it."
Miranda sighed and added a notation to her checklist. Shepard may have been on the ball this morning, but he didn't have to contend with the mountain of paperwork that hit harder than any krogan.
"That sigh sounded positively stressed. We should go shopping," Kelly proposed brightly from her place at her console.
Jacob's smirk left Normandy's XO resisting the urge to slap the back of his head with her datapad.
Shepard added an item to his own checklist as he stepped off the elevator onto deck one behind Garrus, making no move to open the cabin door.
"Aren't you going to unlock the door?"
"No."
When Garrus made no veiled joke about Tali and dextro germs, he raised his eyes to see his friend pacing back and forth. Whatever was on his mind, it didn't involve opening a bottle of alcohol. He closed his omni-tool to give his undivided attention.
"Liara forwarded me some information this morning." The turian's voice was grim.
The mention of Liara put a small frown on his lips but also gave him an idea. One that could wait. He leaned against a bulkhead and folded his arms. "About?"
"Sidonis."
That got Shepard's attention. "Did she track him down?"
Garrus' mandibles moved in irritation. "Not quite. She found a lead that led her to a forger on the Citadel. Calls himself 'Fade'. I was hoping..." The conflict must have been evident on his face, because Garrus immediately shook his head. "It can wait a day, if that's what you're worried about. I know Jacob's got something of his own, too, but since we're here..."
"Thanks, I appreciate it. But if you find out it's time sensitive, just let me know. As for Jacob, we work fast. I'm not worried about that." He shot his friend a wry grin. "Actually, I'm just glad Grunt was grown in a tank. I really don't need to be darting around the galaxy to track down some crappy old armor again."
"Heh. Yeah." Garrus nodded, and some of the tension melted away from him. "I appreciate it, Shepard. I owe it to my men to make him pay for stabbing them all in the back."
"As long as you have no doubts, I'm right there with you. And when it's done, we'll open a couple of bottles and toast to your team."
His mood improved, Garrus nodded. "Now that sounds like a better plan than 'oh, by the way, Garrus, you're in charge of this one.'"
Shepard smirked, shrugging. "Yeah, I was astonished when you didn't 'accidentally' mistake Jack for a geth."
"Heh. Now I know the temptation you live with."
He would have preferred to leave a few of the ground team on the ship, but with his spectre status reinstated, it really wasn't necessary. The hull had been cleansed of Cerberus logos during the installation of the Thanix cannons, thankfully. Learning from their omni-tool recordings that Eclipse had been behind the YMIRs on Daratar still troubled him, but they gave the Citadel a wide berth like the other merc groups and the Illusive Man was investigating that security breach.
Zaaed and Jack were the first ones off the ship with Grunt in tow, a sight that was not particularly comforting. Still, it was better than having the brash young krogan tagging along with him on the Presidium when he wanted some quiet time with his mother. Samara and Thane were already deep in conversation about the Collectors when they exited the airlock, having reviewed the recordings from Horizon over breakfast. Mordin accompanied Chakwas on her way to visit Doctor Michel. Apparently the two human physicians had formed a friendship after the destruction of the SR-1. Miranda and Jacob led Kasumi, Gardner, and Kelly on their errand to restock the Normandy's larders, though the yeoman had another mischievous look on her face when she nodded goodbye to her commander. It was somewhat unsettling. Only a skeleton crew remained aboard, and they would get their turn at shore leave the next day.
With no one left to check off on the crew roster, Shepard sighed and leaned a little harder against the bulkhead by the airlock. He'd been able to keep his mind distracted all morning between work, Garrus, and Tali, but now there was nothing left to do. Nothing except debate just what he was going to say to his mother, and to worry about what he'd find when he saw her. It had been hard enough on her fifteen years ago, even if they had each other and duties aboard ship to keep them busy. She'd received dispensation to bring her teenage son with her and he'd quickly made himself useful by learning and assisting with shipboard tasks with the CO's blessing, even if they were mainly in the galley and damage control. He remembered the pride in her eyes, the smiles she always tried to keep on her lips, but they had been tempered by sadness as the Alliance became his focus instead of the more creative paths he'd bounced between only a year before. Losing his father and sister had been bad enough. He could only imagine what losing the last of her family had done to her.
"Are you sure you want us to come along?"
Joker's uncharacteristically muted voice freed him from his musing and he nodded. "Yeah. She knows who you all are. If she's worried I'm not... me... the three of you being there might help." The unexpected silence made him turn to see Joker staring glumly down at the deck. "What? Are you upset you'll have to hobble a longer distance than from the cockpit to the head?"
His attempt at humor didn't have the effect he'd expected. Joker shook his head. "No, it's the least I can do." He sighed heavily and took a spot against the bulkhead beside his commander. "First you got killed saving my stupid ass, and then I felt too guilty to even write her. I mean, I didn't know if it would hurt more than it would help, but... still."
Shepard didn't know the answer to that either, and he could only shrug. "Don't worry about it, Joker. Writing letters to the families... I don't think I would have done it if I hadn't been the CO. Writing almost fifty of them after Akuze was... well, it was even worse than being there. I was in charge and ended up being the only survivor. 'Hey, I was in command and I got your kid killed while only getting a bit of acid spit on me. Sorry.'" He chuckled humorlessly while Joker shook his head.
"Come on. What the hell were you supposed to do against three thresher maws?"
Shepard gave his pilot a faint smile. "I know, Joker. But that's how it probably sounded to some of the families."
Garrus approached, his customary dry humor back in place, though it sounded a bit strained. No doubt he'd written or had considered writing almost a dozen letters himself. "Aren't you two just filled with joy today?"
"Garrus has a point. Miranda's departed already. There's no one left on board to suck the life out of everything."
Shepard and Joker chuckled, watching Tali walk up with a spring in her step. Apparently she had enjoyed her hour in engineering. Still, her eyes softened behind her visor when she neared and she set a hand on her boyfriend's arm. "Are you okay?"
He smiled faintly and nodded. "I'm all right. I'm just worried about my mother. Let's get going."
He checked the pistol, knife, and shield generator on his belt beneath his jacket before plucking at the high collar. He would have preferred his armor, but Anderson had recommended civilian attire to avoid notice in his brief email notifying him when and where to meet his mother. After the attention he'd received on his last visit to the Citadel, that sounded like a good idea. Armored turians were no strange sight, and Tali couldn't exactly change clothes, but Joker had changed into simple unmarked utilities baggy enough to wear his leg braces beneath them. Garrus led the way out of the airlock with Joker at his side, leaving Tali to fall in step with her quiet lover.
Hannah Shepard seemed to have aged ten years since he saw her last. Though the wrinkles at her eyes and mouth remained small and her auburn hair had only light streaks of grey, there was a cold hardness in what had been bright blue eyes that once frequently housed a mischievous gleam. She had come to attention and nodded politely to humanity's councilor, but Anderson didn't miss the reluctance and irritation in her stiff posture. At times, when he'd looked out on the Citadel at wreckage of Sovereign that still remained, he'd felt the same. Being aboard a Reaper trap was bad enough without the memories of loss she felt so much more acutely than he. Anderson had been tempted to blurt out the truth but he stuck to his script, apologizing for an unavoidable delay and requesting she meet him in half an hour by the deactivated Conduit near the Presidium Spire. She'd simply nodded curtly and spun about on her heel, all military bearing despite the civilian clothing she wore.
Sighing, Anderson took a familiar position leaning against the balcony railing outside his office while he gazed down at the lake below. It was hard enough for him, being forced to stay away from his protege and one of his only remaining friends while he was forced to deal with Udina and the Council. But he took comfort that the light might soon return to the eyes one of the Alliance's finest captains. After all, she'd helped him do the same for her son years ago. No doubt Shepard could return the favor. Nodding, he allowed himself a smile as he went back to his desk to study the reports Hackett had forwarded by courier on known Cerberus activity.
"That comes out to 65,200 credits."
Miranda initiated the credit transfer, pleased to be spending Shepard's donated money rather than Cerberus'. At first she had debated whether or not to even attempt a discount, but Kelly had the gall to elbow her in the ribs. And it had turned out to be a rather substantial percentage after the two women had turned on the charm and left the young salesman smiling like a fool. That smile had vanished when Miranda had input her key to apply the discount given to one of Cerberus' front companies, cutting a full third off a hundred thousand credit order. After the young clerk had mumbled out a goodbye and a promise to have the provisions delivered to the Normandy's airlock, the two women turned and left.
"That was fun," Kelly said with an impish grin. "Remind me to bring you with me if I ever decide to get an apartment on the Citadel."
Miranda almost sighed when she saw Jacob and Kasumi leading Gardner away toward a small Japanese noodle kiosk. She'd been abandoned. With Kelly. The happy, excitable young thing she'd caught staring at her ass more than once. If they were trying to set her up, she swore she'd go to Shepard and solicit his help with revenge. The man seemed to be holding something over Moreau and Vakarian, after all, and if those two could be kept in check, anyone could. She wasn't aware of the small, wicked grin on her lips until Kelly folded her arms and stepped in front of her, the bubbly smile faded into a knowledgeable smirk. "Let's hear it, Operative Lawson."
What? Miranda's smile vanished and she glared at the redhead. "Hear what?"
Kelly arched a brow. "Whatever has been on your mind since Illium."
Miranda frowned and started walking toward an asari cafe a hundred meters away. "Please do not psychoanalyze me, yeoman. If-"
"The Illusive Man didn't give you an exemption. It's my job." She kept pace with the taller woman's brisk stride effortlessly. "Technically, I'm not required to report unless there's a problem, and there isn't anyone out here recording our conversation. So you have now until the time we return to the ship to spill it."
The operative sighed. Chambers was more intelligent and perceptive than she let on, which was exactly why she had been assigned to the Normandy. And she had a point, as much as it pained her to admit it. "Fine. I'm frustrated that we're shopping on the Citadel while Shepard takes a day off. I'm irritated that the Collector bodies on Horizon all disintegrated and left us with nothing to study. And I'm positively annoyed that we're no closer to knowing how to accomplish our mission." Miranda gave Kelly a sidelong smirk. "Does that about cover it?"
Kelly shrugged, smiling warmly at a turian in passing who gave her an odd look. "Almost. You haven't mentioned your vexation regarding the commander yet."
Miranda grit her teeth and ignored the asari that was giving her a lustful once-over. "I thought that was obvious. In the past few days he's let his personal feelings jeopardize the mission twice. Half the time he shrugs and launches us into combat without a plan. He hates Cerberus, doesn't trust any of us, and switches between hot.. well, warm and cold with me faster than a krogan devours a meal." She led Kelly to a secluded table at the bright cafe and slid into a seat, folding her arms.
"And yet here you are, with some survivors on Horizon, the ground team a dozen strong, and with with nothing worse than a couple of broken bones and a few minor gunshot wounds." Kelly sat and leaned back in her chair, the very picture of relaxation. "Shepard regularly gets his team into and out of tight spots, sometimes through sheer luck, whereas you needed him to pull you out of couple that you got yourself into. You should have known better. Right?"
The psychologist's calm, level voice was irritating, but Miranda knew it was her words that bothered her. True words. She sighed and brushed back a loose strand of hair. "Fine. Yes."
Kelly appeared unperturbed. "As I recall, the Collectors set a trap for Shepard on Horizon and it was Garrus' team that got them out of it. I haven't noticed the commander kicking himself about that."
Miranda shrugged and tapped her fingers on the table, idly wondering where the waitress was. "Why would he? That was Garrus' job, to back up the other teams-" She paused mid sentence for a moment before snapping her mouth shut. Clever girl.
Kelly smiled and opened a menu. "Now that we've established that neither you or the commander are more perfect than the other, I vote for a sampler platter and some wine. Followed by shopping. And an honest talk with the commander later. Maybe with more wine. We can invite Kasumi."
Miranda allowed herself a smirk, shaking her head. "You have too much time on your hands."
"And you don't take enough for yourself," Kelly retorted. "Everyone needs a day off now and then."
"Fine. I'm sure there's a real bookstore somewhere on this station," Miranda groused, ignoring the amused roll of Kelly's green eyes. If the yeoman suggested lingerie shopping, she'd be reassigned to scrubbing toilets, no matter how insightful she was.
It was strange to see him so quiet. He was leaning against the railing on the metal path that led by the Conduit beside her, staring down into the water apparently lost in thought or memory. Garrus and Joker talked quietly thirty meters away, seated on a bench in the grass. It was an idyllic setting, one she had always enjoyed. She hoped that in an hour, they'd all be sitting at a table in Flux, laughing and trading stories about a young Shepard or some of the more enjoyable memories from the original Normandy. The thought put a smile on her lips and she reached out to gently caress her boyfriend's arm, earning a warm look from azure eyes before he returned to his silent musing, though he took her hand in his and clasped them together on the railing as he stared at the Conduit.
Tali caught movement out of the corner of her eye a minute later and turned her head to see a human woman with reddish brown hair in a long charcoal skirt and a black blouse approaching. That was an odd sight, considering how long asari-inspired dresses seemed to almost be a uniform for human women on the Presidium. The colors she wore were as uninviting as the hard look in her blue eyes and the rigidity of her bearing. Still, she seemed familiar, vibrant music coming to mind. Tali looked a bit closer at the eyes that were locked cautiously on her before gasping under her breath. The rigid bearing, the light blue eyes, the familiarity of her...
When the woman gave her a curt nod and turned to stare out over the water ten meters away, Tali squeezed Shepard's hand lightly. He lifted his head to meet her eyes and she stepped aside to reveal what lie behind her. It was his turn to tense with surprise, his hand tightening in hers. He stared at his mother for a few quiet moments and Tali didn't miss the flash of sadness in his eyes before he broke the silence with a low murmur. "I've never seen her look so... shut down. Not even after Mindoir."
Tali nudged him gently with her elbow and gave him a smile she knew he recognized even through the visor. "Go on. I'm sure I'm not the only woman you're good at cheering up."
He nodded slowly and slipped his hand from hers, taking a cautious step forward. Tali watched as he squared his broad shoulders, lightly tugged the hem of his jacket down, and walked forward with the determination he always managed to summon from somewhere.
Quarians were an unusual sight on the Citadel, especially on the Presidium, though Hannah knew better than to assume the female in the lavender-accented suit would be wandering by to pick her pocket. The quarian's suit seemed somewhat familiar, but it was rather well-made and subtly ornamented. If there was such a thing as a rich quarian, she was likely one of them, and certainly not a thief. But she had felt a strange unease when she'd gazed at the silver eyes behind the purple visor. Shaking it off and staring out at the water, she let her mind slip back into the memories of the letters her son had written her over the months of pursuing Saren. She remembered the reassurance she'd felt when he'd described how Kaidan kept him company on sleepless nights, a role the lieutenant had begun to share with the quarian engineer who'd volunteered to postpone her Pilgrimage just to help the Normandy and her crew. Out of all of them, only she had ever communicated, a wordless gift that reassured her that her son had spent his last days content and in the presence of friends. She'd thought about responding, of asking for stories about him, but had never worked up the courage to have her emotions once more ripped free of their imprisonment.
"If you find any fish in that lake, I know a couple of hungry krogan."
So deep was she in her thoughts that she failed to notice the quiet presence behind her until the man spoke. She flinched at the first sound of the deep voice but a scowl quickly curled her lips while she forced herself to relax. She was in no mood to be hit on by some bored diplomat. The man's voice was familiar, however, bringing to mind the first news report she'd heard upon debarking her ship, one that no longer filled her with hope but stabbed her in the gut like an icy blade. "Witnesses report seeing Commander Shepard alive on Omega and the Citadel, but is there any truth to it? Tune in at 1900..."
Blinking back an angry tear, Hannah shook her head. "I'm meeting someone, so please leave me be."
"I know. Anderson can't make it. You'll have to settle for me, sorry."
Hannah felt a inexplicable chill run down her spine, her breath catching in her throat. It took her a moment to swallow and summon the nerve to turn, but she only got as far as the quarian off to the side, who was watching her intently while gloved fingers twisted nervously at her waist. You'd like Tali. She's a sweet girl, reminds me a lot of Haley. Brave and brilliant, though, and she breaks the tension in the Mako with humor even while she's wringing her hands nervously and muttering about my driving under her breath.
Over the quarian's shoulder she saw a bearded human wearing a ball cap and a turian armored in blue staring at her from their spot on a bench. You should hear Garrus and Joker bitching at each other, fighting over who contributed more to the Normandy's design; us, or the turians. I swear, those two have what you could almost call a sibling rivalry. Makes poker night... exciting. Great jokes, though.
Hannah felt her hands trembling on the railing as it all hit her at once. Anderson had set her up to meet the Normandy's old crew. But... who was behind her? Swallowing again, she tried to turn to see the figure in her peripheral vision, but her muscles and her nerve betrayed her. It felt as if her heart stopped when the man took a few steps into her line of sight, giving her a glimpse of broad shoulders, stubble on a strong jaw, thin scars in a strange pattern on his cheek, and... familiar azure eyes.
"My mother, at a loss for words. Now I've seen everything."
The soft, sad smile that accompanied those murmured words broke her.
Tali watched while Hannah's rigid form and face seemed to shatter and the woman collapsed into her son's arms, choked sobs already racking her frame while she buried her face into black wool. Shepard's appearance on Freedom's Progress a few weeks prior had been a shock. She could only imagine how much more overwhelming it was for a mother who'd lost both of her children. Blinking a tear from her eye, Tali smiled and turned to walk over to Garrus and Joker to let mother and son have their privacy.
"Well. Guess our job is done, since she hasn't tried to shoot him or anything." Despite the humor, Joker's voice was unusually subdued, and both he and Garrus were watching the reunion somberly. Not for the first time Tali wondered if there was a member of the former crew that didn't have some sort of issue with at least one of their parents. Shepard, herself, Joker, Ashley, and Liara had all lost one. Wrex had killed his father and Liara helped kill her mother. Now it seemed Garrus had something on his mind as well. She made a note to ask him about it later in private. And to message her father.
"Well, she is a Shepard. You never know," Garrus deadpanned. Tali and Joker chuckled softly, watching while their friend gently rocked his weeping mother from side to side, a bittersweet smile on his lips. "She looked familiar for a moment there, but I can't remember ever seeing a picture of her."
"I know," Tali replied, pondering that as well for a moment. "What's that human expression? 'On the tip of your tongue'?"
"Yeah," Joker answered quietly, watching as Captain Shepard's head finally lifted.
He'd met the former captain of the Einstein once while on Arcturus, and Admiral Sengupta had told him about the day Mindoir had been attacked from his own perspective. His mother had been the officer of the deck when the distress call was received, and though her face had been ashen and her body stiff, she'd summoned the senior officers and relayed all the pertinent information with deadly calm. Despite her easygoing, mischievous exterior, she was all steel on the inside. Or at least, she had been, even when finding her hollow-eyed son at the side of a marine lieutenant where they stood watch over the bodies of her husband and daughter in silence.
This was a side of his mother he had never seen before, and though it pained him to see her so completely overwhelmed, he couldn't help but smile while he held her tightly in his arms. It was his turn to be there while she cried out her pain. How much time had passed with her tears soaking his chest, he couldn't say. And it hardly mattered.
When her sobs changed into hoarse, shuddering intakes of breath he ceased stroking her hair and allowed her to tilt her head up. Seeing her eyes red and puffy and rimmed with tears, her cheeks streaked, throat swallowing painfully, he smiled gently. Wiping a droplet off her cheek with a thumb, he shook his head. "It's a good thing you're off alone on shore leave. You'd ruin the reputation of the Shepard clan if any of your crew saw you."
She did not laugh. Instead, she shook her head slowly and forced a hoarse whisper past the lump in her throat. "Two years. Two years, and not even a word? How could you? I don't give a damn how secret whatever mission you've been on is. You could have told me." Her voice was weak and defeated, and there was only one word that described the expression on her haunted face: betrayed. It struck him like a punch in the gut. His mother, who had survived the loss of her husband and daughter and her son's youthful innocence, had finally found her breaking point.
He felt drained, his stomach clenched in a cold knot. He raised his gaze past her to Tali's gleaming eyes, ever his source of calm and reassurance, but he was unable to keep his own from drifting to his helmsman.
For the first time, he wished he had left Joker to die on that bridge.
Shepard and Miranda had strongly suggested that no one leave the nicer end of Zakera Ward, but Jack and Zaeed had other ideas in mind, leaving Grunt to follow along reluctantly. Though the more affluent end was dull and the suggestion hadn't quite had the weight of an order, he felt uneasy as they approached the loud club. Bright neon lights cast the moving crowd in alternating shadow and light, an intriguing form of chaos, and the bass stirred at something primal inside him. Grunt clenched his fists and stared at the bouncer. Elcor. An immensely strong quadrupedal race from a high-gravity world, but not one bred for war. Still, the young krogan wondered what kind of opponents they would make. Okeer had not included any imprints about the slow-talking, heavily muscled species. He took a step toward the alien but stopped, blinking and forcing his hands to relax. Starting an unprovoked fight would only draw the attention of C-Sec and put him firmly over the line they were already nearly crossing, no doubt drawing Shepard's anger.
"Hey, pup!" Zaeed's voice drew his attention. Grunt looked over to see Jack folding her arms and tapping her foot impatiently while the mercenary stared at him. "The half-naked women and liquor are inside, not out here." Zaeed turned to Jack with a wicked grin. "Present company excepted. Come on."
Grunt nodded slowly and followed, glancing over at the elcor for a moment. Something strange had just happened, but he wasn't sure what. Maybe some ryncol would clarify things. He rubbed idly at a small itch on his developing brow plate.
"Why didn't you tell me?"
His mother's listless murmur broke him from his staring at Joker, who had begun to squirm uneasily in his seat with guilt clearly plastered on his ashen face. Shepard sighed and released his mother from his embrace, taking a step back to lean against the railing and running a hand back through his hair. Joker had been the first one to support him when he'd been given command of the original Normandy. He'd done the same when they were departing Virmire with Kaidan left behind as nothing more than scattered atoms. He'd made an impossible Mako drop onto Ilos. He'd led the Alliance charge during the battle against Sovereign. He'd maneuvered the Normandy to keep it between the escape shuttles and the Collector dreadnought. It was easy to forget that when the man was cooing over leather seats and making jokes. Shepard raised his head and gave Joker a brief smile, pleased to see that it was returned, albeit uneasily. He would talk about his sudden anger with Tali later. Now came the more difficult part, the one that couldn't be solved with a beer, a few minutes of serious words, and some jokes.
He pushed off the railing and took his mother's hand in his, setting his jaw and meeting her tormented gaze. "I couldn't tell you because I wasn't even conscious." He led the way toward his friends and the grass, hoping the walk and a seat might make things easier. He could feel her eyes on him, no doubt narrowed in puzzlement.
"You... were unconscious? For two years?" she asked with a touch of suspicious anger in her voice.
"Technically? Yes." He waved for his friends to stay seated and led his mother toward a nearby tree, helping her down onto the grass to lean against the trunk. While she smoothed her skirt he folded his arms and glanced over at Joker and Tali with a faint smile. "I suppose I'm a zombie."
Hannah's patience was apparently at the breaking point and she shook her head irritably with a flick of an auburn ponytail. "What the hell are you talking about?"
Rather than flinch, he felt a bit of warmth that some of the fire was back in her voice. "Well, I suppose not a zombie, since they're brought to life with magic. In my case, it was two years' worth of experimental procedures and ten kilos of tech." Turning, he saw his mother staring at him with a dangerous impatience in her eyes. He ignored the implied threat. "Apparently when you asphyxiate in vacuum, nearly burn up in the atmosphere, and slam into a snowdrift at terminal velocity, you get pretty banged up."
Hannah practically leaped to her feet, advancing on him with fire in her eyes and clenched fists. "Don't you dare try to bullshit me, A-"
"I was dead." He dropped the levity and fixed her with a hard stare that made her draw up short and blink. "It took two years to put me back together." He grabbed his sleeve and pulled it up to his elbow to reveal smooth skin over his forearm where there had previously been evidence of his exposure to thresher maw acid. "My skin? It's all new, as far as I can tell." He pointed up at the healing scars on his left cheek, then up at the branches and leaves over their heads. "They had to grow new organs, and I was exposed to a lot of eezo when the drive core exploded." He pushed his open palm up in a blue glow and the branches suddenly jolted in an explosion of leaves that slowly rained down on them.
His mother was staring at him in... shock? Horror? He couldn't tell, and the uncertainty chilled him. He swallowed and gazed over at Tali and the gleaming eyes that narrowed slightly in what he knew was a smile, and a beautiful one. He had to admit, it had been reassuring to see the thin lines of Tali's own cybernetic implants when he'd first undressed her. It was hard to feel like a monster when tech helped keep the woman he loved alive.
Dead? That's impossible.
Your son survived Mindoir, Akuze and Elysium. He's the first human spectre. He chased a disgraced one all the way to Ilos and took a Mako through a Prothean-built mass relay. Does 'impossible' mean a damn thing to him?
Hannah's mind fell into stunned silence and she slowly backed up to lean heavily against the tree while she watched a warm smile curve her son's lips. Aside from the three scars on his lip being replaced by some on his cheek, he looked no different than the last time she saw him. There had been something in his eyes a moment ago that reminded her of the weight on his shoulders following the battle with Sovereign, but it was curently gone, and he looked just as he had when she'd seen him shortly before the Normandy was commissioned. Following his gaze, she saw Garrus and Joker looking awkwardly out over the Presidium lake, but Tali was staring right back at her son, the picture of serenity.
At least one person had no doubts about him, but it wasn't his own mother. Hannah blinked at that realization. When had she ever doubted her son before? Anyone who ever had was proven wrong. A psychiatrist she knew hadn't expected him to recover from Mindoir and Akuze. Alliance brass had been skeptical about posting him as XO of their experimental warship. The council and that bastard Udina hadn't believed his story about Saren. A damned sapient dreadnought had mocked him, and it was in pieces.
"The galaxy has a sick sense of humor," she murmured, feeling fresh tears brimming in her eyes while she buried her face in her hands.
"So do I," she heard her son reply, his voice soft but amused while he took one of her hands in his and led her toward the bench. "Garrus, Joker, why don't you two go stop a hanar from proselytizing or something?"
Hannah chuckled weakly and opened her eyes, remembering that particular story. "Big, stupid jellyfish," she muttered, drawing a laugh from Garrus and a small grin from Joker while they rose.
"Your son is more persuasive than we are. Just ask Tali. But we'll try our best."
Hannah noticed her son glaring at Garrus, but the turian was already departing quickly, practically dragging Joker along with him.
"Bosh'tet," she heard Tali mutter, and she looked over to see fingers clasped and writhing on the quarian's lap. Clearly she was missing something, but her head was beginning to throb and her throat still ached. Letting her son guide her to a seat on the bench, she rubbed her temples and closed her eyes.
"Garrus, I'll make you a deal. You bring us back some levo and dextro fruit juice and a painkiller for my mother or I won't pull my punches next time. Oh, and don't forget that threat I made in my cabin, either."
She heard the turian sigh over her son's omni-tool. "Agreed. When you help me on that other matter, I'll swear to end the harassment."
"You'll stop now or I'll beat you over the head with your own rifle and hack your visor to play vorcha pornography," Tali growled. Hannah couldn't help but laugh despite her tightened throat at the banter, finally feeling her lips tugging up into a smile.
"Ouch. First hanar and now vorcha? You're really getting nasty. Shepard's a bad influence on you."
"Keep it up, Garrus, and I'll add elcor to that list."
The mischief in her son's voice was so familiar. Opening her eyes, she saw him grinning down at her.
"All right, fine. But if you try to make me sit through their adaptation of your Shakespeare, all bets are off."
"Amusedly: you don't stand a chance against me." Her son droned out the words in a deep monotone before closing the channel. The sound of him impersonating an elcor was too much. Hannah started laughing and before she knew it, she was nearly doubled over and clutching at her stomach while a strong hand patted her back.
Loud clubs with flashing lights weren't usually his style. Zaeed preferred to drink alone or in small groups of trusted colleagues, not in crowds where one couldn't hear someone sneaking up from behind with a knife. Jack, on the other hand, seemed to prefer to do her drinking with others, and the energy of the club put a wicked gleam in her eyes. Glancing back at Grunt, he snickered. The young krogan was completely out of place in a club mostly filled with humans. Shin Akiba was a human-dominated district of the ward, after all. Still, the pup was lightly nudging people aside instead of lowering his shoulder and ramming through them. Maybe it was a learning experience for the naïve krogan.
"Damn, you and the krogan are slow. Get moving already!" Jack punched the back of a pauldron to urge him toward the bar and shot Grunt a glare. Zaeed only chuckled, but Grunt gave her a wicked grin and stepped up, looming over her and showing his teeth.
"Which of us did Shepard bring with him on Haestrom?"
Jack smirked and folded her arms. "The only one he could find that was stupid enough to follow him. Didn't hurt that you were a walking bullet sponge, either."
Grunt growled. "Watch it, human. I'm a krogan warrior, not a decoy."
"Is your pet krogan giving you trouble?"
The trio turned to see two human men leering at Jack with grins on their lips and alcohol on their breath. Grunt moved instinctively to stand between the female and the intruders but Jack rolled her eyes and slipped to his side, glaring at the men. "If you don't want your teeth rammed down your throat, you should leave. Now."
One swallowed nervously and his smile vanished, but the other only smirked and ran his gaze down Jack's tattooed torso and the thin straps she wore. "What's the matter? You got a thing for giant reptiles?"
Zaeed chortled at the stupidity of the drunk and moved to lean back against a wall, preparing for the show. Grunt's eyes narrowed dangerously and his fingers curled into fists, but Jack grinned wickedly and lunged forward, slamming her knee into an unprotected groin.
After almost two minutes, Tali was worried. Hannah was still laughing, gasping for breath with a red face while she clutched at her ribs as if in pain. Shepard didn't seem concerned, though. He was grinning. That same crooked little amused expression he had when he was climbing over a piece of Sovereign after emerging from the rubble. At the time, when she'd gotten over her joyous shock, she'd thought him insane. Apparently it was hereditary, or a human response to grief that had turned into joy. Sometimes, humans were truly baffling.
Shepard's omni-tool started beeping furiously at him, ending his levity. With a growl he opened the comm. "What?"
"Shepard, there is a problem. I am reading significantly elevated levels of adrenaline from Jack and Grunt, along with an accelerated heart rate." Simulated inflection or not, EDI was not terribly clear.
"Keelah, please tell me you're trying to say that they're fighting," Tali muttered. The alternative was unthinkable.
"That is the most likely scenario. Zaeed's vital signs are somewhat elevated as well."
While Hannah tried to catch her breath and looked on in concern, her son shook his head. "Idiots. Send me the current map and include the locations of the squad." When the hologram of the Citadel sprang to life he took a few seconds to examine it before nodding, apparently satisfied. He tapped a key. "Shepard to Samara. Grunt, Jack, and Zaeed are involved in some trouble in the 1300 block of Shin Akiba. Can you go break it up and get them out of there before C-Sec shoots them? I'm all the way over on the Presidium."
Tali raised her brows at the amusement in Samara's voice. "Of course, commander. Thane and I thought it wise to stay close to them, in fact. We will contact you if we require your assistance."
"Thanks. Shepard out." He closed the channel and sighed, rubbing his temples. "I should have known better than to let a baby krogan hang out with an insane biotic powerhouse and a sociopath."
"What?"
Hannah's alarmed inquiry made Tali wince. She'd forgotten that they'd have to explain just who was providing the ship and funding for their mission.
Though the drell's breathing had a faint rasp to it, he ran alongside her with an easy grace in long strides through the dim orange glow of Shin Akiba's narrow streets. Samara was aware that he was an assassin, but with her oath swearing her to Shepard's mission she saw no need to delve into his past. That was fortunate, for she had been impressed by the recording from his entrance in the Dantius Towers. "Shepard did not sound terribly surprised when he informed us of the trouble. I am unsure how to take that."
Thane only shrugged and vaulted a keeper that had skittered into his path. "I would surmise that chaos is closer to a fact of life than an exception on the Normandy. The ground team is rather... diverse."
Samara nodded her agreement as they rounded a corner and entered a busy thoroughfare. Across the street people were streaming out of a building illuminated in garish neon. Judging by the azure flashes that lit the doorway from within, Jack was hard at work. Samara and Thane sprinted inside, dodging nimbly past panicked citizens, until they entered the main hall. What they saw made Samara shake her head. "It seems I was right." Chaos, indeed.
Between flashes of a strobe they could see twenty or so humans swarming around Jack, Zaeed, and Grunt, with a few turians, two krogan, and an elcor mixed in. An explosion of blue from one of Jack's shockwaves sent four humans flying and six others were bowled aside when Grunt roared and threw a turian into the crowd. Others immediately pounced on him, but the young krogan roared and waded into them with swinging fists and mighty headbutts. Zaeed was doing nothing more than sipping whisky on a stool at the bar, though he lashed out mid-sip with an empty bottle and knocked an approaching young man out cold before calmly returning to his drink.
Jack was holding her own with biotically charged punches and shockwaves, but Samara could tell she was tiring quickly. Her power was very impressive, but she needed conditioning. And assistance, as their krogan opponent was coming up behind her. She readied her self to issue a biotic throw, but when Thane came sprinting out of the shadows she held up. Samara watched as the drell spun and slammed his foot into the krogan's throat, following it with two hard punches to the side of his neck and multiple kicks to the stomach. The krogan doubled over but immediately went into a partial backflip when Thane slammed him with biotic force.
Impressed, Samara waded calmly into the crowd, catching two punches thrown at her with biotically enhanced strength. A hard kick sent one opponent sprawling onto the ground and she launched the other into the wall with a blast of force. Feeling another behind her, she spun and erected a barrier just in time for it to stop a bar stool. Its wielded paused in shock but quickly found himself hauled into the air by two powerful krogan arms. Grunt roared and charged back into the fray, using the man as a battering ram. A few humans were slammed aside, another was knocked to the ground, and the remaining turian found himself bounced off the wall before falling unconscious to the floor.
Samara watched most of their opponents scramble to their feet and flee for the exit. The elcor had apparently withdrawn itself from the melee, standing off to the side by the bar, but when Grunt dropped his improvised battering ram he turned toward it, chest heaving and eyes narrowing. Jack grinned wickedly and leaned back against the wall beside Zaeed to watch the show. But the fight was over. Samara walked toward Grunt, biotics flaring, and Thane did the same from the other side.
"Grunt! Shepard has ordered me to escort the three of you out before Citadel Security arrives."
His icy blue eyes turned toward her and narrowed ominously, but their focus shifted to a place behind her and he snorted. "Too late."
"Hold it! You're all under arrest!"
Samara sighed quietly. Twice in two days would test the limits of even her patience.