Detectives Andrea and Kendall are about five hours outside of Armali in a secluded area mostly known for it's vacation homes on the various lake system. They have an address for Dr. Lini out here and hope to find her since she has not been heard from in two days. The sun is setting and most people are in for the evening, the lights from the houses casting dim soft reflections on the water.

"Think it's too late for a house call?" says Andrea as she gets out of the sky car.

"I think if Dr. Lini knew people were looking for her she would excuse the interruption," says Kendall. "Let's walk around the house."

As they walk around the house there is only one light coming from the first floor. In the backyard now Andrea peers into a window but the blinds are drawn and she cannot see anything inside. "Any luck?"

Kendall is at the back door looking in. There is a small slit between the window covering. "I'm not sure, what do you make of that?"

Andrea looks. She sees what looks like a chair leg. The view is obstructed by the window covering and the kitchen table. "Oh shit." Andrea pulls her service weapon.

Kendall plants herself flat against the back of the house and draws her weapon. "What?" she whispers.

"I think someone is in there," Andrea moves aside so Kendall can look.

"I can't see anything," says Kendall."

"I'm going to check around the other side to see if I can get a better view." Andrea heads around the corner toward the front of the home. Kendall follows, "Just watch your step Andrea. I don't want to get blown up."

Andrea stops at a window. "Boost me up."

Kendall clasps her hands together and bends down with on leg forward, knees bent. Andrea places her foot into her hands and jumps with her other leg. Kendall keeps her steady.

"Oh shit."

"Would you stop saying that."

"It's Dr. Lini. She is tied to a chair and it looks like she is bleeding from her side."

"What else do you see? Any wires or explosives?"

Andrea looks. "I can't see anything. "I'm going to break the window."

"No! Don't you dare. It could be wired."

"We can't just leave her in there."

"Is she alive?"

Andrea watches Dr. Lini's chest. "I…I think so, it's hard to tell but I think I see her chest rising and falling."

"Okay come down." Kendall bends her knees lowering Andrea. "We need to call for back up."

"We are five hours away from Armali what backup?"

"I'm calling," Kendall says sternly as she dials her omni-tool.

"Hey Kendall, what's going on?"

"Kensi, I need your help." Kensi is the head of the bomb specialization unit who is still working at the warehouse they took earlier. "Andrea and I are outside of Dr. Lini's vacation home. She is tied up inside. She looks to be bleeding. We need to enter the house but backup is too far away. Recommendations?"

"Uh, hang on." There is some background noise. "You are on speaker Kendall, Meryl is here."

"Where is Dr. Lini?" says Meryl.

Kendall places her omni on speaker. She nods to Andrea.

"Kendall helped me up to a window. She is very pale, there is a pool of blood from a wound that looks to be on her side. It looks like she is still breathing, but it is hard to tell."

"Can you break through that window?" says Kensi.

"Yes."

"Okay don't do that. Not yet. Have you checked all entrances to the house?" says Kensi.

"No not yet. Most of the windows are covered."

"Okay," says Kensi, "Meryl is calling the local police to see if they have anyone that knows explosives. In the meantime, check the entrances and let me know what you find."

"Okay." Kendall and Andrea check the entrances. All of the other windows are covered and there is no getting into the front or back door without opening them.

"We have just the one window where we can see in," says Kendall.

"Okay," says Kensi, "sounds like a trap to me. You need to sit tight."

"We can't do that!" says Andrea, "Dr. Lini will die if we don't get to her."

"I need you to hang on Andrea. I need to check some things to see how I can help you from here."

"Okay."

"I need about five minutes."

"She might not have five minutes."

"If you break that glass and it triggers something you all die," Kensi is firm in her reply.

Kendall looks at Andrea. She waits until her fellow detective is looking at her, "We will wait to hear from you Kensi."

"Boost me up again," says Andrea.

"Why?"

"I am going to tap on the glass to see if I can get her attention."

"No. That might set something off."

Andrea grunts in frustration as she paces back and forth. "Then boost me up and let me check on her."

Kendall studies her, "No tapping the window."

"I know. I don't want to blow up Kendall."

"Okay." Kendall hoists her up again. "Anything?"

"Hang on. Okay, let me down."

"Well?"

Feet firmly on the ground Andrea says, "She is definitely still alive. I saw her head move. We have to get in there Kendall."

"We need to wait." Kendal checks the time. Two minutes have gone by and it feels like a lifetime.

Finally Kendall's omni-tool beeps. She picks it up immediately, "Go ahead."

"Okay. You have thermal sensors on your omni right?" says Kensi.

"Yes."

"Use it at the pane. Move the omni around the frame. Show me what you are doing."

"Okay." Andrea turns on the vid and thermal imaging functions. She is boosted up once more. She moves the omni-tool around the frame. Something lights up, it looks thin enough to be a wire. "You see that?" says Andrea.

"Yes," says Kensi. "You are going to have to cut through the window pane and cut that wire."

"Oh is that all?"

"You can do it Andrea."

The asari looks down at Kendall, "You got me?"

"I got you."

Andrea turns on the function to cut through glass. "It's a good thing I just updated my omni-tool."

"Cut slowly," says Kensi watching everything. "Meryl says local police and emergency services are on the way."

"Any bomb experts?" says Andrea hopeful.

"Afraid not."

"Okay, starting the cut." Slowly and very methodically Andrea cuts through the window pane.

"Good that's really good Andrea keep it up," says Kensi watching her every cut on the vid screen.

Andrea finishes cutting the pane. She taps it and it falls to the floor inside the house. She looks at Dr. Lini whose head starts to move up.

"Hang on Dr. Lini. We are trying to get to you." Dr. Lini can't quite lift her head enough to look at Andrea outside the window. Her head falls forward as if she has fallen unconscious.

"Andrea, concentrate," says Kensi.

Andrea wipes her brow. She brings up her thermal imaging. She feels along the crack of the window casing for the wire. She finds it and lifts it slightly with her fingers.

"Okay, nice work Andrea. Now cut it," says Kensi.

Andrea turns on the cut function. Watching the thermal image she places the sharp end just on the wire where her fingers are holding it. Carefully she cuts. She feels a hot sting but does not move her fingers until the wire is completely cut. When the wire is cut the thermal imaging no longer picks up an image. She places her finger in her mouth to help stop the bleeding, she nicked herself. "Got it."

"Great job," says Kensi.

"Is it safe to enter the house?"

"Run the thermal scan again."

Andrea does as she is told. Nothing comes up on the scan.

"Should be safe."

"Should be?"

"Based on the explosive materials found in the warehouses, we know they like to use a certain wire that runs hot. This allows for faster detonation. If there is no image on your thermal scan, you should be clear."

Andrea takes a deep breath in and out. "Okay, I'm going in." Andrea breaks the window and pushes the glass away from the frame. "Kendall push up on three. Three, two, one."

Kendall lifts her hands up that are holding Andrea's foot. She hears a thud and a moan.

"You okay?"

"Yeah." Andrea makes her way to Dr. Lini. She checks for a pulse. "She is still alive, but barely."

"I hear emergency services," says Kendall as loud as she can so Andrea can hear her.

Andrea unties Dr. Lini who slumps forward. Andrea slowly sets her down onto the floor so she is lying on her back. "Dr. Lini can you hear me? Dr. Lini, my name is Andrea. I am a Detective, I am here to help you."

"Andrea?"

"Yes Kensi."

"Be sure to check the doors before you let emergency services in and the areas in front of the doors in case there is a pressure point set up."

"Pressure point?" Andrea is not sure what she means.

"You step on something to trigger it. Run your scan along the floor by the doors."

"Will do."

Andrea quickly checks the front door and for any thermal images. Nothing shows up. "Okay, did not find anything so I am opening the front door."

Kendall moves at the front of the house keeping her distance from the door. She holds her breath.

Andrea takes a deep breath in then out. She slowly places her hand on the door handle. "Here I go." She swallows. She turns the knob. She opens the door. Nothing happens. Andrea lets out the breath she didn't realize she was holding. "I'm still here. Moving back to help Dr. Lini. Kendall I need your help."

Kendall enters the home to see Andrea by Dr. Lini's side.

"Get some towels to help stop this bleeding."

Kendall quickly moves into a bathroom where she grabs some towels. She runs back to Andrea and hands them to her.

Andrea's bloody hands move from Dr. Lini's side. She grabs the towels and places them on the wound.

"Dr. Lini? Dr. Lini can you hear me?" says Kendall. She locks eyes with Andrea. "Her pulse is very weak."

The sound of sirens gets louder. "I will go wave them down," says Kendall, "You okay with her?"

Andrea nods.

Kendall runs out and waves at the emergency vehicles approaching.


Kaya and Little A are in bed eating ice cream from the same carton with two spoons. They have been snacking between their bouts of making love. Kaya has been insatiable and Little A has been all too happy to comply.

"Hmm I could get used to this," says Little A.

"When do you have to go back to work?"

"Not for another three days," she has a great big smile on her face.

"That's great."

"What about you?"

"Not for two weeks."

"Two weeks? Are you serious?"

"Yeah why?"

Little a swallows a bite of creamy ice cream. "I have never known you to go two weeks without working."

"Ha ha," Kaya nudges her with her shoulder.

"Do you have plans? Maybe we should go somewhere before I return to work."

"What about Mia?"

Little A swallows another bite. Kaya leans in and kisses the side of her lip. "You missed a spot."

Little A smiles, "Well maybe tomorrow we can spend the day together. Mia will need her rest tomorrow and I have a feeling she will be talking to either Dava or Raina and that will probably wear her out."

Kaya nods. "Has Raina spoken to you about her feelings?"

"No, are you kidding? She is just as bad as Mia except she doesn't know it. At least Mia knows that she shut us out and she is sorry for it. Raina is just clueless, she doesn't realize she is doing the exact same thing."

"It's a shame."

"What?"

"I don't mean to put your oldest sister down."

"But?"

"But Raina acts like her pain is more than yours or Eva's or your parents. Just seems hypocritical to me."

Little A sighs. "Mia said some pretty awful things to her Kaya."

"I know. I shouldn't have said anything, I'm sorry."

Little A pats her knee, "You are entitled to your opinion but I admit I do feel defensive when you talk about Raina or any of my sisters like that. I know I shouldn't be that way."

"I don't say it to upset you Aethyta."

"I know." Little A takes another bite.

"I saw the pain you went through when Mia stopped talking to your family. How you kept calling her and calling her until she finally answered you. I saw what that did to you. What it still does to you."

"Just makes me wonder what would have happened if the rest of my family actually kept calling her too. Maybe she wouldn't have gotten addicted to red sand."

Kaya sets her spoon down and looks at Aethyta. "Do you really mean that?"

Little A shrugs her shoulders, "I don't know, I guess not. I mean Mia is an adult after all. It's her fault she got addicted. I just know the whole shutting out thing was because she couldn't ask for help or didn't know how."

"But she is asking now right? That says a lot, doesn't it?"

"Yes which makes me very happy. I just hope when Mia goes back to Earth that she keeps the lines of communication open with all of us. I hope she does that and keeps off the sand."

Kaya takes her hand and squeezes it, "I hope so too."

"What about you?"

"What about me?"

"Tell me about your workshop."

"It was good." Kaya takes a bite.

Little A furrows her brow when she notices Kaya won't look at her. "I was kind of hoping for specifics."

Kaya swallows then takes another bite.

"Kaya?"

Kaya dips her spoon in once more but Little A stops her hand with her own. "Kaya why won't you look at me?"

When Kaya does look at Little A her eyes are tearing up.

"What is it?"

"Um," she clears her throat and sets her spoon into the half eaten carton. "Professor Beatty offered me a job." She looks at Little A, "It's on Palaven."

Little A slowly sets her spoon down. She feels like she has been hit in the gut. "What did you tell him?"

"I told him I would think about it. I wanted to talk with you first."

Little A drops her spoon into the carton then gets out of the bed and grabs her robe. "So you thought what? We would fuck and I would just follow you?"

"Aethyta!"

"Is that what this was Kaya?" She clenches her hands into fists.

"No. It's not like that and I don't appreciate being insulted like that. Don't ruin a perfectly good evening."

Little A feels the sting of tears in her eyes. "I think you have already done that Kaya." Little A's voice trembles a little.

"Aethyta," Kaya gets out of bed.

Little A raises her hand to stop her, "Stop Kaya. Maybe you didn't plan this I don't know, all I know is I feel like you have taken advantage of me. You could have told me this before we started making love in the shower."

"Well excuse me for wanting you." Kaya grabs her robe and angrily wraps it around her naked body. "You know me better than that Aethyta. I would never use you like that and I resent the implication."

"Then why didn't you tell me!" she yells.

Kaya opens her mouth but then closes it. She takes a deep breath in and out as she sits on the edge of the bed. "I wanted our reunion to be perfect. I missed you so much; I actually pictured us making love all night just like this. I wanted this Aethyta, I wanted you. I just didn't want to upset you. I…I wasn't ready to have this conversation."

Little A's hands are shaking. She keeps them fisted at her sides. She studies Kaya. After a minute of tense silence she says, "You have already made up your mind haven't you?"

Kaya does not look at her.

Little A is not sure what to do. She feels like she is just frozen in place. She wants to scream and yell at Kaya. How dare she make love to her without telling her this? This changes everything. She can't help but think of her conversation with Dava about how Kaya is pulling away. She didn't think she was pulling away when she picked her up at the transport station. Everything has been great, just like old times. But now, now as she looks at the woman she loves she knows it's over.

Little A takes a deep breath in and out. The shaking in her hands has stopped. She sits next to Kaya. She takes her hand in her own and says, "I'm going to miss you."

Kaya starts to cry.

Aethyta wraps her arms around her and holds her knowing it will be one of the last times.


"Hey you okay?" Jess sees Raina in the family room sitting in the dark. Only the clock light from the kitchen illuminates her way toward the psychiatrist. They are in their own home again now that Linda and the others were apprehended. "Raina?"

"Sorry did I wake you?" She wipes her cheek before looking at Jess.

"Hey, what's going on?" Jess sits next to her on the couch.

"It's nothing."

"Raina, it's obviously not nothing."

Raina shakes her head, "I'm just thinking."

"About talking to Mia?"

"Among other things."

Jess takes Raina's hand, "Can you tell me?"

Raina sighs. "I keep thinking about Linda."

Jess furrows her brow, "Linda?"

Raina looks at her. It's a look that says seriously?

"Oh yeah right Linda. The asari who you thought…" she stops. Raina looks away. "You blame yourself for not knowing she lied to you?"

"I should have known better."

"Honey you met the girl one time, well two if you count finding her in the bushes outside your office."

"I just don't know how I could have been so utterly fooled by her. I even had strong feelings when I found her."

"What kind of feelings."

"Pain mostly and anger."

"Well I suspect those feelings were spot on honey."

Raina looks at her.

"I mean it is quite clear that there is something wrong with that asari. If she told you that her mother beat her it was probably her sick way of getting back at her. So I think that her pain and anger is real, she is just handling it poorly, very poorly to say the least."

"I guess."

"Are you questioning your ability to sense things?"

"It's hard not to. I have never doubted my feelings before."

"I don't think you should start. Like I said, you probably sensed things from her accurately."

Raina sighs, "Then I guess I am just a bad psychiatrist. Glad we cleared that up."

Jess squeezes her hand. "A young asari who is very angry at her mother sought your help. You did what anyone else would do in your position. You cared for her and tried to get to the bottom of it. Your patients are lucky to have you Raina."

Raina smiles a little, "I appreciate you saying that."

"But you don't believe me?"

Raina wipes her cheek as a tear streaks down. "I think I have lost my confidence Jess and I don't know how to get it back. I don't know," she shakes her head, "just when I think to myself that I can do this job, I am helping people and making a difference I get these thoughts in my head that I am not good at this and should do something else."

"Like what?"

"I have no idea. I don't even know what I want any more, I feel so lost."

"Do you think this has to do with your issues with Mia?"

Raina sighs, "Probably."

"Maybe things will look clearer after you speak to her."

Raina nods a little as she wipes another tear. "Do you think I am selfish Jess?"

"What? No. Why would you ask me that?"

Raina looks at her, "Because when it comes to my sister I feel like I have been hurt the worst and as I have been thinking about it I wonder if I am just a very selfish person who doesn't practice what she preaches which makes me a hypocrite."

"You listen to me." Jess takes both of Raina's hands. "We all go through periods of selfishness. As a whole no you are not selfish, far from it Raina, very far from it. I just think this stuff with Mia has built up over the years that you need to release it honey. It is eating you up inside and you need to talk to her and let it go."

"I'm scared."

"Of what?" Jess cups her cheek so Raina will look at her.

"That I will lose my temper and do nothing but yell at her."

"Maybe that is what you need to do."

Raina looks away.

"I'm serious. It's not like you are going to stop being sisters if you speak your mind Raina. Mia is a big girl she can handle it." Jess thinks back to when Mia was drunk at the mark shop. She wonders if she is wrong, maybe Mia can't handle it.

I'm not so sure."

Jess sighs, "Don't you see that you are protecting her even now? That is not selfishness."

Raina gives her a confused look.

"By not talking to Mia you are protecting her at least you think you are. You think losing your temper is a bad thing and I say it is necessary. She hurt you a great deal Raina. You need to deal with the pain and you have an opportunity to do just that. Not a lot of people get that option." Jess wipes a tear from Raina's cheek, "All I know Raina is that you are one of the most intelligent people I know. You are going through a rough patch, that's it. Linda is a conniving little varren. Don't let one bad patient get the best of you. What would you say to yourself if you were your own patient?"

Raina squeezes Jess' hand. "I would probably tell her what you have told me. It's not my fault. I did the best that I could."

"Well there ya go."

"There is a difference between saying something and feeling it Jess."

"Then say it enough so that you do feel it Raina. Don't let a little punk who gets her kicks hurting people beat you. She is not worth it. She can rot in hell for the pain she has caused, the lives she has taken."

Raina looks at Jess, "Rot in hell huh?"

Jess smiles, "Yes, a thousand times yes."

Raina's smile fades.

"What can I do?"

Raina looks at her. She lifts her hand and cups Jess' cheek. "You are doing it and I love you for it." She leans in and kisses Jess fully on the lips.