A/N: The full chapter name is "A Good Captain is not Made from Calm Seas." It couldn't all fit, and I thought it would be kind of spoilery for people looking in the chapter menu, but I still wanted to add it.

Jane still hadn't moved or said anything after minutes of silence. Kaidan was probably more concerned for her right now than most other times before. He would have preferred her to be angry, or upset because he at least knew how to deal with that, or it could be motivation for action. He had never seen her petrified before, and it was unnerving.

He had even put his hand on her shoulder, trying to coax her to look at him, but she had no reaction. It was as though he may as well have not even touched her at all.

"Maybe we should get her back to the Normandy," Liara finally said.

"Yeah, I think that would be a good idea," Kaidan said. "Jane?"

"Hmm?," she said, finally looking at her.

"We're going to take you to the Normandy now."

"Okay," she said, as she started moving with Kaidan's guidance, as though she were in a trance.

"I'll shuttle you guys over there," Steve said, as the rest of her crew followed behind them.

It was like Jane wasn't even capable of being aware of her surroundings, replaying the conversation with her mother over and over again in her head. She got flashes of reality here and there. Sitting in the shuttle, barely knowing how she got there. Kaidan helping her get dressed into her pajamas in the bathroom, and helping her go lie down. Talking coming from the upper level, but it was all garbled like she was hearing it through a thin wall.

"Like fucking hell!" - Hannah would put up a fight until her last breath. Still the picture of strength even when faced with death.

"I've enjoyed my life…. I don't want you to feel sad for me." - Even in the end, all Hannah cared about was trying to make sure that Jane could find comfort in knowing that her mother had a fulfilling life.

"I wish I could meet my grandchild." - That was enough to finally start bringing her out of her stupor. The baby almost knowing that its mother needed to be comforted, starting to kick and prod from the inside. Jane ran her hand over her stomach, appreciating the affirmation of life that her child was providing.

"Like fucking hell!," she heard again - Her mother fought until the very end. Jane would too. It was her turn to be the role model. She would grant herself whatever time had passed to be numb, and not feel guilty about her hopelessness, but now was her turn to be the picture of strength. She didn't have to go in guns blazing. She would still be allowed to cry or feel however she was going to feel, but she had to do something. She couldn't just sit there being next to comatose. She had wasted enough of her life to sleep. To feel pain was better than to feel nothing.

"Like fucking hell," Jane muttered out loud as she sat up again.

The people in the upper level of the loft all looked over to her now.

"Jane?" Kaidan said, looking concerned, as he walked over to her, and kneeled on the floor in front of her.

"I think I've wallowed enough. My mother wouldn't have been sitting idly by at a time like this."

"Jane, you're allowed to not be okay, you know."

"I know. I wouldn't say that I'm okay, just -," she said, being cut off by her omni-tool. She looked at Kaidan, wondering what else could have gone wrong.

"Hello?," Jane answered, firmly.

"Jane? This is Steven. Have you heard anything about what's happened?"

"The Orizaba was attacked, I've heard."

"No, I mean we've got word on your mother."

"What?," She said, hopefully.

"She's alive, Jane."

Jane let out a sob, barely able to contain her elation. With how the call with her mother had been cut off, and not hearing anything since, she never would have expected things to have ended well.

"She's been shot, and she's lost a lot of blood, but they're treating her at the Alliance hospital on Terra Nova right now. She was in critical condition when they brought her in, but for now she's alive at least."

Jane hated herself for not being able to stop the sobbing, if only because it was making it hard to hear Hackett's update, but at least it was a sob of relief and not one of mourning.

Kaidan knew that she was in no state to talk at the moment, so he took over the call.

"Do you know what happened, sir?"

"Not yet. We're sending an investigative unit to try to figure things out, but I'm not sure how much they'll be able to find. The Orizaba's been destroyed."

"So how do you even know Hannah's okay?"

"Her security detail had stayed behind with her, I've gotten a small debrief from one of them. They're the ones that got her out. Apparently with the three of them together, they managed to put up a good fight, but there were a lot of attackers. Eventually one of her security members was shot and killed, leaving an opening which is when Hannah was shot. It was just a shot to the shoulder though, which is the only reason she's alive right now. She managed to shoot and kill a few more assailants before finally collapsing, which is when her other guard took her and made a run for it for the last escape pod. They barely managed to get out, but they did, only to see the Orizaba explode as they were entering Terra Nova's atmosphere. Luckily he was able to get some medi-gel onto the wound before she bled out, and called a med-evac team to their landing site immediately. She's been in surgery for about an hour."

"Goddess," they all heard Liara say from the upper level.

"Listen, Shepard. Your mother's a strong woman. I have every reason to believe she'll pull through this. I wish more than anything that I could go there right now, but I have to stay here on Earth and try to figure this mess out. I'm more than willing to grant you extra time if you wanted to go to Terra Nova before heading back to the Citadel. I want you to transfer Hannah back there with you for the time being when she's stable."

Jane had finally started to calm down throughout Hackett's explanations. She looked over to Liara for confirmation. The Normandy was her ship now after all.

"I've already received orders from the council allowing the MWII to investigate as well, with special orders for Kaidan to investigate as a Spectre if he sees fit. We can leave tomorrow," Liara said.

"Okay, Hackett. We'll be off to Terra Nova as soon as possible. Keep me updated if anything changes please."

"Of course, Shepard. Oh, and I've got word on Ada as well. She's shaken up, but other than that, she's fine. Your mother's one hell of a woman, Jane. She managed to pull that off with only one casualty. I think it's safe to say that I can see where you get it from."

"Thanks, Hackett. She's definitely a force to be reckoned with."

"Indeed. Oh, and Shepard, just remember that even though I'm allowing you to go out there, you're still off of active duty for multiple reasons now. I don't want you to go anywhere expecting a fight, do you hear me?"

"Of course not, Hackett. I'm not exactly willing to be taking unnecessary risks right now either."

"Good to hear it. Try to get some rest if you can. I'll keep you posted. Hackett out."

Jane hung up the call, glad for at least having a shred of hope.

"We'll let you try to get some sleep. Please let me know if you need anything," Liara said, while ushering everyone else out of the cabin.

"Thanks, Liara. We will," Kaidan said.

Jane watched everyone as they exited, as Kaidan watched her. There was consolation in seeing her in any state other than catatonic. He still hated that any of this even happened, especially during a time in their lives that should have been among the happiest.

Kaidan went to lie down on his side of the bed, and pulled her down to lie against him, securing themselves comfortably under the blankets. He hugged her to him tightly, offering what comfort he could.

"Are you okay."

"Yeah. I think so. I'm not really sure what came over me."

"You thought you heard your mother die. That shouldn't be easy on anyone. Not even you."

"No. Maybe not. I'm still glad she called though. It was important to have that for both our sakes if the worst still happens."

"Don't think like that right now, Jane. You have to have hope still."

"I know. You're right. I'm just trying to prepare myself for the possibility."

Kaidan couldn't really say anything to that. Hannah's life was still hanging in the balance after all. It wasn't necessarily the worst thing to do. He just didn't want Jane to dwell on anything bad before she really had to.

Jane moved Kaidan's hand lower to feel the baby shifting around. He had quickly come to realise that he had been a little pre-emptive in how upset he was about not feeling the baby move, because of course their child had proven to be quite active already. He had been able to feel it most nights in the last week.

"Such a metaphor," Jane said.

"Hmm?"

"That life will prevail. Even in the midst of death, there is always life," she said, feeling their child move.

Kaidan just kissed her shoulder, not being able to help himself from seeing the parallels.

"I've been playing that call with my mother over and over in my head ever since it was disconnected. There's just something about it that doesn't sit right with me."

"What?," Kaidan asked. As far as he was concerned there was plenty that was said that could apply to that.

"The way the attacker was yelling after getting in. He yelled for Admiral Shepard. What if they were looking for me?"

"You really think they could have been that disorganized?"

"Why not? It's not like every attack in history has been well thought out. They were clearly willing to blow up a ship full of their own people on board. It sounds purposeful, but not smart."

"It's certainly a theory," Kaidan said. "And I think it's one that might be at least worth mentioning to Hackett in the morning."

Jane just nodded. Kaidan was glad to see that she hadn't been as catatonic as he may have thought. She had been processing that entire time, just in a way that was entirely different than she had ever done before. It was still disconcerting, and he'd rather not have to ever see her like that again, but at least he knew that she was still in there, strong as ever.

Jane let out a sad huff.

"What's the matter?"

"What if I've endangered our child, just because of who I am."

"Jane, you can't be thinking like that. This isn't your fault."

"You're right. I know. But if something ever happens to her because someone wants to go after me, I don't think I could ever forgive myself. If I end up being right about this, it's going to be hard enough to forgive myself with what happened to my mother."

"Well then I'll just have to keep saying it until you believe it yourself. This was not your fault."

Jane just nodded silently, hoping that Kaidan's words would sink in. Rationally she knew that she wasn't the one who attacked her mother, but in a lot of ways she felt like she may as well have been responsible for it thanks to the stigma that came with her name.

For now, his words and his warmth would have to be comfort enough. The day had been an exhausting one. One that should have ended on a happy note, but instead ended in turmoil. She willed herself to sleep if for no other reason than to just be done with this day. For the first time in a while her sleep was fitful and filled with nightmares and cold sweats. She had thought she had put this part of her life behind her at least for the most part, but of course, that had been easier said than done.

As she woke in the morning, still tired and weary, she was determined to leave as soon as possible. She would help in preparations, and do what she could if it meant for an earlier departure.

As she made her way down to the loading bay, looking worse for wear, she saw Garrus and Tali with bags of their own. Tali came running over to her, and gave her a tight hug.

"Someone woke us early this morning to let us know what happened. I'm so sorry, Shepard."

"I'm okay, Tali. But thanks. I'm sorry your special time had to be ruined."

"It wasn't ruined. We had our special day, and now we're here to help you, okay. Don't feel bad about that."

"You're coming with us?," Jane asked as Garrus walked up behind them, putting his arm over his new wife.

"Of course, Shepard," Garrus said. "You've always been there for us in our time of need. Besides, Hannah's kind of become a mother to all of us in her own way. We want to be there for her too."

"Not to mention that the MWII's been called in. Garrus and I have decided to take a more active role for now until we figure out what's going on."

"Thank you," Jane said, giving Garrus a hug too.

Liara walked up to the group from behind, and laid a hand on Jane's shoulder gently.

"Wrex and Bakara wanted to extend their sympathies. They left for Tuchanka last night shortly after your call with Hackett. They wanted to make sure that they could maintain order on Tuchanka after news of the attack. Wrex said he wished he could come with us, but with the political climate for the krogan being so questionable at the moment, he doesn't want to lose power now of all times."

Jane nodded in acknowledgement. She would miss him, but that really was the smart choice.

"With Garrus and Tali here, I think we've officially gotten everything we need now. Take off is in 30 minutes."