"Commander, you've been shot. Twice. You can't just go running off to battle like this," Dr. Chakwas said firmly. "I know you never listen to me, but you need rest. At least 24 hours downtime."

Kat spun around in the doorway of the hospital room where she'd just spent the last three hours being scanned and poked and prodded. She walked back over and shook the doctor's hand. "Thank you. Finally, someone with some fucking sense in their head. I am sorry for all the grief I've caused you over the years, Doc." She put an arm around the startled woman's shoulders. "Any chance you can go up to Council Chambers and convince Councilors Udina and Sparatus that I need rest? They, and a hell of a lot of other people, seem convinced that the only way to stop the war is if I do things. It's really starting to piss me off."

"Have you considered just telling them to fuck off?" a voice asked from across the room.

Kat looked over to see Ryan leaning against the door frame and she grinned. "Of course I have, dearest cousin. But if I did that, they might decide to take away my Spectre status."

"And?"

She huffed in mock indignation as she walked towards him. "And then I'd have to do pesky things like obey rules."

Ryan laughed. "Oh the horror. And since when have you obeyed rules anyway?" He pulled her into a hug. "I'm just glad to see you're okay, relatively speaking."

"Yeah, I'm okay. I'm alive anyway." She pulled back and looked at him. "Wait. Why are you here?"

"Dad-"

"Oh shit. Where is he? Is he okay?"

He gripped her shoulders. "Calm down, Katie. He's fine, again relatively speaking. Just a couple of broken ribs and a broken leg. He was in Solana Beach, visiting the guy who bought the old bar, when the Reapers hit. I'd say he's luckier he made it off-planet really."

"Where. Is. He."

"Probably back at his apartment by now." He rolled his eyes. "I came by to help him get checked out of the hospital and he told me to go help people who actually needed it."

"And you decided I was one of those people?" She glanced over her shoulder as they walked from the room. "See you on the Normandy, Doc!"

He grinned. "Hell no. I was rescuing that poor doctor. Did you see the look on her face? She was fucking terrified of you."

"She's not terrified of me, per se," Kat said after a moment of thought. "She's terrified that one day I'm going to do something so stupid I'll get myself killed, which is probably why she looked terrified just now, because I actually acknowledged her directive to slow the fuck down. First time since I met that I actually listened to the woman."

Ryan put his arm around her shoulders and led her through the maze of hallways towards the elevator. "So, do I want to know why you're wearing one of Jeff's hoodies again? Usually that means you're hiding from something or someone."

She rolled her eyes. "You're so damn perceptive. I hate that."

"I know. It's why I do it. So?"

"I'm hiding something, not from something. Or not exactly."

Ryan crossed his arms as he leaned against the wall of the elevator and waited patiently for her to continue.

"Aside from the fact that my tank top is in a practically indecent state now?" She sighed heavily. "The locations of my newest gunshot wounds are just a little familiar."

"Familiar?" Understanding suddenly dawned on his face. "Wow. That... how the hell are you standing right now? You almost died last time, Katie."

She rolled her eyes. "I'm a magic robot now, remember? It doesn't always work out that way though." She held up her right wrist. "This still hurts like hell every once in awhile and that was close to a year ago."

"Well, we all have to have our flaws, even Wonder Woman." He glanced over at her as the elevator doors opened. "I'm gonna go check up on Dad before I head back to C-Sec, make sure he actually got home okay. You tagging along?"

She shook her head. "Much as I want to, I can't. At this point, if I stop anywhere with booze or a comfy couch, I'll never leave."

"Then you'd better stay away from the bar too," he said with a smirk. He pulled her into another hug. "Just be careful, okay? And don't forget to breathe every once in awhile."