A/N: thanks for the lovely comment and new follow :)

Lucy was both annoyed and bored. Every plan she'd made before the Normandy docked at the Citadel had fallen through. Her uncle had been delayed in meeting them because of some Alliance emergency he wouldn't go into detail about. After they'd turned the Normandy over to the Alliance for retrofitting, Joker had flown off to Arcturus to help his father and sister move. And the rest of the crew had all gone their separate ways the moment the ship had docked. The only one still on the station was Thane, who was temporarily staying with Kolyat.

Even the few days Lucy had planned to spend alone with Zaeed, the first time they would have been truly alone in months, had gone to hell. He'd received an urgent message in the middle of the night about Vido. She honestly wouldn't have cared at all, except he hadn't actually told her he was leaving until he was already long gone. She'd woken up to find a message from him, explaining what was going on and saying he'd be back in a few days at most.

In the four days he'd been gone, she'd made enough cookies, cakes, and bread, she could have started her own bakery. She was getting worried because she hadn't heard a word from him. And every time she'd tried to call Hackett, his yeoman would tell her he was busy and to call back later. Lucy swore if she received the same response the next time, she was going to reach through the communicator and strangle the woman.

Inter-Relay Text Chat

Location: Unable to Determine

From: Shadow Broker

To: Lucy Shepard

14:37 SB: Where are you?

14:40 LS: It's customary to begin a conversation with some form of 'hello,' Liara.

14:41 SB: Hello. Where are you?

14:42 LS: Coming up on my apartment block. I had lunch with Thane and Kolyat.

14:42 Connection Has Been Lost.

"Oi, Hackett. She's waking up."

Lucy blinked hard a few times before fully opening her eyes, and immediately regretted it as she was blinded by bright overhead lights. She slowly turned her head to look at her surroundings, recognizing the room as being in one of the hospitals on Arcturus. Though she'd managed to avoid staying overnight herself when Tony had broken her hand, she'd visited Joker there a few times when they were in high school.

"Why am I here?" she asked in a hoarse whisper as she looked at the two men sitting on either side of her bed.

"Oh, we thought this was a great place for a family vacation," Zaeed said, his sarcasm doing nothing to hide the worry in his eyes.

Lucy rolled her eyes and turned toward her uncle.

"We thought Arcturus would be safer than the Citadel," he said, not bothering to hide his own concern.

"No, I mean why am I in a hospital for the second time in less than two weeks?"

Zaeed raised an eyebrow. "You don't remember?"

She slowly shook her head. "Last thing I remember was pausing the chat I was having with Liara to type in the code for our apartment. What happened?"

"The Illusive Man..." He clenched his jaw for a moment before continuing. "Someone broke into our place while you were out and set a trap, wired explosives to the front door. When you opened it..."

"I guess that explains why everything hurts," she said, wincing as she slowly sat up more fully in the bed. "How d'you know it was Cerberus? Could have just as easily been Tony, or Vido."

"No, it was definitely Cerberus. Tony may want me dead, Joker too probably. But you..." Zaeed shook his head. He didn't need to say it; she knew what he meant. "As for Vido, it's not his style. Otherwise, he'd have blown up every safe house I have years ago."

"What a comforting thought," Hackett muttered.

Dr. Chakwas came in then, preventing an argument between Zaeed and Hackett. "I'm glad to see you're awake, Shepard," she said with a grim smile as she began doing a scan. "I've seen you after you've taken a beating on the battlefield, but nothing like this, even after the Battle for the Citadel. You're lucky to still be in one piece."

"How bad is it?" Lucy asked quietly.

"Had it been anyone else, we'd likely be planning their memorial service. But for you, no major burns to speak of; I just took out a lot of shrapnel. A few weeks' rest and you should be just fine." She looked sternly at Lucy. "And I do mean rest. Relax. Don't even think about going on anymore missions."

Lucy frowned. "I hadn't planned on it."

"Good. Revenge can wait," the doctor said as she walked to the door. "I'll check on you again in a few hours."

Lucy looked again at her husband and her uncle, trying without success to read the odd expression on both of their faces. "Okay let's try this again. What makes you so absolutely positive it was the Illusive Man? And what the hell did the doc mean by revenge can wait?"

"You... we... weren't the only ones who were targeted," Zaeed said after a moment.

"There were others? What do you mean we?"

"Liara warned me just in time, the message I'd gotten from her wasn't actually from her. It was a goddamn trap set by the Illusive Man. Everyone else who was on the suicide mission was a target as well."

"I guess that's what Liara was trying to say when she sent me that chat, tried to warn me not to go home, probably. Is anyone... did everyone escape?"

Zaeed hesitated before he said, "Yes and no."

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?"

"The crew is mostly fine; not much worse than after the fight on the Collector base. Ours was the only place rigged to explode."

"Okay... so what's the no part?"

"Couple of the crew weren't targeted directly; the Illusive Man went after their families instead."

Lucy paled. "Joker?"

Zaeed nodded as he gently squeezed her hand. "The transport he and his dad and sister were on was sabotaged and crashed. He's... well, like I said, about the same as after the Collector base. And Hilary's fine. But their dad didn't make it."

Lucy threw her head back on the pillow to keep the tears that were threatening to fall at bay. "Are they safe now?" she asked around the lump in her throat.

"Last I heard, yeah. Feron picked them up. They're on their way to Vancouver."

"Anyone else? You said..."

"Miranda's sister, her family was killed; Jacob's mother too. Not a damn clue where any of the three of them are though."

She turned to Hackett. "You weren't a target, were you?"

"Not that I know of, no. But I haven't been home in... days. I've been sleeping in my office, when I could get five minutes' peace."

"Why?"

He shook his head. "Nothing for you to worry about. You said you didn't want to have anything to do with the Alliance anymore, remember?"

She sighed. "Fine."

He frowned at his omni-tool as a message came in. "I'm sorry, Lucy, but I'm going to have to go back to my office for awhile." He gently kissed the top of her head as he stood. "Be good. Rest. I'll be back later."

From: Lucy Shepard

To: Multiple Recipients

Subj: Check-In

I know Zaeed already sent one of these out, but just... humor me, okay? Please, respond to this as you're able.

I am... so so sorry. This is entirely my fault. Shut up, Zaeed, yes it fucking is. If I hadn't decided to shut out the Illusive Man, this wouldn't have happened.

Please, everyone stay safe. Stay on your guard. This isn't over, not by a long shot. He will come after us again; he won't stop until we're all dead.

Everyone check-in every once in awhile too, just to make sure we're all still kicking.

Again, I'm sorry.

-Shepard