A/N: So I finally stopped being lazy and wrote in some crew interactions, which was quite fun to do. This chapter is a little short, but it sets up the next one, which gets the plot ball rolling again.

So anyway, happy reading, and tell me what you think!

**Chapter 12: Career Paths**

Tali watched Shepard show the two kids around the shuttle bay, who were both wide-eyed at the sight of weapons, armor, and military vehicles.

The tour had gone quite well, and was an experience that made it difficult for Tali to not burst into laughter every five minutes.

On Deck One, Maddy had pressed her face up against the fish tank, informing the Commander that it wasn't a good idea to have fish on a warship in the usual expert tone that children adopt when telling an adult what's what, to which Shepard replied that he would take her advice quite seriously, shooting a grin at Tali.

After managing to get Maddy to stop jumping on the bed, they'd moved down to the CIC. Maddy had sat in the empty pilot seat beside Joker, who was grumpily directing engineers on how to fix "his" ship. She pressed as many buttons as she could before being yelled at by the pilot, but she seemed indifferent to any scolding. She and Ian had stood on the Galaxy Map's small platform, both of them striking a commanding pose, which had made Traynor collapse in a fit of laughter.

Next they went to the Crew Deck, where Maddy opened every cupboard in the kitchen, the crew watching with an amused expression. A warship rarely housed children, and the sight of one exploring the Normandy was a unique experience indeed.

They went into the med-bay, where Chakwas showed them some equipment and told them about some of the more outrageous injuries she'd had to patch up during their campaign against the Reapers. They stopped by the Main Battery, where Garrus began to explain what he did in there all the time, but Maddy quickly stopped listening and began to climb around the guns, earning a death glare from both Garrus and her brother for messing up the turian's work period. Garrus was usually easy going, but if someone disrupted his calibrations he seemed to acquire his old stick up the ass.

Next was Engineering, where Tali took over as Shepard was at a loss as to how much of the ship operated. She showed them the consoles and the guts of the Normandy, the grand finale being the Drive Core, which made the pair of them stare at the glowing orb in awe.

Now they were on Deck Five, where Ian lost his calm aura and began to excitedly ask about all the different weapons and combat gear stowed around the armory.

She heard the elevator open behind her, and someone came to stand beside her, watching the spectacle before them.

"Can you tell me how my son has managed to look like he just escaped a dog fight?"

Tali jumped a little, realizing that it was Hannah. She supposed that was a good thing—Tali had been meaning to talk to the woman anyway; now seemed as good a time as any. Still, the thought made her nervous. She hardly knew Shepard's mother, and Hannah held herself with the same easy confidence and somewhat intimidating appearance that her son did, though there was a touch of warmth in her azure gaze.

"Tali?"

She was startled out of her thoughts, mouth trying to push her entire sentence out at once. "He sort of got into a fight with Garrus but it isn't serious they don't usually fight like this but something came up that—"

The woman patted

her arm, stilling her verbal diarrhea, for which Tali was grateful. "Relax, honey. This isn't an interrogation."

"Sorry," she murmured. "I just—can I talk to you?"

"Of course." she said warmly.

Her hands began to knot themselves as she spoke haltingly. "Well... do you... have any problems about—about Shepard and I? I mean, we're getting married and you barely even know me."

"But it seems that John certainly does." Hannah replied, and Tali looked at her. "I can see how much he loves you, and he tends to hide that kind of thing pretty well. That man is far too introverted for his own good."

Tali laughed. "He is," she agreed. She couldn't count the number of times that he'd hid his doubts or fears in order to keep the crew confident. "But, what about you? Are you... okay with it?"

Hannah smiled at her. "As long as he's happy and you're good to him, I'm okay with it."

"You don't care that I'm a quarian?"

Hannah laughed. "I'm not the one marrying you, am I? The only person that should care about what race you are is John, and I'm pretty sure he doesn't."

It was Tali's turn to laugh, but it held little humor. "Keelah, I wish you'd met my father. Maybe you could've knocked some sense into him."

"He wouldn't approve?"

She snorted. "He probably would've tried to shoot John. Not because Shepard is a bad person or anything," she continued hastily when she saw Hannah's raised brow. "But because he isn't some stuffy Admiral. Or a quarian. Or even a technician, for that matter."

Hannah laughed. "His mother is a stuffy Admiral, though. I'm sure that has to count for something."

"I didn't mean—I mean... I'm not saying—"

"Slow down. I'm just kidding." she said gently.

She took a deep breath. "I'm sorry. I just... I didn't know what to expect. About you, I mean."

"I suppose meeting the Savior of the Galaxy's mother for the first time would be a little intimidating." Hannah said, smiling a little, which Tali shyly returned.

"What about Admiral Raan? You two seem close. Have you told her?"

"Not yet, but she probably knows about Shepard and I anyway. I don't think she'd have a problem with it."

"Any other family?" Hannah asked delicately. She saw the eyes behind the mask darken slightly.

"Just the Normandy crew. My mother died when I was little, and my father was killed in a geth experiment." she shook her head, voice bitter. "Such a stupid waste. If he'd held off for just another year, he'd be standing on Rannoch right now." she laughed a little. "Maybe he would've liked John better if he'd seen him reclaim our world from the geth."

Hannah smiled. "I remember getting the word about that. 'Commander Shepard reclaims the quarian homeworld from the geth.' Now I see what his motivation was." she added, grinning at Tali.

She blushed. "I suppose I may have been a part of that."

Hannah touched her arm. "You seem like a good person, Tali. I'd like to get to know you better." she said, a little shyly.

"Me too."

A fit of giggles echoed in the Shuttle Bay, and they both looked over to see Maddy's freckled face covered by an oversized Alliance helmet, red curls sticking out of the bottom. Shepard looked to be trying his best not to laugh, lips twitching furiously.

"Th' Great Maddy MacLaine, Savior o' the Citadel!" she yelled, running around Shepard, who finally burst into laughter.

"Keelah, she's adorable." Tali whispered, walking away from the MacLaine house, arm and arm with Shepard. They'd walked the two kids back to their mother, who thanked them for returning them safely and letting them tour the ship.

Maddy had insisted that she keep the helmet, which Shepard let her. The girl had hugged him goodbye, and Ian had shook his hand, eyes excited with everything that he'd just seen. Then, surprising Tali, Maddy had latched her arms around her waist.

"Ye should marry Shepard. He doesna seem quite sae sad wi' you around." she had said, grinning up at Tali.

Shepard had rubbed the back of his neck, cheeks warming as he told her to go inside already.

She smiled as she remembered it, hugging Shepard's arm a little more tightly. "She's certainly something." he agreed.

"Do you know anything about that scar she has?" Tali asked. She'd noticed the jagged tissue running down the girl's cheek as soon as she'd seen her, but Tali hadn't wanted to ask about it.

Shepard nodded, sobering. "The Reapers. They attacked their home, killed their father."

She felt her chest tighten with empathy. She knew all too well what it was like to lose a parent to an ancient enemy.

Shepard suddenly stumbled, shoulder bumping into a nearby building. He hissed in pain, hand clutching at his knee.

"Are you alright? Where's your cane?" she asked, anxiety flaring. He was leaning heavily against the wall, teeth gritted.

"Fine. My knee locked, is all. I just did too much today."

She didn't bother mentioning that it wasn't even lunch time and he was already crippled—the look on his face told her that he'd figured that out. He slid down the wall, coming to sit painfully on the ground, his legs carefully stretched out in front of him.

She sat down beside him, handing resting on his bad leg, which was slightly bent. "You have been pretty busy since the Normandy got here. You'll just have to slow down a little."

He sighed, rubbing his face. "Jesus, I don't want to. I'm tired of not being able to move." he looked over at her, blue eyes dark. "If I had to run to save your life right now, I couldn't do it. I can't... God, you don't know how much that bothers me." he snorted suddenly. "Not bother. What a dumb word. I absolutely hate it. My whole life has been built on protecting the people that I love, and now I can't even do that."

"You're an idiot."

He looked at her, a little surprised at the sudden insult. "What?"

"You heard me," she said, anger flaring. "You push and push yourself until you can barely move, then get angry because you can't do your job. Just calm down for a minute. You won't be able to heal if you keep stressing your body to its limits. Besides, when the medical facilities and equipment become available, you'll be able to get your hand and leg fixed."

"Maybe, but even then I won't have complete functionality. I'll still get stiff, and my bones will still hurt. I probably wouldn't even pass specs to get into the Alliance anymore."

"Keelah, so what? No one's asking you to save the galaxy again; you've already done that." she wrapped her arms around him, visor pressing into his shoulder. "Just relax, and get better, okay?"

He laughed, hand brushing down the veil covering her head. "I may need a little help with the relaxing part."

"Oh no. I'm sick enough already. You'll have to wait." she said. As if in answer to her voiced thoughts, she sneezed.

He laughed. "I think that's the first time you've refused to have sex with me."

"Egotistical jackass," she muttered. "Come on," she began, getting to her feet and offering him a hand. "I haven't had any proper breakfast yet."

"Ask nicely and I might."

"Fine. Get up by yourself." she said, raising a challenging brow and crossing her arms.

"You're evil, woman."

"Hungry?" Hannah asked her son, amused. He was practically inhaling his food, a concentrated look on his face. He looked up from his plate, swallowing.

"Beating the shit out of people is hard work. Especially ugly turians." John said, grinning.

Garrus began to argue with him about who was harder to fight, and she smiled down at her food. Hannah had decided to eat breakfast with her son and his crew, which was always a far more interesting experience than a quiet meal aboard the Orizaba.

She looked around the table at his crew, who were probably the oddest group of people she'd ever seen.

Kasumi was whispering conspiratorially to Tali, and whatever she was talking about had the girl squirming uncomfortably in her seat. Jack, Grunt and Zaeed seemed to be in a deep conversation about the training session that they'd all be participating in tomorrow, and what moves they should teach the students first.

The asari, Liara, was talking quietly to a Prothean—whose very presence boggled Hannah's mind—named Javik, who had a stern expression on his alien features.

Kaiden, Cortez and Jacob were listening to a dirty joke that James was telling, faces switching from amusement to disgust and back again with the flow of the story.

Miranda was working quietly on her omni-tool, a slight frown on her face. The woman never seemed to stop working, even among friends.

Samara was speaking to Chakwas, face serene and calm. The three engineers were discussing the repairs that needed to be made to the Normandy.

All in all, John's crew appeared quite happy, and not for one second did they ever seem to take notice of the difference in race, gender or color, making Hannah's smile widen. John has not only gained their loyalty, but had completely erased any racial barriers within the ship, leaving everyone as equals. A thought suddenly came to her.

"What will you do now, John?"

He broke away from his argument with Garrus, a frown forming on his bruised features. "What do you mean?"

"With the Normandy." she said, gesturing around her to the ship. "You'll want to settle down, won't you?"

His brows drew together, thinking. "I hadn't really thought about it."

"Don't give it over to the Alliance," Joker said. "They'll turn it into some cheap-ass museum attraction and I'll have to give people tours. As in, sticky children and obnoxious civilians wanting to touch everything."

Shepard chuckled. "I wouldn't want any obnoxious civilians damaging your ship, Joker." he scratched his chin, pulling on the short hairs that covered his jaw. "I don't know. It'd be a shame to ground her. The Normandy's still a beautiful ship." he got up, collecting his plate and dumping it into the sink. She noticed his limp and frowned, but didn't say anything.

"I suppose I could hand her over to you, Garrus." he said finally, leaning on the counter.

The turian's mandibles twitched in surprise, and he hissed a little at the movement of the broken one. "Me? Why?"

"What the hell do you mean, why? You're basically my XO—even if you don't do any paperwork—and the way the Council has been talking I'm pretty sure they're going to make you a Spectre. Why not give you the best ship for that? Unless you want to hang up your guns too." he added.

Garrus shook his head. "No, I... no. I'm not ready to retire just yet. But... this is your ship. It would feel wrong taking her over."

John smiled, shrugging. "I can't command the Normandy and live on Rannoch at the same time. Someone will have to take over and I can't think of anyone better than you."

"I..." the turian shook his head, laughing. "Just feels weird, is all. No more suicide missions or saving the galaxy."

John grinned. "I've had my share of that. I'd like to relax now."

"What's your plan, anyway?" Kaidan asked. "What'll you do?"

"Well, as soon as the Normandy's fixed we'll fly everybody home—if they want to go, anyway. Then Tali and I'll head to Rannoch and—"

"Build a mansion!" Kasumi finished, grinning. "Which I'll help you decorate, of course. I can't expect a soldier and an engineer to know anything about interior decorating."

He laughed. "Maybe not a mansion. Besides, I'll have to get my pay check from Hackett first."

"How much is he giving you?" Liara asked.

"He doesn't know, really. It's sort of difficult to put a price on what we all pulled off. But I'll likely get my regular pay plus a handsome bonus. However, he can't give me anything until he gets the money. The galaxy is so strapped for cash right now that he can't afford to be handing out millions of credits. Maybe I could get a job until that happens."

"How about being a dance coach?" James suggested, making the occupants of the table snicker.

He gave the lieutenant a look. "Very funny."

"Good thing the Reapers didn't have to be defeated in a dance off. We'd all be screwed." Garrus said, laughing.

"Or a drag race. With Shepard driving, we'd be dead right now." Kaidan added, grinning.

John had an affronted look on his face. "I'm not bad at driving. I caught Vasir in that car chase with Liara."

"And almost slammed into a truck." she added.

"And what about the Mako?" Tali asked before John could add in his defense, giggling. "I get nauseous just thinking about it."

"Have you tried to drive a Mako? Piece of shit can barely drive in a straight line."

"Maybe with you at the wheel."

The ensuing argument had Hannah holding her sides with laughter.

"Nice view."

Shepard looked up, seeing Garrus walking over to him.

The sun was setting, and he had decided to step out and get some fresh air, leaning against the wall of a small bridge that he'd come across.

Miranda had had him do more exercises today, and his leg was horribly sore. Still, he'd wanted to be somewhere quiet to collect his thoughts.

Garrus leaned on the wall beside him, quiet for a while. "Do you really want to hand the ship over to me?" he asked finally.

Shepard nodded. "I do. She's a great ship, and giving her to some random Alliance officer seems wrong."

"Just feels like I'm taking your place over. What you've done for all of us... no one can replace that, or compete with it."

"I'm not asking you to. But you're a good leader, and the crew knows and trusts you. I don't exactly know who'll all be staying on the ship, but I'm sure some will stay."

Garrus grunted, but didn't say anything. They stared at the setting sun, the water running under the bridge tinkling quietly.

"Are you going to be okay? About Sidonis, I mean?" Shepard asked.

The turian sighed. "I don't know. I thought that I was done with the whole mess, but as soon as I saw him I..." he trailed off. "I wanted to kill him. Not just for what he did, but the fact that he was sorry about it. When I imagined seeing him I'd always thought that he'd deny his involvement or say that he didn't regret anything. I was ready to shoot him and then he pipes up and says that he can barely live with himself." he shrugged, spreading his hands. "Like I said before, I hate grey. I never know what to do with it."

"I don't know what to tell you, Garrus. But I think... I think you did the right thing, not killing him. He tries to make up for what he did, and still gets punished for it just by breathing. There are far worse punishments than death, after all."

"I suppose you're right." he sighed again. "Don't worry. If I see him again... I'll restrain myself."

"And if you can't, I can always beat you up again." Shepard said, grinning.

Garrus chuckled. "Something I always look forward to." he looked over at his friend. "I'm glad you're alive, and that we're here. Tali... she's doing a lot better. We all are."

He smiled. "So am I."