(A/N: Tah-dah! Chapter 27 as promised, okay enjoy.)

Chapter 27: My little robin hood

Another week went by and I was finally getting the hang of my new biotics, it came as natural to me as breathing in some areas, a few others were a bit trickier for me, but in the end it was all good and soon I would be on the fast track out of here, but first I had to master one thing, using my biotics in combat and not get my ass kicked, because according to Shakrimi too many biotics over estimate themselves and get their asses beat so bad that it's not funny, and that's what was happening to me in a one on one sparring session with Shakrimi.

"Focus kid, keep your barriers up and watch for an opening!" She blasted as she threw a biotic throw at me, it knocked me over, and all of the wind out of my gut. "Get up, we're not done yet." She was not kidding when she said there would be no mercy during my training.

"Hey Shakrimi…could we take five please, I think you may have liquified my stomach, or maybe shatter my entire rib cage." I could barely speak through the pain, I knew that this would hurt a lot but this was way worse than I could imagine, not even my fight with the reaper was this painful.

I'd hoped that she'd grant me that courtesy at the very least, but she didn't. This woman is merciless. "You can take a break when you actually hit me with a biotic attack now quit belly aching and get up!" She bellowed as she threw another throw at me, this time I was fast enough to put up a barrier to shield myself, then I charged at her with the biotic charge at top speed, she just sidestepped out of the way and I missed her completely. "You're not focusing." She sang just to try and irritate me. "And your also not getting anywhere with the brute force tactic, try something more unorthodox you know mix it up a bit."

Mix it up eh, I think I can do that. "Okay then, how's THIS?" I shot a biotic pull at her and she dodged it as I already knew she would.

She just started to laugh at me completely unaware of what I'd done. "I said mix it up a bit."

"And I did mix it up." I replied with a smug grin.

She looked a bit confused until she realized that I wasn't aiming for her at all but rather the crates that were right behind her and flying at her at top speed, she rolled out of the way and into a perfectly vulnerable position, which I took advantage of when I threw a shockwave her way and sent her flying, she landed with a thud and slowly rose to her feet, then she looked over to me and just grinned. "Very clever, using the environment and your biotics together, an excellent combination, I didn't see that coming."

"So how'd I do?" I asked a bit eagerly just wanting to know how far I'd come.

She just shrugged as she walked over to me and began to rate my score. "Well it took you about an hour to land just one hit on me, one hit to my five hundred and fifty-nine that is, but you took a lot less time than last time so you are getting better, but you've still got a long way to go before you can use your biotics in a real fight."

That was not what I wanted to here. "How long then?" I asked dreading the answer.

She just rubbed the back of her neck almost a little sheepishly, I didn't think this woman could feel nervous about anything. "A very long…long…long…long time." She said calmly.

Seriously? "Oh come on, please tell me your kidding me."

She just grinned and said. "Yes I am totally kidding you, but not about the part where you have a long way to go, this is just the beginning of it Cody, and you still need to understand that maintaining your focus during the fight is the key to victory in any biotic duel to the death." She quickly tripped me with one sweep of the legs and I landed on my back, she delivered one final blow to my chest with a normal punch, she might be a bitch but at least she knows when to hold back a bit.

"Did I not mention that my ribs are shattered?" I wheezed as I spoke, but at least we were done for the moment, I just rolled over on my side and just held my chest, it was some of the worst pain I'd felt sense I fought the reaper.

"Come on kid, let's get you some ice for those bruises." She offered me her hand to help me up, I rose slowly as it hurt me to stand up quickly. After I received some pain killers and some ice for my chest, and Dr. Neeva tore Shakrimi a new one for beating me up I went to see how Allen and Cloey were doing, Cloey was finally starting her physical therapy to strengthen her legs a bit. Allen was still blind though, but he'd soon get his bandages off.

"So, how's the whole being temporarily blind thing going for ya?" I asked Allen who was sat on the couch in the lounge next to Cloey, he seemed a bit spaced out though, most likely from the painkillers he was still on.

"It sucks to be honest, I can't do anything for myself I feel so…helpless." He seemed a bit depressed.

"It's okay baby, its only for a little while." Cloey soothed as she placed a comforting kiss on his cheek. "Besides you'll be home a lot sooner than I will with the amount of therapy I'll have to get before I can go home."

Allen just turned toward her and said firmly. "Well even when I get these bandages off I'm not going anywhere, you've been here to help me through this so I'm going to repay the favor babe."

She just started to gush over the sweet gesture. "Aww baby you are so sweet." She held him tight in her arms, if it wasn't clear to me before than it was now, these two were meant for each other, biology be damned.

"Ms. White it's time for your next surgery." A quarrian nurse said as she made her way over to us.

"Okay, I'm sorry night howler but I have to go now." She said in a somewhat sad apologetic tone.

But all Allen did was pull he into a hug and say in response. "It's okay cookie dough, I'll be around." He then put his paws on either side of her head and pulled her into a kiss, on her nose, she giggled a bit then said.

"So close babe, here let me help you." She helped guide him to her lips and they shared a long loving kiss, until the nurse cleared her throat to signify that she was getting impatient, they each finished by confessing their love for each other one more time before the nurse helped her into her wheel chair and wheeled her out of the room.

"So, I can see that those bandages haven't affected how bad you want her." I half joked, I didn't want to seem rude to him in his condition.

"To be honest, I've missed this a lot more than I realized I did. Back when she was still in her coma I thought for sure that I'd never get to hold her again, that I'd never get to kiss her or tell her I loved her or even here her voice again, I was so scared that I'd lost her forever, but after they took her off the life support I knew she was coming back to me, and when she woke up I wanted to be the first thing she saw, but sadly that didn't happen because of…this." He pointed to his face. "That's why when I get these stupid bandages taken off my face I want her to be the first person I see, the first smile I'll see has to be upon her face, especially sense I'm going to…" He trailed off for a second, I then got suspicious.

"Okay what kind of devious little plan do you have cooked up?" I asked with a grin and a raised eyebrow.

He couldn't help but smile as he admitted. "I'm going to pop the question to Cloey when I get the bandages off." I already had a feeling that he was going to do that sense mom made her stupid joke about it but I was only half certain of that, this just confirmed it.

I then hopped up on the couch next to him and said as I patted him on his shoulder. "She's a lucky girl, couldn't have picked a better guy."

He smiled upon hearing those words, clearly he was happy to know he had my approval. "Thanks man, I just hope it goes well, you know being underaged to get married and all."

"Underaged? You mean you want to marry her like…as soon as you guys get home?" This whole thing just surprised me by like…a lot.

He then stated sounding just as serious as before. "I almost lost her, I don't want to lose her again, so before the end of the year were going to get married and we'll be living together."

Oh for crying out loud. "Allen, please forgive me for saying this but this is a bad idea."

"But…but you just said…" He started to act a bit confused as well as get a little angry.

Until I cleared up a few things. "You guys can still get married, but I think you should wait for a while is all I'm saying, you know at least until you have a more stable future, meaning you have a job that you can support her with, besides that I honestly think your rushing into it out of fear and…well..." I sort of trailed off for a second to try and word it right, but thankfully he seemed to get what I was saying.

He sighed and said. "Your right, I can't just ask her to dive head first into the unknown just because I'm scared to lose her, I don't know what I was thinking."

Well that was easier than I thought. "Hay dude c'mon, don't beat yourself up, you can still ask her to marry you if you want, all I'm saying is you should wait until you're ready and I mean when you're actually ready for that step."

He smiled softly and said. "Thanks for setting me straight Cody, you're a real friend." Not long after that talk his nurse came around to take him back to his room and I went off to have something to eat in the cafeteria, when I heard a lot of cheering coming from another room, I looked in and saw a bunch of injured marines from the second fleet sitting in wheel chairs or leaning on a crutch and they were all facing the same part of the room, what was going on that had everyone's attention was drawn to it?

"Okay boy's this is for all the marbles, if he makes this last shot…well then we'll have all lost to a kid." I know that voice, could it really be? And what kid is he talking about? I began to try and make my way through the crowd as best I could without nocking people over or bumping into them.

"Excuse me, pardon me, sorry just trying to get through." I got to the front of the crowd to find the source of the voice I recognized, it was without any doubt Tanner sitting in a wheel chair wearing a hospital gown, and it looked like he was playing a game of darts with…Jacob?

"Alright little guy, whenever you're ready." Tanner said as he handed my brother a dart, he took his stance and aimed right for the dart board then he just tossed it as hard as he could, it whizzed through the air and…thunk, he hit the bullseye right in the center, the marines all began to whoop and cheer as they applauded my little brother. "Nice going little guy, I guess your brother's not the only one who's a crack shot in your family." I don't think he could here Tanner though over the sound of Jacob celebrating his victory, he just danced around in a circle and once again, he was singing a little song.

"I am the best, yes I am, I am the best, yes I am." Never would've taken him for the gloating type. No way he gets that from dad, must get it from mom.

"Tanner? What are you doing here?" I asked the unsuspecting tiger sitting in front of me, he quickly turned his wheel chair around and smiled as he caught sight of me.

"Well here he is everybody, the savior of Eden prime himself Cody Blaze the newest legendary hero of the mammal races, you've done us all proud that day kid which means you've earned our respect." Everyone else other than my brother turned to face me and offered me a salute, it seemed pretty genuine too, and a lot more honoring toward me. "I'd stand and salute you too kid but I'm afraid I've only got the one leg right now." I looked down and saw that Tanner was missing the lower part of his right leg, it was just a nub wrapped up in bandages, but he hardly seemed to acknowledge it was even there, or I guess 'gone' would be more appropriate in this situation.

"Oh god, Tanner what happened?" I asked with shock as my mind began to run wild with thoughts of how he could've lost his leg.

Before he could answer Jacob did it for him. "He said a big mean krogan man came up from behind him and cut off his leg with a big ax thingy." The fact that he answered it so casually was a bit disturbing.

"Well…that's not quite what happened but it was pretty close…" He then leaned over and whispered the last part to me. "What actually happened is that the bastard literally ripped it off and he was going to do the same to the rest of my limbs just for fun, and he would've done it too if it hadn't been for the first fleet finally showing up to save our asses." Oh dear god, that was just beyond brutal, way more than it should've been.

"Well at least your still alive and…uh, never mind." Yes, I was about to say kicking, but clearly that would've been a poor choice of words. "I'm really sorry dude, I wish I could've helped you."

"Not as sorry as I am, when my wife gets here with our kid she's gonna kill me, I promised her I wouldn't get hurt, and now she's probably gonna kick my…butt." He caught himself just in time on the account of my brother being present.

"So when is your wife supposed to get here?" I was a bit curious, I kinda wanted to meet her, and my question was answered when I heard a little voice cry out from behind me.

"Daddy."

I turned around to see a little tiger cub running toward Tanner, he was about as tall as I was, which I found disturbing sense I was older than he was, Tanner scooped up his son and just held him tight in his arms. "Hey Cubby, I'm so happy to see you, I've missed you and your mommy so much." Tanner then started to pepper his son's cheeks with kisses, he just giggled as his dad just kept laying on his affection.

"Daddy top it dat tickws." I couldn't help but notice that he had a slight speech impediment, which I found to be so cute.

"Tanner, mi Corazon gracias a Dios you're alright." I turned back around to see a very pregnant gazelle doe walking as quickly as her unborn child would allow toward Tanner and the little tiger cub, Tanner reached around for a crutch sitting behind him and put it under his right arm for support as he raised himself out of the chair while still holding his son in his free arm, he hobbled over to her a bit until they'd meet in the middle of the room, she wrapped him in a hug and just cried tears of joy, then she looked up and pulled his head down for a kiss, then out of nowhere she just slapped him right across the face.

"Ow, what was that for?" Tanner said as he rubbed his now stinging face.

"For making me worry, and for the migraine that came with it. I thought you'd been killed." Her Spanish accent just made it sound like she was madder than she really was. "I mean Dios mio you could've called me and told me that you were alright instead of making me worry about you idiota." Or maybe she really was that mad.

"Oh come on now cherry blossom…" He tried to sooth her over with sweet words only to have them shot down.

"Don't you cherry blossom me pendejo puta Madre tigre!" She blasted with angry Spanish, which I clearly didn't understand. But it would seem that Tanner did.

"Hey, watch the language, there are little ears in the room." Oh joy, now we've got Spanish swear words flying around, what's next Russian?

"Oh don't give me that, Caleb doesn't know Spanish yet and I doubt that the little fox over there knows what I'm saying either." The gazelle stated with anger.

But Tanner still felt as though she had to put a filter on it. "That being said honey you should still refrain from swearing in front of kids, in any language."

Jacob suddenly covered his mouth and gasped. "She said bad words? Ooh she's gonna get in trouble." He said looking at her with a mischievous grin on his face.

"Jacob she's a big girl, she can swear as much as she'd like, as long as there aren't any children in the room that is." I scolded her, I might not know exactly what she said but I still didn't like the idea of her swearing in front of kids.

She turned toward me and asked in a much more mellow tone. "Who are you? And why are you here exactly? Because your clearly not a soldier like my pendejo husband."

Tanner just chuckled and said. "You know you love me, my little cherry blossom, even if your mad."

She looked over to him with a half-smile, she kissed his cheek then said. "I might love your haikus mi Corazon but your still on thin ice." Wait, that was a haiku? Didn't seem very poetic to me.

"I know that honey, but I can live with that much, and still feel your love." I had a sense that he used another haiku, so I counted out the syllables and sure enough, it was a haiku, I was impressed that he could make those up on the spot like that.

She still couldn't help but smile at him, but then she shifted her focus back to me and said. "Anyway, who are you senor…" She trailed off so I could introduce myself.

"Cody Blaze, Sargent of the first Eden prime militia ma'am, and also one of your pendejo husband's trainees."

She looked back at Tanner with a dumbfounded expression. "Mi Corazon? Is this boy telling the truth?" I wasn't sure if she asked that because I was a fox or because I was a teenager, but either way I was a bit offended. But the way she said it sounded a bit more genuinely curious than accusing.

"Yes cherry blossom, he's telling the truth, he's also the reason that I'm still alive right now too just so we're clear sweetheart." Tanner replied as he looked at me with a thankful smile.

She looked back at me and knelt down then she hugged me and said in Spanish. "Gracias, bendito angel enviado de Dios."

"I'm afraid my Spanish is a bit rusty, could you please say that again in a language I can understand ma'am?" I asked politely.

She pulled away from her hug for a second and repeated herself. "I said thank you, you blessed angel from god, you saved mi Corazon's life and so I am eternally grateful to you senor Blaze." She kissed my cheek out of appreciation.

"Oh…uh, well think nothing of it ma'am." I said as I felt a little blush coming on.

Jacob then walked up to my side and just ogled the pregnant woman standing in front of me, then he pointed at her and asked. "Is that a baby in there?"

She giggled at him and answered warmly. "Si pequeno, this is my mija Lindsey, and she'll be coming into this world soon too." She suddenly looked down at her baby bump and let out a small gasp. "Oh she just kicked, would you like to feel?"

Jacob looked up at me as if he needed permission to touch her unborn child, I gave him a little nod and he came closer to her and placed his head on her stomach, clearly that's not what she meant but she didn't seem to mind, he just stood there and waited for any kind of movement, then his ears perked up and he said with a whisper. "I can feel her moving." I couldn't help but feel my heart melt at this adorable little display of affection, it was just too much to keep in as a small tear rolled down my cheek. "Hi baby, I hope you come out soon so I can meet you, I'm sure you're really cute." Oh god how I wish I had a camera to record this whole thing, he gently kissed the baby bump then hugged it just as gently, I've never seen him do this before, then again we don't have that much interaction with many pregnant women, I just knew if mom were around she'd capture this whole sight on video.

"So pequeno, what's your name?" She asked with a soft voice.

He answered a bit bashfully. "I'm Jacob, I'm his baby brober." He pointed to me as he spoke.

She giggled a bit again then said. "I might have guessed, your both just so handsome." She ruffled the fur atop his head playfully, he proceeded to smooth it out.

"Cubby? Don't you want to meet the nice foxes?" Tanner asked as he put his son on the ground and somehow maintaining his standing upon just one leg, Caleb, or Cubby as I had already knew that's what his father called him sort of cowered behind his mother.

She turned to him and said in a calm voice. "Mijo it's alright, there not going to make fun of you." I wasn't sure why she said that let alone why he'd even think that so I asked very politely.

"Do you really think I want to hurt your feelings little guy? I promise you I won't, I'm a nice guy really I am, and so's my little brother here." He slowly came out from behind his mother a bit, then he spoke with a soft but timid tone. "Pwomise?" I just couldn't get over how cute his speech impediment was, it was so cute I couldn't help but smile.

"Yes I promise, what I don't understand is why you'd think I'd want to make fun of you in the first place." I pointed out to him.

He continued just as timid as before. "Becawse of dah way I tawk."

I immediately understood where he was coming from, I admit it sounded goofy but he was just a little kid, and like I said before it was cute and that's why I liked it.

"Aww don't worry about it, I don't mind the way you talk in the least, in fact I think it makes you sound cute." It didn't really get him to come any closer but at least he knew that I had a positive thing to say about his speech impediment.

Then Jacob just walked up to him calmly and said in the most polite tone ever. "Do you wanna play darts with me?" He offered him a set of three yellow throwing darts with plastic needles.

He looked down at the darts and answered in the same timid tone as before. "Otay, bud I doh know how dah pway."

"It's easy, all you have to do is throw the darts at the board on the wall and try to hit the middle." Jacob explained with a happy bubbly voice as he demonstrated by throwing a dart at the board, and hitting the bullseye, I swear he has the luck of the Irish on his side.

"Go on mijo, show mama how you throw the darts nino." She said with a pat on his back, he looked so nervous as he walked up next to where Jacob was standing, he lifted up one of the darts in his free paw, stuck out his tongue as he aimed it, then threw it with all his might at the target, he hit the board on the thirty-point mark just a few inches from the bullseye, then he started to make a pouting face as he sniffled. "What's wrong mijo?"

He looked up at his mother and said with a whimper. "I didn hid duh buwseye mommy."

She pulled him into a hug and said in a comforting voice. "Mijo it's okay, you did well for your first try, look how close you came." She pointed at the dart board hoping that he'd realize that it wasn't a bad shot.

"Your mama's right Cubby you did good, why don't you try again, I'm sure that you'll hit it this time." Tanner added as he patted his son's shoulder.

He took the next dart and took aim, being the nice guy I am, and also the fact that I could get away with it and no one would ever suspect a thing I used my biotics to take control of the dart as soon as he threw it, I made sure that it hit the bullseye right dead center, Cubby erupted with joy as he hopped up and down. "I did id I did id!"

Tanner smiled and said warmly. "See what I tell ya Cubby? Now try again, see if you can do it again for daddy." He readied his remaining dart and took aim, and as before he threw it and I made sure it hit the bullseye, everyone applauded him as he celebrated, Tanner then leaned down and whispered. "Just so you know, I noticed what you did for him, that was really nice of you."

I smirked and said. "I have no idea of what you're talking about." He grinned as he rolled his eyes.

"Okay my turn." Jacob said as he retrieved the dart he used to demonstrate for Cubby's sake, he took aim and hit the bullseye once, twice, and of course thrice. "Yay I win again." How the hell does he keep doing that? I mean seriously he's only four years old how can he be this good of a shot. I took notice that Cubby looked a bit down that he didn't win.

I knelt down and said in a comforting voice. "You did good buddy, it was a really close game." I pulled him into a hug, I wasn't sure if that was okay though as I had just met him and he was someone else's kid, but neither of his parents seemed to mind as neither of them said a word.

"He's right Cubby, Jacob kicked all of our butts in here, so it's okay if you didn't win, it's just a dumb game." Tanner said to his son reassuringly.

"I bet that I could kick his butt though." I bragged as I looked over to Jacob. "I mean after all I was trained how to shoot." Jacob just crossed his arms and huffed at me.

"Well the same can be said for all of us in here kid, but he still whipped our butts." Tanner pointed out.

"True, but none of you were me, and besides that the way I see it only a Blaze can defeat another Blaze, so what do you say little brother? Feeling lucky enough to take me down or are you a chicken?" I asked as I leaned over and grinned at him.

He just Growled at me as I smirked in his face, he walked over to the dart board and pulled out the darts, he handed me the yellow darts and said. "I'm gonna kick your butt, butthead." Ooooh trash talk, I can see he doesn't lack for confidence.

"I'm gonna make you eat those words little brother." Just as I was about to throw Jacob then halted my throw by crying out.

"Wait a second big brober, if I'm gonna beat you I want a prize."

"Okay peanut, name your prize." I stated as I folded my arms and waited patiently for him to name his prize should he win.

It didn't take him too long as he rubbed his chin and said. "When I kick your butt you have to promise me that you won't EVER call me that again for as long as I live."

Oh no he didn't. "Okay, but if I win you have to let me call you peanut whenever I want, and you can't get angry, upset or even a bit mad at me, and no more trying to kick my butt either, deal?" I extended my paw for a shake.

He took it without hesitation and followed it up by saying. "Deal, but I already know that you're gonna lose to me butthead."

Well this is a side of him that I've never seen before, he seemed a lot more confident than he usually did, and just as cocky, must've been all of his earlier victories. I knew that I could just use my biotics to win paws down, but that would've been cheating, sure I did cheat for Cubby but he was upset because he wasn't as good a shot as Jacob was clearly. I took aim at the target and hit in a few good spots, at least one hit the bullseye which made me feel good about myself. "Your move little Robbin Hood." I said mocking him a bit, he made his stance and took aim, he threw his first dart, bullseye, the second, bullseye, and the third, guess what it was, bullseye.

Jacob just smirked up at me and said. "Told ya I'd kick your butt." He stuck out his tongue as he crossed his arms.

I shrugged my shoulders and said. "Okay, I'm a fox of my word, from this point on, peanut…" I had to squeeze int that last one just as a final fair well to the nickname I loved tormenting him with. "I will never call you peanut ever again, I swear on my heart and soul."

He started jumping up and down as he cheered. "I'm not peanut anymore, yay!"

I just crossed my arms and said. "Yeah-yeah don't let it go to your head you little goof."

I don't think he heard me though as he just sang out loud. "I'm not a peanut, no I'm not, I'm not a peanut, no I'm not!"

"What's all the celebrating for in here?" Jacob stopped his little dance and looked over to the door, standing there was Shakrimi along with my parents.

He ran over to mom and started to tug on her sleeve. "Mommy look what I did look what I did." He pointed over to the dart board, they all walked over and stared at it, they looked both puzzled and awe stricken. "See? I hit the bullseye, and I kicked Cody's butt."

Dad looked over at me for an explanation. I just shrugged and said. "He's telling the truth, he really did kick my butt, along with every other soldier in this room."

Dads jaw just dropped upon hearing that. "Is that true captain?" He asked as he looked over to Tanner.

"True enough sir, your boy is a true born sharp shooter." Tanner replied.

Shakrimi just chuckled a bit, I glared at her so she quickly said. "Oh I'm just laughing at the irony, you were able to outlast the anointed daughter in a one on one shoot out and yet you got your butt handed to you in a game of darts by a little kid."

"Well I guess the apple doesn't fall far from the tree…" Dad scooped Jacob up in his arms and gave him a hug to show how proud he was of him. "But if I had to guess I'd say he was just meant to be a marks man." Jacob smiled up at dad and returned the hug. "I think it's safe to say we've got a little Robin Hood in the family."

Shakrimi gave a weird look to show she was confused at that remark. "Uh…little Robin hood? Could someone enlighten me please?"

"Oh that's right you've probably never even heard of the legend, what with you being an alien and all, well pull up a chair my old friend because this is quite a tail to tell." Dad then began to tell the tale of Robin of Loxley to our favorite asari, she didn't say a word the whole time he told it, hell the whole room was so quiet you could hear a pin drop. By the time he'd finally finished I think it was safe to say that Shakrimi was entertained.

"Well Josh I have to admit that is one heck of a story, and the way you tell it almost sounds like you were actually there." She said with astonishment.

"All foxes know the tale, after all Robin Hood was one of the greatest foxes who ever lived, he's meant to serve as a source of inspiration to stand up to bullies like the wicked prince John and never back down from the fight. He's actually what inspired me to become a soldier when I was young, of course my grizzly friend turned out to be a back-stabbing psycho unlike little John but I think it's safe to say that I'm like him in a way." Dad replied nonchalantly.

Shakrimi then turned to Jacob and said with a smile. "Well whether or not that you're a lucky little guy you should keep practicing your shooting, I mean who knows, one day the galaxy might need another hero like your dad, or your brother."

He looked over to us both as if he thought she wasn't serious. "She's right little man, you might be needed someday to save the galaxy, but let's hope that day doesn't come for a long time yet." Dad said warmly, I guess he was more than willing to see both of his sons follow in his footsteps one day.

"Does that mean I can have a gun for my birthday daddy?" He asked casually.

That's when mom, dad and myself shouted in unison. "NO!" He seemed a bit startled by our sudden and combined reaction, then for some reason Shakrimi knelt down in front of him and whispered something in his ear.

"You better not be promising him a gun or I swear to god…" Dad began to start up what I'm sure would've been one of his famous rants when Shakrimi peered over her shoulder and said. "Relax Josh, I'm a bit more responsible than that. Sure I've corrupted my nieces but I would never buy them a gun while they were his age." The look on her face looked honest enough, but I could still see a lot of mischief in her eyes, that's probably the best thing about being a fox, no one can pull the wool over our eyes.

A few hours later Alice came to visit me in my room so we could watch a movie together, she picked Catsalblanca, she was tough as hell when she wanted to be but in the end she was still a soft little bunny who was a sucker for romantic films. I didn't really like the film much but I didn't tell her that, mainly because now that we were 'active' she could withhold my new favorite pass time to do with her from me, plus I had a feeling the film might get her in the mood. It was just wrapping up around the time she whispered in my ear. "I'm not sure about you…but I could go for a little more of that magic from the other night."

Jackpot, I quickly grabbed the remote and turned off the T.V. then turned my attention back to her and pulled her into a kiss. Before we could get busy Jacob burst into the room screaming at the top of his lungs. "Cody look what Shakrimi made for me look at it look at it!" He stopped as he saw us just making out on the bed.

I raised a finger as if to say just a minute, then I pulled away from her lips and gave him my undivided attention. "Watcha got there little bro?" He lifted up what appeared to be a bow, but it looked a lot more than just a bow, I could tell there was something special about it, it looked like it was meant for actual combat operations, it looked like a standard reverse bow with a ring sight on the side just above where one would knot the arrow at, it was red on the inside of the bow and black on the outside, it also looked to have a strange looking block of some kind just beneath the gripping of the bow, I didn't know what it was for, no way it could be a counter weight, it looked way too big and not nearly heavy enough. "Well, that looks pretty cool." I couldn't help but admire it, it looked cool too.

"Uh-huh, Shakrimi said it was a proto…proto…" I decided to finish for him as he was obviously struggling.

"I think you mean to say a prototype right? Which is just a big fancy word for its brand new and no one else has it but you, meaning it's one of a kind." I said smiling at him.

He nodded his head and said. "Uh-huh, and she said that I can keep it too, she even said that I could be a soldier like you and daddy with it."

Oh…she better not have just given my brother a loaded weapon! "Do you know where she is now? I think I need to have a little…'chat' with her." By chat I actually meant I was going to go and kick her ass. It might not be a gun but that's still not cool giving him a deadly weapon like that, not cool in the slightest. After telling me that she was outside setting up some targets for him I stormed out of the hospital and just marched right for a certain asari whom I had a bone to pick with. "SHAKRIMI! WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU GIVING MY LITTLE BROTHER A FREAKING BOW FOR?" I shouted as soon as I finally caught sight of her.

She turned around and said. "What's the big deal? It's not a firearm he can handle it."

"THAT'S NOT THE POINT DAMNIT!" I raged on. "HE'S ONLY FOUR FREAKING YEARS OLD HE SHOULDN'T EVEN HAVE A WEAPON WHAT IF HE HURTS HIMSELF?!"

All she did in response was roll her eyes and groan. "By the goddess kid will you relax, it's not like I'm just gonna give it to him and say go on a killing spree or something. I'm gonna teach him how to be responsible with it before I let him take off with it. Also I'm gonna teach him how to use it properly so he doesn't shoot anyone he's not supposed to."

"HE SHOULDN'T BE SHOOTING ANYBODY!" I blasted at the top of my lungs. "ONCE MY PARENTS FIND OUT ABOUT THIS THEY'RE GOING TO KILL YOU ASSUMING THAT I DON'T DO IT FIRST!"

Around that point Shakrimi took on a look of worry, but not for the one I'd assumed. "Kid calm down before you go nuclear!" She cautioned as she put her hands out in front of her.

I didn't really understand what she was talking about until I noticed that I was glowing again. "Aw shit." I then started to take calming breaths to try and back my powers down, slowly but surely I reverted back to normal.

"Okay you good?" She asked sounding a bit less worried.

I just glared at her and said. "No I'm not good because you gave my brother a freaking war bow! And like I said when my parents find out…"

"Who do you think gave me permission to make it for him?" She asked rhetorically.

At that point I was just confused, my ears dropped flat against my skull as the only sound that came out of my head was. "Huh?"

She just sighed and said. "I talked to your dad about it and he said it was okay, as long as I teach him how to use it right. But he did act a bit like you did at first, until I mentioned to him that it was better safe than sorry to teach him how to shoot. Especially seeing that you two are at the top of the reapers hit-list right now."

She was right unfortunately, after what I'd done back home Jacob would need some kind of extra reassurance to protect him. I just hope to god that he never has to kill anybody let alone finds himself looking down the barrel of another gun for a long time to come. I reluctantly agreed to let him keep the bow, so long as I oversaw his training along side her. It wasn't that I didn't trust her, it was just so I knew he wouldn't get hurt. Yes I know that doesn't make sense what with it just being a damn bow but this is my brother we're talking about, he shoved a freaking peanut up his nose when he was two so I don't want to see what will happen when he's playing with razor sharp arrow heads. But I must admit, I am looking forward to seeing him shooting a little more.

(A/N: And that's all for today everybody, I hope you enjoyed it. Now for the spoiler, in the next chapter of ZME Allen pops the question to his cookie dough, Cody remembers something that he had completely forgotten about, and he also finally decides weather for not to become a speature, well that's all for now folks see you in the next chapter.)