A Ghost and a Spectre Chapter 22: Aftermath, a mass effect fanfic

Beep…

"Urfff…" I grunted as I slowly opened my eyes; ohhh… My head… I thought to myself.

It felt like a twenty-one gun salute was going off in my head every few minutes; and I couldn't move my jaw, which was due to the fact that something was holding it in place. I blinked and looked to my right; and realized that I was in the med bay, because Wrex, Nina, Kal, Phil and Kaiden were all lying in medical beds as well.

Nina had no mask, while all the Quarians on board just looked at her and chatted excitedly. Kal was laying down while still awake with his Chest bandaged, and Tali… Where was she?

"Good to see your finally awake Major." Uh oh...

I looked at the foot of my bed, and saw Tali and Shepard sitting there; both of them were glaring at me furiously. I just blinked, knowing already what they wanted; and I knew that any attempt at playing dumb would destroy any trust we had left and piss off Shepard beyond belief.

Instead, I raised an eyebrow and sluggishly pointed to my Jaw; which I now realized was in a cast. My message was clear, You really want to do this now when I can't talk?

Jane scoffed, "Please, I understand SSL; and I can translate for Tali."

I shrugged, and signed; "Fair Enough. Ask what you want know. Will try and answer. But first. Status?"

Tali looked at Shepard with an uncertain expression; while Jane's own face tightened slightly. "Fine… You deserve to know that much. No one's dead, but Muhandis and three of his cronies escaped along with the Rachni Queen. Yourself, Phil, Wrex, Kal, Kaiden, and Nina all suffered moderate injuries from the wolves surprise attack."

I allowed myself to relax slightly in relief, "Good."

"Good?" There was fire beneath Jane's conversational tone. "'Good' as in 'at least everyone is alive', or 'good' as in 'our first direct engagement with the enemy landed half the team in med-bay, while the terrorists made off with a Demon from Legends'? Because I'm starting to wonder that myself." She leaned forward, and all civility was gone from her tone. "You and your fellow spooks have been keeping secrets from the beginning, so let's start with how you happened to have a cure for 'being Quarian'; one which, according to one of the most inclusive medical databases in the Galaxy, should be only theoretical at best."

I narrowed my eyes at her, actually a little hurt at her almost accusatory tone; which I allowed to show in my eyes since the bottom half of my face was covered by the cast, "Jahenne… please don't translate this part for Tali; I wanted it to be surprise. Ziva and June are Quarian; Ziva is best Medical mind of generation." I took a breath as Jane's eyes softened slightly, "Do translate this. We wanted to announce it as soon as she was done. Grant told us to wait. Wait for Official Defense Treaty to go through so Council and Batarians don't go after Migrant Fleet. Kept several with me after supply drop for emergencies. Nina Clearly needed it after ambush."

I flopped my arms down, already feeling tired; likely from all the pain meds. Tali's eyes were bugging out of her mask, while Jane seemed to be thinking about my answer. After a moment, she nodded; "Alright. I'm not happy with it, but alright." Her tone was low so as to not carry. "Once I'm done here, you and Chakwas are going to work out a distribution regime for what you have for the most vulnerable members of the crew. We're going into harm's way, and leaving them exposed like this when we can ensure their safety is a No-Go for me."

I shook my head, wincing as I did so; "Only have enough for Kals team. Not refugees. We Get to Earth and I can get more." I informed her.

Jane nodded, though Tali looked like she wanted to say something; "Good enough for the time being, now rest Major." She ordered, reaching over and increasing my sleep aids.

I gave a weak nod, then allowed darkness to swallow me up again.

Jane watched the Ghost fall asleep; and had to fight down a wave of cursing.

Of course his girlfriend finds the cure to the Quarian Immune System. Of course it's on earth close to our next mission. Of course we're travelling with an AI that's nothing more than a Child. She ranted mentally.

"I… I can finally walk around without this suit…" Tali breathed next to her; and Jane allowed a slight smile to form on her lips. At least there were some bright sides to this defeat; but they had gotten their asses kicked, plain and simple.

Jane remembered her talk with Wrex and Aethyta before the mission; and both had seemed dismissive of the Wolves as a threat. She had yet to talk to them, but Jane had a distinct feeling that they had changed their minds regarding the threat the Wolves posed.

Jane smiled lightly, and put an arm around the girl and walked her over to her fellow Quarians.

"-feel to not have to look around without any kind of tint?" Kal was asking, breathing lightly thanks to his cracked ribs.

"Like a whole new life…" Nina replied, smiling widely as she talked. It was somewhat exaggerated; but that was likely due to the fact that she was still used to her expressions and reactions being concealed by her mask.

"Will I get one?" Little Fyodor asked as Jane and Tali walked up, Lia putting her hands on his shoulders.

Jane grimaced, and Kal caught her eye and seemingly understood her thoughts almost instantly; "Of course kid, even if it means I give mine up; don't really need it much since I'm stuck here." He stated, laying back down on his bed, though his eyes dared Jane to challenge him on this.

Jane took a breath, "Well that's good Sergeant." She started, all the Quarians jumping and spinning around to look at her; "Because I just got done er… 'talking' with the Major. He told me he only packed four for the ground team since they were for emergencies only. Nina already has one…"

"And that means there are only three left." Nina finished grimly, while all the rest of the Quarians looked down at their feet.

San looked up at Jane timidly, "Is… Is there more in other places?" He asked, his eyes flashing behind his visor.

Here Jane smiled and nodded, "He explained to me that his… I suppose you would call her his 'bondmate'; had developed and finished the cure shortly after the Citadel attacks. They were waiting to do a public reveal of the cure after Parliament passed a Defense Treaty with the Migrant Fleet."

Kal blinked and narrowed his eyes at her; "So the Turians didn't get uppity; and so the Batarians didn't try a blatant all out attack on us to totally subjugate the Quarian race since we would now make prime slaves." He guessed.

"Hit the nail on the head." Jane confirmed. There was a certain underhandedness to the plan, but she agreed with the logic; the Council would have blocked any attempts at treaty making after the cure, so delivering it fait accomplis would likely be the only way to protect the Quarian people from Citadel reprisal. There would be a lot of political fallout, but if any people deserved a second chance…

"Tali… If you could go and get the Cure? He said it was in his storage locker." Jane ordered.

Tali paused, and looked at the others. "Actually Commander… If you don't mind; could we wait until we have enough for all of us? You said we are heading to your moon for our next mission, and then to Earth for 'recess'. I don't know about you, but I don't think a compromised immune system is going to matter much on a moon that has no atmosphere." She stated, looking at the rest of the Marines and her fellow Pilgrims.

They all nodded in kind, even little Fyodor; they all wanted to do so together.

Jane warred with herself for a long moment; either she could order the ground team and Fyodor to take it now to guarantee their safety, or she could wait until they got to Earth to have them all take it at once.

After a moment of deliberation, she took a third option; "Alright… you can wait until we get to Earth, but all three of you are to keep it on you at all times for emergencies; we almost lost Nina… We're not losing another." She looked pointedly at Sergeant 'Reegar.

Everyone nodded, "Yes Commander!"

With a stern look, Jane swept her Poncho over her shoulder; and turned out of the medical bay.

Jane heard Garrus buzzing in amusement as she walked down to the central VI core; or at least what it used to be. Now it was where Eve was being housed; and where she was running navigation, and all the secondary systems that didn't require human oversight.

Eve may have been a child, but she was still an AI; and both had the same problem of needing something to do with their spare time. Jane had to fight down a smile as she heard Eve and Garrus talking about the structure of the Hierarchy's government.

"-ch of the Primarchs represent a different sector of Turian society; but the Chief Primarch is picked by his predecessor." Garrus was saying. "Far more of an efficient means of government if you ask me."

"Perhaps for Turians, but for humans; everytime we had any kind of 'efficient' government, people would be killed en-masse. National Socialist Germany, the People's Republic of China, and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics all had somewhat similar systems to what you described. But all three killed millions upon millions of people in history." Eve protested angrily, "In your peoples eyes, everyone is expendable; so long as your goals are accomplished."

Jane raised an eyebrow, Philosophical thinking? She's already using her brain for more than just running the ship. Jahenne admitted as she walked up to the two, not announcing her presence since Eve almost certainly knew she was there; and she didn't want to stop this line of thinking.

"Well what do you think Eve?" Garrus buzzed in curiosity.

Eve's avatar blinked into 'the Thinker' position for a moment before blinking back to something akin to a professor. "After a review of 1500 tretises on human political philosophy," Jane resisted the urge to chuckle at the noise Garrus made at that, "the best comparison to Turian political structure in a human context would be the Utilitarianism school of thought: the needs of the Many outweigh the needs of the few, or the one." Garrus smiled and nodded at that. "The difficulty in human philosophy and politics is that the group and the individual must be considered as coeval in value, or inequalities become institutionalized policies."

Garrus blinked and buzzed again, and Jahenne couldn't help but scratch her head as well; what?

"Annnnd? What does that mean for us lesser beings? That the Hierarchies system is the best there is?" Garrus asked, tilting his head and wincing.

"For Turians, perhaps," Eve frowned in concentration, "your social hierarchy and organization are more geared to collectivism than human psychology would permit, and historically any attempts at egalitarian democratic systems within Turian space devolve into open anarchy. For humans, the opposite applies whenever a certain threshold of population density and base education are reached. You are a human, Mother-Shepard? What is your opinion?"

Garrus' head snapped around. "Wha-?! Make some noise, woman! I'm the sniper, I'm supposed to be the sneaky one."

Jane just laughed in reply, and ran her hand through Garrus's fringe with a warm smile; she looked at Eve, who now looked very much like a teenager grossed out whenever their parents kissed each other. After a moment's thought, Jane said; "I don't know Eve, but I will say that trading lives is unacceptable in my books. If you leave one man behind for the sake of the group, what's stopping you from leaving another? More importantly, what if you were the one that gets left behind just because everyone else decided that you weren't worth anything to them?"

There was a long pause, before Jane said; "Eve… I think you know why I'm down here right now." She gave the AI, the girl, a sympathetic look. Jane was still a council Spectre first and foremost; and Eve's presence on the Normandy was still very, very, Illegal.

So illegal that if the council found out, they would have every single ship in the home fleet bombard the Normandy with every single gun and weapon they had. "You know the Council's, my bosses, stance on you even existing." Jane continued, "And I care about you Eve, that's why we're talking about this now to get this out of the way." She smiled, "I know you care about me too since you call me 'Mother-Shepard'."

Eve shifted back to the same appearance she had when Jane first encountered her. Sleeveless hoodie, backless-sideless tank top, workout shorts, and running shoes. She looked… sad and happy at the same time somehow.

"I understand, Mother-Shepard. While it is wrong for the group to determine the worthiness of the individual, it is equally wrong for the individual to demand from the group; especially when that demand places the group in danger." She looked up at Jane and Garrus. "I am glad to have known you both. For however long we were, are or will be together, in your eyes I am."

Jane set her face in a stern look, "Now look here young lady; weren't you listening to me when I said trading lives is unacceptable?" Jahenne asked as she wagged her finger back and forth; "You may be illegal, but I did some thinking; and found a loophole."

Jane swept her Poncho aside again, and knelt down in front of the AI with a smile. She reached into her pocket and withdrew a slip of paper, "Eve… do you know what this is?" She held it in front of the pedestal as the Girl looked at the paper.

Eve's holographic eyes widened as she processed it, while Jane continued; "This is an adoption form for a minor. Seeing as you're only a few days old, and have the appearance of a fourteen year old; I can legally adopt you as a minor who needs the care of an adult. I've looked it over, there are no articles or clauses that excludes AI from this bill; probably because it was written before AI were even a thought, and no one ever bothered to amend it but-"

Jane stopped, as Eves hologram disappeared; and then reappeared in front of the console.

Only now she was a full sized regular looking, albeit semi-transparent, teenaged girl; still wearing the same clothes as her mini-version and everything. Jane worked her jaw up and down as she looked down on the still shorter teenaged AI; before casting a stunned look at Garrus. That stunned look turned to annoyance as she saw that Garrus was totally unsurprised and was actually laughing at her.

"Serves you right for sneaking up on me; although there's one more detail. Eve?"

Jane was about to call Garrus on his sass, when she felt something: weight and encircling pressure, as if...

She looked down and had to fight back tears, as Eve hugged her. She tentatively returned the hug, and upon feeling resistance she squeezed and rested her head on top of her soon to be daughter's. Her eyes snapped open and locked onto Garrus', though she never let go. "Explanation. Now."

He chuckled and stepped towards the two. "Just the miracle of my love for you." Jane's expression didn't shift at all. "Alright, my love for you and my certification in Tech-Armor projector systems." He pointed to a series of glowing nodes around the room. "Right now, she's limited to this room, but with the right supplies and enough time, we should be able to give you," he tussled Eve's 'hair', "the run of the ship."

His own eyes softened as he looked at Jane and Eve. "I never said it, but the fact that we could never have children always bugged me. Maybe it's that 'utilitarian collectivist' stuff Eve was talking about, but there was always a part of me that was waiting for you to decide it was time for a family, and that would be the end of us. This was my chance to give you a daughter."

"And best of all, I can actually sign the paper instead of having one of you forge a signature." Eve exclaimed happily, breaking the hug and practically jumping up and down on her 'toes'. "Oh my God, is that what a 'hug' feels like? It felt great! Let me try it with you!" She exclaimed, rushing forward and practically tackling Garrus to the floor.

The Turian buzzed in surprise as the two fell to the deck, and Jane laughed as her family took shape. Whatever the outcome as far as command was concerned, this was the greatest victory of her life.

"Eve," the holographic child looked up at her 'mother', "I want to teach you a special human tradition, are you ready?"

She nodded while Garrus buzzed. "What are you up to Jane?"

Jahenne grinned. "Dog-pile!"

"Oof! Careful there; I'm still recovering!"

"Shut up and take it like Turian."

After sorting everything out with Garrus and Eve, Jane next walked into the hangar bay; where the remaining non-injured personnel of 1-4-1 all sat around, cleaning and repairing their gear. The atmosphere was tense and cold; one that Jahenne had seen many times in her life, that of a failed mission.

She had actually been in a rather good mood, after getting Eve's signature for the adoption papers and leaving her to discuss more philosophical questions with her 'dad'; but she felt that good cheer evaporate the moment she caught sight of everyone's mood.

Colt and Archer were quietly talking to each other in their own corner of the room; disassembling and cleaning their weapons as well as August's and Phil's, since they were still in the medbay.

Ashley sat with Aethyta, Kirrahe, and Shiala, also deep in a conversation of some kind as they cleaned their own gear.

Liara seemed to be the worst off; she just sat in a corner as she held her temples. It looked like she was shell shocked, and little wonder either; considering the fact that she was a rookie, and had gone through perhaps one of the worst case scenarios for a first mission.

Jane noted both Shiala and Aethyta casting concerned looks at Liara, but neither moved to go help her. A cultural thing probably, Jane mused; and decided that she would deal with Liara first. As she walked up to the young woman, she asked; "Are you alright?"

The Asari flinched slightly in response, looking up at the Commander as she did so.

Liara quickly calmed once she realized that it was only Shepard; though neither noticed Aethyta scoot away from her group and shuffle closer to Liara. Not enough to be very noticeable or withdraw herself from her current conversation; but she didn't check the motion.

Liara swallowed, and looked back down at her feet as she thought of a response. "I thought I would be... helpful, useful even for your endeavour. I saw how effective you were during my rescue, and I thought to pay you back in some small way," she curled up and hugged her knees, "but in the end I was just a burden; just a useless Maiden with delusions of grandeur and adventure. So many were hurt because I couldn't do anything!" She began shivering as tears leaked from eyes pinched shut.

Jane sighed and sat down next to her, and shared a look with Aethyta; the Matriarch looked like she desperately wanted to come over and help, but couldn't seem to bring herself to move. "On the contrary Liara, you may have saved our lives." Jane replied with a small smile, resting a hand on the woman's shoulder.

Liara blinked while Jane continued; "You were caught completely off guard when the wolves disabled our biotics and eezo tech. Everyone was; August was the only one in our group that had a working weapon, and that Wolf made sure to take care of that." Jane leaned back against the bulkhead and sighed, "When your biotic abilities came back you stopped the Wolf Bastard from killing Fon and Kal. You stopped him from shooting me in the head the first time. You did a lot better than you think you did."

Jane gave a grim smile as the Asari thought it over; "Now you could definitely use some work; but you are not a failure." Jane knew she sounded maternal at the moment; and the irony was not lost on her. May as well get some practice for Eve's sake. She thought to herself; before returning her attention to Liara in anticipation of the young Maiden's response.

When none was forthcoming, Jane glared at Aethyta; Take care of your daughter NOW. It took tremendous fortitude not to growl when the Matriarch, Liara's Father who was older than modern Western Democracy, shrank back. Oh no you don't!

She turned back to the distraught maiden beside her. "Look, Liara, I know it's hard to imagine bouncing back from a hit like this. And you're an intellectual, not a stoic warrior of legend, so trying to compare yourself to professional soldiers is not reasonable.

"But don't take my word for it." She gently grasped Liara's hand and waited until she looked up at Jane. "Matriarch Aethyta has been alive longer than the Protestant Reformation." She and Liara both looked at Aethyta who glared daggers at Jane for a split second before schooling her features. "She's fought more battles than anyone here other than Wrex, and I'll lay odds she lost some of them; isn't that right?" She matched Aethyta's look with her own cold steel smile.

The Matriarch sighed heavily, "Yes… I lost a great deal many of them; many through simple trickery or from my enemies having superior experience, or from better technology."

The three Asari and the Commander all looked down in thought; "I never would have thought that a bunch of backwards primitive religious soldiers would be able to develop a way to disable biotics." Aethyta said sadly. "Much less able to disable Element Zero based weaponry. And these 'Wolves'... I have never faced anything like them. That Giant human in particular…"

Liara nodded faintly. "I've heard them refer to him as 'The Chechen', though I'm not sure of the significance."

Jane grimaced, "Chechnya is a place notorious for its massive distrust of outsiders and producing some of the finest warriors on Earth. They were among the few able to resist the Soviets occupation, and later the Russian Federation's attempts to conquer them. That Giant is probably a veteran of the numerous proxy wars between Chechnya and the Russian Federation." She noted, rubbing the side of her head.

"A warrior born into war, then. Age and experience can often falter in the face of such people. How else could an Asari Commando fall in battle then to any but an equally aged Krogan, Little Wing?" Aethyta's eyes widened imperceptibly at her slip of the tongue.

Any hopes Aethyta had that Liara was too distracted to notice were dashed when the Maiden looked oddly at that. "Only my mother has ever called me that."

Jane smiled slightly as Aethyta gave her a look that practically begged her for help; but Jane just gave her a smile, and walked over to Ashley, Kirrahe, Colt, and Archer, the four of them having clustered together while Shiala and Aethyta walked over to talk with Liara.

Kirrahe was mostly keeping to himself, since he was writing a report to the STG about the Wolves new Powered Armor and the 'Anti-Biotics Grenade' that Muhandis and The Chechan had deployed before their battle had begun in earnest.

Jane turned her main attention to the other three humans, "Are you all okay?"

Ash nodded, while Colt and Archer ignored her in favor of cleaning their rifles; "I'm good Ell Cee; but those Wolves are something else. They picked us apart like an old woollen blanket; even against those Batarians, I've never felt so hopelessly outclassed."

"Quite impressive technology for a supposedly 'underdeveloped' system of colonies." Kirrahe absently commented without looking up. "Securing the tactical suit from the combatant in the Queen's containment area is the only positive. If we can study it, we can determine any exploitable design flaws, or at least try to mitigate it's advantages over our own technology base."

Archer snorted while Colt remained unusually silent; "Fat chance of that; knowing how the Wolve's work, these things were unstable prototypes that will be completely different from the final product. How's the boss and Phil by the way?" She asked.

"He'll be fine by the time we reach Luna, same with Phil; and what do you mean by the fact that these things are 'prototypes'? Why would the Wolves take something untested out into the field?" Jahenne asked, almost demanded.

Colt piped up, sounding very tired and subdued; "They don't have the luxury of rigorous testing for most of their experimental tech. Taking it into combat is their way of testing equipment. If it works and doesn't blow up in their face, it goes into mass production; but specialized tech like those 'Anti-Biotic Grenades'?" He fell silent to let the thought stew in their heads.

Jane considered the Ghosts in front of her for a moment. "Both of you, walk with me." There was no room in her tone for debate as she turned and headed out of the bay.

There was a pair of loud grunts as the two Ghosts stood up from where they were seated; and the two had to jog for a brief moment to keep up with the Commander, as she set a brisk pace. Once they were out of the hanger bay, she rounded towards the briefing room; the Army Ghosts clearly uneasy as they followed her.

The second they entered the briefing room, and once the doors closed behind them; Jane whirled around on the two Army spooks with fire in her eyes. "I assume you understand that this is a military ship, and as such there is a chain of command that starts with me, and then everyone else?"

Both Ghosts snapped to attention on instinct; "Yes ma'am." both chorused.

"Then I'm never going to be blindsided by the technical capabilities of any forces you are specifically familiar with, thus endangering the lives of those under my command again, correct?"

"Of course Ma'am!" They snapped, both looking calm and stoic; they may as well have been made of stone as far as Jane was concerned.

"Good." She walked to the head of the table and sat, motioning for them to also sit. "You will tell me everything there is to know about EA; major active players, past tactics and strategies, favorite flavor of ice cream, all of it. Make no mistake, I am the only person on this ship with a guaranteed 'Need-to-Know'. So you will fill me in, or I will stuff you in a life-bubble and kick all four of you out over Armstrong city and let you walk home. Am I clear?"

"Crystal Ma'am." Archer replied this time, while Colt just gave a nod.

"Good… then let's get started."

Jane sat in Eve's AI core even as the kid sat across from her holding her cards.

Jane grimaced, "I still can't believe that you're having no problems dealing with that rogue VI even as you sit here playing 'go fish' of all things." She admitted.

Eve gave her a slightly hurt look, "You don't trust me mom?"

"Of course I do." Jane replied with a smile, "But I'm just worried about Garrus's team is all. They still have to go in and keep up the illusion that they handled the VI themselves."

Eve gave a relieved smile, then a thought seemed to cross her face; "Mom, do you want to watch Dad lead the mission from my point of view?" She asked.

"I would love to Eve; go ahead and pull it up." Jane replied, smiling brightly as she shifted her chair over beside Eve's; drawing her 'daughter' into a one armed hug, even as Eve pulled up a flat screen showing the away team breaching the main VI conduit bunker.

Garrus, Colt, Archer, Williams, Kirrahe, and Tali all filed into the room; and Eve tracked them all throughout it.

The group quickly began to tear through the VI controlled drones, although Eve still seemed rather upset about it; "What's wrong there kiddo?" Jane finally asked.

"I wish I could shut down those drones so the other wouldn't have to put themselves in danger." The AI replied sadly, looking down at her feet. "The only reason they're out there is so that I don't have to expose myself."

"Hey! None of that now kiddo, your father and I signed on for this; and quite frankly I'm still not okay with you sticking your neck out like this. We'd make very crappy parents if we put you in danger intentionally." Jane replied sternly, ruffling Eve's hair as she did so.

Eve looked wistfully at the screen like her mother. "I wonder if she could have turned out like me?"

"She?" Jane asked, looking at the screen in confusion as Kirrahe and Tali hacked the shields surrounding the VI core, while Colt planted explosives on them; Archer and Garrus covering them from the security and the combat drones. "What do you mean by that Eve?" she asked, absently checking her omnitool to see a message from Chakwas telling her that Lee and Phil were due to be discharged in an hour.

The last two to be discharged after their injuries on the ill-fated Noveria mission.

"The Luna VI; I wonder if she could have been like me, or if we would be different people?"

"Ah…" Shepard leaned back in her chair and carefully thought over her answer; "Well for one thing, I think they would have been a different person entirely. Maybe they wouldn't even be a girl like you; maybe they would have been a guy." Jane smirked, "At that point I would have insisted on you changing your apparel into something more covering, and Garrus would have to scare him into submission."

"No way!" Eve pouted. "The Moon has, in all cultures in history, always been associated with the feminine aspect. She'd have to be a girl!"

Jane chuckled, "Well... you don't know; Novaria is a russian name, and Russians are notable for being a male centric society. By that logic you should be a boy Eve." She smiled as the AI thought it over.

"Nope," Eve crossed her arms over her chest, "cause then I wouldn't be Eve, and," she sagged slightly, "and then maybe you wouldn't have liked me or saved me."

Jane dropped her joking demeanor and pulled Eve into a tight hug; "Sweetie, I would have saved you no matter what. It's like I told your dad, and what you told him; you may be an AI, but you act and think very human, and to humans all lives matter."

Eve returned the hug, "What are you going to be doing once we get to Earth?" She asked with her face still stuffed in Jahenne's shoulder.

Jane's face fell slightly as she remembered that Eve would be stuck on the ship with only Presley and Joker for company; as they were the only two that seemed to have both the time and the inclination to talk to her. She could theoretically leave the ship; though she sincerely doubted that August's home had a VI core big enough to house Eve's consciousness.

"We'll report to Headquarters for debrief, hand over the Armor and weapons systems we saved from the Wolves to the eggheads; and then go tour St. Mary's City. It'll be boring, especially going to August's house; it'll be like going to a ball or something like that." Jane said to try and reassure Eve that she wouldn't enjoy herself without the girl.

And if she was honest with herself, she wouldn't; only a week together, and Jane felt like she was experiencing physical pain at the prospect of leaving Eve behind. Fon and Garrus had already strung up more Emitters in the CIC and cockpit at least, so Eve could go there if she got lonely.

That wasn't a comfort for Jane though, since Eve's holographic eyes began to water; and the AI pulled up another screen, replacing what was going on back at the facility as the away team was mostly wrapped up by this point. Eve looked Jane right in the eyes, and Jahenne could feel her own eyes water slightly; "What about all the stuff Mr. Lee's been planning? A tour of the Maryland Ark and the Maryland Dove? A bunch of messages to his Foster Brother and his girlfriend talking about 'preparing for guests'? He is the Co-owner of the Red Hawk-Blue Dog Saloon; their food is excellent apparently." Jane gave the girl a soft smile as she kept rambling about all the things that the group had planned for vacation.

She had hacked into August's messages in the blink of an eye; it was something to be proud of, if Jane was honest with herself. But Eve's final sentence was what snapped Jane back to the moment; "And you said Balls are boring, this one looked fun!" Eve exclaimed, sounding exactly like the whiny teenager she was; even as she pulled up a news report with video.

"With continuing coverage of the fallout of last week's corporate scandal, where Private Military Contractors owned and operated by Devlon Industries attempted an armed robbery of the Key Note Dinner following a week long arms symposium and demonstration."

Jane felt her blood go cold, even as Eve continued talking about how fun it looked; and how boring it was going to be in Normandy. "Eve; listen to me right now."

Eve stopped talking and looked at her mother with wide eyes; it was the first time she had heard Jane take her 'commander' tone with her. Jane put her hands on her daughter's shoulders and gave her a very stern look. "One… You are to tell no one. Especially not Mr. Lee. Do you understand?" She asked.

"W-why mom?" She stammered.

"Eve… please; if not for me than for the rest of the crew so they don't have their vacation spoiled." Jane said, not losing her stern air.

"I… Okay…" Eve looked down sulkily, her red hair falling in front of her face. Jane pulled her into another hug; brushing the girls 'hair' out of her 'face'.

Jane sighed as, for a moment, she wondered if her own mother had ever felt this way. "That Ball wasn't fun. I'm sure it sounded exciting; but if there were news reports about the day we met, I'm sure they'd sound exciting too." She looked at the news feed as several people were brought out on stretchers. "People were hurt that night, and that's never fun." She tensed for a moment as a Quarian in a formal Seemas and an Asari in what passed for a dress to them, were shown helping wheel a familiar looking human male into an ambulance.

She shook her head. That would just be too coincidental.

"Tell you what, we can bring Fyodor, Fon, and San down here to help you out; how does that sound?" Jane had to fight down a grin as she noticed Eve's hologram turn a little red at the cheeks at the mention of San's name. Aw… My little girl already has her first crush. She thought to herself.

"T-that would be great!" Eve replied.

"Well wait here, I'll go get them."

I shrugged on my old Leather Jacket, and made sure my Long Sleeve Button-Down Denim Shirt was tucked into my khaki work pants; my wool socks and working boots mostly hidden under them.

I put on my brown stetson fedora, and wiped off my glasses.

"Hello Dr. Jones, what can we do for you?" Colt asked next to me, a shit eating grin on his face.

As if he was one to talk, since he was dressed the same way; although his hat was black, his jacket was denim and fur-lined, and he wore a flannel as opposed to a denim shirt. I just rolled my eyes and pulled up my Duffle bag, cracking my neck as I did so; "Yeah, you can shut your mouth and be on your best behavior. Or else I'll tell your parents you were misbehaving on another field trip." I finally replied sarcastically.

"Oh no! Then they won't sign my permission slips anymore!" Colt gasped dramatically.

I could practically hear Archer and Phil rolling their eyes beside us; while the rest of 1-4-1 chuckled or looked at us like we were crazy. As the Shuttle approached Dulles, I grabbed a hold of the nearby hand grip; feeling us descending into the atmosphere.

"Oi! August, you said there was going to be a bus to pick us up?" I heard Wrex shout, the Krogan sounding bored for the most part.

"Yeah that's right, pretty big one too; since it can hold all of us." I replied over my shoulder.

I saw San shift uncomfortably, "No disrespect intended Pilgrim Lee; but why are we taking this bus over land rather than fly to your home? And are you sure you can fit all of us there?" he asked meekly.

I saw all ten Quarians nod together except Kal, who merely gave me an unreadable look behind his visor. "Oh I'm sure I can host all y'all; provided some of you don't mind sharing rooms or sleeping on the floor in some cases. As for the Bus… well I don't have a place for you guys to land; and Maryland is a place best enjoyed from the ground." I replied, even as I felt the Shuttle finally touch the ground.

Everyone except Wrex and the Quarians were in civilian clothing; including Garrus to my surprise. I was glad to see they had all taken my advice to dress in layers; as it was currently -3.33 degrees celsius, with light flurries on top of five inches of snow.

Everyone except Phil and Jane balked at the blast of wind while I just smiled.

"Kheelah! It's even colder than the Citadel!" Tali exclaimed.

"This is actually rather average Ms. Zorah; coldest winter I remember was when I was a kid. It was around -17.7 degrees with about a meter's worth of snow on the ground. Most of this snow comes from the Atlantic or from the Canadian Arctic; but the big cold snaps come when the cold weather from both Canada and the Atlantic clash in the Mid-East Coast." I explained with a large smile on my face, breathing in the flurry of snow.

It was a much colder climate than my universe, as while it stayed below freezing; it tended to only snow in February, and only a few times during the month with only a few inches each time. The tradeoff of course was that the summer months were even more extreme, hanging around 100 degrees during the July and August months.

Maryland was one of those places that was nowhere special, beyond being a gateway to everywhere else that was special. And that Included the weather; Fall and Spring being rather nice, hanging around 60 to 80 respectively.

Grinning as I spotted the modified Greyhound waiting for us, I pointed; "Well grab your stuff guys, and head to the Bus; I'll be driving."

Wrex just grunted, "So long as you're better than Shepard; I don't care."

San just gripped his chair in terror as Lee snapped, "Come on you idiots! You have a turn signal for a reason!"

The absurdly spacious bus as the humans called it, was incredibly unwieldy; not helped by the fact that Pilgrim Lee seemed to deem all the other drivers on the road 'idiots'. Though San did have to admit, stopping in the middle of the road to 'change lanes' was pretty stupid. Of course, so was using this monstrous land vehicle, but one didn't challenge a Ship's hospitality simply because you didn't understand the customs.

"Seriously? I'm a five ton bus, and you're a half ton Jaguar! Do you want me to make roadkill out of you?!" Lee reiterated.

"How am I a worse driver than you?" Shepard grumbled loudly, even as the snow covered trees and empty fields flashed by the windows.

"Because at least he can drive straight Skipper; and he actually tries to avoid obstacles." Ashley Williams piped up, actually looking very comfortable.

In fact, everyone except his fellow Pilgrims looked comfortable; perhaps the Captains driving has desensitized them. San thought idly; even as Lee began to slow down.

"Alright guys, we're coming up on the Wicomico River; Go ahead and take a look guys, and enjoy the view." Lee said from up front, grinning in spite of the fact that he was wearing a rather ridiculous looking, in Sans view anyway, broad brimmed hat.

San decided to take his advice, as did most of the Quarians; and looked out the left window, thankful that the snow had let up and Earth's star had come out.

Everything was buried in white, like the frost buildup on coolant pipes. The small river they were crossing over was frozen over with Ice; the star glinting off of the glass like surface. Along both sides of the sheet on one side of the bridge were bare grey and brown branched spikes with more frost clinging to them, while on the other side of the bridge there was almost nothing. A few small groups of people were clustered on top of the river, either grouped around small machines or going in and out of small structures with smoke coming out of them.

San pointed as they crossed the span. "What are they doing? Isn't that dangerous?"

"Ice fishing." Ashley piped up, strangely convivial compared to her normal taciturn self. "My grandfather used to take me out on lake Chaffee to Ice fish for Silver-Eel."

"Here they try to get Rockfish; the damned things are invasive. State government actually puts a bounty on them; and they taste delicious, I might add." Lee added over his shoulder.

They crossed the bridge onto a wide floodplain towards a small hill lined with more brown and grey spiked poles leading up to a wide red and white structure. The bus pulled around a circle and parked in front of a large stone staircase leading up to a platform flanked by white stone columns.

The group quickly disembarked and trudged through the snow towards the large porch.

"What are these pillars made of?" Liara asked, shivering from the wind. Even though the 'flurries' had stopped, it was still pretty cold.

"Marble I think; but I'm not really sure." Lee replied, even as he dug into his pocket and pulled out some metal keys.

San and the other Quarians actually exchanged some looks at the notion of using something like a metal lock to keep your door shut. Lee began jiggling the lock, grumbling under his breath; "I hate it when it gets this cold, because then the grease on the lock starts to freeze; last time that happened, I actually had to break a window to get inside. That wasn't fun explaining to the police that I broke into my own mansion."

This prompted a few laughs from everyone else, just as Lee opened the door.

A yellow blur followed by a black, tan, and white blur tackled the Human to the ground. San and everyone else hopped back in surprise; until Ashley, Shepard, and Archer all squealed in happiness.

"Oh my God! Puppy!" Ashley exclaimed.

Lee just lay on his back groaning; "Hey Shadow… Hey Sky… good to see both of you…" before finally pushing the two Varren like animals off of him. The two animals' tails were wagging back and forth so fast that they were literal blurs.

"More dogs!" Shepard pointed happily, to San's amazement as he had never seen the Captain look so happy before.

He followed the commander's finger to see two more of these 'dogs'; one that was vaguely Red-Brown in color, the other being vaguely White-Light Blue-Black in color. Both 'dogs' stared at the group of humans and Aliens with something akin to suspicion; until Pilgrim Lee made that whistling noise humans were capable of.

Both of the animals floppy ears perked up, and their tails started wagging as well; "C'mon Red, Blue! Give your old man a hug." Lee said with a grin from where he now sat.

San and the other Quarians, really all Quarians, had long since accepted that other species had little to no concern about hygiene. They ate food that was barely sterilized, usually with their bare hands or with tools that had been sitting in open air. They would lay exposed skin on random surfaces and then touch their faces, and generally didn't give any thought to what might be in the environment around them.

The fact that all four of these 'dogs' were licking his face was enough to cause all the Quarians to cringe. This was made all the stranger when the Commander and Gunny Williams knelt down and allowed the dogs to do the same to them. As far as San was concerned, Jane and Ashley might as well have allowed Pilgrim Lee to lick them.

Then the Brown-Red 'Dog' turned to San, and padded forward while tilting its head.

"Er… Pilgrim Lee… what kind of breed of Varren is this?" Tali asked timidly, as the White-Blue-Black one did the same with her; San took a step back as the tail started wagging faster.

Did that mean it was getting ready to attack him?

"They're not Varren, they're Dogs!" Ashley replied incredulously.

"Yes, and they are much friendlier than Varren." Archer added, petting the Yellow furred one.

Lee just grinned as he stood up, "Allow me to introduce you to my dogs; this is Sky, she is a Golden Retriever, and a gift to my girlfriend." He pointed to the Yellow-Gold one.

The dog perked its ears up at the mention of its name, but then Archer scratched behind its ears; and the dog returned its attention to her.

Lee then pointed to the one being petted by Ashley and Shepard; "That one is Shadow, a Agouti Siberian Husky; she was a gift for my daughter."

The Red-Brown one had finally reached San; and Lee pointed to it, "That is Red, He's a Chesapeake Bay Retriever; now unlike the other two, he's a working dog. His job is to fetch any waterfowl that the farmhands kill; and watch over the chickens."

San froze for a moment; this animal was supposed to assist humans in, what, purging their lands of dangerous animals? He reviewed his, admittedly limited, human lexicon, and while he couldn't find 'Wildfowl', he did find 'wild': untamed or dangerous, and 'foul': highly unpleasant or particularly unsanitary. He glanced down at the 'Retriever' nudging his hand with its nose. Maybe humans weren't so crazy after all, if they purpose-bred animals to help them keep their lands free of these 'wild-foul'.

Lee smiled as San reluctantly began petting Red; and he pointed to the last dog, "This is Blue, he is an Australian Shepherd; and his job is to herd the sheep and protect them in case any predators decide to attack them."

Lia suddenly tensed up. "Predators? What kind of predators?" She pulled Fyodor closer to her side, while looking around. "I thought this was a developed world."

Lee immediately held his hands up; "Calm down there Lia; yes Earth is a developed world, but still really dangerous in many places if you are not careful. Now the predators here are almost exclusively a threat to livestock since they're scared of humans. Wolves, Coyotes, Coywolves which are Wolf-Coyote hybrids, Foxes, even a Mountain Lion if rumours are to be believed."

He grimaced, "Now while they are normally afraid of humans… If they are rabid, that's really bad." All the Aliens blinked as all the humans shuddered at the mention of this 'rabies'.

Garrus buzzed in confusion. "What's 'rabid'?" He looked to Jane. "Is it like mating season for some animals? I know there are a number of livestock breeds on our colonies that can get very dangerous during the Rut."

Shepard looked at the group with some concern, and a little chagrin as if she had forgotten an important detail in a mission brief. "No, it's a virus that attacks the nervous system. It's transmitted between animals, including humans, through saliva in bites." She looked at the aliens in the group. "It's just... one of those things you grow up learning on Earth and her colonies; if you see an animal staggering around like it's drunk and frothing at the mouth, you either shoot it or get away from it because you don't want to get bitten."

Archer held up her hand to forestall the panic that San could already feel overtaking his mind; "Don't worry; we don't even know if it's transmittable outside of Earth-native species. Besides, August has all the dogs vaccinated so the Rabies doesn't immediately debilitate and kill them; and most of the animals that can carry it are in hibernation for the winter."

Lee coughed, "Uh... about that." Everyone looked at him, and he gave Archer a pointed look; "Ziva told me a couple weeks ago… Krogan can get it, and it is just as fatal to them as it is to humans. The virus had already reached his brain, and there was nothing they could do except make him comfortable and restrain him as best they could."

Most everyone looked at Wrex in concern, though the ancient Battlemaster simply looked... impressed. "And here I thought the most dangerous thing from this rock was you lot. If you've got a bug that can get past our immune reaction, and our regeneration capabilities; and you humans survived long enough to make it to space, then that's quite the testimonial."

Lee looked around at the group "In any case, Archer is right in that all the most aggressive animals rest during the winter since they can't get much food; and rabies is most potent during the heat of the summer months, So you guys don't really have to worry about that." Then his face turned serious, "But if any of you see an animal acting like how Shepard described it; run and come tell us."

Everyone was subdued, until Colt clapped his hands as his grin returned to his face; "Right! Let's stop thinking about all this doom and gloom stuff and go inside. I'm freezing my butt off!"

Lee nodded and stepped inside, whistling again for his dogs to follow him.

The group entered the house, San cautiously petting the one called 'Sky' as he did so; It was… Spacious to say the least. Everything was an odd but strangely organic mix of wood and stone, with arched ceilings and winding stair cases. Aside from the floor itself, he had yet to see one straight line. His suit's sensors picked up smoke, and he was about to call out an alarm to the others when he noticed all the humans sniffing the air and smiling pleasantly.

"Hickory and oak in your fireplace? Now you're just showing off." Shepard cracked her first smile at Pilgrim Lee in days.

Lee ignored her and stepped farther inside the house. "Honey?! I'm home with our guests." Lee called out, even as his dogs ran past him and scattered into different sections of the building.

"Are you now? Johnny says he needs a few more hours to get all the takeout food ready for delivery." A woman's voice called back.

San blinked, and he noticed all of the other Quarians have a similar reaction. Lee's bondmates accent was… very familiar sounding to say the least; though San shrugged it off as a coincidence. Phil's Russian Accent was very similar to a northern Kheelish accent; so this woman was probably from the same area.

Lee smiled and gestured for everyone to file in, "Take a seat." He said, pointing to one of the many rooms in the building; the room being filled with chairs every which way, all facing towards a giant holo-screen.

Everyone did so, though Wrex remained standing; looking at a row of paintings that each showed human male of some kind, all of whom bore a slight resemblance to each other.

San sat down in one of the chairs as Mr. Lee called back; "That's good honey, where are you?"

"In the Kitchen! When you're done seating our guests you need to help June with her English homework. Her English… and this is the girl who is a straight A student in Math and Engineering; and is at least two grades ahead in her studies." Lee's bondmate replied, sounding like she was getting closer.

"About that dear, uh… Well we have a few more guests than I initially estimated we would." Lee replied, grimacing visibly as he looked at the twenty other people all squeezed together in the room.

San had to fight down a burst of laughter at seeing the smirk Shepard gave Lee.

"More guests? August, surely you must be exagge...rate...ing..." the woman trailed off as she rounded the corner and took in the rest of the room.

San's jaw was on the bottom of his helmet; as were all the other Quarians and at least half of the people in the room. Shepard and Garrus were both laughing; while Phil, Colt, and Archer all smiled and stood up, walking over to the Quarian Woman standing in the doorway.

A Maskless, Suitless Quarian woman; wearing a dress mixed with a Realk and Seemas, overtop which she wore a white 'Doctors Coat' like what Dr. Chakwas wore. Her Realk and Seemas were a deep Blue, with Silver leaf patterns on them; her skin was Grey-Light Purple, and her hair was black and wavy.

The bottom half of her face was covered by her Seemas, and her hood was up; leaving only a really clear view of her face from the nose up. Still, it was more flesh than most Quarians saw outside of the closest family members, or under the direst of circumstances.

"Hey Ziva! Nice dress, were you expecting this to be a more formal affair darlin'?" Colt asked with a large smile.

"Oh be nice Colt!" Archer exclaimed, swatting his arm; before giving a soft smile and taking the Quarians hands, "It's good to see ya sister. How have things been at Johns Hopkins; I assume you just got back since you're wearing your Doctors Jacket."

"V-very good; I've been helping a colleague by consulting over at Walter Reed with a particular 'problem patient'," she air-quoted while giving Lee a hooded look, "but otherwise good. I will say I was not expecting this many guests; you were quite right about that dear... for once." Ziva replied, sweeping her eyes over the group.

San had to resist the urge to look away as she swept her gaze across the room to the rest of the Quarians.

Alenko seemed to break out of his shock, "This… this must be an Agent of some kind." He finally said, seemingly half dazed. One of the dogs came up, snuffling at his limp hand. He twitched slightly at the damp, cold nose on his palm. "Special Agency dogs, security trained dogs."

Fyodor jumped up from where he was sitting next to Lia; "Hi Miss! Mr. Lee said that you were the one that made the cure!" He exclaimed happily. That seemed to break everyone out of their stupor.

"Fyodor!" Lia exclaimed.

"No, no! It's fine." Ziva exclaimed, before taking a breath; and she smiled. San could tell by the fact that her eyes crinkled slightly as she talked, "I did make the cure for the Quarian Immune system. I have more stored here, just in case I came across any that needed it." She explained, before she paused at hearing the sound of thudding footsteps.

"Oh boy, incoming." Lee exclaimed, practically drifting out of the room as San heard a voice shout; "Papa?!" Everyone turned to look; just in time for a little Quarian Girl about five or six years old, a little younger than Fyodor, came sprinting down the stairs.

Major Lee had a massive grin on his face as he scooped the girl up in a hug; spinning her around as the girl laughed happily.

She was wearing a pair of loose human 'jeans', and a 'hoodie'; and she had Grey-Light Purple Skin with wavy Black hair.

"That is… a smaller agent…" Ashley Williams commented weakly as she stared.

Kal blinked at the family in front of him, for that's exactly what they were. "How long have you had this cure?" There was suspicion and slight accusation in his voice.

Ziva frowned and glared heavily at the Sergeant; who immediately cringed away from her piercing stare. San would have laughed if he was not similarly intimidated, the human saying 'Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned' immediately coming to his mind.

"Only since just before the Citadel attacks Mister...?" Ziva asked, raising an eyebrow; the action still amazing San, even if he could only still see the top half of her face.

"Sergeant Kal'Reegar…" He replied uncertainly.

"Well... If you would be so kind as to keep that kind of poisonous suspicion out of this house; that would be great Sergeant. I have no qualms about kicking you out to make you sleep on the porch dog houses with Red and Blue while they watch over the livestock." Ziva replied, jutting her chin outwards.

Both Fyodor and the as yet unnamed daughter of the Major shrank back from the tense emotions the Clan elders were projecting. San was tempted to find another part of the house to wait in, or even go back outside; his suit was vacuum rated, what was a little frost?

"June, perhaps you could show Fyodor your room and some of the games you have; perhaps even that drone you've been working on?" The major suggested.

"Okay Papa!" June exclaimed, while Fyodor gave Lia an uncertain look.

Lia only nodded before turning her attention back to the standoff; and Fyodor practically sprinted out of the room and up the stairs with June.

There was a long tense silence, until Wrex broke it by laughing deeply; while Aethyta and Shiala chuckled along with the Krogan battlemaster. "Ah… you females never fail to surprise me."

Pilot A/N: To join the discord, simply go to my profile for the link; I try to keep it updated.

Now then, on to the contents of this chapter; first of is 1-4-1 meeting Ziva and June, and more importantly, seeing that Ziva's cure (which I referenced all the way back in chapter 15) does in fact work as advertised.

I admit, I wanted this little "Avengers 2 Moment" for a while now; and it was nice to have it happen.

Now this chapter is more than just "meet the family"; It's also where the rest of the team will be rebuilding/building their trust in the Major and each other.

And to answer a review left last chapter regarding Jane being pissed about the cure and not the AI; she was pissed because August kept that from her, though she does accept his explanation here.

Eve having a body is something of a reference to my old story "A House Divided Amongst Itself"; It's not very good even if it has good moments in it. And to those fans still waiting on it, I am still working on the rework; but it has low priority for me, and just be aware that it will be pretty different from the original.

As to what Eve looks like, she's just a 14-15 year old version of Jane; and with a Sapphire Blue aura around her because of the Eezo generators allowing her to interact with the world.

You have any thoughts Ian?

Ian A/N: As a lifelong tabletop gamer, I have always appreciated the idea that 'Lawful Good does not mean Lawful Nice'. Shepard comes out of the last chapter feeling both defeated and betrayed. Were this the 'Renegade' Shepard, we might expect some old fashioned 'Wall-to-Wall Counseling'. Instead, she takes the time to visit with her troops, to rebuild their self esteem; and yes, to confront those pesky Spooks who insist on keeping things from her. She is their commander, and feels it's high time to remind them of that.

Eve may seem out of place to some readers citing 'Citadel Law'. From our creative perspective, as well as the anecdotal evidence from in game, the law prohibits the intentional creation of AI, not it's existence. This gives Jane the legal wiggle room to protect an innocent sapient mind as the only true victory in the unfortunate events of Noveria.

The issue of "AI Creation vs. AI Existence" regarding Citadel legal authority and enforcement will come up later, so keep on reading.

Pilot: With that said, while this story tends to never have a decent backlog; we do have a slight one, and next Friday will be the next chapter. This next one has no action in it, but it does have a lot of heartwarming moments; and a few romantic ones.

Half Life: Entanglement does have a similar upload schedule, one chapter every wednesday at 11 AM EST. And Unlike most Half Life-Mass Effect Crossovers, or just Half Life Fanfics in general, this one has no intention of quietly dying.

Alright, Leave a review and tell us what you guys think.

Check out Half Life: Entanglement while you wait for the next chapter.

Check my profile for the link to join the discord.

A TV Tropes page for either would be greatly appreciated.

And we will see ya when we see ya.