Laryna

The wait was murderous, but finally getting into the shuttle calmed my nerves as we descended towards the planet. I know we were most likely facing the Collecters, but if I were honest with myself, seeing Kaidan was giving me true butterflies in my stomach.

I drew my pistol almost as soon we cleared the shuttle. I could see the giant ship to one side of the colony. It was an odd blending of rock and metal. There were also shifting clouds of swarms everywhere.

"Mordin," I said as I watched one cloud getting closer. "You sure these armor upgrades will protect us from the seeker swarms?"

The salarian came up beside me. "Certainty impossible. But in limited numbers, should confuse detection, make us invisible to swarms. In theory."

Garrus let out a little laugh. "In theory? That sounds promising."

"Experimental technology. Only test is contact with seeker swarms. Have to test them in person. Should be exciting." And indeed Mordin sounded excited. I looked them over, hoping Miranda's hunch back on Freedom's Progress was right, that they swarms were only interested in humans, and that other species were ignored. If so, even if Mordin's counter failed, they would still be free to try and save this colony.

Though staying alive myself would be a wonderful bonus.

"Com...der... do...read me?" Joker's voice same over my helm speakers, broken and faded until they stopped completely. I placed my hand on the reply button and tried responding, but it was no good.

"Swarms are disrupting communications," Mordin supplied. "On our own, now."

We entered the colony and were almost overwhelmed immediately. There were Collectors everywhere. A swarm passed overhead, but none of them came down upon us as we exchanged fire with the enemy. I could hear Mordin's pleasure. The fight was fierce, and I watched him closely as we fought from the corner of my eye. It was the first time I had taken him to ground, and was curious about his combat skills. He moved easily, the grin never fading from his features as he danced and utilized his engineer skills along with deadly accuracy from his pistol.

Garrus and I both gasped when we started to be attacked by husks. We haven't seen these since Saren. They were created by impaling human victims on specialized spears called dragon teeth, and transformed the individual into a mindless monster with only the goal of destruction.

I stood over a fallen husk after we had cleared out the attackers. Mordin and Garrus joined me after a few moments. Mordin knelt down to get a closer look.

"These look like the husks we fought on Eden Prime," I told him as he scraped a sample from the body.

"I thought Saren got that technology from Sovereign." Garrus said.

Mordin stood, pocketing his sample. "Illusive Man was right. Collectors working with the Reapers. Husks have human characteristics. Possibly repurposed colonists?"

Garrus shook his head. "No. The geth impaled their victims on giant spikes to turn them into husks. But we haven't seen any." I nodded my agreement, half lost in thought. I could remember that all to well; seeing again the fresh corpses run through their mid sections on portable metal spears. Watching not so fresh corpses crawling off the spears to attack us. "The Collectors must have already had the husks. They want the colonists alive for something else." Garrus continued saying.

"The Collectors must be experimenting on the colonists," I agreed, feeling sick. "What are they up too?"

"Maybe it's better not to know the details." Garrus mumbled.

"Find out for sure when you stop them," Mordin said in disagreement.

I knelt down now, looking at the body of the husk. "These aren't the same creatures I fought on Eden Prime. They're more advanced. Evolved." I could easily see the other husks in my mind's eye, nothing short of withered skins and bones. These were slightly aglow with some kind of blue implants, perhaps even a little more plump. Transformed earlier to avoid additional rot?

"They still die if you shoot them." Garrus grunted.

True enough. "The Collectors aren't getting away with more victims. Let's move out." I lead my team further into the colony. We didn't run into any more Collectors as we slowly scouted out the buildings and yards. There were no signs of survivors. The group we ran into must have been a scouting party, doing the same as we are, if for different end results.

Peeking into another home module, Garrus shook his head at me to show it was also empty and came up closer, still peering around carefully. "All these empty buildings... it's unsettling."

"No signs of resistance," Mordin said from somewhere nearby. He came into view from another building, looking at his omni-tool as he took a variety of scans. "Must have happened quickly."

"It was the same on Freedom's Progress." I said softly. "Let's keep going."

We had picked up our search pace now. It was about fifteen minutes later when Mordin gave a low call to us. Mordin was standing next to a couple people, and I took the rest of the distance at a run. The one was a man standing over a fallen woman, positioned as if to help her help. I was about to start questioning when I realized they hadn't moved, and Mordin was taking pulses and studying their eyes, which were shifting between looking at him to me and back again.

"Victims appear conscious," Mordin said during his exam. "Fully aware. Trapped in stasis. Fascinating."

"They've been like this a long time," I said when I saw how weary the eyes looked. "Can we move them?"

"And put them where?" Garrus asked. "There likely isn't anywhere we can hide them they can't be found, and we can't call for a pickup with the shuttle until the colony is secure. We're best off waiting until we handle the Collecters, Laryna."

"You're right," I said, disappointed. I met the eyes of the man, which were desperate now. "I'm sorry." I told him. "We'll back as soon as we can with help."

We found a few more people about. Hiding behind crates or under beds. Caught in the shower or eating a meal. My best guess we were in the center of the colony and further away from the Collecter ship. As we started to move back towards the outer reaches of the colony again did we finally run into more Collectors. This group seemed to be more organized. They had honeycombed looking energy shields they put up often to hide behind and heavy weapons what used a thick ray that burned and scotched whatever it hit. I had to assume they had set up their defenses after we had attacked the first group. They had no need for them otherwise. We were better prepared as well. Garrus had found a window to use as a sniping base, Mordin was enjoying himself using different fire and ice mechanics against our foes, and I was alight with biotic energy, pacing myself well to slow, contain and kill as needed or situations allowed and demanded.

The only thing that threw us off balance a bit was a new creature that came wandering out of a storage building. It was large, bulky and clumsy, but it enjoyed throwing shockwaves every few minutes in our direction. It was the first display of dark energy we had from them, though in an eerie yellow color, and I was a bit envious of the strength of its shockwaves. I got caught in one and it shattered my shields and knocked my breath out.

Mordin poked and prod me a bit afterwards after I had managed cover to make sure the biotic energy used wouldn't cause any lasting harm. My breath recovered quickly. He declared himself unconcerned, so we continued. I grabbed one of the Collecter's weapons on my way by and secured it to my back. We never had the chance to look at their weapons before, so may as well take something back.

"It's odd we haven't run across more frozen colonists," Garrus said after awhile as we approached a large wall that divided the residential area from the industrial part.

"Colonists loaded onto ship. Collecters nearly finished here. Need to hurry." Mordin said as he opened the doors. It lead into a fairly large yard filled with gardening equipment, trenches, and Collecters. Instinctively I threw up a barrier dome as we took fire, and held it until we were able to reach some cover.

There was a lot of potential cover here, and the Collecters started to move to flank us, keeping out of line of fire easily. All but one. It was strolling straight down the middle, awash in a golden light along it's contours and shining from its many eyes. It was using warps of the same color stricken through with darkness. It was the most bizarre form of biotics I have ever seen. I decided that I did not want to chance testing that out again.

"You cannot resist," its eerie voice filled the air, like an echo of death.

"Watch us," Garrus growled, and opened fire into its chest. It staggered a bit, but kept coming. "Focus fire it down," Garrus shouted. Mordin and I responded without argument. But killing it only lead to further bewilderment. As it fell, it dissolved into wisps of gold and gray. And seconds later I saw a Collecter near the back take to the air, hovering, as first it's eyes and then the rest of its body was overtaken by the same golden light.

"You cannot resist," the same voice repeated.

"Problematic," Mordin said softly.

I shook my head. "Take them all out!"

Fueled with fury, determination, and fear, my squad answered my call. Though this group was larger then the others we faced yet, we had them broken among the ground in just over 20 minutes. Garrus broke into laughter, and even Mordin was all grins. I couldn't help a smirk myself. "We can resist," I said.

Picking our way over several bodies, we made for the far door that lead to the next section of the colony. We found this door locked, and an open hack program partially completed where we must have interrupted a Collector at work. I studied it for a moment and was able to quickly finish the hack, and we were through.

It lead into a small control center of some kind. I looked around as we descended a few steps to the floor. There was a weapons locker and ammo in one corner, a few consoles, and a viewing window currently dark to the other side.

Before I could recommend reloading and doing a quick weapons check, I heard a noise off to my right. "Company," I warned, pistol already in hand. "Get out here. Now!"

A baseball cap and a eye poked out from behind the locker on the far side of the room. I lowered my weapon, and he came out completely. I holstered my gun.

"You're... you're human!" the colonist said in a mix of surprise and relief. "What are you doing here? You'll lead them right here!"

"You had to hear them trying to get in," I said, pointing at the door we came through over my shoulder. "Seems it's hard to hide from Collectors."

"Those things are Collectors? You mean... they're real? I thought they were just made up. You know—propaganda. To keep us in Alliance Space." Panic swept his face. "No! They got Lilith. I saw her go down. Sten, too. They got damn near everybody!"

Holding up my hands in appeal, I placed one on his shoulder. "What's your name? What do you do here?"

"Name's Delan," he replied. "Mechanic. I came down to check on the main grid after we lost our comm signals. Then I heard screaming. I looked outside and there was... swarms of bugs. Everyone they touched just froze. I sealed the doors." He paced a moment, clearly still frightened of his experience. "Damn it—it's the Alliance's fault! They stationed that Commander Alenko here and built those defense towers. It made us a target!"

Kaidan! "Tell me more about this Alliance rep," I asked.

Delan shrugged. "Commander Alenko? Heard he was some kind of hero or something." He waved his hand dismissively. "Didn't mean nothing to me, though. Wouldn't rather he stayed back in Council Space."

This had to be the mission Anderson couldn't speak of when I tried asking about him before. "Any idea what he was doing on Horizon?"

"Suppose to be helping us get the defense towers up and running," Delan replied. "I got the feeling he was here for something else. Spying on us, maybe."

In other words, he had no idea. "Tell me about the colony defense towers," I requested.

He snorted. "A gift from the Alliance. High powered GUARDIAN lasers. Supposed to keep hostile ships from landing near the colony. Had to build a massive underground generator just to give it enough juice. Only we couldn't get the targeting systems online. So the Alliance gave us a giant gun that couldn't shoot straight. Stupid sons-of-bitches."

"Why do you think this is the Alliance's fault?" I asked, my old loyalties sneaking up on me.

"We're just a small colony. Nobody bothered us before we started building those damn defense towers and drew attention to ourselves. I left Council Space to get away from the Alliance. Nothing good ever comes from getting mixed up with them."

"The Collecters are targeting remote colonies. The Alliance was trying to help," I said defensively.

"I don't need their help," Delan snapped. "Too many strings attached. That rep said he was just here to get the towers online, but mark my word—there's more to it."

"If you have defenses we can use them against the Collecter ship!"

"You'd need to calibrate the targeting system first. It's never worked right..." was the grumbled reply.

I exchanged an amused look with Garrus.

"Shouldn't be hard to figure out," Mordin said. "Just need the location."

"Head for the main transmitter on the other side of the colony. Pretty hard to miss. The targeting controls are at the base." Delan provided.

I made for the weapon's locker and started to replace used thermal clips. After a few seconds Mordin and Garrus did the same. "It's probably just better if you stay out of the way," I said to Delan when I was finished.

"Yeah, that's what I was thinking too," he quickly agreed. "I'll let you out, but I'm locking the door behind you. I'm not taking any chances. Good luck. I think you're going to need it."

We didn't waste any time. The controls were located in an enclosed space close to the cannons themselves, and the Collecter ship. Even so, they were lightly guarded, and most likely at all because of the trouble we've been causing. We quickly dispatched the guards and came on the console that was, oddly, centered right in the middle of the yard, crates and flats scattered all around. A few small portable buildings with small walkways in between were also on the other edges. I went to the console and used it to strengthen my transmission signals.

"Normandy? Do you copy?"

"Joker here," replied my pilot. "Signal's weak, Commander, but we got you."

Good. "EDI—can you get the colony's defense towers online?" I asked.

"Errors in the calibration software are easily rectified," she replied instantly. "But it will take time to bring the towers to full power. I recommend a defensive posture. I will not be able to mask the increased generator output."

Mordin nodded. "Collectors will respond with force to stop it."

I replied with a grin. "We'll stop them. Easy enough."

"Maybe not," EDI warned. "Enemy reinforcements closing in. I suggest you ready weapons." No sooner had her words faded that we had several Collecters dropping down on our from the skies. They landed quickly though, surrounding us. We took cover the best we would to keep our shields from being overwhelmed, but it was rough. I saw Mordin go down at least twice, though he bounced right back up and would always respond with something ending up frozen. I fell back to him and provided some cover while we gave up some ground away from the control tower. Once recovered, and Garrus giving us support from some crates where he managed to get out his Viper, we quickly forced them back off from the panels.

"Bypassing fail safes and attempting emergency power-up," EDI reported in while we fought. "Please hold the defense tower."

We bought ourselves a break, and I checked the console to make sure it took no damage.

"Doubtful that enemy has withdrawn," Mordin said as he quickly wrapped up a nasty scratch on his calf. "Reinforcements likely." He proved right. A few minutes later we were attacked by husks, their presence announced by their strange groans long before we saw them directly. Only when we were distracted by the husks did more Collecters land, taking shelter from the outer crates.

"Sequential power-up initiated. GARDIAN anti-ship batteries at 40%." EDI said.

No sooner did we deal with most of this attack did more came, along with a couple shockwave creatures we encountered earlier. "Reinforcements!" Garrus called. "It's nice to be noticed." I laughed and emptied a clip at the first, realized that was all I had left, and ignored my backup weapon for warps. I tired pacing myself as best as I could, like I did in our last fight, but the enemy wasn't letting up enough for me to set a pattern to my attacks. I was tossing around warps at Collectors, singularities to slow up husks, and shockwaves to counter the ones aimed at us endlessly.

"GUARDIAN anti-ship batteries at 60%," EDI updated. "Syncing targeting protocols to Normandy's systems. Continue to protect the tower."

Yes, can't let them close enough to cause it damage, I thought, wishing we had more ammo for my grenade launcher. We had thinned their numbers noticeably by this time though, when the survivors took to the air and headed towards their ship. I stood tense and ready for several long moments before I let my biotics cool down finally, and the world seemed dimmer from its lack of glow and my weariness.

"A new one!" Garrus shouted out. "Whatever it is, don't get too close!"

New one? I looked to where Garrus was positioned, and saw it. It was huge. It hovered until it spotted me, then started to slowly fly in my direction, it's body swaying in the air, long, insect like legs dangling. It had a mushroom like top and a beetle like bottom, but no wings that I could see. Summoning my biotics without a thought, I wiped a warp at it, but it didn't seem to notice my attack at all. It's eyes started to glow with an equal color of blue, and I barely got out of the way before it scorched the ground where I was standing with two beams of pure energy.

"Firing anti-ship batteries at Collecter vessel," EDI said, and I heard off to my left the rumbling of twin cannons on the guns going off. It was certainly taking a large gun to deal with the Collecters, I thought. I reached over my back and pull forth the Collecter weapon I picked up earlier. I took cover from another attack, and dashed back as quick and pulled the trigger. It's heavy beam tore through its shields and left heavy marks along it armor and forced it to slow. Before I could savor the moment it dropped to the ground and took on a barrier of a honeycomb style in blue. My weapon had no effect at all on this new shield, but nor was it able to attack while it was so hidden. So I stole a look to see how the cannons were faring. They were keeping up a steady barrage on the ship, and as I watched the Collecter ship fired its engines and was readying for take off. The creature had reemerged by this time, its shields restored. I open fire again, and we exchanged attacks for several intense minutes. I left more marks on its body, it got me once on my thigh, though I barely noticed it. It repeated its super defense, giving me a moment to slap some omni-gel on my leg while mumbling curses. Both Mordin and Garrus appeared at my side by then. As soon as it took to the air again and I dropped its shields yet again, they opened fire with me. This time when it fell to the ground, it did so heavily and did not move further.

We looked back to the Collecter ship just as it was taking off. The ground shook and we were hit by the gusts of hot air from the blasters.

"Got what they came for," Mordin said sadly. "Colonists still on board. No reason to stay."

Just then Delan came charging past us in the direction of the ship. "No!" he shouted. "Don't let them get away!"

To weary to try and be diplomatic about it, I shook my head. "There's nothing we can do. They're gone."

"Half the colony's in there!" Delan protested, walked around in circles at the dispensing light of the ship. "They took Egan and Sam and... and Lilith. Do something!"

"I didn't want it to end this way. I did what I could." I said, wishing there was something else I could do. I thought about sending the Normandy after it for half a second when I remembered how she fared last time. She wasn't ready yet.

"More then most, Shepard," Garrus agreed gently.

"Shepard?" Delan turned to us then. "Wait. I know that name. Sure, I remember you. You're some type of big Alliance hero."

"Commander Shepard," said a familiar voice, and we all looked to our left. Kaidan walked out from some debris, his eyes locked with mine. "Captian of the Normandy. The first human Spectre. Savior of the Citadel." He finally looked away and locked his glace with our mechanic. "You're in the presence of a legend, Delan. And a ghost."

"All the good people we lost and you get left behind. Figures." Delan tossed his hands into the air in disgust. "Screw this. I'm done with you Alliance types." And he walked away.

Kaidan and I stared each other down for a long moment then, and I could feel my throat tightening ever so slightly. Before I could say anything he walked the final few feet between us and took me into his arms. "I thought you were dead, Laryna. We all did."

I likely stayed in his embrace longer then was proper, but I couldn't bring myself to pull away any sooner. I gave him a smile, hoping it was steady. "It's been too long, Kaidan. How have you been?"

"That's all you have to say?" he demanded, the warm fading from his face. "You show up after two years and just act like nothing happened? I thought we had something, Laryna. Something real. I... I loved you." My heart tore a little with that declaration. He has never said that before. "Thinking you were dead tore me apart. How could you put me through that? Why didn't you try to contact me? Why didn't you let me know you were alive?"

I groped for words. I wanted to tell him how I tried asking Anderson at the Citadel. How often I thought about him since I was in control of my own thoughts. "I'm sorry, Kaidan," I said instead. "I was clinically dead. It took two years to bring me back. So much time has passed. You've moved on. I don't want to reopen old wounds." I silently cursed myself. That sounded bad.

Kaidan's face got hard. "I did move on. At least, I thought I did. But now we've got reports about you and Cerberus."

"Reports?" Garrus asked. "You mean you already knew?"

"Alliance intel thought Cerberus might be behind the missing human colonies," Kaidan replied, seeming to notice his old crew mate for the first time. "They got a tip this colony might be the next one to get hit." He looked back to me. "Anderson stonewalled me, but there were rumors that you weren't dead. That you were working for the enemy."

I wasn't a fan of Cerberus either, but I got defensive. "Our colonies are disappearing. The Alliance turned its back on them. Cerberus is the only group willing to do something about it."

"You can't really believe that!" Kaidan said in disbelief. "We both know what Cerberus is like. What they're capable of. I wanted to believe the rumors that you were alive, but I never expected anything like this." He looked back at Garrus to include him in that comment. Mordin, unknown, he ignored. "You turned your back on everything we believed in. You betrayed the Alliance. You betrayed me."

That hurt. "Kaidan, you know me. You know I'd only do this for the right reason. You saw it yourself." I pointed to a fallen Collecter corpse. "The Collecters are targeting human colonies. And they're working with the Reapers!"

Some of the steam seemed to have left him. "I want to believe you, Laryna. But I don't trust Cerberus. They could be using the threat of a Reaper to manipulate you. What if they're behind it? What if they're working with the Collecters?"

"Damn it, Kaidan!" Garrus snapped, angry. "You're so focused on Cerberus that you're ignoring the real threat!"

"You're letting how you feel about their history get in the way of the facts," I agreed.

"Maybe," Kaidan allowed. "Or maybe you feel like you owe Cerberus because they saved you. Maybe you're the one who's not thinking straight. You've changed. But I still know where my loyalties lie. I'm an Alliance soldier. Always will be. I've got to report back to the Citadel. They can decide if they believe your story or not." And he turned away.

I grabbed his shoulder. "I could use someone like you in my crew, Kaidan. It'll be just like old times." I pleaded with my eyes.

But his brown ones were unmoved. "No, it won't. I'll never work for Cerberus. Goodbye, Laryna. And be careful." I watched him leave the area, never once looking back. Goodbye, he had said. I was having trouble facing that, him leaving. He never did before, regardless of the reasons I had offered on a silver platter for him to do so. Taking on Saren even after the Council had dismissed us. Ignoring his pleas for Ashley's life and saving him from the geth. Stealing the Normandy when we were grounded, though it should have lead to us being court marshaled, along with Captain Anderson who assist us, with my blessing. Allowing so many Alliance soldiers to die to save the Destiny Ascension.

A gentle hand on my shoulder brought me out of my shock. Garrus looked down on me, his face understanding. He spread his arms for me, and I allowed him to embrace me, taking comfort in his familiar presence. When I pulled free with a grateful smile, I called to the Normandy. "Joker—send the shuttle to pick us up. I've had enough of this colony."

Garrus

It was taking a lot of self control not to outright attack my old squad mate.

I had always suspected something had developed between the two of them, despite the regulations in their Alliance against starting such relationships. Technically, becoming a Spectre freed the commander from such roles, but Alliance ran to her core, and I knew it must have taken a huge commitment for her to overcome that. But that was even more true for Kaidan, who was still very bound by his loyalties.

So watching him stand there, accusing Laryna of being a traitor, when he of everyone should know who she was and how true her spirit, was causing my blood to boil. When his attention moved to include me too, I moved closer to Laryna's side in a protective gesture, though I don't think she noticed. Her frame became more and more rigid as they spoke, and pain was underlying her words as his seemed to grow more certain. After he had turned his back on her and walked away, she stood frozen to the spot. I placed my hand on her shoulder, and she nearly jumped from her armor.

I'm not sure what caused me to offer my arms to her; we've never engaged in any kind of exchanges before, but I did so now. Her eyes were tortured as she willing stepped forward and hid her face in my chest, her arms circling around my waist and mine her shoulders. The top of her head were barely level with my shoulders. I have never noticed before how much taller than her I was. Her presence was also so engulfing.

She didn't stay there long, but had a small smile pulling at her lips as she stepped away. I was glad I could give her a moment of calm to collect herself, though I doubt Mordin would have cared much either way, likely having no idea at all to the relevance of the situation.

Thinking of him now, I turned to see he was completely ignoring us, gathering varies samples from the corpses around us, and even some of the vegetation and marked dirt on the ground.

I turned my attention back to the commander. She was speaking with Joker now, requesting pick up. Then she shuddered, just once, and motioned us to follow her to a clearing nearby for extraction.

If she were turian I would not stop until I had made her mine.

The words echoed through my memory, one of the few clear thoughts that had stayed with me after the trauma of being injured on Omega. But she wasn't turian, she was human. And it would appear no longer partnered.

I watched her strong strides as we walked. Her figure was so alien, but also familiar. Much like the asari. I have studied her before, of course, learning her tells to better offer support while we were in combat. She has obviously done the same; we worked extremely well together. I knew from our long talks in the past that she was smart, attentive. She gave a shit about me. Gave me freedom from my life when I needed it, and a mentor when I hadn't even realized I needed one. Young and a hothead, she gave me direction.

I was studying her in a completely different way now. Human curves were a great deal rounder and more fluent that a turian females are, but it was allowing her to have a natural swagger as she moved that one of my race couldn't hope to match without a lot of practice. My sister use to complain about that a lot after meeting some of her first humans. I also knew that humans had no natural armor of any kind on their bodies. I mostly have seen Laryna in her armor, which were crafted to fit snugly on her lithe body, but while that gave me a general idea on her shape, all I could imagine is that the rest of her must be like her face; smooth and soft looking. I think I've seen her in causal uniform recently that left her forearms bare, and I couldn't recall any blemishes or markings other than a few long, faded scars I assume were left over from her surgeries required to save her life.

The thought of having her soft body that close to my coarse one didn't seem wise.

We were waiting by the clearing now, and Laryna had taken a moment to take off her helmet to pull out the tie that held back her hair, and shook it in the wind like she was airing it out. I have seen this in the past, too. Apparently human hair can help contain heat, so I would guess that it would contribute to making a helm overly warm. It was hanging just past her shoulders though, much longer than the last time I had seen it free over two years ago. I'm pretty sure the Alliance had regs even about hair length, but it must have been growing out while she was recovering and she either hasn't had it cut yet, or had no plans too.

It looked silky, reminding me of some of the finer clothing I had as a child before switching to military issues. My fringe twitched.

My observations were interrupted as our shuttle arrived, which was likely for the best. This train of thought would not likely lead anywhere good. And it wasn't like I was attracted to humans. Everything I had considered stressed our differences. I have never looked at a human woman and felt want. We couldn't even eat the same food.

The trust and companionship that has developed between us was great. Stable. Easy. Spirits, she was my best friend! What was I trying to do to myself? But even telling myself all of this, I was still watching as she re-pulled her hair to the back of her head, leaving her helmet off and, as she grinned at me, I was quickly grinning back.