"Sir, I think I found the problem with the Adamant's Thanix," Sergeant Celsus announced from the other end of the gun battery.

Garrus didn't even bother to look up from his console. "Faulty temperature sensor for the molten uranium?" he answered over the clanging of machine parts hitting the floor and angry turian subharmonics.

"Affirmative-ugh, stupid piece of crap, GET-OUT-OF-THERE-YOU-STUPID-PIECE OF SHIT- again, sir…" Celsus spat between violent attempts to extract the faulty part, which finally pulled free with the sound of what sounded like the entire Thanix being ripped apart, "-and it looks like the entire circuit board is fried, too." Celsus sighed. "Fourth one this year, and we're fresh out of spares on the ship."Celsus tossed the broken part on Garrus' console, where Garrus picked it up and examined it. "Any ideas on replacements?" he asked.

Garrus racked his brain for the name of the shop his mother used to visit after she caught him and his sister disassembling his father's electronics. "Hm…what about the volus merchant, Ohdran Mor? If I'm not mistaken, I he still owns that shop in Cipritine's market district?" Just as he finished talking, his omni-tool alerted beep to alert him that he had a new message. Could it be… Garrus thought as his heart quickened-

Celsus tapped a few keys on his omni-tool and brought up a map of the capital's market district. "Hmm…not our usual channel, but I'll take your word on it. Anything else you think we might need while I'm out?" he asked as Garrus turned back to his console.

Focus, Vakarian, Garrus told himself as he took a deep breath and mentally ran down his "things to do" list for the day."If you get a chance, try to arrange for a few more ration shipments outside of the Apien Crest: the farmers on Triginta Petra said that they'd be more than willing to stockpile more supplies there. I'll message Scae today and see where we she's at with the communication line issues. "

"Noted, sir," Celsus confirmed from the doorway. Only when the doors had slid completely closed did Garrus turn away from his console to ensure that, yes, the doors were indeed fully closed and that he was the only one left in the gun battery. With a final glance around the bay for good measure, he brought up his omni-tool and opened the e-mail application, punching in encryption keys every so often. (After the Collector mission, EDI and Tali had insisted on additional encryption keys on everyone's personal device in case any of their devices fell into Alliance hands.) After a few minutes of this, he finally brought up his inbox-

-which showed that he had received yet another from his father, who, according to the subject line, wanted to see him at some point this week. Garrus gave a heavy sigh as he closed the application and walked over to where Celsus had extracted the faulty sensor. As he dropped to one knee to peer into the void that Celsus created, he allowed himself the rare luxury of letting his mind wander.

Six months, he mused as he reached in and moved aside some frayed wires, six months without so much as a word from her. Granted, she had warned him that the Alliance would probably take her into custody, but six months without so much as "Hey, I'm okay, what are you up to?" from her and no update on how the Systems Alliance was preparing for the Reaper attack? He'd caught himself wondering how the humans had even managed to achieve spaceflight in the first place. As he pushed aside more wires, his omni-tool beeped and flashed again, and the light briefly illuminated what looked like a heat sink tangled up in the wire. "The hell?" he muttered as he wrapped his fingers around it and gave it a good pull. As he examined it, it bore distinctive marks of electrical damage, as if the wires had sparked against it. "How the hell did one of these get stuck in here?" he asked out loud as the gun battery door doors slid open.

"How'd what get stuck where, little brother?" a familiar female voice piped up from the entrance.

Garrus' brow plates inched upwards as he looked up to confirm what his ears already suspected: the blue-on-silver gray colony markings of his elder sister, Solana Vakarian, already at his console and scrolling through his firing algorithms. Which she has every right to, as the Adamant IS her current duty station, and she was kind enough to let me on to help out in the first place. Upon closer inspection, he noticed that she wasn't clad in her unit's armor, but a blue, silver, and black causal-wear tunic that looked absolutely stunning in combination with her coloring and markings. Probably trying to catch the eyes of any eligible males on this ship, he thought to himself...which, as a turian in her prime childbearing years, she was perfectly entitled to do-

"Thermal clip in a temperature sensor," he answered as he made his way back up to where his sister was standing and handed her the heat sink.

Sol raised her browplates and flicked her mandibles. "Spirits, another one?" she commented as she brought it closer to a brighter light on the console.

Garrus' expression mirrored his sister's. "Another one?"

Sol seemed deeply absorbed in her examination of the blackened thermal clip that she was now twirling between her fingers, pausing only to take a closer look at some of the burn marks. "Remember my friend Tacita from Special Projects R&D?"

Garrus nodded. Sol and Tacita had been friends before Garrus had been able to handle a sniper rifle, and Tacita had been part of the top-secret team that developed the Thanix, which the turians had unveiled roughly a year or so after Shepard had been killed in the Collector attack. If only the Normandy had been in possession of one, maybe she'd had survived, Garrus had thought bitterly to himself time and time again until she'd shown up on Omega, thrilled beyond belief that her favorite turian sniper was still alive and causing all sorts of trouble for mercenary gangs-

"-turns out she's been getting reports of thermal clips being found in the temperature sensors for other Thanix cannons in the fleet-" Sol mentioning the Thanix quickly returned him back to the conversation at hand and out of his reverie, but by the time he made eye contact with her again, Sol was already standing with her arms crossed under her chest and had shifted her weight to her back foot, and Garrus knew he was about to catch hell for failing to pay attention to both his older sister and a superior officer. "You, however, seem a little preoccupied with something else, little brother…" she began.

Crap. She's pissed. "It's…nothing, Sol. Just worried about…Earth," he finished lamely.

Garrus half-expected his sister to "rip him a new one" (as the humans would say) but instead her expression softened as she shook her head. Before their mother had passed a month ago, Garrus had the opportunity to explain his extended absence to mother, sister, and father about the Omega-4 relay suicide mission aboard the Normandy…and unsurprisingly, his mother's response had been-

-Her hands quivering despite the painkillers and the anti-tremor medications, Valeria Vakarian reaches out and cups the bandaged side of his face in her left hand , and he automatically reaches up to hold it there. "Only my son would apologize for leaving his dying mother's side to save the galaxy." She manages a weak laugh. "Castis," she says as she turns to her husband, "correct me if I'm wrong, but aren't we supposed to raise our children to put society first?"

Garrus winces at the words. "Mom…you…"

"Don't apologize, Garrus," she says. "Your father and I didn't raise our children to abandon their duties."

Garrus drops his gaze to the floor. "A little late for that, mom."

The weight of someone else's hand presses down on his crest, which forces him to make eye contact with his mother again, her eyes and subvocals purring-

-supportive.

"You still haven't heard from her, have you?" Sol began, her subvocals less harsh as she leaned back against the console.

Garrus reached out and did the same. "No. And I'm getting worried."

Sol's mandibles flicked. "This still doesn't make any sense, brother. You spilled your guts to Dad, who, not only convinced Fedorian to start committing resources to a citizen who's dropped out of contact from most of his family for over two years," she narrowed her browplates at him as she said it "but the humans ignore one of their most decorated soldier and their first Spectre?"

"Correct."

Sol shook her head. "And yet the council chose to make this species a council race…spirits, the stupidity of this race never fails to astound me…"

Garrus opened his mouth in an attempt to defend the humans, but he was interrupted by a loud beep from Solana's omni-tool. His sister brought her arm closer to her face. "Hold that thought, brother," she said with a raised hand as her talons swiftly danced over her omni-tool in response to what Garrus guessed was an urgent e-mail.

"Duty calls?" he asked casually.

"In a manner of speaking," she answered, matching his tone as she dropped her arm and turned back to face him. "That was Dad."

Garrus' mandibles flicked nervously as he quickly put two and two together regarding his father's messages and Solana's sudden appearance. "Sol…our father wouldn't happen to be aboard the Adamant, would he?"

Solana laughed and nodded as she crossed her arms across her chest again. "Dear brother," she chided, her voice almost purring, "You of all turians should know better than to try to hide from him…spirits, you worked with him for years, you should know how determined he can be when it comes to tracking down a suspect."

Garrus sighed. "Just tell me how long I have before he gets here." Not that anything I say will make up for me avoiding him since mom's death…

"It's not him you should be concerned about, Garrus," Solana answered as she turned back to him and the bay doors slid open to reveal two turians: his father clad in his old black-and-blue C-Sec armor, and the distinctive black-and-red pattern reserved exclusively for turian generals-

Crap.

It was only years of military training that enabled him to instantly rearrange his limbs and put himself at full attention and furiously try to place his colony markings, as he could've sworn he'd seen them before-

Sol, I'm going to kill you, his subvocals growled a little too loudly as his father and the general came to a stop in front of them.

"At ease, children," the aged baritone of Castis Vakarian commanded. Sol instantly resumed her previous position, but with the addition of her signature smug look that she only wore when she knew she had outsmarted someone. Garrus, on the other hand, only allowed himself to stand with his talons clasped behind his back, as he wasn't about to give his father more ammunition for doing something wrong…again.

The general turned his head towards his father. "Judging by your son's body language, I'll assume that he wasn't aware of this meeting?" he asked with a slight tilt of his head.

"My apologies, Cor," Castis said with a slight bow of his head. "My son tends to fully immerse himself in his work…" he continued as his gaze met Garrus', "…to the point where he forgets to answer his family's messages," he added as his browplates moved together.

The still-unnamed general nodded approvingly. "Like father, like son…I'd expect nothing less from your spitting image," he said, his subvocals thrumming approvingly. "Garrus? General Corinthus," he said as he extended his hand out to him. "Your father and I served together during the Relay 314 incident. I'm currently in charge of all operations on Menae."

Great…one of Dad's buddies from when turians dropped meteors on humans. This surprise family visit just better and better… Garrus thought as he extended his own hand and mustered out what he thought was a respectable grip.

"I can tell you've served with humans for the past few years," Corinthus commented as their talons released. "You had adjust your grip to avoid crushing their hands, didn't you?"

Damn, he's good. "I take it you've spent some time with them, sir?" Garrus

"A select few of us senior generals wandered out to Pinnacle Station now and again," the general replied. "Admiral Ahern still speaks highly of your former commander's biotic abilities."

Garrus' heart swelled a bit at the mention of Shepard. "Anyone beat any of her records yet?"

"Unsurprisingly, no," Corinthus replied. "However, beating any record set by a woman who took down a thresher maw on foot would be a feat in itself," he finished as the general's eyes fell on what Garrus assumed to the barrel of said rifle currently attached to Garrus' back. "Mind if I take a look? Your father told me you'd be the one to talk to for weapons mods…"

Garrus raised his browplates at his father at the mention of both Grunt's initiation into clan Urdnot and his own modification prowess as he reached over his back and disengaged his Mantis from his armor. "If by 'help', he meant keeping angry klixen off Shepard and Grunt while periodically taking shots at the maw itself," he said as Corinthus took hold of the weapon, "then yes, I helped." Garrus held his rifle in both hands and checked to make sure that there wasn't a thermal clip inserted in the chamber and that his safety was engaged. He presented the weapon to Corinthus, who took it from him and performed the same check before aiming away from everyone and looking down the sites.

"Klixen?" Corinthus briefly looked away from the sights and at his father "Cass, you didn't mention the klixen at lunch…"

"Didn't mention them out of respect for Fedorian," his father answered. "His niece was injured by a herd of them during a scouting patrol a few weeks ago…"

Corinthus raised his browplates and flicked his mandibles at Garrus' father. "The one he commissioned recently?" Corinthus said as he lowered the rifle at the floor. "Prognosis?"

"Not quite fit for front-line duty," Castis replied. "I also informed him that my son-" he said, putting extra emphasis on the last two words, would be willing to speak with her as soon as she's declared fit for duty." As his father finished speaking, Corinthus concluded his examination of Garrus' M-92 Mantis and handed it back to Garrus, who took it without a word and silently replaced it on the back of his armor.

"Good. If need be, I'll gladly take her on Menae…speaking of which," Corinthus said as he looked back up at Garrus, "Vakarian, would your task force be interested in setting up shop there?"

Garrus blinked a few times. "Beg pardon, sir?" Menae's and Nanus' defenses were considered critical to protecting Palaven in the event of a turian homeworld invasion, and if the general in charge of their defenses wanted his advice-

"General Corinthus and I just finished lunch with Primarch Fedorian, Garrus," Castis cut in. "I contacted Corinthus earlier this week regarding your task force-"

"-and after listening to your father, it's clear to me that experience with Commander Shepard makes you the closest thing the turians have to a Reaper expert." Corinthus finished.

"Long story short, General Corinthus wants you to accompany him to Menae so you can assist him in shoring up our defenses there," Castis finished. "I informed him that you would be more than amicable to this agreement."

Garrus raised his eyebrows and shot a quick glance at his father. Thank you, his subvocals hummed. It wasn't nearly enough, but it would have to do until later. "I'd be honored, sir. When did you plan on departing?"

"My ship leaves in two hours-"

-Crap, I'm pretty sure the team had other plans tonight-

"-so I already took the liberty of informing the rest of your team when we passed Sergeant Celsus in the airlock," he added as he reached out and stopped Garrus from opening up his omni-tool. As he did so, the general's gaze fell on the right side of his face, which, until this morning, had been covered by synthetic turian skin. Corinthus raised a gauntleted talon to his face, and it was all that he could do to stop a subvocal that he'd generally reserved for his first night with Shepard from slipping out. Spirits, did anyone hear that?

"Collector parting shot?" Corinthus asked as he examined the scarring while Garrus held eye contact with his father, who was now studying him with a look that he generally only wore when he was attempting to determine the veracity of someone's story.

"More like a mercenary rocket to the face, sir," he answered as the general tapped at few spots. "Bandage just came off today."

Corinthus raised his browplates as his subvocals hummed with approval."Impressive repair work," he replied. "Turian?"

"Human-" Garrus flinched as the general's talon hit a previously undiscovered sensitive spot- "actually. Dr. Karin Chakwas."

Corinthus' browplates raised once more as he removed his hand. "Humans have a better understanding of our anatomy-" Spirits, keep it together, Vakarian- "than I thought!" he added with a laugh. "If I were you, I'd wait a little longer to have your markings redone; as you still lack full plate regeneration in that downstroke area," he finished.

"Noted, sir." Garrus answered with a look at his sister, who was currently engrossed with something on her omni-tool and seemingly oblivious to the looks Garrus kept shooting at her.

"General, the Adamant's commander would like to speak with you regarding your most recent memo regarding your suggested change to emergency communications?"

"Tell her I'll be up there shortly," Corinthus replied with a turn of his head toward Solana. "Miss Vakarian, inform the commander that I can dedicate fifteen minutes to him before my next appointment." Corinthus turned to face Garrus and Castis. "Garrus, your father informed me that you are in need of new turian dress blues?"

Garrus nodded. "Unfortunately, sir," he replied. When he'd left the Citadel for Omega, he had sold or donated nearly all of his material goods, including his old uniforms. (Even now, he could still clearly remember his father screaming at him for THAT particular decision.)

Corinthus gave Garrus an affirmative nod. "It so happens I need to pick up my own. Meet at the entrance to the Adamant in twenty?"

"Yes, sir," Garrus replied with an energized nod.

Castis Vakarian crossed over to Garrus and placed a hand on Garrus' shoulder. "While you're discussing e-coms, my children and I have some…personal matters…that we must discuss," he said with an uncomfortably strong grip on his armor as his subvocals half-hummed, half-growled You're in trouble, son.

Crap.

General Corinthus nodded. "I'll leave you to it, then," he said as he walked out of the Thantix's bay as Solana leaned up against a wall, which left him alone with two turians who earned their credits by extracting information from others.

The doors slid closed with a soft click. For a few seconds, he and father simply stared at each other, with Garrus trying to read his father's expressions.

"So, son," his father began casually as he crossed his arms under his chest and began walking around the bay as if he was inspecting it, "just how familiar are the humans with 'turian anatomy'?"

"I'm going to assume you're not referring to my face?" he replied as he crossed his arms in front of chest and leaned back again his console as he himself for one of his father's interrogations. Whatever you do, don't lie to either of them, he reminded himself.

"Yes…and no," his father's subvocals hummed as he stopped and matched Garrus' body language as he leaned against the door frame. "Care to explain the scent of hyacinth all over your armor?" he finished with a tilt of his head.

"Busted, little brother…" Solana smirked.

Be honest…maybe they don't know. "They're…the commander's favorite flower?" he stammered, unable to hide the panic in his voice.

"Hard to find on the Citadel, from what I hear," Solana interjected.

Garrus flicked his mandibles and snorted defensively. "This comes from the woman who spent most of her shore leave looking for greaves for a crush-" Oh, way to go Vakarian, just give your sister more ammunition-

Solana smiled. "My point exactly, little brother," she smirked again.

Castis sighed. "Garrus, this may come as shock to you, but you're not the first turian to be attracted to a human-"

"-she proposed the idea to me, first," he interjected weakly.

"-and believe it or not, I'm not surprised that she was attracted to you," he finished.

Garrus' mandibles flicked. "You're…what?"

"Think about it, little brother," Solana began as she teasingly flicked the underside of his crest with her talons as she walked back in forth in front of him, "You both come from proud military families-"-she extended one talon out- "-she almost exclusively relied on you and her other human biotic during the time you served with her under the System Alliance-" -her second talon came up.

"-despite the fact that you've told us that Gunnery Chief Williams was a well-qualified sniper-"

-damn my sister's memory when it comes to humans and guns-

"-and her response to that story about you and that recon scout?" All three of Solana's talons were now extended.

"-she did the same thing with Lieutenant Alenko-" Garrus spat at his sister as he went on the defensive again.

"-From what you told us, he blew her off as soon as he discovered she was working with a known pro-human organization," Solana countered.

"SHE NEEDED ME, OKAY?" Garrus shouted just a little too loudly.

Castis held up his talon, which had the immediate effect of silencing him. "Correction: you needed each other…because deep down, you both know, beyond a shadow of a doubt that you've got each other's sixes covered in a firefight."

"And as Grandma Aeliana used to say, "If you don't trust him in armor, then don't trust him out of it," Solana added with a nearly perfect imitation of their late grandmother's voice and colony accent.

"Odd words from a turian who cheered at every meteor we dropped on Shanxi," Garrus muttered as he crossed his arms and glared at his sister.

The eldest Vakarian sighed loudly, which Garrus and Solana both knew was a signal that their father was beginning to tire of their bickering. Without a word, they both turned and face their father,

"Garrus Castis Vakarian," Castis began, "When you first told me that you were temporarily leaving C-Sec to follow one Spectre chase another one around the galaxy, I thought you had lost your mind." However, when I heard you were alive after the attack on the Citadel, I chalked it up to you simply following good instincts." He took a step towards Garrus and placed his hands on his shoulders, but Garrus still couldn't bring himself to look his father in the eye. "Your mercenary work on Omega? Highly unconventional, but considering your…history…at C-Sec, it was almost inevitable that you would begin hunting down criminals on your own."

Garrus gave a defeated sigh. "And I almost died doing that, too."

His father's subvocals trilled in agreement. "True…but once again, Shepard found you just in time." Garrus felt a hand on the scarred right side of his face. "And thanks to her and Cerberus, I still have my son." Garrus felt a talon under his chin and allowed his father to raise his head and look him in his eyes. "Son, she may not BE a turian, but she sure as hell acts like the one standing before me."

Garrus grunted, sidestepped his father, and attempted to head back down to the Thanix temperature sensor. "I shouldn't be…I should have gone back to Earth while she stood trial for what happened at the Alpha Relay-" he tried to move, but his father still maintained a solid grip on his shoulder.

"Sooner or later, you need to learn to stop blaming yourself for a mission that you were unaware of and had no influence over," his father said. "You know full well that any other turian would have done precisely what she did."

Except they would have been rewarded and promoted, not stripped of their strip and rank.[Another sign from Garrus as his mandibles flicked. "I know, but…" he began as he felt his sister's talon rest on his other shoulder."I just wish-"

"-you could be there for her again," Solana finished. Garrus nodded in agreement as his father pulled him in close for a hug…and for the first time in months, he allowed himself to be fully embraced by his remaining family as his subvocal hummed with contentment. I'm sorry, his subvocals briefly hummed.

We forgive you, Solana and Aelius's subvocals answered back in unison as they pulled apart.

"If your history with her is an indication of anything, I'm positive she'll show up just when you need her the most," his father added. "Until then-"

"You can spend five minutes with me fixing this damn Thanix before you and the general leave for Menae," Solana added as she pulled electronic components from one of her tunic pockets, including a spare circuit board and temperature sensor-

Garrus looked at her as it slowly dawned on him. "Did you two-"

"Set you up?" his father and sister replied in unison as they laughed.

"It worked, didn't it?" Solana replied.

Garrus shook his head. "Remind me to never piss you two off again," he sighed as he snatched the temperature sensor up and marched back down the stairs towards the empty sensor compartment.