Mycerra summoned her social affairs expert, Tabitha Votham by email. Diyal Bakshi, logistical expert, heard from Titus to be present at the stage. Titus volunteered for the task of finding his son and ensuring the small group met at the theatre stage. Titus and Aurellian Deltano met her at the stage. Shouldering the three backpacks and carrying Tia on the opposite hip, Mycerra welcomed the help from Titus and Aurellian. They placed the backpacks on the stage edge at her instruction.
"I've heard much about you." Aurellian introduced himself. She grasped his right hand tightly. He acknowledged the grip with a firm pump. "Your reputation precedes you."
Her brow rose. She fought back the anxiety ever lurking. "And what reputation would that be?" She whispered.
He put his arm around her shoulder. "The stubborn, efficient, effective biotic."
She mulled over his words. "Sounds on point."
"I'm disappointed. I thought you'd be shorter."
She chuckled. "They forgot aggressive. Amani says I'm aggressive." She told him. "So, this reputation, what's the approval rating that follows it?"
"Most of the people know who you are by name. Half share memories. And then there's Hans Everhart."
She leaned on him. Titus held Tia against his carapace and tickled her belly. The stink eye she gave him made him smile more. "He's a natural." She sighed happily.
"My father was never around when we were children, but he always tried." Aurellian's flanging deepened. She noticed the shifting of his mandible lagging behind the other mandible. "What if."
What if Haven 1 never met Titus Deltano? How much of their history would be different? Would they survive? What would her opinion of turians be? Would she be in charge still?
"Mycerra!" Tabitha rushed toward her.
She ran to the woman and bear hugged her. Tabitha cupped her face. "A new scar. A bit more roundness." She concluded conflicted.
Mycerra shyly brushed it off. They fell into gossip, gossip Mycerra knew nothing about and listened for the social engagement only. Father and son observed from a short distance.
"What do you think?" Titus asked.
Aurellian crossed his arms. "She's exactly what I expected. The documentary was faithfully made." He whispered to his father.
"She's young. If you stay close to her, she can help you navigate the next four years with ease." Titus promised.
Aurellian waved at Tia, her innocent eyes and easy smile softening his jealousy. "She has a powerful resume to be sure."
"No one's informed her about the Population Rebuilding Law yet. We'll break it to her tomorrow." Titus decided.
Tabitha finally turned her attention to Tia. Titus turned the child over to the ladies and held back. They pampered the curious infant with praise and adoration. Diyal soon joined the small group in front of the theatre stage, eager to welcome back one of the founders. He shied away from the blue baby. Mycerra let Tabitha hold her while she handed out the gifts from Omega.
Diyal loved the 'foodie' backpack Bohai helped put together. He immediately tasted the varren jerky, chewed it slowly, and nodded dramatically. "Could use more salt." He concluded matter-of-factly.
She burst out in laughter. "I'll be sure to pass that on to Hadar."
"Is this- "He held up a clear glass jar filled with fish eggs.
"Caviar." She announced with a sly grin. "Well worth the credits. Not my taste, but you're a foodie."
His head tilted and he beamed. "I can't accept this without paying you back a portion of the costs."
She shrugged. "Nonsense. If there's any good from Omega, let it be your foodie senses being stimulated. But do let me know how those tastes. Krivel Caviar is a delicacy, or so I was told by a very pompous asari." She held out a smaller pack to Tabitha.
Diyal continued to clutch the jar of caviar in his arms protectively.
"These were tested for radiation, etcetera. I found them at a vendor on Omega. One of those oddball ones. Immediately thought of you." She watched Tabitha open the pack carefully. To speed the discovery, Mycerra held Tia. Tia immediately reached for her hair and wrapped a tiny hand around a lock of hair. Mycerra hoped she didn't pull.
"Crystals?" Tabitha asked, attention focused on the contents of the pack.
She nodded. "The vendor told me that the drell use them for therapy on Kahje. They have deeper, more spiritual meanings to them. I knew you liked shiny things." She loved it when people were easy to shop for.
Tabitha held the crystals up to the rays of light and watched the color refract on the theatre stage. "I must meet this vendor again. I have credits to spend." She announced seriously.
Mycerra laughed.
"I'm perfectly serious." She continued without breaking the mask of seriousness. "And there's more of them." She dug out several more well-wrapped gems. Mycerra, proud of her wrapping skills, kissed Tia's forehead.
"Titus, if you may, yours is the last pack." She told the former general.
Titus retrieved the last pack on the stage edge. "Quarian rations."
"I swear that's all I heard about from your crew."
"Quarian rations are well made- "He stopped speaking and gave her the knowing finger point. "Thank you."
She faced them all. "I couldn't have done what I did without you." She told them all, gratitude swimming to the surface and reflecting in her cheerful visage. "All of you. You're as much family as Tia and Amani are."
Tabitha placed the string of crystals back into the pack and moved in for a hug. "Why would you worry about that?"
She feigned reluctance to speak about when she wanted to tell them everything.
Tabitha escaped first, tending to an impossibly long list of tasks that never ended. The list of complaints scared off Diyal and Titus. Aurellian volunteered to help readjust to the environment. She pulled him out of the way of a building corner. His foot slammed into the corner without his noticing.
"Aurellian, you feel anything in that foot?" She pressed her boot over his. "You feel that?"
He shook his head. "The burned one. My left palm. Right thigh. Right foot. A third of my carapace. Spots on my back." He pulled back his foot in embarrassment. "Distracted by beauty."
She blushed. "You're too kind."
"Humans are…captivating. Small but fierce. Delicate but hardy." He rambled on earnestly.
She forgot her reservations about his last name and asked him about what nagged at her. She learned more about Perky McPerkins at the medical clinic; how much fuss Hans kicked up to put her on the ballot; who supported Cal Vornic and Henry Lawson; among other minor things. The day passed quickly enough that she decided to ask him eat dinner with her and Tia at the chow hall.
"There was this constellation. "Aurellian said over dextro eggs and hash. "It's burned into my memories because I was trapped under this wall and it's the last thing I saw before I passed out. I knew I liked Earth when I saw the same stars in your skies."
She genuinely smiled. Tia grabbed at the food on Mycerra's plate. She nabbed a bit of the pudding. Mycerra lifted the fisted hand to Tia's mouth. Tia nummed on her fist and pulled away a clean fist. "Num nums good. More?"
"I also never saw my father smile as much as he does here." Aurellian whispered. "He's a tough man, and he is a man of the cause."
"The funny thing about soldiers like him. They care. Most of the time they care a lot." She helped Tia eat more pudding. "Doesn't matter if they're turian. Human. Salarian. Asari. Drell. Krogan. If Omega taught me anything, it's that everyone needs a hug. Especially if they resist hugs."
"Are you sure you know who my father is?" He asked seriously.
"A grumpy, capable bastard." She retorted facetiously. "Needs a cat. Or a puppy. You know – old men like that need one of those. I heard through the extranet about a litter of puppies needing a home. The bigger the better, I think, since your father is tall."
Aurellian's gaze fixated over her shoulder.
"Or once of those tiny, yippy ones. I mean, it would be adorable if he had a handbag sized puppy to keep him company. Or a fluffy kitten." She winked at Aurellian.
Titus sat down next to her. "Should I pick a name out?"
"Hm?" She feigned surprise. "OH. Hello."
Titus held the pudding cup for Tia to submerge her fist into. "I don't need a puppy, whatever that is." He gave his son a dry look that promised pain if Aurellian supported her in this endeavor.
She'd send him cute picture of earth creatures as younglings. Toss in a jellyfish picture here or there. And maybe, just maybe a great artistic rendition of dinosaur younglings. In all honesty, she wondered if the hanar shared any DNA with jellyfish. When life paralleled like that, it was too much of a coincidence.
"Okay." She agreed with him. "But you're helping clean Tia up before you leave this chow hall." She scrubbed at the spot of pudding on her shirt and hoped it cleaned up quickly.
He smiled at the little blue baby in her full cuteness. "Worth the mess, I say. I wish I had spent more time with my children when they were that little. What regrets you have when you look back and parting words are the last you share." He studied Aurellian across the table.
"Mom knows you wanted to be home more often." Aurellian whispered. "And whatever words may have been shared is unimportant, yes?" He encouraged.
"To new beginnings." Mycerra toasted optimistically.
Titus lifted Tia's slobber slicked fist. "To new beginnings."
Aurellian joined Mycerra's cup of water with his dextrose laced coffee. "To new beginnings. And new family."
"Awe. I'm sure you'll be ready to pack up and flee Earth in two years tops." Mycerra teased, momentarily swaddled in unvoiced appreciation and respect. "Besides, Haven 1 has a ton of baggage."
He choked down his coffee. "Yes, 'Haven 1' does."
Her brow quirked. "I have a lot of reports to go over, so I should find my way to the office soon. I loved meeting up with everyone. Sadly, I cannot wait for the day to end before I start to work. I'll be waking at the crack of dawn unfortunately."
"The proper turian schedule. Here, here." Aurellian toasted.
Titus helped clean Tia up to pass the touch test before Mycerra dragged herself to the office designated for Tabitha and Diyal. The small office crammed to the corners with the need for more space. Storage cubicles crammed wall to wall, ceiling to floor except for the desk and chair in front of a window that gave the illusion of room to breathe.
She smiled at Tia. "Things change and yet it all stays the same."
A knock at the door stopped them. Tabitha placed a basket of supplies on the desk. "Some of the ladies put together a welcome home basket for you. We figured a bassinette shouldn't be forgotten about, along with a few other items you could make use of until she's too old to need them."
"Thank you, Tabitha. I don't know what to say."
"They have a proposal they'd like to tell you about. One of them is pregnant." Tabitha shifted the signed card to the top of the pile. "I'm sure you can find them on your own schedule."
Mycerra sighed happily. "It's good to be home, Tab. I didn't know how much I missed this heap of rubble."
"Home is home." Tabitha announced cheerfully.
Mycerra collected her gift basket, pleased to discover the rocking bassinet among the supply of cloth diapers and building blocks made from wood. The bassinet and building blocks showed signs of charring and minor damage. "So, so many reports to dive into." She bemoaned.
Tabitha left her to the mountain of unforgiving reports. Mycerra made the best of it by placing Tia in the bassinet, putting on music she imported from Omega as background noise, and sinking into the reports. She tended to Tia as required.
At 8:36 p.m. she sat at the desk with her head on the verge of exploding.
Aurellian leaned in the doorway.
She smiled in his direction. "Good evening, Aurellian."
"I find myself with excessive free time." He volunteered.
She laughed. "Like father, like son."
He finally smiled. "He's also working late."
She motioned him into the office. "I'm sure I can find something for you." She promised him.
He pulled up a stool and raised it as high as possible. His knees comically poked out to maintain a straight upright position. She waited for the complaint that never manifested. He motioned for her to proceed.
She rooted in the top desk drawer and pulled out a data pad. "I need a summary of the reports, key points, the whole deal. The geniuses decided I needed a year's worth of reports in one day. They're lucky I had a head start on the Normandy." She roasted her comrades ruthlessly.
"You always work alone?" He asked as he perused the full list of reports on the data pad.
"My right hand is currently training with a Spectre and his hand selected team. Former right hand." She boasted. "Great kid. Great future."
"A great teacher." He added and nodded toward her. "Never forget your own contribution."
She smiled and gestured to him. "If you don't mind me asking, how are you…handling what happened on Palaven? If you need someone to talk to, I'm here." She reached her hand across the desk toward his scarred hand.
A moment passed between them before he looked at his scarred palm and retracted it back toward his carapace. Sensing she crossed a line, she concentrated on her work. Aurellian Deltano glanced around the office curiously. He stared critically at her for a long moment. Then he leaned in. "Where's Tia?" He asked.
She pointed down on the far side of the desk. Tia dozed off in a rocking bassinette.
"And how is her mother?"
Mycerra closed out of the incident report on the computer console. "Amani is aware of my health issues, the shoebox 'apartment', the high expectations people have for me, and the many people willing to babysit Tia. She's living her most 'single' life on Omega and her mother is constantly telling her if I 'really' loved her, I'd have stayed on Omega." She shrugged apathetically.
"Why doesn't her mother like you?" He dropped his voice conspiratorially.
She pointed to him. "Because I'm human, the new species to the galactic community." She rolled her eyes. "Also, I'm not a turian. Also, she's a bitch who's accustomed to controlling her daughter's every breath. I'm honestly surprised I'm not dead yet."
His frozen expression never shifted.
She leaned back. "Ex-merc. I think the only reason I'm breathing is that Amani will disown her if I end up dead. If Amani dies before I do and Tia isn't sixty, I may lose custody – by bullet or law."
"Not every parent keeps their child at home until they're sixty." He broke the good news to her. "The more reasonable ones allow their children to have lives outside the house at age thirty."
She snorted. "Wow…. thirty."
"I was taught how to conduct chores from the moment I walked and talked. Joined the military at the youngest possible age. Served honorably until the reapers." Aurellian agreed in great amusement. "My father would have suffered nothing less."
She sighed and stared over his shoulder at a cubicle stuffed with spare data pads to be refurbished. "I like your father. My 'father' cared about his reputation but not his blood. My sister and I are different sides of the same coins, and the perimeter of that coin were our parents. We suffered the same pressure from different sources – the law and the not-law. We are both angry and needy in our ways. We reach out in our own ways. And we will apologize to each other in our way. If we had a father like Titus, maybe we wouldn't be bitter and fucked up."
"My father wasn't perfect, Miss Colton."
"Mycerra, please." She insisted.
"My father was never home. Mom wasn't much a cook. She burned everything she touched. Except her meat pies. She perfected that recipe. My brother and I – we'd fight, but it wasn't over our parents. It was about who could be the better turian."
"And who won?" She asked stupidly.
"He died in a blaze of glory. I'm still living."
"So, he won." She said soberly.
He stopped smiling. "His spirit was with me in those precious moments. When it seemed hopeless. When everything stops."
"The stars look brighter." She played with her hands. "I'm sorry for your loss."
"Everyone's lost someone." He concluded mournfully. "Including you."
She cleared her throat. "True, true. Can I ask a question?"
He gave up on trying to mimic acceptable sitting posture and manspread for more comfort. "I'm all yours tonight."
She ignored the little voice telling her to shut up. Curiosity plucked at her like a musician their stringed instrument. "Has your…surgeries helped restore feeling where you were severely burned? Can you feel anything? Can you feel my hands?" She reached out and placed her hand in his.
He grasped her hand. "I feel nothing in the areas where scarring remains. The surgeries and great care exercised in helping me recover has helped, but I was left unaided far too long for a full recovery."
She traced each embedded ripple with her fingertips. "Not even my biotics?" She pulsed the biotics against the scarring.
"It tickles the blood but not the skin."
She pulled her hand back. "I apologize for my curiosity."
"You bear scars too." He gestured to her arm.
She rolled up her sleeve for him and showed off the vein like scarring that crept from shoulder to wrist. "When I fell, I bounced off the side of the obstacle course. Recovery was not pleasant." She held out her arm to him.
He leaned forward and traced a fingertip along one of the pitted lines. "We are sister and brother in this conflict known as life."
"And I'm not apologizing to Pacyra. Not yet. I want her to realize what she said was wrong. I'm giving her time to dwell on it before I must swallow my pride." She said without forethought.
He held out his hand. "You need help. I need work to stay busy."
"Are you suggesting I appoint you my assistant?"
"Demanding it."
"Well, now, you didn't have to go that far." She laughed and grabbed his hand. "I'm drowning, Aurellian. Everyone wants answers and the performance of a lifetime. I can hope to achieve half as much."
He picked up the data pad. "Then we shall resume our work."
She opened the incident report again. "By and by, if I don't win this election, we must make sure Henry Lawson doesn't. He's part of Cerberus and I was tasked with helping bring them down. Between us. I'll update your father later the details."
"Destroy Henry Lawson. Exceedingly appropriate." He agreed too easily.
She held up a finger. "Why are you so compliant?"
"His name for me is Scars."
"Scars are handsome." She countered seriously.
"He says it with less respect and consideration." He said seriously. "He is xenophobic, self-centered, and the worst example of your people."
"I'm not arguing with you. Haestrom agrees with you, and I believe in Haestrom."
He dipped back into the reports.
They worked in harmony to compile a true overall portrait of affairs at Haven 1. The days slogged by in equal stubbornness. Person pitted against politics, neither winning in the end. Titus interrupted it with a simple request. A no questions asked request. He asked Tabitha to babysit Tia prior to cornering Mycerra. It all went according to plan.
Titus sat her in front of the communication console in the private telecommunications room of the new Telecommunications Building. He pressed both hands on her shoulders. "Apologize. Keep it blunt. Keep it short. Be honest. Clear the air but don't overstay your welcome."
She looked up and over her shoulder at him. "I know."
"This will be good for the spirit." He softened his tone.
She forced a smile. "I know."
He lingered long enough for his personal concern to show through the professionalism.
"I'm a big girl, Titus. She's my sister. Not a reaper."
"No shooting her on sight next time you see her." Titus said in parting.
As much as she wanted to, she understood misunderstandings happened. How they recovered from this defined both. A twenty-nine-year-old Mycerra and a thirty-three-year-old Pacyra bickering like they were five years old suited neither.
She dialed the connection and waited for it to connect.
The other end answered immediately.
She sat upright in shock. "Hello?" She dared.
"Miss Colton?" Javik spoke.
"My favorite prothean."
"The last living prothean." He reminded her dryly.
She smiled despite her dread. "Is Pacyra close by? We need to talk."
"Urdnot Wrex would like me to tell you if you're willing to brawl with her on Tuchanka, he'll pay for the travel expenses." Javik told her, his voice perking in approval.
The idea appealed to her as much as returning to Omega.
"No thanks. I'll pass." She replied in her best Javik impression. "It would beneath me. I am only a human after all, the very avatar of stubbornness. I must protect my pride with all my stubbornness. If am to fail in this course of action, it would be a stain on humanity. A true loss. I simply cannot amuse his idea."
She thought she heard a chuckle from him.
"May your stubbornness serve you well, Miss Colton. Your sister is at my side." Javik said in parting.
Mycerra's spirits sank again.
"Mycerra, what an unexpected call. I thought you would ignore me for another six months." Pacyra's coldness sunk the spirits into the permafrost.
She breathed, placed her face in her hands, and reminded herself peace was the objective.
"I forgive you." Pacyra declared. "I dislike fighting."
She glanced over her shoulder at the closed door, then at the video screen displaying Pacyra in front of the communications console on the Normandy SR-2. She didn't care if Pacyra witnessed her entire meltdown, active coping, and potential recovery.
"We should set some ground rules." Mycerra redirected her planned approach. "You don't attack my biotics, the fact I'm in therapy, and I won't mention anything about rank or reputation."
"I accept those terms."
Mycerra checked the displayed time on the video screen and rapidly blinked. A whole three minutes passed. She expected to footsy around the topic. She couldn't choose between insult and joy at the idea of reaching it quickly.
"I'm sorry I accused you of only caring about your reputation. It was uncalled for." She attempted.
Pacyra stared at the screen for a second. Nihlus walked into view, handed her a data pad, and hugged her.
"Right, well, clearly I'm interrupting. I'll try to email you later with pictures." Mycerra promised and ended the call.
Jealousy kicked her in the shins. She buried it and called Amani instead and hoped her beloved chemist picked up. A bedraggled asari answered the call in Amani's apartment. She caught her breath. The jealousy eased up, replaced with joy.
Amani rubbed her eyes. "Tiamna."
"Dearest." Mycerra breathed.
"They're already overworking you."
"Titus made me apologize to Pacyra." She whined.
"How mean of him." Amani teased, all smiles. "How will you ever endure the injury?
Mycerra belly laughed. She held out her hand to the screen. Amani copied her. "I miss you. How's the recovery? How's Aria? And your mother?"
Amani laughed and blew her a kiss. "Distance does make the heart fonder, doesn't it?" She winked.
Mycerra rolled her eyes. "Don't you dare hang up. I'm going to have Titus bring Tia here. She's with her babysitter right now. Tabitha adores her. You would not believe how many people adore her. They can't believe you're mine. I mean there are days I can't believe it either. But! I'll be back. You can have mommy time!"
Amani massaged her tendrils.
Mycerra left and returned with Tia looking pretty in her black dress and knitted feet warmers.
Amani squealed in delight. Titus lingered in the doorway. "And who is the handsome turian? You can't seem to avoid them."
Titus bowed into the room and closed the door behind him. "Titus Deltano. I apologize for invading your personal time." His voice flanged curiously. Mycerra turned toward him suspiciously.
Was this him prying like a nosy parent? Or a concerned adviser?
"I've heard of you, General." Amani smiled ear to ear. "Does Cerra not know your reputation?"
Mycerra squared up with both while keeping Tia in the shot. "We need to talk, Titus."
"We need to talk, Mycerra." He countered.
She shivered. "Don't- don't use my first name like that. It's weird." She held Tia upright and held up her small hand.
"Do you know her reputation?"
Mycerra frowned. "She's a chemist well known for her work for Aria T'Loak. Her work resulted in countless deaths of mercenaries and individuals of varying importance in varying fields within or bordering the Terminus System. The Citadel has a record of her 'crimes', although the debate about which law or laws apply is credible enough we could hire an excellent lawyer to defend her."
"Are you aware of the bounty on her head?" Titus countered plainly.
She looked to Amani. "I'm getting tired of the smokescreens here. You've met Amani, Amani's met you, and both of you will square up with me. Or I'll kill you both."
"Him first." Amani volunteered.
She debated 'air locking' both. "She has a point. You are in arms' reach." She turned to Titus. "You first."
"Colton, your lover, the mother of your child has a bounty on her head not only from those who have died because of her expert work, but also because of her involvement in an experiment gone wrong."
"That council business the justicar was sent out for?" Mycerra whipped back around to face Amani. Amani shrugged. "Yeah, I think we resolved that with Justicar Bitchface."
"That was not her name." Amani weakly protested. "I believe it was Valentina. Florentina?"
"Bitchface." Mycerra insisted.
Titus made a sacred gesture with his hand. "If you could please, oh so kindly, refrain from such language in public- "
Mycerra beamed at him. "Oh, but Mr. Deltano, I already agreed to everything in your plan. As did Admiral Hackett, Kahlee Sanders, and Ambassador Anderson. Even Commander Shepard agreed you concocted a perfect plan."
He face palmed. "Assuming that bounty has removed itself, Miss Ysett accumulated a hefty one hundred thousand credit bounty on her head. The only protection preventing it from flowing to completion is Aria T'Loak."
"Aria has that covered." Mycerra turned back to Amani. "Dearest, how do you know Titus?"
Amani leaned back and folded her hands behind her head. Mycerra hoped for a hint of cleavage and only received collarbone. "Your adviser there was hired by the turian hierarchy to determine if I was truly guilty of the massacre. I don't know what they determined, but they never stopped investigating it. He oversaw it."
On cue, Mycerra faced Titus again. "And what was the conclusion of that investigation?"
Titus sighed dramatically. "We couldn't determine her level of guilt. The asari government buried it under law and secrecy." He announced, firmly locking eyes with Amani as he spoke.
"Well, uh, if you were to contact the Council, they could provide the report clearing her name." Mycerra suggested lightly. "I should know. The Normandy transported the justicar to Omega to conduct the mind meld."
He composed himself. "Doesn't remove the one hundred thousand credit bounty on her head."
"She's lived on Omega for thirty-five years, Titus. I'm insulted it's not higher." Mycerra complained.
He bowed to Amani. "I apologize for invading your personal time."
The sincerity left both ladies on the defensive. He sounded and acted entirely too sincere for it to be untrue. They sat in silence a minute or two after he left.
"That was interesting." Amani announced cheerfully. "I like him."
"I do too. Just didn't think there'd be a connection between you and him." Mycerra started to believe in the idea of souls being linked life to life the more she interacted with the world. It started to scare her, if she were to be honest.
They talked about the short conversation with Pacyra, the hoard of pictures Mycerra sent in Amani's direction, and surprisingly the increasing number of krogan on Omega. Amani thought it interesting but nothing to be alarmed about. Mycerra trusted her. After all, Amani lived on Omega much longer than she had.