W.i.t.G

Let's go.

Shepard couldn't help the spring in his step.

Everything seemed to be going right for a change.

On his left side was a small Asari child, her tiny blue fingers intertwining with Chris' armoured ones as she ravenously engulfed a bright yellow lollipop into her mouth, sounds of joy escaping her small lips as she enjoyed the sugary treat. And on his right...

A woman who had captured his heart and his feelings. Tali'Zorah nar Rayya.

The Quarian had done what many women could only dream and hope for; she'd been the one to begin rebuilding the Commander.

He still loved Lucy. He would always love Lucy. But he finally felt that it was time to start again. A clean slate.

She didn't know how he felt, how could she? She wasn't human. But that didn't matter. Chris knew his feelings were there. And that was enough for him.

With a mirthful smile, Shepard piped up, "How did we end up here, Tal?"

A warbling, tinny laugh came from his companion, an angelic sound; like fine music to the larger human: "If I remember correctly, it was you who proposed that we take the children onto the Presidium. So here we are. Making our way to the Council. Just me, you, and these hyper little bosh'tets. Keelah, humans are so forgetful..."

It was true; Shepard had decided that splitting the children into different groups would make it more manageable for the ground team members to deal with, seeing as none of them were particularly skilled in the field of babysitting or childcare in general. So, Shepard and Tali had taken one of the larger groups and headed straight for the Council chambers.

Wrex had taken a group on his own, as he apparently had 'centuries of experience' compared to anybody on the ground team combined. In Wrex's mind, how hard could it be to look after five kids for a couple of hours?

Apparently, harder than first imagined. The last the commander had heard from the Krogan Battlemaster, he'd gotten stuck in a plastic tube in a children's play area after nearly ripping the head off of one of the parents who's child had punched one of his wards at a popular child friendly restaurant: Comet's; the Asari equivalent of the old earth fast food chain known as McDonald's.

Ashley and Kaidan had decided to band together to share the burden of caring for their assigned children. Again, it wasn't as easy as they'd thought either. Tali couldn't help but laugh when Chris had regaled her with a report from the Gunny; the children had decided to play an impromptu prank on the pair by running off into Zaketa ward and playing hide and seek. Luckily, before the children had been entrusted into the care of the Commander, Doctor Chakwas had seen to it personally that the children had been 'chipped'; tiny little omni-chips were placed into each child's arm, allowing the ground team to keep a personal track on each and every one of the kids in their care. The chips also allowed for the translation of the many different languages being spoken on the Citadel, which helped immeasurably when some of the Asari children were entrusted into the care of the two human marines. Plus, it wasn't hard to track down hyper children wearing oversized Alliance clothing when the Gunny and the LT went on the hunt.

The Gunny did swear however, that she was put off from having kids for a while. A LONG while.

Liara had decided to tag along with Garrus, giving the pair a chance to get to know each other better. They didn't have any crazy stories to tell thankfully. Liara had managed to convince her wards, along with Garrus to accompany her to an Asari art gallery, with an exhibition on Protheans.

Fun.

That left Tali, her growing feelings, and her oblivious Commander to take care of the remaining children. Luckily, nothing out of the ordinary had happened so far. Tali could only ask the Ancestors that they watch over her and her wards, fearful for the inevitable trouble that seemed to follow Shepard wherever he went. If it wasn't directed towards him by an outside source, he was the one causing the trouble.

The commander's mouth split into a large grin, his pearly white teeth glistening in the artificial daylight of the Presidium, "That's not what I meant. But thanks for reminding me Tal. Next time, I'm going to let Garrus tag along instead. You can go and enjoy the art exhibit with Liara next time. Plus, he doesn't talk back as much as you do."

Although it sounded like a harsh insult, Tali had more experience now for when Chris was trying to tease her. Two could play at that game:

"Oh no! Whatever will I do? I would be resigned to staring at massive blobs of green waste on fancy walls whilst Liara explains the importance of Prothean art and its influence on galactic culture! On the other hand, you would be resigned to listening to Garrus talk about his 'calibrations' on his rifle, and how the Mako could do with a tune up every 5 minutes, or how his plates itch when it gets a little bit warmer than usual, or..."

"Alright! I get it! I'd be stuck in a terrible position as well. Looks like you're stuck with me, and I'm stuck with you."

"You have no idea..."

A few giggles emanated from the small children next to the duo, with some even going as far as to stick their little tongues out at Shepard. Emulating the children around him, the commander responded in kind, his lips spread apart as he stuck his own tongue out at them, making funny noises that elicited more childish giggles and heartwarming smiles.

Tali's face warmed as she giggled alongside the children, the Commander's face an absolute picture. His features had softened, causing his smile to seem as natural as ever and the scars on his face didn't frighten the children. In fact, they seemed to elicit a sense of wonderment in them as they had all individually took turns tracing their fingers over the three jagged lines before they'd set off on their little journey. Tali's blush couldn't help but increase in ferocity as she remembered the children placing her hand on his face, using her fingers to trace the lines as well. Shepard hadn't minded in the slightest, in fact, he thought it was cute.

And his hazel eyes! They offered a deep pool of joy that Tali could have simply been lost in for all eternity...

"Hello? Commander Shepard to Tal? ... Are you watching Blasto in there again?"

Realising she'd dazed out of reality, the young quarian shivered before turning her undivided attention to her human.

"I-uh-Wha?"

"Yep. Definitely watching Blasto."

"N-No I wasn't! Keelah! I was... I was..."

"Go on."

"It doesn't matter. I just lost my trail of thought for a second. Honestly. I'm fine."

"I know you're fine. You just zoned out for a minute there. I just wanted to make sure you were okay. That's all."

"I'm fine, Chris. Honestly."

She'd been caught. And she knew it.

Standing for a moment, Chris eyed her suspiciously before slowly nodding his head.

The group continued onwards, very few words being spoken. The Commander knew something was up, but he couldn't put his finger on it.

And Tali? If her face blushed any harder she feared her face would begin to melt from the heat building inside her helmet. She'd gotten lost staring at his angelic face again, and she'd only just gotten away with it.

The group slowed to a halt after a few more minutes of walking, just before the Council chambers.

Shepard sighed, "For all it's glory and majesty, I still think it looks tacky. Why anyone would want to work here, is beyond me... Give me a ship and a rifle any day of the week. None of the political bull-shi... Poop. I forget we've got children with us."

Tali giggled, alongside the group of children.

Hearing the laughter, the Commander grinned mirthfully once more, happy that Tali was still finding his terrible jokes amusing. She was probably only doing it to make the tension ease a little bit, but that was okay. He hated thinking he'd said something wrong, causing her to feel uncomfortable.

They stood there for only a second, before Chris turned towards the entrance of the chambers:

"Well. Here goes nothing. I better go be the Spectre they need me to be. Are you alright looking after these kids whilst I go inside? I don't think they'd appreciate being stuffed into a side room whilst the grown-ups talk politics."

"Of course. We'll be fine," Tali nodded earnestly, "Besides, I can think of a few things we can do whilst you're busy. What's that thing you humans eat? Ice milk?"

"Ice cream. Yeah, that's a fantastic idea Tals! I think there's a human-run parlour on the opposite side of the Presidium. I'll meet you there once I'm finished. Have you got enough credits on you? You know what, it doesn't matter, just take my chit. Get yourself and the kids whatever they want."

Tali accepted the offered credit chit, before smiling warmly at Shepard.

"Aye Aye Captain," Tali tried her best to impersonate the salutes the marines gave Shepard when he appeared before them.

The children, in a mixture of sugar-induced hyperactivity and a desire to join in, followed suit, with salutes being thrown all over the place.

Chris barked out a laugh, before his own rigid salute came into place.

Once the kids had been settled down somewhat, the two companions merely nodded to each other, both knowing what they needed to do.

For Joannie, today was a good day.

Well, in comparison to what had happened recently, every day was a good day after they'd gotten off the mean frog mans ship.

Joannie didn't want to remember what had happened on the ship. Not any more. Not after mummy had started to cough really badly before going cold and still. Joannie had held onto her mother until one of those human people had come and found her and the others. They'd taken Joannie and her sleeping mummy on their ship before giving Joannie a hot meal and new clothes. Her old ones had been very pretty, but had gotten dirty when she'd hugged mummy. She hoped mummy would wake up soon, but she had a bad feeling she wouldn't.

She'd cried when they'd taken her away from mummy, but now Joannie was happy. She was outside where it was warm, and bright and she could play. The big human was very nice to her, and he'd given everybody sweets. Joannie got a big yellow lollipop and got to hold the big human's hand!

Now she was with the nice lady in the colourful suit. It was a very pretty suit. Joannie wished she could have one like the nice lady's. They were going to get a thing that had ice in it. The nice lady had seemed nervous at first, but when Joannie held her hand, the nice lady seemed to feel better. Everything was always better when someone held your hand.

The nice lady and the big human got on really well. Sort of like Mummy and other Mummy. Joannie didn't know where the big human had gone, but Joannie knew he'd be back soon. He had to be. He wouldn't leave the nice lady on her own, would he? If he did, then Joannie would stay with the nice lady. She wouldn't ever be on her own, ever again.

"That'll be 25 credits then please, Miss."

Tali looked up from her omni-tool and nodded in understanding. With a quick hand gesture, the 25 credits were transferred from Chris' chit.

"Next!" The spotty teenager said, and with that, Tali knew it was time to get out of the way. As a Quarian, she'd picked up a sixth sense for knowing when she was in the way.

With ushering hands, Tali guided the happy children out of the establishment, past a growing line of Asari, Turian, Salarian and Human customers. Each and every one of them staring at Tali and the children in a mixed sense of wonderment and curiosity. Some looked with disdain on the Quarian, others looked on happily as the children began to tuck in to their frozen treats.

Tali was relatively surprised that she'd been served at first, wondering if the teenage server was simply going to call management or C-Sec to remove her from the premises. She was also happy to note that they did a dextro form of ice cream.

Humans and their ingenuity.

Walking contently along, back towards the Council chambers, Tali couldn't help but smile.

Everything seemed to be going in her favour.

Slotting the sterilized tube of tudberry flavour ice cream into her induction port, Tali was the happiest girl in the world.

That is, till a group of Turians decided to harass her.

They spat at the floor in front of her, snarling and hissing insults.

"Fucking suit-rat! Go back to your pile of shit fleet!"

"Why are you even allowed up here, suit-rat scum?!"

"Look! It's a filthy vagrant and her merry band of thieves!"

Her cheeks turned red with anger as she tried to ignore the insults. Hurrying the children along, Tali had nearly made it to the bridge before a taloned hand grabbed her shoulder.

"Where do you think you're going suit-rat? You're not getting away that easily," Their leader snarled. An ugly son of a bosh'tet if Tali had ever seen one.

She considered reaching for her shotgun, but the children were nearby, and she didn't want to cause a scene. She didn't want to cause any trouble that would reflect badly on Chris. Although people were walking past on the Presidium, nobody was going to stop and help a Quarian.

Tali didn't expect the swipe that came next as her sterilized tube was knocked from her induction port.

"What are you going to do suit-rat? Shoot me? You'd be dead in seconds. Along with your little band of vagrants. You don't know who I am do you? Lars Valkren, leader of the Red Talons. And you're intruding in my airspace. That's an insult if I've ever seen one. What do you think Yegry?"

The Turian to his left grunted. Another ugly son of a bosh'tet. Looks like Tali was gonna have to put another three notches on her shotgun grip by the end of today.

The final Turian, the one that seemed to be the most intelligent due to the fact he was keeping an eye out for any signs of trouble instead of squaring up to the smaller female commented, "Hey Lars, where's that kid going?"

Lars turned from Tali, looked towards a small Asari girl running across the Presidium bridge, "Fucked if I know. Leave her. What's she going to do? Flay us with her mind? She's a hatchling. About as much of a threat as this suit-rat is."

Tali simply bided her time. She knew that the little girl was from her group, and she had a hunch as to where she was going.

Joannie ran. She ran as fast as she could. Her little legs were getting tired now as she strained to keep going.

Just a little bit further. She'd abandoned her ice treat earlier, just so she could get away and run. She wasn't leaving the nice lady. Not at all.

She was going to go and get help. The mean metal birds were big, but she knew someone who was bigger...

With a sudden slam, Joannie crashed at full force into what felt like a metal wall. Trying to pick herself up, she strained to look upwards. Luckily for the nice woman, Joannie had found the person she was looking for. And he had his friends from the big ship.

"MR CHRIS, MR CHRIS! Come quick, come quick!" Joannie screamed as she pulled on the big human's leg.

With a chuckle Chris gently removed her hand, before asking slowly, "What's wrong? Where's Tali? Where's the woman you were with?"

By the end of his questioning, panic had started to creep into his voice, and Shepard had to restrain himself from shouting.

The little girl caught her breath before she spoke, the words spilling out of her mouth, "She's over there with my other friends! These mean metal bird people came up and knocked her ice treat away and started saying horrible things to her! I ran away to come and get you! You've got to help the nice lady!"

Chris's face tightened into a grimace as he looked behind him. The rest of the ground team had reconvened outside of the Council chambers, all except for Tali. They were going to go over and surprise her, treat all of the kids to some ice cream.

Wrex, the ever knowledgeable Krogan that he was, could instantly tell something had gone wrong. With speed that belied his massive stature, the mercenary strode across, "What's wrong? Where's the little one?"

Once everybody had seen Wrex moving, they began to move as well, although, not as fast.

Within seconds though, the ground team assembled around their Commander, their faces grim but ready. Little faces poked in where they could, but the children were content to meander near the group.

A low growl emanated from the large human's mouth as his feet began to move of their own accord, "Ground team! Double time it! Let's move!"

The ground team didn't know why they were running, but they ran. The children, seeing the adults getting excited all of a sudden, began to run as well, following after their carers.

From the back of the group, Garrus shouted as loudly as he could, "What's the situation, Boss?"

"Tali's in trouble!"

That was enough of an answer for everybody concerned. Heck, they'd all fought together and bled together.

They were a model dysfunctional family.

But family fought for one another.

"And another thing, suit-rat! What makes you think you can just waltz around up here, with the rest of the civilised species? You're not welcome up here!" Lars spat. Yegry grunted once again. Three ugly Turians. Tali was beginning to wonder how long it would take to clean her shotgun of congealed Turian blood, when a sight she would never tire of appeared before her.

Charging across the bridge came her human, barrelling people out of the way to shouts of protest and insult, but he didn't falter. The ground team were at his heels, with little children following behind as well, sounds of squealing laughter and joy echoing throughout the Presidium.

"And another thing..."

Before Lars could continue his tirade, a little blue ball of fury barrelled into the Turian's legs. Although it wasn't enough to knock him over, Lars was definitely stunned from the sudden impact.

"LEAVE THE NICE LADY ALONE, YOU MEANIE!" Little Joannie practically seethed with anger as she ran to Tali, standing just behind her leg. The little Asari stuck her tongue out at the snarling Turian. Nobody could hurt Joannie now. Not when the nice lady and the big human were there.

Lars went to grab his sidearm, an antiquated bag of shit that would have struggled to put a dent in Tali's shields. However, it was Tali the snarling Turian was going towards.

"Come here you little shit! I'll teach you a lesson you'll never forget!"

With one sudden move, Tali drew her knife from her leg, the one she'd received as a gift from her human. With lightning speed, she held the knife just at the cusp of Lars' throat. One wrong move, and he would die a horrible death. But to protect the children in her care, Tali would do anything.

The sound of a Mass accelerator being fired into the air caused all focus to fix on to its wielder. The large human grinned viciously as he pointed his shotgun at the closest Turians skull:

"What do we have here then?"

Lars began to panic, his mandibles spread wide in a plea for help, "Please, Human! You have to help us! This suit-rat has a knife pressed against my throat. She'll kill me!"

Tali grinned viciously, a habit she picked up from Chris, "Who do you think gave me the knife?"

Lars' eyes grew wide with shock, as his sub-harmonics began to trill uncontrollably, "SPIRITS SAVE ME!"

Garrus stepped into the fray now, his voice grave as usual, but his sub-harmonics held an air of danger that all members present felt, "The Spirits won't save you now, Lars. If it wasn't for the fact that I know C-Sec need a reason to put you away, I'd let Tali slice you open like a fenneloup, nice and slow."

Wrex's voice thundered as he raised his shotgun to level at Yegry's head, "Enough! The Turians have insulted us Shepard! On Tuchanka, that calls for blood."

Chris stepped forwards dangerously, his aim not wavering in the slightest, "Everything on your planet calls for blood, Wrex. But, that doesn't sound like a bad idea..."

"Y-You can't do this! Spirits take you!" Lars yammered.

Chris stood for a moment, his finger grazing the trigger.

But something stopped him from ending another Turian's life.

The large human looked around him: his ground team were poised and ready; they wanted blood. Even Liara was glowing with raw biotic power as her finger itched towards her trigger. Kaidan and Ashley held their assault rifles steady, their faces betraying no emotion whatsoever. Garrus had his sniper rifle out, ready and waiting for the signal to drop the foes in front of them.

Wrex was just waiting for a little bit of a sign from Shepard to rip his enemies limb from limb. His blood rage pounded in his plates as his body screamed for death.

But that's not what caught Chris' eye. The children. The ever so innocent children. They stood off to the sides watching the situation unfold with terrified faces. They'd seen enough death, but even they knew what was coming next.

With a sigh, Chris put his shotgun away. Today was a day for mercy.

"Stand down!"

Liara, Garrus, Kaidan and Ashley complied immediately. It would have been fair to say that they didn't want to have to blank out another death from their memories.

Wrex took a bit more convincing, but he relented as well, putting his shotgun away reluctantly.

Tali shoved Lars away, her hand still wrapped around the handle of her knife. She would do as instructed, but she was still wary.

The three Turians stood in shock, whilst passersby stopped and started to take notice.

That didn't mean anybody could make a mockery of his ground team though.

With a grunt, the Commander slammed his gauntleted fist into Lars' face, causing blue blood to spurt outwards. Chris turned to face Garrus, his eyes still ablaze, "Did you say C-Sec wants these?"

"Yes, Commander. They're wanted in relation to gang-related activities. We couldn't get the evidence to put them away, but now, I think it's fair to say that they've been caught... What's that phrase you humans use: caught red-footed?"

With a bark of laughter, Shepard smiled at Garrus, "Red handed, Garrus. That was close though. See to it that C-Sec are made aware that a Spectre apprehended them."

Nodding, Garrus's mandibles spread with mirth, "Red handed, red footed... Why are you primates always doing things with colours?" Garrus turned away, before bringing up his omni-tool, checking for some of his old contacts.

Without turning to face the rest of the ground team, the Commander spoke, "Recall the marines LT! Shore leave's been cancelled. We've got business on Noveria to attend to. See to it that we're away from the Citadel as soon as possible."

"Aye aye Commander!" Turning about face, the Lieutenant left.

"Gunny, you and Liara will escort the children back into the Council chambers. They've decided on the best course of action for them. They've been taken out of hands."

No response was needed, as the pair began to collect the children, some refusing to leave Tali's side, especially Joannie.

However, they all went in the end. Hopefully, Chris had made a good lasting impression on them. He didn't want their memories to be clouded with murder.

Violence didn't always solve things. But it did make Shepard feel better.

"Wrex, take Tali and go collect the supplies we need. I'll send the list of what we need as well as the credits. Some of the items are Spectre grade, but you shouldn't be questioned. They know you're part of my ground team."

Tali stepped forwards now, quiet for the most part. Her body still seethed with anger, but she was also glad she didn't have to end the bosh'tet of a Turian's life. She would sleep relatively well tonight at least, "Are you sure Commander? Do you need any assistance here? I-I can stay if you want."

With a soft smile, Chris shook his head, "It's fine Tal. I'll stay here with Garrus till C-Sec shows up. They don't look like they're gonna put up a fight now that they know you've got friends."

Tali nodded gently before she approached Wrex. The two said nothing as they began to walk off towards C-Sec headquarters, a location where Spectre requisitions were tucked away."

When they were far enough away, Wrex rumbled softly, "Are you alright Little one? You're not hurt are you?"

Tali looked into the old Krogan's yellow eyes, before replying, "I'm fine, Wrex. I'm just glad you all showed up when you did. I was sick of listening to that bosh'tet talk..."

A toothy grin split Wrex's face, "Yeah, you'll definitely make a fine mate for Shepard."

With a furious blush, Tali couldn't help the question that came out next, "So, what happened at Comet's then? I heard you got stuck in a children's play area."

Laughter barked from the Krogan as he patted his Quarian companion on the shoulder, "I guess we've got some time to kill before we get these damned supplies. So there I was, waiting in line for the hatchling's food when all of a sudden I hear a cry for help..."

Boom.

Don't forget to review! It helps me realise I've got readers to write for. I just need a good kick up the arse from time to time.

Shout out to Daedalus. If it wasn't for him, you wouldn't be getting a chapter as quick as this one.