"As your executive officer I should be informed of any modifications to the ship." Miranda arched her eyebrow at him.

"Pretty sure I wrote you a memo." Michael dealt another card to Grunt. "EDI, didn't I write Miranda a memo?"

"Yes, Shepard."

"See." Michael shrugged.

"You didn't send me a memo." Miranda folded her arms.

"I figured with all your bugs and shit all over the ship I didn't need to." Michael looked down at his own hand, then tossed a chit into the pile. He didn't miss Jacob trying to hide a quick snicker. He sighed. "Grunt, the king is higher than the queen."

"But it's a Q. Q is higher than K."

"Yeah, Shepard." Jack gave him a look that suggested he was the dumbest man in the universe. "Don't you know your alphabet?"

"He does make a valid argument there." Tali shrugged. She had that little head tilt that made him absolutely certain she had a shit-eating grin on her face under that mask.

"He does." Miranda unfolded her arms. "Unless of course you subscribe to antiquated patriarchal notions of obsolete methods of rulership."

"See?" Grunt started raking the chits toward himself.

Michael sighed before leaning forward to bang his head against the table.

#

"You asked to see me?" Michael stepped into the life support control room. Having an assassin camping out there really should make him feel more uncomfortable than it did. "Something wrong?"

"Yes." Thane exhaled. "Now that you are here, though, it seems difficult to talk about."

"I know we don't talk often, but..." He shrugged and moved to lean on the wall across from Thane. "I do keep an open-door policy. Except when its closed. I've got time. Take it at your own pace."

"Thank you." Thane stood. "I fear I've already done that for too long." He walked over to look at his gun rack. "I had a family, once. I still have a son. His name is Kolyat. I haven't seen him for a very long time."

A chill went through his blood. If this was a repeat of the thing with Samara, he was going to find whoever put together this crew roster and space them. After sending them on a dozen trips through the incinerator and shooting them in the face. "Did something happen to them?"

"I abandoned them." Thane shrugged. "Oh, not all at once. Nothing dramatic. No sneaking out in the middle of the night. No final argument or slammed door. I just..." He exhaled. "Did my job. I hunted and killed across the galaxy. 'Away on business,' my wife would tell people. I was always away on business."

"You never mentioned this before." Granted, he'd thought Thane was one of his more stable crewmen, so he hadn't spent as much time with the guy, but still. "Why now?"

"When my wife departed from her body, I -" Thane twitched a shoulder. "Attended to that issue. I left Kolyat in the care of his aunts and uncles. I have not seen him or talked to him since."

"If we're talking about this, he must have contacted you." Michael folded his arms. In the grand scheme of parent/child relationships for members of his crew, just walking away and not looking back seemed worlds better than how things had worked out for his asari.

"No, he didn't. But my condition..." Thane looked back at the guns. "I've been judging my life. Measuring what I've added, and what I've taken away. I used my contacts to trace Kolyat. He has become -" Thane shook his head. "Disconnected. He does what his body wills."

That didn't make sense, but not a lot about Thane did. "Where has Kolyat's body willed him?"

"To the Citadel. I don't know where, exactly. I only know that he traveled there and has contacted the criminal element of the station. He has been hired to kill a man. I would like your help to stop it."

"We are on our way to the Citadel, we can look into the matter while we are there." With his luck, the guy had probably been hired to shoot Anderson or something.

#

Hackett stepped into the lift and hit the override as soon as the door closed. The elevator failed to go anywhere. The man already in it went still, then nodded. "Hackett."

"Shepard." His eyes flicked over the scars on man's face, stopping briefly at the faint glow of cybernetics in his eyes. "Son, you look like shit."

"Have I ever told you how good you are for my ego, sir?" Shepard exhaled. Then he nodded. "It's good to see you." He shrugged. "I take it you have a mission you don't want -"

"Shut up, Shepard." Hackett folded his arms. "You know, the last time I saw you in civilian get up you were getting out of my car at boot camp." He shook his head.

"Cerberus has shit tailors, sir." Shepard shrugged.

"I'm sure you got the news about Ferris Fields by now." When Shepard looked away, Hackett nodded. "Alenko and Brekin got to talking at your funeral, kept in touch. Alenko was a bit worried about the colonies, so he invited Brekin and his family to visit Alenko's family place, up in Canada."

Shepard swallowed. "Brekin..."

"Wife and kids." Hackett smiled, then patted Shepard's shoulder. "You should probably check in with them, let them know rumors of your death got a little out of hand." He tilted his head. "Maybe just audio though."

"Thank you, sir." Shepard nodded.

He hit the override again, and the lift started to move. "You're still overdue for an ass kicking."

"Noted, sir."

#

"Yeah, sure, I can get you two cases by the end of the day." This 'Mouse' was standing with his back to them, looking at a datapad. When he turned and saw them, he had a break freakout. Then again, a retired assassin and a dead spectre probably weren't on anyone's expected guest list.

"Be still, Mouse." Thane patted the guy's shoulder. "You can change your pants in a moment."

The two obviously knew each other. Street rat and assassin. Heartwarming, if not for the fact he could tell Thane had once meant a lot to this kid. The kid even got a little belligerent in Thane's defense. It was sweet. He wasn't loyal enough to risk his life for Thane though, which did show the kid had brains. Michael made a mental note to ask Hackett to check up on him. Then he scratched that note out. There was a certain information broker who might be able to use a good Citadel contact. But in the meantime...

"Kid, I've made people much more important than you disappear. Whoever you're protecting isn't worth it."

"I..." Mouse nearly whimpered. "You wouldn't hurt me."

"Oh yeah?" Michael raised an eyebrow. He was a little curious to see if Thane would intervene. Thane knew what he was.

So, apparently, was Mouse. "Krios, man, I did good work for you. You gave me chocolate. Real chocolate."

"I never gave my own son chocolate." Thane bowed his head.

"I remember, whenever you talked about your kid, your eyes got like that. Like they was someplace else. Sad." Mouse shrugged. "He had that holo you took of me, you know. That's how he proved who he was. But when he turned it on, his eyes got like yours do." He paced a few steps, then shrugged again. "The guy I carried for is Elias Kelham."

Michael nodded. "One other thing. That Shepard VI you're selling?"

"Oh, shit. You hear-" Now the kid did look panicked. "Look, you were dead. It was totally legal to make a VI of you."

"Give me a copy, we'll call it even." Michael shrugged.

#

"Thanks, Liara." Michael closed the comm. As an agent of the 'Shadow Broker', Mouse should be safe from any retaliation by Kelham. He glanced at Thane. "That can't have been easy for you."

"Mouse knew more about my life than Kolyat ever did." Thane's voice became weird again. "He smiles up at me, broken teeth and scabby knees. Bare feet black. A dead-end future looking up at me. Worshiping the petty gifts I offer." He'd known guys like Thane back on the street. Guys who needed a lookout, or a bit of information. Those 'petty gifts' had meant the difference between shelter and freezing to death more than once. "I was the only good thing he had, back then. But I left him, as I left Kolyat."

Hackett hadn't. Michael walked back toward Bailey's office. His thoughts flickered back to the lift. Hackett still hadn't. Only stable ground in the universe.

#

"That may go down in history as the shortest interrogation ever." Thane shrugged as he followed Michael out of the holding cell.

Captain Bailey was waiting for them. "What's the story?" He raised an eyebrow. "Why did Kelham hire the boy?"

"Assassination. A turian named Joram Talid. You know him?" Michael shrugged.

"Joram?" Bailey nodded. "Yeah. You might have seen his posters around. He's promising to end organized crime on the ward." Bailey twitched a shoulder. "Thing is, his message is all mixed up in race politics. He's anti-human."

"Well, shit." Michael exhaled. "We should probably still stop this assassination. Can you get us to the 800 blocks?"

#

He could solve a lot of problems by just sniping the guy from here. Michael stared down from the catwalk as Talid and his bodyguard shook down various people. He wouldn't even have to use fancy ammo. One shot, right to the head. Justifiable. Guy was clearly in the commission of a crime, and he was a spectre again.

Sure, it would probably mean some paperwork for Anderson, but he'd just foist that off an Udina and he was absolutely okay with spoiling Udina's day. In fact, that sounded like a bonus.

Michael headed through the next door, only to see a stockboy staring at him, wide-eyed. "Hey, who are you? What are you doing back here?"

"What am I doing here?" Michael stared at him. "What are you doing here?"

The kid scratched his head. "What?"

"Do you have any idea how dangerous it is in here?" He gestured.

"Dangerous?" The kid's eyes went even wider.

"Get out of here." Michael grabbed his shoulder and gave him a push toward the door. "Now. Before it blows."

"Blows, what the-"

"Run!" Michael shoved him.

"All right." The kid took off for the door as fast as he could.

Thane's voice sounded tired over the comm. "Shepard."

"I can't believe that actually worked." Michael just shook his head before continuing on.

#

There weren't a lot of drell on the Citadel. Which meant that was probably the man they were looking for. The fact that the guy drew a gun as Talid passed by also seemed like a good indicator that he was both the man they were looking for and not a very good assassin. "Kolyat!"

Faces turned. Talid spotted them. The kid started firing, wounding the bodyguard before chasing Talid. Michael jumped down and went after them. "Thane."

"I saw."

"He's heading toward Talid's apartment." And based on the shouting, C-Sec would not be far behind. At least the bodyguard wasn't dead.

Entering the apartment showed Kolyat did not have his father's brains. He was actually holding Talid hostage. "Kolyat." Thane shook his head.

"This -" Kolyat stared at his father. "This is a joke. Now? Now you show up?"

"Help me, drell. I'll do whatever you want." Talid was cowering on the floor.

And naturally, Bailey showed up. C-sec response time really had improved. How annoying. "C-Sec. Put the gun down, son."

"Get out of my way." Kolyat shook his head. "I'm walking out. He's coming with me."

Thane stepped forward, trying to reason with the kid. "They'll have snipers outside.

"I don't need your help." Kolyat glared at him. "All of you, back off. I'll kill him."

Michael sighed. "No, you won't." He adjusted his aim and pulled the trigger. Talid fell over, dead. Bailey gave him an irritated look. But hey, on the bright side, dead men couldn't press assault charges.

"Oh my gods." Kolyat stared.

"Hostages only work when your enemy cares if they live." Michael shook his head.

"Interesting solution." Thane raised an eyebrow at him.

"He was a criminal. And a racist." Michael shrugged.

"To some, I suppose." Thane clasped his hands behind his back. He had a sneaking suspicion the drell did not approve.

"I read your files." Kolyat pointed at Thane. "Isn't that what you do? Kill people who do bad things?"

Bailey sighed. "Take the boy into custody."

"You son of a bitch." Kolyat glared.

"Your father and I have killed a lot of people." Michael narrowed his eyes. "You haven't. There's no reason you should start."

"I read his files. What made it all right for him to kill all those years?"

Thane walked toward him. "I was six when the hanar began to train me. I didn't know any better. Your mother woke me from my battle sleep."

"Then why did you leave her? Why weren't you there when she died?" Kolyat shook his head.

"Your mother -" Thane sighed. "They killed her to get to me. It was my fault."

Michael shot a look at Bailey as Thane kept talking and Kolyat kept spitting at him. Bailey nodded. "This isn't a conversation you should have in front of strangers." He glanced at the rest of the cops. "Boys, take Kolyat and his father back to the precinct. Give them a room and as much time as they need."

He waited for them to leave, then glanced at Bailey. "Surprised you let them do that."

"You think he's the only man who ever screwed up raising a son?" Bailey raised an eyebrow.

"This is an issue for me." Michael sighed. Bailey blinked. Michael shrugged. "Normally I've got a policy about liking cops. You make three."

"I have to get back to the precinct. Come on, I'll give you a lift."

"Am I under arrest?" He followed Bailey out of the apartment that contained a dead turian.

"You have any idea how much paperwork arresting a spectre takes?" Bailey shook his head. "I'm going to have enough with this case already. That kid shot some people. Nobody I feel sympathy for, but there it is."

"Those guys were a waste of skin." He frowned. "Scales. Whatever."

"If you've got another suggestion, I'm listening."

"You know, Kolyat looks like the kind of kid who might be really good at paperwork." Michael shrugged. "Work off his debt to society under your watchful eye, fill out all those pesky forms that form some reason they won't just let you keep reusing but insist you fill out every single time anything remotely interesting happens, but nobody ever reads them anyway." He glanced over his shoulder. "You can just say I did the shooting. Nobody will question that."

"Good point." Bailey exhaled. "So, you're leaving soon?"

"Depends on how long it takes me to convince you to -"

"I'm convinced." Bailey narrowed his eyes. "So, you're leaving soon?"

Michael nodded. "Just picking up some mail and I'll be on my way."

"I'll increase security around the post office." Bailey nodded. "I want twenty-four-hour notice before all future visits so I can have the station on alert."

"No promises, but I'll see what I can do."

#

He glanced at the man next to him as they walked back toward the docks. "How'd it go?"

"Our problems -" Thane sighed. "They aren't something I can fix with a few words. We'll keep talking, see what happens."

"There won't be any charges pressed. Kid won't go into the system." When Thane glanced at him, Michael shrugged. "And since the job was carried out, Kelham won't be a problem either."

"I see." Thane nodded.

"You know, if you're into that mediation shit..." He twitched a shoulder. "You could join Samara and I sometime."

"You..." Thane slowed his pace before turning to look at him. "Mediate with Samara?"

"Yeah, it'..." He exhaled. "I thought it was kind of stupid at first but uh..." He nodded. "I'm kinda starting to like it." He narrowed his eyes. "And if you tell anyone that, I'll shoot you."

"Noted." Thane smiled.

#

"You know what it's like to think you're alone and find out you're not?" Jack stared up at him.

"Pretty much, yeah." Michael nodded.

"You don't have to agree so fast, you fucker." She punched him in the shoulder. She leaned back against the bulkhead. "That's right." She shrugged. "You had a cat."

"Got sent to a 'reformation camp'." He leaned back, then sighed. "You know, I actually tried that time. Followed the rules. Played nice." He swirled the drink in his hand. "They were big on the 'tough love' thing there, some kind of psychobabble bullshit. I smuggled Jack in and..." He took a drink. "Anyway, Jack got an infection in his eye, so I fessed up to the counselor and asked her to get Jack to a vet." He set the cup down. "They gave Jack a shot and then Jack got wobbily. He stopped breathing." He looked down at the old scars on the back of his hand. "Turned out the syringe wasn't antibiotics."

"They killed your cat." Jack blinked.

"So I set the counselor's room on fire, stole the medic's car, and crashed it into the Hudson." Michael waved a hand. "Appreciate if that stays between us, the fake name I was using managed to keep that one off my record."

"Fuckers. Sounds justifiable to me." Jack downed her drink, then looked up at him. "So you helped me blow up a planet because I remind you of your cat."

"Would you prefer if it was because I was into tattoos?" He refilled the cup for her.

"Are you?" She raised an eyebrow.

"Depends on the tattoos." He shrugged. "Also, I like blowing shit up. Heavy ordnance solves a lot of problems."

"I'll drink to that." She picked up the cup. "You're weird, Shepard." She smiled. "That kind of gets me off."

#

Michael glanced at the package that had come with the rest of the stuff Liara had sent and frowned. The note on it actually had his name hand-written on the envelope. He shrugged and opened it, then fumbled for the chair.

'Michael,

I'm sorry for what I said back on Horizon. I spent two years pulling myself back together after you went down with the Normandy. It took me a long time to get over my guilt for surviving and move on. I'd finally let my friends talk me into going out for drinks with a doctor on the Citadel. Nothing serious, but trying to let myself have a life again, you know?

Then I saw you, and everything pulled hard to port. You were standing in front of me, but you were with Cerberus. I guess I really don't know who either of us is anymore. Part of me wishes I'd just said yes and joined you. But a lot has changed in the last two years and I can't just put that aside.

But please be careful. I've watched too many people close to me die - on Eden Prime, on Virmire, on Horizon, on the Normandy. I couldn't bear it if I lost you again. If you're still the man I remember I know you'll find a way to stop these Collector attacks. But Cerberus is too dangerous to be trusted. Watch yourself.

You're probably going to laugh when you open the package. I'm not really sure what I was thinking. I just don't like the thought of you being alone out there. I know you have Garrus and Tali and... I feel like an idiot just writing this.

When things settle down a little... maybe... I don't know. Just take care.

-Kaidan'

He read it three times before setting it on his desk and looking at the package. Finally, he shrugged and opened it. At first, he thought it was some kind of sculpture inside a glass box, but then a small fluffy creature came out of the half-sphere and squeaked at him before hiding again.

A hamster.

Kaidan had sent him a hamster.

A little, fuzzy, brown hamster

Michael stared at the cage for almost a full minute before he started laughing.