Joker's guts churned. The fighter squadron performed beautifully, escorting them to the gigantic dock in the middle of a huge city. He'd dreamt of this moment ever since the day a teenage girl had broken his heart and stomped on it almost twenty years ago: he and his family were being celebrated as heroes returning home. All doors opened for them, people hurried over to look, point and wave. The voice from the Tower was almost giggly, assigning them a personal dock space called nothing less than The Normandy Dock. The name was written on the ramp in huge letters. This planet was ready to receive them.

Joker finished the docking sequence and opened the airlock. The crew, curious and excited, followed him and Jo off the ship. Once the two of them passed the decontaminator and turned the corner, Jo's steps faltered. The room before them was spacious and beautifully decorated with flowers and trees. It was also full to the brim with an array of soldiers, dock workers and civilians from all races, lined up for a parade and saluting them. Joker felt Jo's hand tighten on his bicep and heard her swallow hard.

In the front line stood a turian officer of some very high ranking Joker didn't recognise and an asari in civilian clothes.

Jo took a deep breath and squared her shoulders. She took a step forward and put on her Commander persona like a mask.

"Attention!" She snapped and over three hundred people - military or not - stood straighter and taller, still saluting her. "At ease," she said a little softer and a frisson of relief and excitement rolled over the crowd. Arms were lowered, people relaxed and dared to move a little closer to where the turian and the asari stood. Joker stepped closer to Jo and together, followed by the rest of the crew, they moved to meet the welcoming party.

"Commander Moreau," the asari started. Joker could tell how pleased Jo was that the asari had made the effort to educate herself on the proper protocol. "I am Driana Covis, the governor of this city. This is Linius Sevola, the Chief Defence Officer of the Serrah System and the General of the Chrysalis Military Forces. We would like to welcome you, your husband and every member of your crew to Chrysalis and to express our deepest gratitude for your selfless heroism while serving the people of the galaxy. I speak for the vast majority of this planet's population when I say that we are humbled and thrilled that you have chosen us as your new home. Please, don't hesitate to ask if you have any questions or are in need of assistance. I and Matriarch Ylvana, the current President of Serrah, are always there for you, whatever you need. She regrets that she couldn't be here right now and sends her warmest welcome."

"Commander," General Sevola continued the welcoming speech. "I welcome you in the name of the Land Force, the Naval Force, the Air Force, the Space Force and the Special Force." He rattled off the names that made it clear: the military on this planet, or maybe even everywhere in the galaxy, had been restructured. Branches had been divided clearer than before, given appropriate names. This new system had to accommodate the mixture of different species coming together and creating a new kind of armed forces. Joker knew that one of the first things they would have to do as newcomers would be to familiarise themselves with the political and military system, ranks and levels of authority.

"Every military unit in Serrah System is under my command, except the Academy you have accepted to lead," the turian smiled. "The station and everyone associated with it are under your direct jurisdiction."

"Mhm," Jo looked a bit smug about that.

"I am looking forward to working with you, Commander," he finished.

"Thank you, General, governor," Jo finally spoke. Everyone in the room fell completely quiet, straining to hear her. News cameras buzzed, recording the whole event. "I take it, Earth warned you about my ship's departure and you've been expecting us?" The turian and the asari nodded. "We are honoured to be welcome here. However, I need to make something clear from the start, General: my husband and I, as well as almost everyone else on my ship, are civilians. You and I will not work together because I will not engage in military operations anymore. I'm done fighting and dying for the cause. If you need my advice, I will give it, but that will be the extent of our professional relationship. However, I see how the galaxy would benefit from people like Commander Shepard. That's why I accepted the leading position of the Academy. I may never fight again, but I will create hundreds of people like Shepard to serve the galaxy in whatever capacity they are needed. That will be my contribution to the community from now on."

Everyone who heard her took her words in with concentrated attention. General Sevola tilted his head:

"May I ask if the rumours are true that you plan to make the Academy an interspecies civilian project?"

"Yes to both," Jo obviously saw no need to hide the fact. Joker saw the General's face light up and excitement ripple trough the crowd.

"So anyone can apply?"

"It's too early to apply," Jo said. "I haven't even seen the inside of the station yet. Besides, the first round of recruitment will be by invitation only." She looked into the closest camera: "All the applications will be ignored. In fact, if there are so many of them that my inbox explodes, I might even create a blacklist and put all those who are too eager to join on it. I'm very serious: invitation only until further notice."

"I understand, Commander," General Sevola nodded. "Good luck."

"Commander," Driana Covis gestured to a young human woman standing nearby: "This is Svetlana Kovalev, she has been assigned specifically to be of assistance to you in whatever you may need. She has information on the planet, the population, the businesses, the real estate, the local people and places of notice. She can help you with anything, or at least find someone who can."

"Miss Kovalev," Jo nodded. "Please, check in with my personal assistant, Alice Vaughn," she waved her hand behind them and Joker heard a hiccup from that direction. Alice and Kolyat had become a permanent fixture on board since Jo had been resurrected about two months ago, but this was the first time Jo had called the sixteen year old girl her personal assistant. Alice proved during the wedding preparation that she was good at organising, but she clearly hadn't expected recognition in front of all these important people and cameras.

"Certainly, Commander Moreau," Svetlana nodded.

"Now, I'd like to have a look around this city, so let's get us through customs."

"Oh, no, Commander," the General made a cutting gesture with his hand. "That is not necessary for you and your ship".

Jo's face suddenly turned thunderous:

"What is this, some sort of hero's special treatment? Are you at all serious about the planet's security? You can't just let people through, even if they used to be Shepards. What if I'm transporting bio-weapons in my cargo bay?"

"The station is outside the customs zone. If you live on the planet, you'll have to go through customs each time you go to work and back."

"And we will do that. Security is more important than convenience."

The General was visibly surprised that she wasn't making use of her hero status, and frankly, Joker was, too. Jo had accepted Bailey's help avoiding filework often enough. But then again, this was not the Citadel. This was their new home and they were planning to make a life here. And Jo was always mortally serious about security at home.

"You heard the lady," the General turned to the crowd. "Get to work."

The dock workers hurried off to do their jobs. The General and the governor left to attend to their own business and the rest of the crowd slowly dispersed. Jo and Joker crossed the room and stepped out onto a balcony that connected the docks and the nearby shopping area. All in all, the building and the view from it reminded him of Illium.

The city was by far not as big, but there were dozens of skyscrapers in various stages of construction. Business boomed, people had work here. This was a new happening place.

"Jo," Alice popped up at Jo's elbow. "What do you want me to work out with Miss Kovalev? Anything in particular?"

"Make it official: draw up a legal work contract for yourself, set a salary, and then you can start looking for a place for you and Kolyat to live. We'll be fine for now," Jo said and Alice nodded, slightly uncomfortable appointing her own salary, before retreating to her boyfriend's side.

"Shall we also look for a place to live?" Joker asked his wife.

"That's not something to be taken lightly," she said thoughtfully, looking in the distance at the city before them. "It has to be a tolerating neighbourhood where people would accept the heavy duty security we'll bring with us, constant visits of armed people and military grade shuttles from all over the galaxy, and at the same time it has to be... child-friendly."

A thrill zinged through Joker and his arm wrapped around her shoulders without his knowledge. According to Chakwas, today or tomorrow would be the earliest chance for them to make a baby. He couldn't describe how that made him feel. Warm, fiercely protective of Jo, dizzy and... grown up. Yes, grown up in ways he never felt a need to be until now. As long as it was just him and Jo they could take risks, be careless, stupid. But with the decision to create a new life came a responsibility to take care of themselves as well as the baby. They needed to be alive and healthy to fulfil this holy duty.

"Yes, our new house will have to be somewhere special," he agreed. "And we won't find one today, so let's concentrate on the Academy instead. When they're done with the customs, do you want to take the Normandy up and unload those Red Boxes on the station?"

"No. Those servers don't go anywhere near that station."

"Why not?"

"The Alliance commissioned that station and hundreds of people have been up there, working with blueprints. Every Tom, Joe and Harry can find that station's deepest secrets on the extranet right now. Nobody realises what explosive treasure is stored in our cargo bay, so all that information is safer there for now until we make that station truly secure."

"All right," Joker nodded. "Let's grab a bite at a restaurant I see down there, and then we'll take a shuttle to the station and have a look around."

They did just that, soon joined by Vega, Matt, Cortez, Karin and the Donnellys. When the food was gone and the gawking crowd around the restaurant was about to become too excited, they boarded one of their Kodiaks and lifted off, heading for the station.

Six identical arms on the star-shaped station meant six identical docks. When Joker landed the shuttle in one of them, he approved of its size. The Normandy would fit in here easily. With the landing zone safely behind a barrier, they had air and all the tech needed to repair or upgrade a ship. Ken, Gabby and Steve loved the docks as much as Joker did.

A geth unit was waiting for them and he realised that it was Tolus Prime, the one building Joker's flight simulator. The gigantic unit, which had been here for a few days now, greeted them and offered to show them around.

The docks only took up the very tips of the station's arms. The rest of the one they'd landed on basically consisted of empty classrooms and dorms for the recruits. According to Tolus, the dorms were spread evenly over the whole station, ready to house up to 1000 recruits and nearly 500 permanently stationed staff: instructors, techies, maintenance, security and support. Joker's flight simulator took up a quarter of another arm, which made him drool. So much space and so many possibilities! Karin's eyes lit up when Tolus showed them the specs of her new med bay, and Vega almost bounced at the news of a very fancy battle simulator he couldn't wait to try, a state of the art firing range and all the gyms and armouries. Tolus went on and on about countless other facilities that were ready to be outfitted with tech, while Joker looked around, trying to think the way Jo was thinking: like an ICA instructor. He saw workers everywhere: most were finishing the wiring underneath open panels, some were transporting tech in and out of the rooms, even bringing in furniture and other useful stuff. All these people had nothing to do with the Academy and were a huge security risk. He wondered what Jo was planning to do about all of them having blueprints and intimate knowledge of the station.

Tolus led them towards a gigantic atrium. It was located in the upper level of the central orb of the station. The view from the glass-covered dome above them was spectacular: the sun, the planet, and the endless starry void.

He noticed that Matt wasn't showing any excitement. The man was studying blueprints he'd downloaded from Tolus with deep concentration. He was working already, Joker realised. Matt knew what Jo would need to do about security, apparently, and he didn't waste time. He wasn't even impressed with the rooms assigned as his new domain. They were empty for now, waiting for the tech Matt would order to his specifics.

Next to the atrium was a cafeteria spread across five levels of balconies over a big, round bottom room. Pretty much all inhabitants of the station could be seated here at the same time. On the other side of the atrium were three rooms: one, immediately dubbed Assembly, was a huge amphitheatre with a small stage facing the rows of seats. Again, all inhabitants could easily find place here. The other two rooms were slightly smaller, but also thought to hold big meetings or events.

Joker was impressed, even if the station was bare like a skeleton right now. No real tech yet, no decorations, no facilities. But someone had obviously intended this place to be public, at least a lot more public than the bunker in the Patagonian Desert used to be before it self-destructed. As huge and empty as it may be, it kind of felt like home already.

When they were done with the tour hours later, the group sat down on crates in the atrium. Joker looked at Jo and she looked up at the dark sky, breathing hard and fast.

"You okay?" He asked.

"I'm a bit overwhelmed," she confessed. "There is so much to do! Hire instructors, hire support and maintenance staff, work out security, what facility goes where, create a new training plan, find sponsors, companies to make us weapons, armour and upgrades, find facilities groundside, order everything from toilet paper to the long range scanners, and then select the actual recruits!.."

"Easy," he grabbed her arm. "Shall I call for Alice?"

"I'll definitely need her," Jo took a deep breath.

"Jo," Matt spoke up. "Leave the support and maintenance staff to me. Dex and I will find good people and run background checks on everyone. Also, each of us-" he pointed at himself, Joker and Karin - at the moment the only people in the group with official status besides Jo. "-will take care of our own facilities. We'll order what we need and see that things are installed correctly. You should concentrate on instructors, sponsors and recruits for now."

Jo exhaled and nodded:

"Yes, you're right. Hell, it's so much easier to run one frigate than a whole Academy."

Joker snorted:

"Only because you walked into the mess hall and declared: if anyone wants to eat, then SOMEone had better start cooking, and it ain't gonna be me!"

"You know what I think you need?" Matt continued with a gleam in his eyes. "To go and pick an office for yourself - and then have wild, inappropriate sex in it."

"I like the way you think!" Joker laughed, while Vega groaned:

"God, now there are two of them..."

"Come on, let's go," Jo seemed to like the idea. She dragged Joker down one of the corridors just off the atrium, opening doors and inspecting each room.

"I think this one will do," she said, entering an office not far away. Joker followed her and took in the empty room. It was square and big and had no windows.

"Don't you want a view?"

"It's not good for me to have windows," Jo said, running her hands along a wall.

"Why?"

"Windows are structural weaknesses," she said more sombrely than he ever expected that phrase to sound. It reminded him of Legion and he needed a moment to realise she was actually being serious. "Legion was right about that, you know. When the station gets attacked - and I'm not saying if, I'm saying when - a well placed rocket to my window could take me out for good. I'm better off tucked away in the belly of the station."

"If you put it that way, maybe you're better off living inside a cement block?" He snorted, but pushed away the notion immediately. "No, I get it. And I'm all for added security for my wife. You'll just have to seriously decorate this room."

"You get to pick an office for yourself, too, you know," Jo smiled.

"I thought I already had all that flight simulator space."

"You need both. The simulator is for classes, but you'll need some place where you can have consultation hours and be accessible to recruits between classes. All instructors will have a personal office."

"This is a very different life than what we had before," Joker sighed. "This station is going to feel like one big college dorm, isn't it?"

"Yeah, with about as much maturity going around," she chuckled.

"Can instructors also take courses?"

"Absolutely. We share our knowledge. And instructors won't have to go through the selection process, like recruits. Once inside the ICA, you're inside the ICA."

They didn't have sex in the room because there was literally nothing in it and neither of them felt like trying out the hard floor. Joker took the whole group save Tolus Prime down to the planet's surface again and people dispersed to make their own arrangements for a new chapter in their lives. Jo took a bunch of datapads and settled down in the conference room to work and Joker left her to it. She needed time and space to concentrate. He stepped off the ship and found Svetlana Kovalev still at the dock. He approached the woman, whose face lit up at being needed.

"Show me the city," he asked.

A few hours later, just after midnight, he and Svetlana returned in their cab to The Normandy Dock. He picked her brains about different city districts and even narrowed down a few suburban areas where they could look for a house. Joker wasn't sure if he started nesting, or something, but the thought that Jo might get pregnant soon made him determined to create a safe and beautiful place for his family. House shopping... He'd never thought he'd get to do that. It cut across his heart that his mum would never see that house, never try to help decorating it in her old-fashioned style. His dad would never come visit and give suggestions for what herbs they could grow in their garden. Gunny would never pop in after school, never babysit her nephews, never bring a boyfriend over. His family was gone. Jo was all he had now.

Another thought punched him in the gut like a battering ram: if Jo succeeded with her evil clone's resurrection and rehabilitation - which was a big if, but still - then they would have some other family than just themselves. He would have a sister in law. And suddenly he didn't mind that all that much. The view of the nightly metropolis from the dock's balcony made him wistful and lonely and longing for more than what he'd settled for after all the heartbreaks of his life until now. Even an evil clone for a sister in law suddenly seemed better than nothing.

"I really miss Link's speed-reading ability," Jo complained when he found her in the conference room on the Normandy later. "I would have been done with this in twenty minutes."

"What are you working on?"

"The new training plan," she pointed at several datapads with text and charts on them. "I'll need you to sit down and work out your own plan at your earliest convenience. All the instructors will have to outline their courses for me..."

"Jo," he interrupted and took her hand, making her stand. "Leave it until tomorrow. It's not going to run away from you. Tonight... I want to make love to you tonight."

"Oh," she exhaled, focusing her attention on him. "Sorry. I got carried away."

He slowly pulled the scrunchie out of her hair and unzipped the black N7 hoodie she was wearing. The red tank top underneath made her chest look perfect, perky and inviting. He buried his face in her neck, inhaling deeply. There was a faint scent of apricot from her hair and salty sunshine from the beach in Australia, which still clung to her skin. Joker moaned in ecstasy.

Jo's arms went around him and slid up his back and neck as she melted into him. Her fingers dug into his hair, tossing his cap off in the process. She nuzzled her cheek against his newly grown stubble and leaned back just a little to look him in the eye. Maybe he sounded like a sappy fool or like a teenager, but it was true: he drowned in her eyes.

They slowly undressed each other on their way to the elevator, careless about the mess they were leaving behind. There was no desperation or raw need that night in their bed, but a slow coming home.

Unfamiliar, soft beeping woke Joker in the middle of the night. For several disoriented minutes he lay in darkness, inhaled the scent of Jo's naked body underneath him and tried to figure out the sound. Jo slept right through it, which stroked his ego: he'd gotten her boneless and worn out.

What was this beeping, for heaven's sake? It was coming from under the blanket. Joker moved off Jo's back and pulled the blanket off them both. There, on Jo's outstretched left wrist was a thin, unfamiliar bracelet he hadn't noticed before. He saw it now because it was glowing in soft yellow, demanding attention in darkness.

He took Jo's hand and that woke her up. She jerked and twisted her body to face him sleepily.

"Wha?..." her fingers curled around his hand and it took her a moment to get her bearings. Then she stiffened and froze mid-move, staring at the bracelet. That reaction surprised him.

"What is this, Jo?"

"That," her voice sounded very awake now. "Is a pregnancy tester Karin gave me this morning. It's supposed to check my blood daily, or on demand." She sat up and the two of them sat on the bed, facing each other, stupidly staring at the beeping thing. Then Jo gulped in a big dose of air: "That, my love, means that you've just become a father. On our very first try."