Sara was always tried to be a professional person, and she always had an easier relationship with salarians and turians than she did any other race. She respected the turian sense of responsibility and she maintained a soft spot for salarians to the point that even though Tann was an ass she still preferred him to most humans. Some called that stupid, others called that interesting. Her brother preferred to tease her. To be fair, she teased Scott about his infatuation with the Asari.

So when Spender verbally abused Pipona she offered a hug to soothe the hurt and listened to Pipona gripe about Spender's leisurely trust in the new peace.

" And what will you do?" Pipona demanded as Sara replayed the confrontation in support of her position on Spender.

Sara stepped in toward someone she considered a friend. " He called you-" Her tongue refused to utter the word. " -a slur," It disgusted her that a human used the word outside of its designation. She thought everyone was through with this racist bullshit.

Pipona shrugged, her tall thin body sagging in exhaustion. " No one will do anything and even if Kesh wins against Addison, we'll lose another battle every day more than once a day," She clasped her hands together and shrunk into herself.

The silence between them stung. She had the ability to go to someone high up, if she had nothing else. " I am sorry to hear that," She took Pipona's hands in hers. " I promise to pass this footage back to Tann,"

She scoffed. " He's just as bad as Spender,"

" But he is a salarian and the Director," Sara pointed out, stepping back. " We'll fix this. Someone should put Spender down like the rabid pyjak he is," Pipona choked on laughter and Sara smiled.

They walked back to the power cells that Spender previously wanted.

Kandros supervised Kesh and Addison in Kesh's office. No doubt the whole station would soon learn about the contents of this meeting. " Spare power cells do not create themselves. Why do you need spare cells?" Kesh confronted Addison while calmly standing behind her pedestal 'of destiny'. She started to mentally call it that after awhile given that she was controlling the ability to see a future by surviving day by day.

Addison wisely kept her distance. " I do not need to justify every need to you," She crossed her arms and cocked her hip.

" When it concerns keeping my station running, yes it does. Your man is insulting my help daily. Lack of professionalism aside, you need to lose the dead weight. It's bringing this entire station down. I have to protect the resources before you export them off this station,"

" I do not export the-"

" I have three reports stating that you requested resources for-"

" Then those reports were manufactured!" Addison huffed in disbelief.

Kandros distrusted Addison's disbelief and honestly believed Kesh. He'd still require the reports as proof. Leaning against the wall, he kept an eye on Kesh. Kesh could kill Addison if she wanted to. Kandros doubted that he could stop a raging krogan but his position demanded that he'd try.

" Spender is the reason I'm able to accomplish anything," Addison defended herself more calmly under Kesh's steady stare.

Kesh moved from her position and Kandros touched his rifle. " No, Kesh, no," She considered disobeying him before staying behind her pedestal.

Letting out a sigh of relief, Kandros went back to pondering the damage Addison and Tann inflicted on the station via their inability to control their people. " I've had to keep him from sabotage the rationing for turians and salarians. You can't control him. You never could. Get rid of him. This is MY station and I am responsible for ensuring that everything is holding together. That includes power cells," She pointed at Addison.

Addison's lip quivered. " You are not the Director,"

" No, I'm not," Kesh thundered. " You stand in my office daring to tell me to sacrifice people, to ignore your man's damaging behavior, and expect me to respect you?"

Kandros stepped in between and put his arms out, talons pointed at both the women. " Think of your surroundings," His mandibles clicked. It was days like this he missed his previous home.

Addison stormed out of the office and Kesh lowered her head to tap away at the pedestal's raised holographic buttons. Kandros maintained his own distance from Kesh. " Do you have the reports?"

Kesh handed over a datapad without a word. Kandros hoofed it back to his own space to hide in the security of guards who wanted nothing more to do than work a normal easy shift with no threat of the station collapsing on itself.

Addison's misery wasn't about to end though.

After shift, Sara visited Tann in his quarters. She replayed the confrontation for him. He picked through a choice of salarian rations assigned for this week. Sara sat at the table and watched him indecisively pass his hands over the seven meals. " What are you going to do?"

Tann refused to look at her. He finally chose one of the packages and inserted into the cooker. " I can not act on a slur. I understand your frustration," His back to her, he missed her hands shaking.

Her lip twitched. " But you can put pressure on Addison," What use was he if he didn't manage his colleagues better?

He put a tray of food on his table. " Yes, but she is the Director of Colonial Affairs,"

" She has no colony to oversee!" Sara burst before breathing slowly. " Spender runs wild. He is representing humans. He is an insult to me. How is he not considered bad management?"

They locked eyes. Tann motioned for her to sit with him. " Many have complained of Spender before you. I doubt that incident will change status quo,"

" Can't you demand half hour updates from Colonial Affairs?" Paperwork was everyone's nightmare.

Tann almost choked on his food. " Do you know how much backlash I would suffer for that?"

Sara threw up a hand. " Fine,"

He motioned to his food. " We will speak more tomorrow. Maybe Spender will flee to Kadara if we are lucky," Sara stood and walked toward the door. " Should you see anymore confrontations, record them. I can use a record to force resignation - of Addison if she doesn't replace her faulty workers, and of the offender," Sara gave him the thumbs up, happy to know that Tann wanted to support the goodwill mission.

Once she left, Tann grumbled over his food about Addison's 'lover'. Colonial Affairs. More like Colonial nightmare. Reports every half hour, while rewarding, would also bury him in work that he didn't need added to list of worries. As he told Sara, everyone already hated him. He needed to equal across the board or risk even more backlash.

Even though it's been a short week since Sara arrived at Nexus, she proved to be an amusing and helpful companion. He looked forward to greeting her in the morning and wishing her a pleasant evening at the end of shift. Her professionalism defused tense situations when he sent her out to handle business on his behalf. He wanted to see her smile because she deserved to smile. After everything that she's been through, and the sacrifice their family committed to serve everyone's needs, was it too much to want her to smile? To hope? To do anything other than needing and wanting something beyond everyone's reach?

No. He respected Sara Ryder and her determination.

He admired her drive to support everyone.

More importantly, as a person, he wanted her to be happy.