Chapter 42: Anticipation

Anticipation.

It can be sweet. It can be painful. Beautiful and aggravating. It was something Shepard went through every Wednesday evening 1800 hours. It was the hour and day specifically set aside to open communications and reconnect. It was also an hour after Liara met with the obstetrician thus adding to the anticipation.

Liara's face flickered into view causing a smile to slip brightly on to Sam's face. She put her right hand up to the screen as it was the closest thing they had to touching. Liara placed hers up as well, both longing for it to be real.

"I've missed you Angel Eyes." Sam whispered wistfully as she gazed into the holo-image of her wife.

"And I you Melethril." Liara smiled with a sigh. "So very very much." For a moment not a word was said, the silence was warm and tender as the lovers basked in each other's company. There was so much to say, so much to share. The bright smile in Liara's eyes hinted she wanted to be first, the look reflecting in those blue orbs as a solid mix of wonderful delight and worry in equal portions. As for the worry, Sam knew what it stemmed from what happened on Horizon. The new enemies the crew of the Normandy faced were indeed of great concern: the advanced husks, the scions and especially the praetorian. They were of grave concern to the Commander as well. But there was a look deep in Liara's eyes that intrigued Sam far more, yet she was unable to discern what it was.

So far removed from her bondmate Sam could only pick up the elation burring in Liara's heart. Deductive reasoning led the young Spectre to believe the news from the obstetrician to be good.

"Tell me, what the doc had to say? Our baby is good, yes? Healthy? Please tell me she's healthy." the last sentence was softly spoken more of a prayer then a request.

Liara grinned. "Zia is perfectly healthy, safe. But we do have one very small problem."

Sam's face contorted from frown to smile to frown again. "What problem? I thought you said she's healthy."

"She is my love. Very healthy. It is a rather academic issue. Benezia needs to share her name with her sister."

"Share her name with her sister?" Sam echoed. It took her a fair few moments to process just what it was Liara had said to her. "Sister? Twins? We're having twins!"

"Yes." Liara smiled brightly. "We are."

Samantha opened and closed her mouth. "Twins But...how...I mans...how was it missed? Why wasn't...how...?"

"Hannah is a bit smaller than Benezia; she was hidden by her sister in the ultrasounds. Their heartbeats were insync. But Zia shifted and that's when we saw the second fetus."

Sam was glowing. They were having twins.

"I..took the liberty and split the names we gave Zia. Asari only have their given and family names. But if you have... other ideas..."

"No no, that's perfect! Zia and Han..." the glowing turned to beaming "Benezia Hannah didn't mesh well anyway, nevermind combining with our combined last names. It was one hell of an awkward mouthful—splitting it up, sounds better on the ears."

Liara returned the smile. Sam had been displaying since the word was out. "It does."

"Twins. I can't believe we're having twins." the smile hadn't disappeared. "How common is it amongst the asari to have twins or multiple births for that matter?"

"Not as common as it is in duel sexed species considering how my people breed, krogan and salarians notwithstanding as they always lay a clutch. It is a rarity amongst my people and always the twins are identical as they come from the same zygote."

"Suppose they couldn't be fraternal."

"Not hardly." Another smile.

Sam felt the warmth in the expression surrounding her heart. This is what makes it possible for her to accept their distance. To accept what must be done. The fear of loss never left either of them, it will never dissipate but it makes it easier to bear.

Despite the effort not to bring up the mission or work it was inevitable given the dedication both women deeply possessed the depth of belief they held for what they were doing.

"Where do you plan on going next?" Liara asked trying miserably to sound casual. Not that she didn't have talent in making herself perceived in the fashion she chose but rather her wish for her bondmate to come to Illium was abundantly clear even without being said.

"There are a few things on my plate that should be followed up on. You know those missions Hackett always found for us to do whenever we were in one cluster or another?"

"Hmm...yes. I always found it curious that despite our being a stealth ship he knew where we were at any given time."

"No mystery there, Love. As per regs, Joker always had to log our flight plans and local unless were running a covert op. Like the one in the Voyager cluster when fracking Elanos Haliat took the espionage probe."

"I recall that mission rather well. He was also the one who led the Terminus clan band of pirates and cutthroats in the blitzkrieg on Elysium. His crowning achievement or rather it would have been had you not fortified the colony against the attack." Liara's holographic image smiled; there was great pride in her eyes. "One of your many crowning achievements."

Sam shrugged off the accolades. Once in a while it might be necessary to use said reputation to garnish aid from higher powers be it the Alliance brass or alien agencies. But it wasn't necessary between wives. "I did what had to be done, Li. It was nothing more than what was expected of me as an N7. Now I'm doing what needs to be done as a Spectre."

"I know. Speaking of doing what needs to be done, I may have a few jobs that could use your attention."

Sam felt a bubble of laughter erupt from her belly. "So instead of collecting the odd missions off of hacked computers, news-feeds in 'vators or Hackett you're giving them to me now?"

"If you do not wish investigate then do not. I am merely passing along the data."

"Okay I'll bite. What do you have?"

A self-satisfied grin found its way on Liara's lips. "Since you have a knack for ships in distress this may be right up your alley or so to speak. I also believe it involves our old friends from the Blue Suns. From the reports of my agents in the area the Blue Suns on the planet Sanctum in the Sigrid's Cradle are using a very old ploy of the fake distress signal to lure ships in. A lot of ships travelling Decoris system have fallen prey to it. One such ship was the MSV Strontium Mule."

Shepard nodded taking in the details as scant as they were. "You want me to check out the station or find the Mule?"

"Both. I'll send the relative nav-points to Joker and upload the data to EDI. The Mule you'll find in the Omega Nebula in the system of Arinlarkan.

"Consider these to be like the missions we did for Admiral Hackett. The more your presence is felt and the more good-will tasks you complete in the Terminus Systems the greater chance we have of establishing alliances when the time comes a stable infrastructure to resist the Reapers."

Sam nodded. Milk-runs and busy-work. The crew of the Normandy SR1 had had their fair share of such missions while chasing Saran. Had it not been for those missions, Hackett would have been ill-inclined to assist the Destiny Ascension during the battle of the Citadel, despite familiar connections. Side mission such as these could be afforded if they generated great tactical advantages and creating alliances .And while back in the day trailing after Saran had a clear and distinct path to Therum, Novaria, Feros, Virmire and Ilos, trailing the Collectors was not so easily defined.

"Should I ask how you came to have this information?"

"I'm very good at my job." Liara answered smugly.

"Give the goods, T'Soni."

"Truthfully it was an act of serendipity. A Blue Suns b the name of Lieutenant Locke has a very large mouth when heavily intoxicated and sharing the company of an asari maiden. He made mention of Sanctum and the MSV Strontium Mule. We have reason to believe he is making a move on Jaob."

"A planet?"

"Yes and one of significance, Samantha. It is remote but it has Prothean ruins. A protégée of mine Dr. Aluc'ard was working it when it went silent, she managed to secure the artefact but it is impossible to determine how long that will last."

"Another a remote place and an archeologically dig just happens to unearth a Prothean artefact? Heavy sense of déjà vu here Angel Eyes, it's how this whole mess started."

Sobriety returned to Liara's face. "That is one perspective another is this was how we understood what was coming. However you chose to see it Melethril that artefact cannot remain in the custody of the Blue Suns. They cannot uncover it secrets. I can send my own people to Jaob if you do not wish to investigate or do not have the time. I understand you are under extreme time constraints..."

"Babe of course I'll check it out. Your protégée..."

"She managed to escape thank the Goddess."

"That's good." Sam smiled warmly. "That's good news. And this artefact what is it? Did Dr. Aluc'ard say what it was?"

"She said it was a beacon like those found on Eden Prime and Virmire. She also said they found the cap-stone of a pyramid."

"So unless they have the Cipher anyone using it won't likely understand what they are seeing."

"Indeed, Dr. Aluc'ard actuality made the attempt to do so, but from her reports she saw and heard only static. Any images she actually made out were so askew she could not make them out. She thought it might have been damaged even though there is no outward appearance of being so. We both reasoned the only way of unlocking it is to have the Cipher."

"Great." Sam cheeks puffed up with air she let out in heavy sigh. "What's one more mind-wammy thing to plug into?"

"Samantha, you don't need to use it. Simply secure it. That is all you have to do. All you should do." Liara's words were as a balm. "The risk of another flare-up is too grave"

"All that surgery and the new implants will help stave off any ill-effects, Liara. Besides anything we can learn we can use. The Protheans may have lost their war but they left a lot of breadcrumbs on to confront the tin-god bastards. I'll do it." her lips contorted into a half smile. "Don't worry so, lover. We know how to shield the bond now and Samara has been helping me with the meditations and I'll have Chakwas monitor me the whole time. I'll be fine."

Liara was not so convinced but she nodded her consent regardless. Besides she knew her bondmate, Samantha was as stubborn as they came. One had an easier time nailing jelly to the wall than telling that woman no or that it could not be done. She was never one to eschew the impossible. "Let me know immediately Melethril, not about what you..." discover but..."

"...how I'm doing." Sam finished her wife's' sentence.

"Exactly so."

"Hey you said that whole mess with the Blue Suns tapping ships is happening in the Omega Nebula. Strange that Aria didn't say anything about it."

"You might be an ally or at least 'not an enemy' to her, but you are a Spectre with a particular sense of justice and of right and wrong. Why would she relay the details of what is happening unless it benefits her? I have no doubt the Blue Suns kick back a healthy percentage of their raids to her."

"I'd count on it." Sam agreed. "One of her lieutenants admitted as much, that she had her purple fingers in a lot of pies. Hell she had even handed me some info on an Eclipse smuggling depot after doing her that favour with that krogan she called Patriarch. Of course she neglected to mention that it was besieged by three YMIR mechs that were bent on destroying everything. And that was in the Hourglass Nebula.

"And she so much as hinted that I should hit the Crescent Nebula and handle the Blood Pack there."

"I recall that particular mission you undertook Tarith was not the most hospitable of planets."

Sam chuckled. "I didn't know what was worse the toxic atmosphere, the maze of rock and navigating via beacon relays because of the green fog or the klixen. Of course the brute Blood Pack boss was worst of the lot. What was his name...Samuel? No Salamul. Yeah that was it.

"Fighting other biotics is a bitch; make that biotic a krogan vanguard and it's proper hell. Don't get me wrong there are no finer warriors than the asari huntresses but when you have adrenal charges, biotic charges and redundant organs... ugh..."

"I quite agree. It is what makes Wrex so very dangerous. Fortunately he is a close and good friend."

"Uncle Wrexy." Sam smirked "Think he'll adapt to the role?"

"To uncle yes. The name Wrexy" Liara smiled warmly. "I very much doubt it."

"Ah when he sees two sets of beautiful blue eyes looking up at him saying Wrexy...he'll just melt. Of course our girls will also have Uncle Garrus and Auntie Tali."

They did not speak of Ash. There was a shared look of uncertainty concerning their friend of where they stood with her and she with them. After the events of Horizon much was unsettled. As it unsettled the heart neither spoke of it. They didn't even wish to think of it. Not yet, the perception of betrayal was still far too raw.

There was a time when Ash had been given the title of Muinthel—it meant aunty in asarian. Now it was difficult to say whether or not she would ever bear that honorific. She no longer carried the title Trusted or Bơr asLiara had taken measures to award that particular title to Garrus. He was after all Samantha's archangel—the most trusted. Should anything happen to both Sam and Liara their daughters would be raised by Tali (Liara's own Trusted) and her husband.

Ash remained as was her right as Sam's Maid of Honour, but the right of Trusted was not synonymous. It was more, much more the closest human equivalent was god-parent. Being a pagan that was something Sam was not altogether familiar with outside the academic understanding of it. This was how Liara managed to change the legality of transferring the entitlement of Trusted from Ashley to Garrus

Samantha being human equated both what it was to be Trusted to that of a witness in this case Maid of Honour and god-mother. And though she understood that a Trusted was to entrust the life of her beloved to Ash, which she did but Sam did this with every member of the former Flagship team. The Thessia Office of Alien Affairs granted the request of transference without further question.

"So tell me Melethril how comes the rest of your team?"

"Oh you know covering each other's backs one moment at each other's throat the next. Only this time I have a pup krogan wanting to settle a score between my resident turian and salarian not because he has any personal history between them but because it was programmed into him by a mad warlord.

"I have to count the silverware every time Kasumi leaves the mess hall. An ex-convict wanting to tear into a Cerberus loyalist, whether it is to bloody her or fuck her I don't know. I doubt either of them knows either. Then I have two introverted highly trained killers one an assassin the other a Justicar. So, yeah everything is just peachy." Sam's tone was both serious and sardonic at the same time.

"On the battlefield they work together harmoniously. That's the most any commander can ask of their troops. We eat together as we did on the first Normandy; I'm not pushing my luck or their tolerance for each other by asking for more.

"Yeah sure I mean I set up teambuilding seniors like trips to arsenal arenas, game nights, cinema nights. But unless I make it mandatory it up to them if they join or not."

"Just as you did before."

"Yep. You can't force people to like each other, at best you can do is do is make sure they don't completely hate each other to destroy team dynamics."

"You will pull them together my love. You did it before. You overcame so many racial and prejudicial hurdles not only for the Normandy SR1 but with the Victory as well. This new crew shall not be a deterrent for you. You will find away."

Sam shrugged. "I sure as hell as hope so, Angel Eyes. Or this is going to be one hell of a long tour."

"Have faith Melethril, I have every faith in you. And your crew mostly certainly do, they need only to find faith in each other."

"Easier said than done Babe. But hey who knows? Ash became less of a bigoted ass, my Archangel and Uncle Wrexy are at the very least 'not-enemies', and then of course Tali married a turian that once made fun of her. "

"And you and I?" Liara provoked with a large bright smile.

"Oh lover, you had me at 'Ah hello? Can anyone hear me out there?' When I saw you in that security bubble I was all yours babe. No question."

Liara giggled. "You had me at 'No thanks, I think I'll keep her'. The sheer defiance you showed that battlemaster turned my heart into a puddle of melted butter, my mind became completely intoxicated with your magnificent bravery, beauty and determination."

Sam blushed profusely. "Flatterer."

"Truthsayer."

For a moment Samantha only looked at her beautiful wife-the full ripeness of her body and the twins growing within her womb and she felt herself falling in love all over again. And for a moment the galaxy stilled and there was only Liara.

ME~ ME~ ME~ ME~ ME~ ME~ ME

Jack was resting on her bunk, her legs drawn up so that she might rest the data pad on them. She wasn't reading though the Cerberus files as she might have typical spent her evening doing. After being banned from Galactic Champion Poker 2100 after only three minutes of playing and previously being banned from Citadel Newsnet forums for excessive and repeated swearing, derogatory comments, and inflammatory comments and circumventing worksafe filters it had put her in a right foul mood. Both her user ids Jck_60734 and Jk0-19510 were red flagged and most of her accounts were nuked.

But Jack got some shit done. She watched the video feeds of both Eden Prime and the Citadel. Studying how the clankers moved, fought, what vulnerabilities they had, what strengths. How they fit in with Q.O.G.S's big bad Reapers. More than a few times Jack watched how that Saren bastard turned into one ugly zombie-motherfucker as he was taken over by Sovereign just like those fucking bugs had on Horizon. The monster tore into Shepard's chest-plate nearly eviscerating her. How in the hell she was able to function after that, was beyond Jack. But the bitch was tough. Hell Shepard deliberately overloaded her handgun and shoved it onto the gaping hole in that Saren guy and blew him up.

Jack wasn't just studying the geth and Sovereign or even that bastard Saren. She was watching Shepard. Just how strong was she-biotically that is? Jack watched over and over how the Commander biotically threw her lover and that bitch from Horizon free and clear from a massive chuck of that Sovereign fucker that fell through the ceiling of the Council Tower, seemingly landing directly onto of the Spectre. But Jack saw the familiar flash of cyan energy and knew from the reports that Shepard had erected a barrier bubble around herself and was able to maintain it long enough to stay alive.

Bruised bloody and broken Shepard climbed from the rubble and collapsed in her lover's arms. Hell of a thing. From all the hearsay going around Jack knew the Q.O.G.S was about thirty percent synthetic now because of that fight. Died like twice once on the evac shuttle and second time on the table dead as dead can be or some shit like that. Then the weird ass shit happened, the only thing that kept Shepard alive was Blue tapped into her head and merged their nerves or some shit and was like some living-breathing life-support system. Now they had a permanent bond or so something. Freaked a lot of people out. Lots of people thinking that's why Shepard was one hell of a powerful biotic.

Knowing Cerberus as she did Jack knew it was going to be a shit deal for any blue on account the assholes would want to recreate the how of it all so they can create more powerful human biotics. Yep real shit deal. Weird-ass one for Shepard out of it all as well. Lot of cybernetic hardware went into reconstructing that woman. Jack wondered more than a few times if it was good luck or bad luck rode Shepard's tail like a dog after a bitch in heat.

Normally she didn't much care about other folk. They were expendable. Except it was different now. Damn Shepard and her fucking lectures about the crew of the Normandy being all cosy and together. And they were together, Jack could see that. She was a part of it now, which meant Shepard's weird ass luck dogged her too.

Luck didn't seem to favour those poor bastards on Horizon none, despite Shepard's old crewmate being landed there. Guess her luck ran out too.

The ex-con closed her deep chocolate brown eyes but even closed all she saw were the mutilated bodies of a hell of a lot of humans. The geth impaling the poor bastards on Eden Prime, and those creepy-ass things on Horizon. Fucking crabzilla...

Shit!

A lot of things annoyed Jack, lots of things she hated, of them Jack loathed it when things got stuck in her head and wouldn't let her go. It wrapped around her brain like some gut worm digging around inside the gullet of vorcha.

Hell she needed a distraction: getting laid, sucking down a bit of booze, shooting some shit Cerberus thing and Armax Arsenal Arena might have done the trick. Hell she'd settle for booze, cuz there was no one remotely fuckable on this ship that was free. She do Shepard if she wasn't connected to Blue. Not going anywhere near that. Red was too soppy and defiantly not her type, Zaeed was her type but too old. Jack wasn't completely into aliens but Thane might be a good turn in the sheets. His rep as an assassin could make one wet. And while Jack had fucked a couple of asari back in the day Samara was way way out of the question or even consideration. Nice tits though. Rest of the crew did nothing for the tattooed woman. Not the real crew anyway... Grey eyes, black hair, tits...perfect shaped ass...

Ah screw it. Wasn't anything Jack couldn't take care of on her own. Add a little biotic buzz and it was half-bad.

So much for trying to distract herself. A hand rubbed the stubble on her head, noticing it was growing a bit. Need to shave it down if Jack was to keep the buzz-cut. Hell it was so long ago that Jack had hair on top of her head; she nearly forgot what colour it was. Not that it mattered, she guessed. Of course the ex-con had been toying with the idea of a warrior's stripe or some kind of mohawk that didn't require a lot of maintenance, maybe even long enough in the back to make a ponytail out if it. Take a few months to get it growing again. Shit why not? Yeah, fuck the haircut. Not like she had to adhere to any military regs or nothing. Might be nice to have a new look.

Might be time to change a lot of things. Not like there was a lot of time to do it now though. There were so many things that need doing and so many people that it needed doing to.

New people to add to her shit list were those assholes at Galactic Poetry Monthly. All high and mighty going on about guidelines and metered verse. Anyone tell Blake he needed to be metered verse? Poems were about writing the soul down, not adhering to fucking rules about it. Fuck them. Aint like this was the first time she'd been rejected. First time it was cold and polite though, still it sucked they hadn't accepted her work. Didn't they know how much courage it took to send it in? Knowing other people were going to read it? And reading it, know her? Took to write it? It bit deep down, bit heart deep. Fuck Red for suggesting it!

Jack reread her work, not that she needed to, it was there written on the inside of her eyelids when she closed her eyes.

My soul / Burns / With a fire of darkness / Quenched only in the pain / of loneliness / I hold my breath waiting / Until spots appear black as the past / And fill my lungs with lies of hope/ I mark myself/ Black and jagged / to cover the scars / that make me a monster / a warning / That is not a place of honor / No esteemed dead are buried here

"Assholes."

Miranda barely dodged something rectangular flying past her head. It bounced off one of the support beams and clattered to the floor with a bounce.

"What the fuck?" Jack snapped as she watched the Cheerleader stoop to pick up the data pad she had chucked at the wall with a free hand. In the left Miranda was carrying a small sack that looked like it had two bottles of water and something else-rectangular Jack couldn't quite make out.

"I could say the same." Miranda said coming deeper into the hidey-hole. Instead of handing the pad back to the tattooed woman she set it down upon the work table Jack used as a desk.

Gray eyes, black hair, tits and perfect ass.

FUCK

Jack scowled shoving away the stupid thoughts that mushroomed in her brain. She sure as hell didn't need them clouding things up, now. Besides it didn't mean anything, just that she was horny and the Cheerleader bitch was yeah hot but she was still with Cerberus.

"Come down here to gloat Princess about what happened down there? If so I aint got time for it. So fuck off."

"That's not why I came down." Miranda said unmoved by the chill in the other woman's voice. The bite was all show. They were both too tired to put any steel behind their mutual animosity. Lawson held up two blue plastic MRE packets, so that was the unidentifiable rectangular things were in the sack.

"What's that?" Jack shifted her legs on the cot to the floor so she was now sitting upright.

"I would think it was painfully obvious, even to you."

"Taking me out to dinner first before you try to get into my pants?"

"Why I even bothered I don't know." Miranda tossed both packs onto the desktop and dropped the sack that held the bottles of water on the metal grating of the deck floor before she turned to leave.

"Hang on," Jack stood up and went for the sack. "I know you got more bite than that. You brought dinner, so sit your bubble butt down so we can eat it."

Miranda looked over her shoulder, a smirk slipping on her full lips. "You are so juvenile."

"Tool." Jack took one of the bottles of water from the sack and tossed it to the Cheerleader before returned to her cot and sat down cross-legged with one of the MRE packs. Reaching into one of the many pockets in her cargo pants she retrieved a switch blade with which she opened the pack. Having done so she snapped it shut and tossed it to Lawson. "So what gives? Why you doing this?" the pack was up ended spilling all of its contents onto the cot.

They sure packed a lot of shit in these things, Jack mused. Still they were handy. She tossed aside the sachets of toilet tissue, the coffee, tea, sweeteners and non-dairy creamers minus the high-energy drink mix, along with the matches, peanut-butter, cheese spread and crackers into what she dubbed the 'Meh, might use it later pile.' she tossed the candy and the energy bar back onto the desk along with the dessert which she never bothered to read the label of. But by the feel of it, it was some kind of cookie.

What was laughingly called the spice pack Jack opened with her teeth and dumped out the salt and pepper as well as the bottles of tabasco. Seems she was lucky, both green and red varieties of hot sauce were in the pack. Nice. The chewing gum she tossed in the bin. She hated gum. Nasty ass shit made you look like a cow chewing it. Miranda tossed hers away as well. Miss Perfect Teeth didn't seem to care for cud chewing either. A small point in her favour. Not that it counted for much.

"I didn't feel like joining the others in the mess hall for dinner. I gambled at the prospect you may not as well. Rather than trying to explain it to our team-mates I simply asked Dr. Chakwas if she wouldn't mind retrieving two MRE packs. She agreed, though I didn't actually specify which variety to retrieve. Looks like I have spaghetti and meat sauce."

They both shared a small smile. "Good thing eh? Considering last time?" Jack laughed

"Ah yes, your rather childish display of food-fighting. I highly doubt Shepard would like it if you did the same to the bulkheads down here."

"You kidding me? I know better than to fuck-up the place I sleep." Jack retorted. "I got Mexican."

She watched as the Cheerleader shifted through her packs as well. Instead of piles however she was neatly stacking them according to what was 'snack foods' to the side dish and entrée. Looks like Lawson only got the red kind of tabasco in her spice pack. Ha! Jack grinned, too bad for her. The green really made these shit things taste a hell of a lot better. The red stuff just made it hot enough that you chewed and swallowed and didn't taste it going down. Guess that was the whole point of putting the hot sauces in the MREs in the first place.

Cheerleader's pack came with blueberry cobbler as well as hot and spicy Cheez-it crackers, along with chipotle snack bread and cheese spread. Probably taste better along with the pasta junk. Jack was satisfied with her Mexican rice and beef and bean burrito.

For a moment both were quite as they set about using the flames ration heater to cook their foods. Only when they used the juice-mixes in their water did Jack speak once more.

"You think Shepard will come hunting for us, seeing how she likes 'her team' to all eat together?"

Miranda placed the cap back on her bottle and shook it up. "Today? I doubt it."

"Waz' so special about today?" Jack was doing the same with her juice mix and water.

Miranda offered a soft chuckle. "Have you forgotten what day it is?"

At the ex-convict's blank look, Miranda's smile grew larger. "It's Wednesday."

"Oh yeah Blue-booty-call Wednesday!" Jack opened her bottle and took a healthy swig. Damn if she didn't want some rum...Hang on she had a bit of it. Or something like it. Gabby and her wanna-be boy-toy Ken made some Grease-monkey grog awhile back. Now where was it?

"Hey Cheerleader, move your ass."

"What?" Miranda frowned watching Jack come nearer to her. And things were going so well too.

"Said move that perfect ass of yours. I wanna get something I stashed and you're blocking the way." Not even waiting for Miranda to move from the opposite end of the desk where she sat Jack pushed passed her, placing her hand on Miranda's hip and practically shoved her aside. A protest was on Lawson's lips but they became stilled as she watched Jack kneel down and dip her hand between two of the support beams.

Whatever it was Jack was fishing around for seemed to be very well hidden. Jack turned her head to the side so she could wedge her shoulder between the beams and get closer to her prize.

"What are you doing?" Miranda had to ask.

"Told ya. I wanna get something." the other woman rolled her eyes.

"You could have simply told me to look for it."

"And let you know where I keeping it?"

"Jack, you are already showing me where it is." Miranda placed her hands upon her hips and smugly smirked watching the struggle of wall and woman.

"Yeah...well...shut up." Jack frowned feeling a little stupid at that moment. "And wipe that smug look off your face Princess before I smack your lips." there was no heat in her words only a bit of embarrassment, which Miranda was content to let slide. Besides the operative was enjoying the show. "HA!" her eyes light up. "Got it."

Just as Jack moved to stand up she felt her arm being yanked back down. Her jacket snagged on something. FUCK and right in front of the Cheerleader too! She shifted in-between the I-beams and then back out but she was still snagged. "God damn Alliance ships."

"This one was made by Cerberus." Miranda automatically corrected.

"Yeah figures. Cheap-ass copies."

The older woman's face was full of smiles. "You appear to be stuck."

"Ya think? Stop smiling bitch and help me out."

Miranda didn't even hesitate. There was play and then there was a hungry soon to be very pissed off biotic in a closed confined space. Not a good combination. Still she could toy just a little. "You could say please." She pressed her body close to Jack's smaller frame and tied to see what it was the convict was stuck on.

"Pft yeah, like that will happen."

"Never thought it would, still you could say it. Manners and all, not that I'd expect a sophomoric personality like yours to have them."

Jack closed her eyes not wanting to look at the cleavage that was up close and personal. Or the soft breath that was tickling her neck "Whatever." She was already feeling randy before Miss Tits came down and now this? Felt like some stupid porno gig.

"Whadda just hurry up, I'm cramping up here." Jack redirected her mutinous libido into safe familiar anger.

"Stop squirming. I think I see what the problem is. It looks like the layer between the leather and lining of the sleeve of your jacket is snagged on a rivet." Miranda tried not to look at the deep scars hidden by the numerous tattoos. Or for that moment her heart was breaking for the young woman knowing how it was she came by them.—Cerberus. Cerberus had done that to Jack. Some of the scars so old they had to have been made when Jack was just a baby.

Damn if Miranda didn't feel the dire urge to scratch at her collarbone. Damn Shepard for pointing it out to her. And damn herself for never noticing it before. Damn The Illusive Man for implanting her...and damn Jack for...for just being. She felt the soft breath of the younger woman on her chest and shoulder as she toiled to free the caught cloth. Thoughts of taking that mouth lingered too long in her imagination for her comfort.

"There I think I got it!" Miranda declared setting Jack free. As soon as she did she took a small step back more in the attempt to step away where her imagination had taken her than wanting to be away from the ex-con.

Jack pulled out with her prize still in hand. A jar of murky brown liquid. It looked to be homebrewed rum. Yep sailors and ships and their rum. Or in this case grog.

"That's what you were after?" Miranda chided the other.

"Hey I wudda freed myself eventually. Just take off the jacket and bingo-free. So don't give me that look" Jack stood toe to toe with Lawson, "and don't go telling anyone about this."

Miranda leaned in "What are you going to do about it if I do? Deny it?"

Jack's lips curled into wicked smile. She looked at Lawson's full lips just ripe for the kiss, for a bite. The anticipation of it lingered between them, molten and bright. Instead Jack uttered in a deliberately husky voice, knowing how effective it was.

"I won't share my stash with you, Cheerleader." the evil expression contorted into a very cocky one once she heard the hitch in Lawson's breath. She returned to the cot watching with half lidded eyes as Miranda settled herself and reclaimed the box that had served as her chair

By now their entrées were well and truly cooked. Jack didn't reach for it, instead she went for her bottle of juice and drank it down nearly down three-fourths of the way before she poured a bit of her grog into it. She then handed it to Miranda.

"Strong stuff. Bit of a bitter aftertaste, though. Might be too strong for your sensitive palate there, Cheerleader. Why I left some of the juice. Don't worry there's no backwash."

Miranda took the offered bottle looked at the cloudy muddy mixture, it truly looked foul. "You don't think I can handle it." It was a question and statement both.

"Oh I bet you can Princess, but will you?"

"I never settle for anything but the best."

"Figured." Jack raised the jar of grog to her lips and took a heavy sip.

"If this is the best bootleg grog the crew can muster, I suppose I owe it to them to at least sample it." Miranda mirrored the swig then abruptly erupted into a fit of coughing, with some of it spluttering out of her mouth onto the metal flooring which she tried to cover up with her forearm.

Jack fell into a fit of giggles. "Thought you said you could handle it."

Miranda's eyes were watering. "Never said I couldn't." she cleared her thought then took another swig just to prove she could indeed 'handle it.' .This time she was prepared for the taste and despite the burst of coughing she managed not to spurt any of it out.

"Yeah the first swig sorta deadens the nerves so the second one goes down smoother. I wouldn't take a third until you got some food in your gullet Princess, unless you wanna wake up with one bitch of a hang-over."

"Personal experience I take it." Miranda said in a hoarse voice. She did as Jack had suggested and took several bites of her spaghetti.

"Me? Nah. Bonus of a hyper-accelerated biotics. I and drink and drink feel it for a time but the booze wears off quick. Never a hang-over." Jack answered as she poured the entire contents of both green and red bottles of tabasco into her burrito before biting into a large chunk of it. "Betcha not even the Queen of the Girl Scouts has that and she's the only one that's my equal in biotics."

"Probably." Miranda nodded. "Hard to say just what her tolerance levels are. She can get drunk but I doubt she stays that way for long." after a few mouthfuls of her spaghetti Miranda looked up. "Do you have nicknames for everyone?"

"Huh?"

"Me, you bounce between Cheerleader and Princess. You call Liara-Blue even though you never met her and Shepard-Queen of the Girl Scouts. What about the others?"

"What about them?" another bite. "Why should they all have nicknames? Not like I want to get close to them or nothen'. Why did you have to go and make things all weird and shit?" Jack was scowling.

Miranda shook her head sorry she had even brought it up. "I didn't mean to." she said in the way of an apology, stabbing her spork into her spaghetti.

"Yeah well... Just don't." It was an acceptance of sorts awkward as though it might be.

The air went from light and teasing dare one say even warm to stiff and heavy and frigid. For a moment nether of them spoke, they just ate their meals and drank their grog in silence until it got too strained to go on any further.

Miranda rose, "Maybe I should go."

Jack wasn't looking up she just sat eating the rice her eyes fixed on the floor. "Yeah you should." her tone became monotonous.

Miranda nodded and turned to leave with empty MRE pack in hand.

"Take the rest of your shit Cheerleader. I ain't cleaning up after you." her tone hadn't changed.

The silence remained strong and unwavering as Miranda collected the rest of the food that had been in her MRE pack, all she shoved it all into the small sack she used to carry impromptu picnic, including her bottle of juice and what remained of the her share of the grog.

Only after her footfalls had faded away did Jack look up. The scowl still deeply edged on her face. With a snarl she tossed the jar of booze against the far wall where The Cheerleader had stood only a moment ago. The unbreakable glass gave a dissatisfactory clank as hit and fell. What was left of the grog which wasn't much trickled out and dripped through the grating on the floor to form a tiny puddle beneath.

Now Jack really wanted to hit something, to smash something. "FUCK!" The best the ex-con could do was to kick the desk. It was only due to the steel-toes on her engineer boots that saved her toes from being broken upon impact. Why Miss Perfect Tits have to do that? Make things all fucking weird? "Fuck!" Jack growled once more as she plopped back down on her bunk. Her body automatically flaring in cyan glow humming and fuelled by her anger. Before she lashed out and did something really stupid.

Distractions. And more booze.

Jack knew there was a bar in the observation lounge the thief had taken over. Lots of good quality alcohol in there. Course only problem with drinking in there was that the bar was monitored by the med-center via Normandy's resident spy calling itself EDI. And it got reported to Shepard. The crew was allowed to indulge but not overly so, hence the creation of the still stashed down in storage bay in Engineering and the swill it produced. For a couple of credits or a reasonable trade the grease monkeys barter with you for a jar of it. Though they were ordered by Shepard no more than three jars a month to any one person, or she would shut them down—fast. Jack already had bought her three jars, if she wanted booze she'd have to make a trip up to the crew deck.

Jack never got the whole starboard or port side of a ship and she never cared to learn which was which. Only thing she cared about was there was plenty of booze and even a sim-system to lose herself in. Fuck the Cheerleader. And fuck Shepard for making Jack feel like she was a part of something, for wanting to be a part of something.

ME~ ME~ ME~ ME~ ME~ ME~ ME

Shepard required the flagship team to eat their meals together. This wasn't extraordinary for a military outfit as there were designated hours in which meals were prepped and served and cleaned up after. Even with the relative small crew on the frigate of a fifty-seven souls onboard it was absolutely necessary to run things with precision timing.

And while the team at first begrudgingly for some of them became common place and no longer objectified even by Jack or Zaeed. Of the later he at least saw the necessity of team-cohesion. Jack saw it as just another tactic to institutionalize everyone into military behaviour. Yet even her protests died away when Shepard threatened 'if you don't eat with your team you don't eat.' There were some exceptions of course: one being medical, the other being Wednesday.

It was no surprise then that this Wednesday that three of the flagship team was in-absentia. Jack and Miranda were both still recovering from the praetorian front-on sonic assault. And Shepard, well no one could blame her for wanting to spend time with her bondmate. Especially since Liara was heavy with child. Some called it Blue Wednesday, but only Joker And Jack made the slur of 'booty-call Wednesday'. Jack never did to anyone else (other than Lawson) And Joker stopped doing so after a very harsh reprimand from Garrus who had pulled out the XO card.

('If I ever hear you calling Wednesday that again even in passing, if even one member of this crew calls this day by that slur I will personally yank the stick out of my ass and beat you within an inch of your glass-boned life Monroe. Don't fuck it up for Shepard.' The fact Garrus said 'fuck' shocked Joker to no end. No more so than the blazing volcanic heat behind the rest of the words.)

Word spread very quickly within the crew: cross Shepard and you would have to deal with her Archangel first. If you survived that, she'd finish you. These words were not only spoken on the Normandy but trickled throughout the Terminus Systems and so it came to be that the myth of the Archangel was born. He was more than her XO; he was her brother, her Trusted. There was no Shepard without Vakarian.

It never bothered Tali that such a binding connection linked her husband to her dearest friend, a woman whom she considered her sister. Indeed she supported that connection as much as Liara did. It was a deep familiar love that bound Sam to Garrus, they were of very different races but they could have been twins. And in a very real way they were.

The only lingering essence of envy drifted in Tali's heart was that Shepard and Liara could have a child together. Even though the babe was asari she would have something of Shepard within her.

The young woman lifted herself up upon her elbow, watching her husband's naked body, his chest rising and falling with each steady deep breath that comes with sleep. He had fallen into a light doze after their most enjoyable long moments of lovemaking. His arms had cuddled her close as he slumbered, causing the young engineer to wiggle free of them. Even as he offered a murmur of protest he did not wake.

It wasn't until he felt the soft tickle under his chin and along his mandibles did he stir to the waking world. Seeing his wife practically hovering over him as she was brought a smile to his muzzle, losing himself in her silver orbs. "That's a soft sight to wake up to."

His award for the flattering words was to be kissed upon the bridge of his nose. "Sweet-talker."

"I try."

"Hmm." Tali grinned playful as she straddled his hips then leaned the weight of her body upon her elbows which she rested upon his carapace. "Blue Wednesday has me thinking."

"Blue Wednesday has you thinking? I'm guessing it has nothing to do with what we did earlier?"

Tali's lips pulled into a smile "Oh I wouldn't say that, that's a bit part of it. But more than that. It's what Blue Wednesday represents."

"Liara and Shepard's quality time?"

Fawn dark locks waved at the shake of her head. "The reason for Liara's absence."

"You're going to keep your husband guessing or are you going to put him out of his misery? The anticipation is killing me."

"I want a baby. Let's have a baby."

Garrus shifted so abruptly he practically dislodged Tali from his lap. His mandibles flinched "A baby!?"

Tali rose up off her husband so that she might stand before the bed, her barefeet slapped 'pit-pat' against the smooth floor of their cabin when she began to pace. "Okay I know it will be hard, but we're both dextrous...so maybe not impossible. We can ask Morden about it, how our genes can be spliced somehow. I'm sure he can help us." she was careful not to meet Garrus's eyes until now. Fearful of what she might find reflected within. To see rejection there would shatter the heart and the dream would die a stillbirth before it was even allowed to breath.

Garrus admittedly loved to watch Tali's naked body move about, he could not allow her to remain in the every expanding space of growing fear that was bubbling out of her. He rose from the bed and took her into his arms, "I have to admit I've been curious what a hybrid child would look like."

Tali's silver eyes glistened with hope she had dared to entertain in her imagination. "Does this mean you agree?"

"Of course I agree, yes. Why not? A little engineer with a talent for sniper rifles with an obsessive drive for maintaining ship's engines and celebrations." he chuckled, the sound rumbled deep from his belly. It grew louder with Tali's gentle slap to his chest. "Oh sorry did I forget shotguns?"

She shook her head, "You're terrible."

"Yes well isn't that why you fell for my good looks? Scars included?"

"Maybe." she had her own teasing smile pulling her lips back. "So we'll talk to Mordin?" the fear trembled once more. "I know it will be hard going. It's not like in the sci-fi sims where they can create anything by splicing a few genes together."

"That usually ended up in a bad way. Fire breathing giant ants or mutants with super-powers."

"You think we'll have monster?" Tali pushed away from him, frowning

Garrus shook his head. "No of course not! Tali, that wasn't what I was talking about. You know it. It was a bad joke. I was thinking of the creatures Cerberus rolls out. I wasn't thinking of our child."

And there it was: 'our child.' In his mind the child was already conceived, growing in its mother's womb. The rest was science.