Author's notes: Aw yiss! Chapter 50 is right here! Sadly enough, this also means I'll have to wind it all down in a few chapters. However, I have a goddamn plot bunny for a future fic that just won't get out of my head, so fret not, I'll still be around. If any of you have suggestions on what I could write in future chapters please don't hesitate to PM me. As usual, here's the link to my account: members. Adultfanfiction profile. Php? No=1296890817&view=story (just remove the spaces between the periods and you'll get there).
Megan stood in the middle of the vid comm room in awkward silence, waiting for Admiral Anderson to form a reply to her mission debriefing. After a few more uncomfortable moments, Anderson finally found his voice. "So Sanctuary was set up by Kai Leng as an indoctrination and conversion facility as directed by the Reapers? My God. And you mentioned something about rescuing refugees from that hellhole?"The Admiral breathed harshly as Megan nodded. "Yes sir. We rescued 33 children of various races from there alongside a human woman, a turian female and a salarian male."The redhead reported. "Excellent. At least you managed to rescue some people from there."Anderson sighed.
"Yep. We're going to drop them off at the nearest safe port before we head out." "That's a negative Shepard. Return to the Citadel and drop the civilians off and get some R&R. At this point of time, you've done all you can for the war effort. The Crucible's just missing the Catalyst now and those ion cannons on our dreadnoughts and cruisers are tipping the scales in our favor."Anderson dismissed Megan's original suggestion as she straightened. "Anderson, we still have yet to find Kai-" "Megan, you've gone for 2 months without rest or making port. It's time to get some rest. Plus, you gotta treat your wife to some luxury every now and then. Don't make this an order."The Admiral said in a fatherly tone.
"Alright then sir. Guess I don't much of a choice when you put it that way, huh?"The Spectre smiled at the man she considered to be her godfather as he smiled back, albeit wearily. "That's the idea. Great job out there Captain. Now come on back home and rest up, because there's a lot more war to go around. See you soon and stay frosty."And with that, Anderson signed off as Megan smiled to herself, striding out of the war room and back to the CIC. "So ma'am, where to now?"Samantha asked from her station that she was sharing with Oriana. "We're heading to the Citadel to drop off the refugees and get some well needed R&R. It's been a hard few months, so each and every one of you boys and girls deserve some shore leave."Megan replied.
The redhead smiled at the whoops and cheers from her charges, and she was mildly surprised when even Erin joined in the cheering. "Roger that Shepard. We'll be there before you can say 'party'."Joker chuckled over the PA as Megan stepped off the bridge and headed to the elevator. She went down to the mess to grab a mug of tea and some snacks for Miranda, and she saw Jensen sitting at the mess table, playing with the batarian boy they'd rescued from Sanctuary. "I go 'moo', and you go..." "Moo!"The boy answered enthusiastically as Meg worked the limbs of his stuffed cow animatedly as she giggled. "Hey Meg. Looks like the boy has taken a liking to you huh?"The Captain smiled as Meg smiled back. "That's right Captain. Salak has started to open up somewhat."
"So that's his name? I see...well, how has Samantha taken to Salak?"Megan asked. "Pretty well actually. Sammie's great with kids, whether they're batarian or human kids. She's the one that coaxed him out of his solitude."The researcher answered, referring to the first 2 days that Salak had been aboard the Normandy, when he refused to interact with anyone, instead choosing to curl up in a corner with his beloved stuffed cow clung tightly in his embrace. "Oh? I never knew that. See you later Meg. See you Salak."The redhead smiled as she gently patted the batarian boy's head, earning a toothy grin from him. "Catch you later Shepard."And with that, Megan went to brew some tea and get some fruit bars for her wife and herself. She then headed up to her cabin, smiling as she thought of her wife and kids.
Megan strode into her cabin, smiling as she saw her beloved wife at the desk, typing away at the console as she rushed to finish up the after action report. "Hey Miri."The Vanguard smiled as she leaned in to kiss Miranda. "Hey yourself. Thank God I don't have to sanitize the mission report."Miranda smiled back after she gave her wife a brief kiss on the lips. "Yeah. It wouldn't do any justice to those innocent people who died down on that godforsaken place, would it?"Megan said, referring to Sanctuary, which the Normandy had blasted into ashes with its Thanix Cannon, entertaining Joker for a good few hours. "Right. Thanks honey, you're the best. So, what did Anderson say?"Miranda asked her lovely redheaded wife, picking up a mug of tea and taking a sip of the hot brew.
"Besides the shock at hearing about Sanctuary, and relief at hearing we got civilians and kids out, he asked us to go back to the Citadel for some R&R."Megan answered. "That's good. We need to restock our supplies of thermal clips and coffee. Also, the supply of fresh food you bought is running low too. By the way, I noticed that you never requisition any rations from Alliance logistics."Miranda mentioned as Megan nodded. "That's right. I'll never forget that horrible ration of couscous and vat grown steak I had during N7 desert training. Yuck."The Spectre stuck out her tongue, shuddering at the memory as Miranda giggled. "Alright then, I'll take your word for it. I can't believe it's been 2 months since we last had our babies in our embrace."The brunette sighed wistfully at the memory of her beloved children.
"It's been 2 months too long. Oh, Anderson mentioned that the geth are actively working with everyone else to improve the ion cannon. They test fired the new prototype yesterday and they're amazed by it. Apparently, it's about 65 percent more devastating than the original Prothean ones."Megan said as she sat down on the table, right beside her wife as she began sipping at the other mug of tea. "Oh? The originals were already devastating enough. But doesn't that mean that every cruiser and dreadnought that already has an ion cannon aboard will have to undergo another refit?"The Sentinel wondered, opening her fruit bar and taking a bite of it as Megan shrugged. "I'm not a scientist or an engineer, so I have no clue. Besides, let the brainiacs figure this one out, hmm?"
"Right. We have enough on our own plate as it is. Gosh, I can't wait to hug my Zack and Tabby again..."Miranda sighed longingly. "Mmm. Join the club. But since we have each other right here and now..."Megan purred, hopping down from the table before she wrapped her arms tightly around her wife, earning a pleased coo from the sexy brunette as she reached back, grasping Megan's finely turned hips. Meanwhile, down in the shuttle bay where the kids playing, Jade, Sarah Campbell and a few other crewmembers were playing with them, and the shuttle bay was filled with squeals and peals of laughter, a far cry from just a day earlier. "So Sarah, congrats on the promotion to corporal."Jade congratulated the other blonde as Holly clung onto her neck, giggling.
"Thanks, but I don't feel like I've earned it. All I've been doing is standing watch at the war room entrance."Sarah sighed as she lay flat on her back with a bunch of rowdy children playfully attacking her. "Hey, that's still important. Lots of dignitaries have been in there. Plus, I've seen you on the range. You're a good shot."Jade reassured her as Sarah sighed. "Well, it's just that...I wish I could do more for the war like you guys are out on the field." "Hey, I'm not putting you down or anything, but it's hell out there. Plus, I've seen too many things...I wish I never saw them, really. Until now I still think about it all the time."Jade said somberly as Holly jumped off, tugging at the engineer's shorts as she turned away from Sarah to face the little girl. "Yes Holly? Is there something you want?"Jade forced a smile.
"Wanna play hide and seek with us? C'mon, it's gonna be so much fun!"The young brown haired girl pressed as Jade's smile turned genuine. "Sure thing Holly. Give me 5 to talk to Miss Campbell before we play, okay?"The blonde giggled at Holly's enthusiastic nod as she rushed off to tell her newfound friends, and the rescued children all have exultant whoops as they ran around to find suitable hiding spots. "Hey, you may feel like you're not doing anything because you're shipboard all the time, but trust me, all of us on the squad think you're doing an important job for us. After all, who's gonna defend the ship if it comes under attack while we're all ground side? It's you and Beth, Sarah. So yeah you're important."Jade finished.
"I'm not entirely convinced but thanks."Sarah smiled as they joined the children. "Okay we're all gonna hide and you 2 are gonna find us! Count to 20 and no peeking!"Holly laughed and all the children made mad dashes all across the shuttle bay as they sought out their hiding spots. Just then, Vega stepped out of the lift and Jade got an idea. "Kids, Mister Vega is now it. Count to 20 and no peeking you big buffoon!"Jade laughed as she ran to find a hiding spot alongside Sarah, who was laughing uncontrollably as James looked bewildered. "Wha...hey, why'd you drag me into this?!"James sputtered, bewildered by the abrupt change of events. "For fun obviously! It's exciting to see you squirm, James."Jade giggled from a distant corner, her voice slightly muffled.
"Damn...how did I get myself into this?"James muttered to himself before he began the countdown. After finishing the countdown, he went on the hunt for the hidden children and the 2 women. His senses were keen, seeking out any noise, movement and clue of where everyone had hidden themselves. James recalled the training he'd gotten from his N-school tracking instructor, Operations Chief Running Coyote, a stern Red Indian veteran with Sioux and Apache Indian blood running through his veins. Soon, he found an asari child and a turian boy hiding under some groundsheets covering some boxes, grinning widely as they sulked playfully upon being discovered. Next, he found Holly in an empty lubricant drum.
After finding all the children, he still had yet to find Sarah and Jade. He then went round the shuttle bay one more time, intent on finding the 2 elusive women that had managed to escape his detection thus far. "I'm gonna get you two...oh papychulo is coming for you two ladies."James muttered as he slowly and thoroughly scanned every single possible location. The beefy soldier then noticed that under one of his gun tables, there was a flash of blue. He then stealthily snuck closer and found an Alliance BDU clad ass sticking out of it. Gotcha now Jade, Vega grinned as he brought his hand down for a hard smack on Jade's ass. Suddenly, there was a loud, shrill yelp that was decidedly not Jade as Sarah clambered out from under the table, red faced. "Oh, mierda."James said unhappily as he faced Sarah.
"What the hell was that for?!"Sarah snapped at the Latino soldier as he scratched the back of his head in embarrassment. "I uh-well, I thought you were Jade and...yeah. Sorry. Look, I really had no idea that it was you!"James tried to explain as Sarah rolled her eyes. "Seriously? Hey, just because my ass looks like your girlfriend's-"The infuriated blonde was cut off by hysterical giggles from a nearby box, which opened up to reveal Jade, sniggering like a madwoman. "Oh my God, Jamesy. You actually slapped Sarah's butt like you do to mine just because you thought it was me. This I gotta tell everyone."The Texan engineer got out while still giggling. "Hey-hey-hey, you'd better not, Coqueta. Otherwise I'm gonna tell them all about how Chief Jade Conagher is secretly-"James huffed.
"Okay okay! Jesus, you don't have to do that! I'll keep mum about this. Damn."Jade hurriedly interrupted as Sarah began to get interested. "Chief Jade is secretly..? Please continue sir, I'm more than willing to hear your tale."Corporal Sarah Campbell said sweetly with the biggest shit-eating grin she could muster. "Corporal, I hereby give you the order to shut the fuck up and kiss my ass."Jade growled as Vega's face wore a huge grin. "Maybe if you French kissed Coqueta's ass, I might just tell you Campbell." "Hey! There are kids here, you goddamn moron!"Jade snapped, annoyed at her hunky boyfriend's antics as Sarah and James finally remembered that the children were still standing there, staring at them. Fortunately, it looked like the kids were completely lost as to what they were talking about.
"Oh shi-uh hey kids, that was fun huh? It's alright, just a little misunderstanding between me and Mister Vega over here! Anyone want ice cream, because I could sure use some myself!"Sarah recovered quickly to a chorus of "Yeahs!" and yays from the children. "Awesome! Me and Miss Sarah over here will take you cute kiddies to the mess for some delicious ice cream! Let's go!"Jade smiled as she herded the excited children into the lift with Sarah leading them. "Thank you Miss Jade and Miss Sarah!"The children chorused out as Sarah and Jade just smiled at them. "Hang on, I gotta have a few words with Mister Vega."Jade said as she closed the lift doors. "Lieutenant Vega, thanks for almost spilling my secret. One month without sex for you!"Jade snapped as she stormed up the stairs to the mess.
"Wh-hey! Jade! Come on babe, don't be like that!"James pleaded futilely with Jade's retreating form. "One month without sex. Is this what married life is like?"He sighed to himself as Steve, who'd been working quietly in a corner, started chuckling. "Laugh it up Esteban. Well, guess I got Joker's porn to fall back on..."The beefy marine grumbled as he went to do what he originally came to the shuttle bay deck for. James started stretching his impressive triceps while playing some rap tracks on his omnitool. "I got that five-o, double up nigga!"James rapped that line especially loud as Cortez shot him an annoyed glare from across the shuttle bay, which was completely missed by James as he limbered up for his workout to maintain his massive muscles that made Jade and a few other women drool.
Meanwhile, Sarah began herding the kids out into the mess, where Oriana, Meg, Kelly, Verlus and Salak were seated enjoying drinks. "Well, looks like Sarah's been real busy popping out kids."Verlus teased with a wide grin as Sarah rolled her eyes. "Ha ha, real funny wise guy. So, take a seat and I'll grab some ice cream for you guys!"She smiled as she turned to the children. "I'll go help you."Oriana offered as she stood and followed Sarah to the freezer, where they started pulling out chocolate ice cream cones for the children. "Do you guys want any?"The younger Lawson called out to her friends seated at the table, taking out another 3 cones for Meg, Kelly and Salak. "You enjoy having the kids around huh?"Oriana asked Sarah, who nodded with a smile.
"Oh definitely. And apparently, so do you. So...when are you and Danner going to make your own?"Sarah teased with a smirk as Oriana reddened instantly. "Not anytime soon...besides, I don't even wanna think about what Randa's going to do to Danny if she found out I was carrying our child."The black haired woman shuddered as Sarah nodded sympathetically. "Yeah...I never wanna get on Light Com Shepard's bad side. Ever. I've seen some of the things she can do to bad guys and...she's got me scared."The blonde corporal whispered. "Light Com?"Oriana asked. "Yeah, that's what we used to call our company's CO, Lieutenant Commander Bergström, back in basic."Sarah replied.
Just then, Jade stomped into the mess, attracting everyone's attention. "Let me guess, boy problems."Verlus sighed into his turian drink sagely as Meg and Kelly began giggling. "You're goddamn right. Hey Sarah, grab me an ice cream, will you?"Jade huffed as she plopped into one of the few empty chairs left. "Sure thing Jade. Man, I wonder how she chewed Vega's ass out."Sarah mused as she grabbed the armful of ice cream. "Huh? What did James do to warrant his ass getting chewed out?"Oriana asked as they approached the table. "We were playing hide and seek with the kids, and he smacked my ass really hard just because he thought my ass was Jade's."Sarah sighed, distributing out the ice creams as everyone at the table burst out into laughter, save for some of the kids who were confused while the rest were putting on expressions of disgust.
"You know, you've probably just scarred some of the kids for life Sarah."Verlus guffawed as he patted a turian boy's head to try and comfort the boy's disgust at what he'd just heard. "Oops. Oh well, it's alright boys and girls. You kids are going to be doing this in another 10 years or so, so no harm done really."Sarah shrugged as she took another lick of her strawberry ice cream cone. "No way! It's so gross!"An asari girl screwed her face up into a disgusted look as Meg and Kelly laughed. "Oh you. Don't worry, you can tell your bondmate next time that you think spanking is disgusting."Kelly giggled. "Spanking hurts! Why would anyone enjoy it?"Aaron complained as all the adults at the table shared knowing looks.
"Too much information for you kids. Moving along...where do you kids wanna visit when we reach the Citadel?"Meg asked as the entire table erupted with suggestions from the enthusiastic children. A few hours later, the Normandy slowed down as it approached the Citadel docks. "Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, we are finally going to dock at Citadel dock D24. Thank you for flying Normandy Airways, and don't trip and fall on the way out."Joker said over the intercom, and everyone could hear his grin as he rattled off his well practiced lines. "He could've become a commercial space cruise ship pilot. Well, glad to have him here anyways."Garrus commented as he pulled out another bottle of dextro beer from the secret stash he shared with Thomas.
Their secret stash of dextro and levo beer was in the crate below the worktable for their guns. Everyone thought that the crate contained gun parts, but only Thomas and Garrus knew better. "True. But going back to the movie, I'm quite sure the bloody anchor would've snapped when they dropped it to pull that drift with the battleship."Thomas said as he took a hearty swig of his pilsner. "I'm surprised that didn't cause several catastrophic brain failures in anyone and everyone who majored in physics."Garrus drawled as he finished his bottle of dextro draft. "Also, why is it that humans are always disadvantaged against any hostile aliens who want to take over Earth for some weird reason? Everyone knows that I could completely and absolutely wipe the floor with you and Verlus."Thomas added on as Garrus chuckled. "Yeah, keep dreaming and maybe you'll believe it yourself dumbass."
"So, any plans for Kelly when you hit the Citadel?"The British sniper asked. "Oh yeah, definitely. A fine dinner, shopping and anything else she might want to do."Garrus replied easily as Thomas sniggered. "Well, she's definitely going to do you half the time, so you'd better go shopping for some ointments and lube." "Ha ha, very funny. What're you gonna do for Chloe?"Garrus retorted. "Well, almost the same as your plan. Lunch at some fancy sushi place since Chloe has the weirdest craving for sushi all of a sudden…then maybe a movie, then an X-rated movie, and then I'll be making some X-rated moves on my petite French lady."Thomas grinned.
"Forget I asked about your plans. What's sushi anyways? Kelly keeps trying to explain it to me, but I don't understand."Garrus asked as Thomas sighed and began to explain to him with the help of the extranet. "Alright chap, you know how we humans, asari and salarians usually eat cooked fish right? Well, sushi and sashimi is basically just raw fish. You know, we didn't cook the fish before we eat it. That's what sushi is in a nutshell. Of course, not all fish can be eaten raw. Don't ask me how, but the Japanese have discovered which fish makes good sushi and which ones make you dead over the last few centuries. The best types of fish for sushi are tuna, salmon and swordfish. That's the basic stuff, so you might want to read up more on the extranet lad."Thomas clapped Garrus on the back.
By the time Garrus learned the difference between sushi and sashimi, and what wasabi is for, the Normandy had docked. The refugees that Miranda and the squad had rescued were the first to depart the ship to a reception of Citadel Refugee Services staff waiting there for them. "Who's in charge here?"Megan asked the gathered staff and a balding man stood forward. "That would be me Captain Shepard. I'm Owen Kostas, from Citadel Refugee Services. How can I help you?"He offered his hand as Megan shook it. "I don't need any help, but these refugees do. We rescued them from a Reaper indoctrination facility, and most of the kids here have seen their parents get turned to husks. Make sure they have everything they need to be comfortable and treat the kids with the utmost care."The Spectre replied.
"Sure thing ma'am. We'll take good care of them, I promise you. Now I gotta get going."The man replied as Megan nodded. "Bye Salak! We'll miss you!"Samantha smiled as the batarian boy reluctantly broke the hug she and Meg had him in, waving madly as he hugged his beloved Moo Moo tight. "Bye bye Miss Traynor and Miss Jensen! I'll remember you, and Moo Moo will too!"He yelled back as he rushed off to join his fellow friends. "Bye Salak! I hope I'll see you soon!"Meg called out as Salak turned around and gave a wide grin and waved frantically. "The kids were a real bright spot on the ship. Kinda sad to see them go, but at least they'll be in a good place from here on out."Arthur smiled as Kelly nodded. "Yeah. They were just so adorable! It's heartbreaking to think of what they went through..."She pouted.
"They will be well attended to. With enough therapy, they will eventually no longer be scared of what happened to them. But I can rest easier knowing they are in good hands."Padok Wiks commented as Kirrahe nodded. "Yes indeed. It's things like this that make holding the line worth it. It's...refreshing to see the positive impact of us fighting this war in person."The Major sniffed in satisfaction. "It really boosts the morale huh? I'll miss the kids though. They are just too cute!"Oriana gushed. "Yeah, I'll miss the cute little bastards too. I just hope they ain't gonna be too traumatized by what they've seen and went through in that fucking Reaper camp."Jack sighed as Ashley wrapped an arm around the tattooed woman's waist. "Don't worry Jackie; I'm sure we can visit them."The Latina smiled at her lover.
"Alright guys, we're going to have a dinner gathering at Megan's place tomorrow! Let's meet at 1800!"Oriana called out as she sent Megan's address to everyone. "I love how you just totally volunteered my place when you were planning for this."Megan laughed, referring to when Oriana first made plans for the gathering on the Normandy while en route to the Citadel. "C'mon sis, don't be like that! We all know how much you love us..."Oriana giggled as Megan just rolled her eyes. "Alright then. We have a week of shore leave before we head out again, and I expect none of you to end up in jail, in hospital, or in a coffin! Is that understood?"Miranda called out to the assembled crew in her most commanding tone. "Yes ma'am!"The entire Normandy crew chorused in unison.
After Megan debriefed them and offered them a room at the penthouse, which they declined, they split up and headed their separate ways, with most of them heading to the Alliance provided apartment blocks nearby. Danner and Oriana tagged along with Megan and Miranda back to the penthouse that Admiral Anderson gave to Megan. "So, a dinner gathering hmm? Not an alcohol fueled orgy this time around?"Miranda smirked at her little sister as Oriana rolled her eyes. "Very funny sis. Especially when you and Megan dragged Samantha and Meg into your bed that night."The younger Lawson retorted as Miranda gave her a half hearted shove as the penthouse doors opened. "Don't ruin this place while we go see our kids Danner."Megan joked as she clapped Danner on his back.
"Yeah yeah, I wonder who took care of this joint the last time round."Danner snorted as they headed to their respective rooms to dump their belongings before the women headed out together into the Presidium while Danner took a short nap as it was 0427 in the morning. The 3 women found a cafe that never closed, a rarity in the Presidium. They had an excellent breakfast of toast, eggs and some asari meats, chatting about anything and everything as they whiled away their time, waiting for the waking hours when the Lawson household would awake. Finally, they left the cafe at 0647, leaving a big tip to their very grateful waitress, an asari who was quite obviously a refugee on the Citadel. After a leisurely walk, the ladies reached the Lawson penthouse at 0725.
"Did you girls tell them that we're coming home?"Oriana asked her sisters. "Nope. It's gonna be a surprise. Besides, today is Saturday and the kids are gonna be home."Megan smiled as they rang the doorbell. The door opened immediately and they were greeted by 2 of the hired helpers as they stepped into the lavish penthouse. "Miranda? Is that you? You're back?"Aaron Lawson called out from one of the rooms from the 2nd floor. "Yes dad, and I brought Cassie and Ori along with me."Miranda called back as the eldest Lawson stepped out of the study. "My girls! You're back! I've missed you! Sally, get some breakfast and coffee for them."Aaron said as he rushed down the staircase. "Oh, no thanks. We already had breakfast."Oriana politely declined.
"Well, then at least have some coffee. Come, sit! Carla's still soundly asleep after letting the kids stay up last night, and Tabby and Zack are probably still happily sleeping in their beds. Your kids are growing up so well."Aaron explained as they sat down on the opulent couch. "So, how have my girls been? Ori, how's Danner been treating you?" "Danner's been really sweet, but he seems tired these days. I can't blame him, he's been down on the ground fighting this fucking war."Oriana sighed as Aaron narrowed his eyes. "Ori, watch your language. I understand why Danner would be exhausted. I don't even want to imagine the horrors of what he's seen. Just seeing a bunch of Reaper troops crawling around in here is more than enough to get burned into my memory forever."Aaron shuddered.
"I know dad. Wait, they broke in here when the Reapers hit the Citadel?"Oriana asked. "The question should be 'Where didn't they break into'. Every bloody house had Reapers strutting around in it. Some of the occupants weren't as lucky as us. But we were liberated by the weirdest group ever. Turian and human C-Sec officers working with asari huntresses, Alliance and Hierarchy soldiers, batarian mercs and even a krogan came through here eliminating the Reaper troops. Fortunately, the kids were too busy being distracted by my helpers to see the carnage."Aaron sighed as he recalled the events. "Really? Well, this place looks completely untouched."Megan commented. "Well, that's because the Reaper troops were in the sublevel trying to get into the panic room. That place is patched up, but it was a right mess."He explained.
"Thank God you're all okay. I'm going up to see my precious little babies."Megan said as she stood up. "Alright, just don't wake them up. Those kids need their sleep."Aaron nodded. Megan and Miranda made their way up the stairs to the children's room, quietly opening the door to reveal Zachary and Tabitha soundly asleep in their beds. The women sat beside their children, just watching over them and softly stroking them until they woke up. Tabitha was the first to wake, and she snapped fully awake the second she opened her eyes to see Megan sitting on her bed. "Daddy!"She squealed as she flung herself into Megan's arms. "Hey Tabby, daddy missed you too."The redhead laughed as she showered kisses on her daughter as Miranda did the same for Zack, who was woken by his sister's excited squeal.
After watching their kids eat breakfast, the Shepard women returned to the plush sofa to have a lengthy discussion with Aaron about the state of the war. Apparently, the asari were on the verge of collapsing since losing Thessia, the salarians were taking mounting losses as the Reapers finally began targeting Sur'Kesh, and the galactic economy was near meltdown. "But there's some good news though, amazingly enough. The turians and krogan are now hunting down the last pockets of Reaper troops on Palaven. The Reaper ships retreated to orbit thanks to the dozens of Sovereign class Reapers that the turian and krogan have destroyed."Aaron informed them.
After Carla woke up and joined them, opting for fruit for breakfast, they continued to talk about the war while playing with Zack and Tabby. "Mommy, what's a tank?"Tabby asked inquisitively as she pieced together a castle with her building blocks. "Sweetie, the tank I was referring to is an elcor turned very, very bad by the Reapers. It shoots explosive rounds at us."Miranda answered. "You mean that the elcor got indo-indoc-"Zachary struggled with the big word as Megan smiled at her son. "Zack, in-doc-trin-ated. Now repeat after me..."The redhead taught her son as he repeated the word after her several times. "Indoctrinated! I knew that the whole time!"Tabby exclaimed proudly as her grandparents and parents simply laughed at their precious daughter.
When it was lunchtime, they were joined by Danner as they went out into the Presidium for lunch. "Hey you big buffoons! Man I haven't seen you little monsters in a long time!"Danner laughed as he hugged them. "Uncle Dan! You're back!"Both Zachary and Tabitha greeted enthusiastically as they hugged him joyfully. "So, what do you kids want for lunch?"Aaron asked his family as his grandchildren instantly responded. "Fishdog Food Factory!"They chorused in unison as Aaron, Carla and Miranda wrinkled their noses instantly. "Ugh. Come on kids, I know you can do better than that."Carla huffed as she rolled her eyes. "But I want the 'Garr the Krogan Battlemaster' action toy!"Zack insisted as he crossed his arms across his chest as his sister did the same. "Yeah me too!"
"Don't worry children, we'll get you that action figurine. But only if we go eat some proper food. After that, we'll go shopping for those action figurines, alright?"Miranda promised as Tabby nodded 1st . "Okay. You promise right?"The young girl asked, pouting as the brunette Sentinel laughed. "Of course I promise Tabby. Come on, let's go." "Okay mommy. But only if you pinky promise me."Zachary relented as Miranda's lips curled up into a loving smile. "Alright then. Now that I've pinky promised you, be a good boy and have some real food with us."She smiled as they hooked pinkies. They wound up having a hearty lunch in a salarian style diner, laughing and conversing freely with each other over their lunch. Megan caught Miranda's eye across the table and they both smiled lovingly, reminded of what they were fighting the war for.
Final notes:Holy shit, it's April already? I'm sorry to leave all my loyal readers hanging for so damn long, but being deployed for a month long overseas exercise really sucked up all my time. Also, in whatever little time I had to write, my muse would just kick me in the balls, give me the finger and strut out the door. Now that I'm back from overseas, I'll do my best to pump out more chapters for you fine readers. And yes Zurrick, I will update no matter how hard it may be or how long it may take. And I promise that to everyone else reading this fic. Once again, thanks for all the support on this fic, and see you soon!