A/N:

As always, all credit for the universe and characters depicted in this story belongs to Bioware and I intend no copyright infringement. I honor and appreciate their amazing work and simply enjoy playing what ifs in their sandbox~!

One month later...

Kat paced the bridge of the Normandy restlessly until Joker couldn't stand it anymore.

"Shepard," he began, a distinct whine in his tone, "you're going to wear out the floor."

Kat startled as if she had forgotten the pilot was there, but made a conscious effort to stand still, first trying her military-bred "at ease" position and when that threatened to overbalance her thanks to her changing shape, she shifted with a sigh to her more usual – these days – stance of feet spread with her hands resting on her rather prominent belly. She sighed again in impatience and frustration and cursed beneath her breath that the delay in arriving at their destination was essentially due to her actions with the Crucible. If the mass relay system were still in place, the journey to Rannoch would have taken hours rather than 4 weeks.

"We're still about a half-hour out of Rannoch," Joker reminded her. "You could go relax somewhere, read some charts, do some paperwork." He suggested, turning his head to study her. "Anything other than watch over me like my flight instructor on my first solo flight," he added under his breath as he turned back to his helm.

Kat's biotic enhanced and military trained hearing easily caught his sotto-voice and she sighed once again. "Sorry, Joker," she finally replied, turning to comply. "I'll just..."

"Ah, Captain," Joker interrupted sharply. "Hold that thought. Bogies on the ladar, moving in fast!" He cried in alarm. "You better strap yourself in," he added, gesturing to the jump seat behind him.

Kat moved to comply, even as her heart began to pound in alarm. "What are we looking at, Joker?" she questioned her pilot.

"Six, maybe seven targets, frigate class or higher, moving fast," Joker replied, his eyes trained on the scope as his hands flew over his flight controls. "They appear to be headed to Rannoch as well," he added.

"Hostile?" Kat questioned then shook her head as she realized how stupid that question would sound. No friendly targets would be in this space, it had not been cleared for regular Alliance travel yet, and if the ships were quarian, Joker would have identified them as such. "Can they detect us?" she added, even as Joker ignored the first question as expected.

"Normandy's stealth capabilities should hold," Joker confirmed, "Even though we've been running hot at FTL for a month. Problem is, they're going to be in visual range in minutes at their speed, and there's no hiding this girl's Alliance colors. We can move to evade, but it will take us off course quite a bit."

"And open our friends to unexpected attack," Kat finished the thought with a grim expression. "How much damage can we do?"

"Enough to slow these assholes down and give the quarians time to scramble reinforcements," Joker replied.

"Move to intercept, and open a channel to the Migrant Fleet," Kat ordered, then she opened her com and paged Kaidan to the bridge.

When Kaidan arrived about a minute later, Kat was finishing her communication with the Flotilla and overhearing that, along with a quick glance at the ladar and out the viewport, had him up to speed on the situation. He watched for a few seconds as Joker performed the unique flight ballet of maneuvering a frigate class warship into battle position with a flair that only this pilot seemed to possess, then he cleared his throat to announce himself to Joker.

"Anything I can do?" he questioned.

Joker waved to the empty co-pilot chair distractedly.

"Strap yourself in and man the ladar and coms," he replied, giving orders as if he had rank. Kaidan complied without question.

"Looks like they've seen us," Kaidan reported, as he noticed the ships changing course on the ladar. "Should have first contact in seconds."

"Performing evasive maneuvers, permission to engage, Captain?" Joker barked out, all business.

"Engage, Joker," Kat replied, fulfilling protocol. She dug her fingers into the arms of the jumpseat and watched out the viewport as Joker swung the Normandy past the attacking ship, narrowly avoiding their turret, then swung back around and fired the Thanix cannon. The shot was a direct hit and the observers in the cockpit watched in satisfaction as the lead ship fell back, heavy damage to its hull preventing further pursuit. The sighs of relief were short-lived however, as Kaidan noticed and announced two more enemies on their flank. They gripped their armrests hard as Joker performed a particularly stomach-wrenching turn to swing around and engage the new targets. Two quick shots and those ships, too, fell out of formation, fiery wounds showing on their hulls.

"Looks like the other ships are not taking the bait," Kaidan reported grimly, as he watched the remaining 4 blips on the ladar break off and move away from the Normandy. "The rest are heading straight to the Flotilla - and Rannoch."

Everyone in the cockpit knew the implications of that statement. The quarians were in a particularly vulnerable position as they transitioned to life on their home planet of Rannoch. The twenty-two months since the Crucible firing had allowed the quarians to transition most of their civilians from the liveships in the Flotilla to residences on the planet's surface, and the people as a whole had concentrated their efforts on making their reclaimed homeworld as habitable as possible. It had the unfortunate side effect of taking the quarians from the largest and most intimidating naval presence in the pre-Reaper days to a vulnerable and chaotic race in clear transition. In other words, not nearly as capable of handling an attack, even in numbers this small, as they would previously have been. Kat and Kaidan shared a grim look that summarized their agreement on the gravity of the situation and then Kat nodded.

"Set a course to pursue, Joker," she ordered, "and get me another channel to the Migrant Fleet," she added to Kaidan.

A few seconds later, the accented voice of the quarian manning the coms filled the cockpit.

"Normandy, this is Kato'Morah vas Seera, responding to your hail. We are aware of the situation and have a squad of fighters inbound to your coordinates, eta less than 5 minutes."

"Acknowledged," Kat bit off tersely. "Remaining bogeys broke formation and are headed your way now, we're in pursuit. Please ask your fighters to watch the friendly fire," she added, and closed the com before receiving a reply. "Joker, how long to intercept?"

"Any second now," Joker replied through gritted teeth as he pushed the Normandy to full capacity.

"Fire at will when in range," Kat ordered and sat back to watch the combat through the nearest viewport.

A few tense seconds later, enemy ships loomed in a short distance and Kat silently counted their targets as Joker prepared to fire the Normandy's cannons once again.

"Three?" Kat cried in alarm. "Weren't there 4 on ladar before?" she asked with a quick look to Kaidan.

"There's a cruiser missing," Kaidan confirmed, his mouth turned down in a frown. "Only three targets on ladar. Make that two," he added a second later as Joker's shot crippled the first of the trio.

"Boo and yah!" Joker cried in glee, spinning up the weapons once again with what sounded almost like a giggle. At the sharp glances from his superior officers, he mumbled, "What? I can't enjoy a little target prac-" then cut himself off as he punched hard at the helm controls to swing the Normandy around and narrowly miss a salvo fired from one of the two remaining frigates. "Ok that wasn't funny!" he growled, apparently at the enemy ship. Once again he fired but this time, the enemy ship turned sharply and avoided the hit.

"Quarian fighter squadron on ladar," Kaidan reported. "Looks like they're on the other frigate."

"Good, cause this one's mine!" Joker exclaimed as he fired again, this time a direct hit. "Gotcha this time, asshole!" he cried with glee.

A moment later, the squadron of quarian fighters engaged the remaining target and the cockpit's occupants watched in satisfaction as the experienced pilots swarmed and disabled the enemy ship. The distraction proved to be hazardous as the Normandy was rocked by an impact.

"Our missing cruiser!" Kaidan announced, alarm coloring his voice.

"Sit rep?" Kat bit out as she watched Joker swing the Normandy around to face the new foe. Their turn made them vulnerable and the ship was hit once again, sparks flew in the cockpit as electrical systems began to reroute and overtax.

"No casualties," Kaidan reported, "but we took damage to the drive core. FTL is down."

"THIS is for hurting my baby!" Joker cried as he punched a button the console and they saw with satisfaction that it was a direct hit on the enemy cruiser. "Take that, you bastard!" He followed up with another shot which glanced the cruiser's hull. Again the cockpit's occupants watched in alarm as the cruiser's drive core began to glow cool blue fire. "They're jumping to FTL," Joker reported.

"Let them go," Kat replied, resign coloring her voice. "We need to get to Rannoch and assess our damage."

Joker sighed but moved his hands on the controls to comply.

"Another day," he muttered under his breath as he turned the injured ship toward Rannoch and safety.

The quarian squadron escorted them as they made their way to Rannoch's only rudimentary dock, in the newly created capital city of Keelah. Although there were only the most minor of injuries due to the attack, the Normandy herself did not escape unscathed, and by the time they docked, Engineer Adams had forwarded his report to Kat. Normandy's tantalus drive core had taken the brunt of the damage and it appeared that they would be stranded in Rannoch until repairs could be made. Luckily, they were on the homeworld of some of the galaxy's best ship mechanics, so the fixes would be made quicker than normal. Still, it was a delay that she hadn't anticipated in an already tight timeframe, and as she stood in decon, resting her arms on the bulge of her very pregnant belly, she couldn't help but be more aware of that than ever. She turned wary eyes to her husband, standing beside her, also eager to finish the process and disembark. Obviously, Kaidan had done the math as well and was equally unhappy to be delayed. Still, he gave her a small smile to reassure her.

"Best laid plans and all that, right?" He said, stretching out a hand to touch her face and stroke a piece of hair back behind her ear. "We have a doctor on board, everything will be fine," he added softly.

Before Kat could reply, the doors in front of them swooshed open and revealed the arid desert of Rannoch. Standing in front of them were familiar figures, including their old friend, Tali'Zorah vas Normandy, her own impatience reflected clearly in her stance.

"Shepard!" Tali cried in greeting as soon as she saw her friend, rushing forward to sweep Kat into a crushing hug. She pulled back as she noticed that her hug was not nearly as tight as usual, and patted Kat's belly awkwardly. "And baby," she added with a sheepish tone.

Kaidan chuckled at their quarian friend's discomfort and stepped forward and grabbed her in a bear hug of his own.

"Admiral vas Normandy," he said, using her correct title, "it's so good to see you!"

"Kaidan," Tali returned with genuine warmth bleeding into her tones, "I've missed you!"

"You just want to show me your latest overclock numbers," Kaidan bantered back, teasing the quarian completely out of her embarrassment.

The sounds of laughter at their jokes reminded Tali of the other members of her party and she turned to acknowledge them apologetically.

"And of course you remember Admiral Raan and Admiral Koris," she added to Kat and Kaidan.

"Captain Alenko; Major Alenko," Admiral Raan stepped forward, hand extended and warmth in her voice. "It is good to see you both. Welcome to Rannoch."

Kat and Kaidan shook hands with both admirals and completed the formalities.

"Come," Admiral Raan gestured to the large building behind her, "let us make you comfortable in our new Conclave Center."

The small group followed the Admiral into the newly created structure, no less impressive for its immaturity. The towering structure was completely constructed of natural materials, stone and wood, in contrast to the typical environment of a quarian liveship. The walls and floors were all shades of cream or white, and there were natural fauna and flowing water tucked into every possible nook and cranny. Clearly, the architects had chosen to make the new center of the quarian government resemble its former home aboard starships as little as possible, and that theme was demonstrated even further by the bright light filling the space. It was startling in both its size and grandeur, but to anyone who knew the quarian people as well as Kat did, also a completely expected and a joyful sign that this people who had had no homeworld for so long were finally reveling in the nascent steps of rebuilding their terrestrial life. Kat felt an uncommon and unexpected surge of pride that she had played a role in that process, and the light squeeze of her fingers from Kaidan told her that his thoughts were traveling the same path.

"It's magnificent," Kat breathed, turning to Tali and the other admirals. "Very beautiful."

"Thank you," Admiral Raan acknowledged with a regal nod of her head. "We are very pleased with the progress of this, and the surrounding city. We have been able to house all but the most infirm of the liveships' population in dwellings within Keelah, and plans are in place to begin parceling the land so that our people may spread out and have homesteads of their own. In the meantime, Keelah has begun to thrive with trade and industry and we have recently voted to lift the single birth rule."

Kat nodded in understanding. The quarians had become so accustomed to living in tight quarters and together that it was only natural that they would maintain those habits at first. The abolishment of the ban on multiple births would naturally and gently encourage the population to spread as it grew, and thus the Admiralty Board's decision seemed very sound. Clearly, the quarians were beginning to learn how to survive as a native people, and though progress would likely remain slow - the quarians had been known for their nearly paranoid caution since the Geth Wars - it was inevitable. She once again felt the unfamiliar surge of pride.

Tali and Raan led them to a large table in the center room and gestured for them all to be seated. After a moment's pause, Raan reached for a button on the console beside her and pressed it with what could be described as a flourish. A clear bell tone rang through the chamber and echoed a bit off the cavernous walls, and then all three quarians reached for their helmets and after the triple click of latches being released sounded, the quarians' faces were revealed to Kat and Kaidan for the first time. Three smiling faces met Kat and Kaidan's stunned gazes and patiently waited as the pair took in the details. Admiral Koris was a smiling older man with snow white hair brushed over his large forehead. His face was lined with experience but kindness and warmth shown from his light blue eyes. Admiral Raan was revealed to be an older but stunning woman with dusky skin, black hair and brown eyes. Intelligence and humor were obvious in her eyes and grin, and her smile lit up her face and made her radiant. The first sight of their dear friend Tali's face is what truly stole Kat and Kaidan's breath, however. Their young friend was truly beautiful. She had long chocolate brown hair waving away from her face and piercing hazel eyes that reflected the huge smile she was wearing. The face was delicate yet strong, intelligent yet somehow still naive, and open but yet still a bit aloof.

"One of the first improvements our engineers made to this building was the installation of clean room filters, such as those we use in our birth centers," Tali explained. "We are adding them to the larger tenements as well, but in the meantime, the Center is open to the public and our doctors have encouraged all able-bodied individuals to spend time here out of their suits. It's the first step in reintegration. Although we realize that it will take generations to be able to live completely outside the suits and not have to worry about infection and disease, it's a huge morale boost to our people to have this step at least."

"You've done an amazing job so far," Kat praised, smiling at all three Admirals. "I'm so happy to see the quarians settling in nicely."

"No small thanks to your efforts, Captain," Admiral Koris replied. "We are very grateful to both you and the Major for everything you have done for our people."

"Not that we're not happy to see you, Shepard," Tali added, "but your QEC call and the skirmish on the way here make it obvious this isn't a social call."

"You're right of course, Tali," Kat replied with a nod. "I'd like permission to bring my crew here for a full briefing and for my engineers to consult with yours over the Normandy's repairs."

"Granted, of course," Raan replied with a nod.

Kat opened her com and gave the necessary orders to those remaining on board, and once everyone had arrived several moments later (and she had observed Tali and Garrus doing their best to avoid even eye contact), Kat stood to begin briefing the quarians on the situation.

"We have a mystery on our hands, one which doesn't appear to have galactic implications as yet, and we are truly sorry for involving you in this, but I believe the attack as we arrived proves that at the least, Tali has become embroiled in it." Kat began. She then summarized the events that had led them here to Rannoch. "Our priority here is to ensure Tali's safety, to complete the repairs to the Normandy as quickly as possible, and to return to Earth. Any input or help you can give would be appreciated, though."

"We may have a way to help you solve the mystery," Tali replied. "Our scouts report that one of the ships involved in the skirmish has crash-landed some distance from here. We do not know if there are any survivors, but we should at least be able to recover data from the crash."

"Great idea," James put in, stretching and cracking his knuckles in front of him, "I could use a field trip."

"You just got released from medical restriction last week," Kris sighed in resignation.

"All the more reason to take my favorite nurse with me," James sallied back, causing a dark red blush to steal over his girlfriend's cheeks and grunting as received a sharp jab to his ribs for the comment. "Careful with the merchandise, querida, I'm only a week off medical restriction," he mocked with a raised brow.

When it appeared that Kris would react, and take the conversation to levels even more awkward for observers, Kat cleared her throat.

"Clearly these two need a babysitter. I nominate the daddy-to-be," she added with a smirk at her husband.

Kaidan shot her a pained glance then began to plead with his eyes to the rest of the room.

"Garrus, Liara, Kasumi, and Miranda... you up for a mission?" he nearly begged when no one would make eye contact with him.

Everyone replied at once, muttering excuses varying from needing to calibrate to being of more use analyzing intel to keeping Kat from going stir crazy and trying to follow, on foot, but which all amounted to, he was on his own. He sighed in resignation.

"Can you forward the coordinates and the info from the scouts to my 'tool?" he asked Tali. At her nod, he added, "I'll review it and plan a recon mission. We'll leave in the morning."

"Good," Kat replied, satisfied that they may finally have a real lead. "In the meantime, I'd appreciate any input you can give the engineers, Tali... and your translation of their reports for me, too."

"Happy to help, Shepard, but I may have another way I can be of service," she added hesitantly. At Kat's raised brow and questioning look, she continued. "When you tried to contact me a month ago, I was off-planet. I was tracking down historical records of the geth development that had been hidden in an archive on a little known planet at the edge of this system. It was the last piece of the puzzle that Admiral Xen and I needed to complete our current project." She paused carefully, then she went on in a rush. "We - I - didn't want to say anything until we knew for sure whether it was possible, and we didn't want to get any hopes up, but now-"

"What is it, Tali?" Kat interrupted impatiently.

"We think we can reinstall EDI," Tali announced triumphantly.