A/N: OMG a quick update! What is happening?! Sadly, it is also a short one. I figured a change of pace was in order. Don't fret, the next chapter is another big one -unless of course you don't like big chapters, then by all means, fret to your heart's content ;)

5: Meeting the Boss

"Uncle Johnny? Uncle Johnny, wake up!"

Groaning, John slowly opened his eyes to find Carn sitting next to him on the bed, clutching his stuffed varren tightly. It was Carn and Mordin's third night staying with him while their parents were on their honeymoon and thankfully, there hadn't been a repeat of the first night. Herding four children of varying degrees of maturity and, in Lily's case, insanity, was certainly hard. Thankfully Ashley was due to arrive the next day, so he wouldn't have to handle it alone much longer. But right now, he had a little hybrid who should have been asleep to deal with.

"What is it Carn?" he groaned sleepily "It's the middle of the night…"

"Bad dream…" Carn whimpered.

John immediately sat up, forcing himself awake. He turned on the light and tenderly wrapped an arm around Carn, pulling him close. "Do you want to talk about it?"

Carn merely shook his head and buried himself into John's side. John heard faint sniffs and could feel a wet spot appearing where Carn had buried his face into John's shirt. As he heard Carn start to cry, an idea popped into John's head.

"Hey Carn?"

The little hybrid lifted his head from John's now wet shirt and looked up at his uncle with watery eyes. "Yeah, Uncle Johnny?"

"Do you want to hear a story?"

Carn notably perked up at this, quickly trying to wipe away his tears. "Story?"

John grinned at the change in demeanor "Yeah, you want to hear one?"

Carn cocked his head to the side "'Bout what?"

John thought for a moment. "How about…"

"SPACE COWBOYS!" There was a streak of golden blond as Lily bounded into the room and onto the bed. "Space Cowboys and Zombies! With Ninjas! And Pirates!" Lily was practically bouncing with excitement.

John glared at his daughter "Lily, you should be in bed." He scolded.

"Carny's up!" she protested.

"Your cousin had a bad dream." John explained calmly.

"I had a bad dream too!"

John cocked an eyebrow at his daughter; he doubted anything could scare Lily. "Really?"

"Uh huh!" Lily said, nodding eagerly.

Sighing, John decided to let it slide. He looked down at Carn's expectant face. Now he'd have to come up with a story that wouldn't scare Carn but would be sufficiently violent enough for Lily. Racking his head for a story, John smiled as one occurred to him. "Once upon a time, there was a brave Archangel..."

As soon as they were through the airlock, Lily barked up to Nyn "Get us the hell out of here!"

Nyn detached the Hermes from the umbilical and quickly pulled out of the Docking Bay, sending the ship into a steep incline as the shot away from the mansion and into the atmosphere. A tense minute of silence passed before Cyan stated "No signs of pursuit."

Lily breathed a sigh of relief before turning back to Kal, the stunned quarian too shocked at what had just transpired to speak. He seemed to snap out of it when Lily grabbed his arm and started dragging him roughly through the halls, past the mess and quarters and down the steps in the cargo hold to the first floor, roughly shoving him in one of the smuggling compartments.

"I'm afraid you'll be spending the remainder of your voyage in here!" She said as she locked the compartment, trapping Kal inside. Ignoring his muffled protests, Lily turned and was about to go up to her quarters when she saw Carn standing behind her, an angry look on his face. "What?"

Carn growled "You shot a Spectre agent!"

Lily shrugged "It was only a flesh wound."

Carn grew flustered "Only a- You SHOT HIM!"

"He'll live."

That's not the point!" Carn rubbed his temples "Honestly Lil', we'll be lucky if we only get life in prison for this! Trust me, I know!"

"Technically, the Death Penalty only applies to serial killers and mass murderers." Cyan stated.

"And people who steal sweetrolls." Mars chimed in.

Carn looked up at the ceiling, clearly confused "What?"

Lily waved him off "Don't worry about it, Mars is like that."

Carn redirected his attention back at his cousin "Another thing; why did you just lock Kal up?"

Lily shrugged "He's served his purpose."

"Then just let him go."

"I will, after we deliver the processor." Lily smiled "As long as we have him, my dad won't dare try anything." She marched past him and up the stairs, stopping to say "Tell Nyn to set a course for Omega. I'm going to tell our client we have his prize." With that, Lily headed up to the third floor and to her cabin. Locking the door to her quarters behind her, Lily went over to her display case and activated the comm. It wasn't long before Kronov's scarred visage appeared on the screen.

"Captain." The turian said coolly "Do you have the processor?"

Lily grinned "Was there ever any doubt?"

Kronov snorted "Perhaps. Head to-"

"-to Omega, out usual meeting place, make sure you're not followed, double-cross me and I'll flay you alive, blah, blah, blah." Lily rolled her eyes "Honestly boss, I've done this before."

"And bring your cousin." Kronov added tersely before cutting the link.

Lily blinked "Okay!" she shouted at the dark screen "Goodbye to you too!" she shook her head and made for the door of her cabin "Rude."

She wound up spending the majority of the trip through the relay network to Omega in the cockpit, passing the time by flirting with Mort, joking with Mars, and teasing Nyn. Oddly enough, she didn't see Carn at all in that time. Dismissing it as him just sulking, Lily continued to banter with her crew. Currently, she was trading thought problems with Mort.

"I still don't get the one about the guy in the diner who ordered albatross." Mort was saying.

"Nobody gets that one." Lily admitted "Alright, your turn."

"Okay," Mort thought for a moment "What is the most hated puzzle ever created, but is a favorite among RPGs?"

"Towers of Hanoi" Lily answered quickly, "Honestly Mort, give me a challenge."

Mort mock-glared at her "Alright then, you try."

Lily searched her mind for a moment, "What is-"

"BACON!"

Lily cocked an eyebrow at Mars' interruption "Are you developing personality quirks again?"

Mars' avatar looked away sheepishly "…Maybe…"

Lily shook her head "Remind me to bring another engineer onboard, we need somebody to fix you up when you start bugging."

"Bugging?" Lily spun her Captain's chair around to see Carn standing in the entrance to the cockpit.

"I was wondering where you were." She said cheerfully.

Carn shrugged "I was just getting Kal something to eat; it's a long way to Omega after all."

Lily eyed her cousin suspiciously but, figured that Cyan or Mars would have notified her if he had done anything that might be cause for concern. Clearly, Carn noticed her suspicion and said quickly "You were saying something about Mars bugging?"

Lily nodded, accepting the change in topic "Yeah, you remember how Mars is some experimental new breed of AI? As a result, Mars develops these weird personality quirks, like randomly blurting out 'bacon' or talking in old 21st century text-speak. Our engineer and Cyan used to work together to straighten these out, but, well…" Lily didn't really feel like finishing her sentence. Instead she said "I'll need you to accompany me when I go deliver the processor to our employer's representative."

Carn frowned at this "What? Why?"

"The people who fund us like to inspect all new crewmembers to make sure they're 'trustworthy'." Lily explained "I've been… holding off on getting you inspected because, well… I didn't really think you needed it." Lily scowled "Unfortunately, our employer thinks otherwise, so they want me to bring you along."

Carn considered this for a moment "That makes sense I guess."

Lily shrugged "It's annoying, but what can ya' do?"

They arrived at Omega that evening, landing in one of the stations large hangers. Departing from the Hermes via the loading ramp, carrying the box containing the processor under one arm, Lily strode out of the hanger with Carn trailing behind her in his armor. They were meeting Kronov in one of the many dark rooms beneath Afterlife. They soon arrived at the empty room and waited for Kronov inside.

They didn't have to wait long.

"I see you brought your cousin and the processor. Good." A harsh voice said behind them.

Lily and Carn whirled around to see the Kronov's silhouette standing in the doorway, blocking the red emergency lighting in the hall, the red glow of his cybernetics standing out in stark contrast to his black frame. Kronov was tall, even by turian standards, with broad shoulders and powerful muscles. A pistol was attached to his hip.

Lily relaxed a little as Kronov stepped further into the room. "Carn, this is our employer's representative, Kronov." Lily said, making introductions "Kronov, this is my cousin Carn."

Kronov regarded Carn with his cybernetic eye briefly before returning his attention to Lily. "The processor, if you'd please."

Lily set the box down at Kronov's feet, opening it to reveal the Reaper processor. The turian took the twisted shard of metal and circuitry out of the box, studying it with a gleam in his eye. "And this is genuine?"

Lily nodded "Yep."

Kronov's mandibles flickered in a small smile "Excellent, my superiors will be most pleased when I deliver this…" Kronov's eyes suddenly flicked to Carn "Along with the hybrid."

Confusion and surprise radiated through Lily, and instinctively she reached for her pistols. A quick glance at Carn showed that he too was reaching for his gun, although the quick look he gave her conveyed a very different emotion: anger… and betrayal…

"Carn, I didn't-" Lily never got to finish her sentence, because at that moment, Kronov drew his pistol and fired, striking her in the chest. Lily collapsed to the floor, unable to move. Stun rounds, she realized.

Lily saw Carn's eyes widen "Lily!" he drew his assault rifle, but before he could mow Kronov down beneath a barrage of fire, the backstabbing turian had already aimed and pulled the trigger.

You son of a bitch! Lily thought angrily, unable to scream when she saw fall to the ground, unmoving.

Mandibles flared in a cold smirk, Kronov picked up Carn, slinging him over his shoulder while tucking the processor under his arm. He looked down at Lily "Your services are no longer required Captain. As your reward, I'll leave you alive. The paralysis should wear off in a few hours." Kronov's cybernetic eye flashed "That is of course, provided the vorcha don't find you first. Farwell."

With that Kronov was gone.

Along with Carn.