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"Commander, you've got an incoming call from Admiral Hackett," Joker called over the comm. "And he said don't even think about not answering. It's urgent."

Kate rolled her eyes as she stepped away from the galaxy map toward the elevator. "Transfer it to the Loft please."

She paced in front of her desk as the vid-comm flickered and Hackett's face appeared on the screen.

"For the record, I wasn't planning on not answering, Dad. What's up?"

"I need a favor," Hackett said. "I've got a situation that only someone with your unique talents can handle."

"When have I heard that line before?" Kate muttered sarcastically. "Oh right. Nearly every single day since Elysium."

He sighed. "I'm serious, Katie."

"Sorry."

"I've got a friend, Dr. Amanda Kenson, who's been working undercover in batarian space."

Kate quirked an eyebrow. "A 'friend,' Dad?"

Hackett rolled his eyes. "Yes, she's just a friend. Unlike you, I don't fraternize."

She felt like he'd just slapped her. "That was low, Dad," she said quietly.

The admiral shook his head. "I'm sorry, Katie. I don't know where that came from."

She waved him off. "No, I'm... After what happened with Kaidan, I more than deserved that. Anyway, you were saying about Dr. Kenson working in batarian space?"

"About twelve hours ago, we received word that the doctor and several of her crew had been arrested by the batarians."

"Shit. On what grounds?"

"Terrorism."

Kate narrowed her eyes. "And you want me to do what?"

"I need you to go in and pull her out. Alone."

"I see. Is there some reason you can't get another N7 to do it? One that hasn't pissed off the entire Alliance?"

"I could, yes. And I will if I have to. Does that mean you're saying no?"

"No, I'll do it," Kate said. "I was just wondering why me and not someone else. I'm not the only person in the galaxy capable of breaking into a prison."

"I'm asking you because of what she was working on: evidence of an imminent reaper invasion."

"Oh."

"And because I trust you, and not just because you're my daughter."

"Fair enough." Kate shook her head and sighed. "Going in alone. This will not end well."

"That part is non-negotiable, Katie. One person infiltrating the prison won't raise suspicion. More than that could end up starting a war."

She nodded. "I completely understand the need for the solo mission. It's just, given the way most of my missions have gone the last couple of months, I don't see a great ending on this one."

Hackett raised an eyebrow. "Would that explain all the new scars and... are those burns from thresher maw acid?"

"Yes, yes they are. That one was actually fun. And one of the few that went mostly according to plan. Except for the half-melted armor."

Hackett sighed. "Only you and your crew would classify taking on thresher maws as 'fun'."

"While on foot," she added with a grin.

"Christ," he muttered. "I've done some stupid things in my time, but I never even thought about doing something that stupid."

She shrugged. "I was on Tuchanka."

"Ah. That explains everything," Hackett said, rolling his eyes. "You and Wrex getting into trouble again?"

Kate laughed. "He was there, but wasn't directly involved in this particular adventure. I'll tell you all about it later. If I make it back from this thing in one piece."

"You will."

"Thanks for the vote of confidence, Dad. Send Joker the coordinates. I'll head for the prison ASAP."

"Already sent. And thank you, Katie. Hackett out."

"Have you lost your goddamn mind?" Zaeed asked incredulously.

Kate shook her head and said nothing as she sat cross-legged on the end of her bed, watching him pace furiously up and down the room.

"You aren't part of the Alliance anymore," he continued. "You don't answer to them. Or had you forgotten the part where they branded you a traitor?"

She growled. "Fuck! Will you stop with the pacing? You're driving me nuts." She reached out and grabbed his arm, pulling him down onto the bed with her. "Look, Z. I know the past few months have been stressful as hell, but I am more than capable of doing things on my own. I trained for missions like this. Besides, I'm not doing this for the Alliance. If it was them asking, I would have told them to fuck off and we wouldn't be having this... conversation. This is a favor for my dad. Period."

Zaeed took one of her hands in both of his and kissed her palm and then her wrist. "I know you can do it, Kate. I just... I don't want to lose you again. In case you hadn't noticed, I kinda like you," he said with a smile.

Kate smirked as she pushed him onto his back and straddled his hips. "Really? I never would have guessed," she said as she kissed him. "I kinda like you too. But I promise, I'll be careful. In and out; with luck, the batarians will never know I was ever there."

"That doesn't make me feel any better, kitten," Zaeed said as he tangled his fingers in her hair, pulling her closer and looking up into her eyes. "If these last couple of months have proven anything, it's that Lady Luck is not your friend."

Getting into the prison and rescuing Dr. Kenson had been exceptionally easy and relatively painless. Except that one varren bite; that was going to hurt for a bit. Kate should have known it wouldn't have been as easy getting back out. Even with the doctor to help, they had a couple of close calls getting to the shuttle.

But she'd take escaping the prison 1000 times over what was happening now. She still couldn't believe it: a Reaper artifact just sitting, unshielded, in the middle of Dr. Kenson's base. The doctor had claimed she and her team weren't indoctrinated, but Kate wasn't fooled. Not weak-minded like Saren, my ass, she thought as she dove behind a low wall to avoid the guards on the other side of the room.

At least this time, she'd been able to find her armor and guns when she escaped the med-lab. No way Chakwas could yell at her this time. Except for the stupidity of going on this damn mission. Dad, if I get out of here alive, I'm going to kill you, Kate thought as she took out two guards with her sniper rifle.

An hour and a couple of gunshot wounds later, Kate found herself on the landing pad outside the base. Sonofabitch! They've got another fucking heavy mech? Fuck me and my life.

Taking out the heavy mech took out the rest of the guards as well and Kate was able to limp to the communications tower. "Normandy! I need pick-up right the fuck now! Joker? Can you hear me?"

"Finally! You were supposed to be back two days ago!" Joker said over the comm. "Coming in now."

Two minutes later, the Normandy was hovering above her. Jacob and Zaeed jumped out and dragged her into the airlock. As soon as she was in, she screamed "I'm in! Go! Sol, Arcturus, Omega. Anywhere that's not here! Now!" before she collapsed in Zaeed's arms and darkness enveloped her.

Kate woke from a nightmare-plagued sleep several hours later to find Zaeed sitting by her bed in the med-bay. She sat up slowly and groaned. "Did I get run over by the ghost of the Mako when I wasn't looking?"

He smirked. "That really wouldn't surprise me, kitten. Other than that, how do you feel?"

"Well, I'm not having nightmares about fucking Reaper invasions every time I close my eyes now, so there's that." She squinted as she looked towards the end of the room, where it appeared that Dr. Chakwas and Admiral Hackett were talking together. "But I think I may be hallucinating now. I could swear the doc is standing in the doorway conspiring with my dad."

Zaeed laughed. "I don't know about conspiracy, but you're not seeing things; the admiral is actually here."

"Really? Where the hell did we end up?"

Before Zaeed could respond, Hackett started walking towards them.

"Everybody out," he said. His voice left no room for argument.

Ever the stubborn one, Dr. Chakwas decided to try anyway. "Steven, are you actually kicking me out of my own med-bay?" she asked with a defiant look on her face. "This isn't an Alliance ship. You can't-"

"Don't start with me, Karin," the admiral growled. "Just get out."

Zaeed kissed Kate and then wordlessly dragged the irate doctor with him as he quickly left the room, locking the door behind them. She might have been willing to argue with the admiral but he wasn't, at least not right then.

Hackett leaned against the bed across from Kate's and folded his arms across his chest, looking at her with concern. "How-"

"If one more person asks me how I feel, I'm going to scream," she said quietly. "You sent me in there alone to avoid starting a war with the batarians. And I ended up starting one anyway. How the fuck do you think I feel?"

"Katie, you bought us time to prepare for the Reapers."

"At the cost of 300,000 civilian lives," she countered. "And I only delayed the inevitable. We'll never be ready for the invasion."

"Someone has to make the decision that gets people killed," he said firmly. "300,000 lost versus trillions saved."

Kate shook her head. "Stop trying to make sense of this, Dad. The bottom line is, a shitload of people are dead and the galaxy is still fucked."

Hackett hesitated. "The batarian government is out for blood."

She scoffed. "That's nothing new. They've wanted to get to me since Terra Nova. Now they just have a more legit reason than me killing a bunch of mercs on a crusade."

"They want you arrested and brought to trial by their Hegemony. We told them in no uncertain terms that there was no way in hell that was ever happening. But you're still going to have to come back to Earth to stand trial there."

Kate nodded. "I know. Give me a few weeks and I'll turn myself in."

"Take all the time you need to finish what you're doing out here. Stopping the Collectors is still your top priority. And the admiralty knows you aren't going to run away. Just be ready when Earth calls."

She nodded and avoided his gaze, instead finding something of interest in the freckle in the middle of the N7 sniper tattoo on her left wrist. She knew this was going to be just like Elysium and the Battle for the Citadel. Her father could deal with scars and he could deal with the idea of her being in a firefight, until he had to see any resulting injuries in person.

"I'm fine, Dad," she said after awhile.

Hackett shook his head. "I can clearly see that's a lie, Katie."

"You really are going to have to get used to this new-fangled notion that sometimes soldiers get injured."

"That's-"

She held up a hand. "No, Dad, listen to me. I've been a Marine for thirteen years, give or take two and half years for death and terrorist organizations. This isn't the first time I've gotten hurt and it sure as hell won't be the last time, especially once the Reapers get here. But this awkward shit can't continue. OK?"

He frowned. "Fine. I'll deal," he said after a minute. "Happy now?"

"Well, I'm not unhappy," she said with a small smile. "So, what were you and Dr. Chakwas talking about?"

He raised an eyebrow and answered her question with one of his own. "Are you always this bossy?"

"Yes, I think that would be the general consensus. Gee, I can't imagine where I got that trait from," she said with a grin. "Plus, you kicked my doctor out and my pain meds are wearing off."