Hannah stretched her eyelids and gradually lifted them. A fuzzy haze met her as she gazed upward. She felt groggy and exhausted. She took a breath which caused an immediate fit of coughing. A hand behind her back brought her to a sitting position and the ridge of a glass was placed against her lips. She drank the water offered her gratefully. She looked to her helper and beheld Keta smiling down at her. The batarian reached over and propped up a couple pillows. "You can sit back now."

Hannah leaned backwards. She didn't hurt anymore. Observing her arm and leg, she noted new, updated braces in place of the ones the slavers had used.

"You need to eat. I had our cook make you a sandwich."

Hannah took the plate Keta held out to her. The sandwich had some kind of spread on it and there was an apple on the side. "I'm not even hungry," Hannah stated.

"From your physical state, I'm guessing you haven't eaten proper food in a while. I'm not surprised. The body begins to eat itself after a time and you stop being hungry at all." Keta pulled up a chair and sat next to the bed. Hannah remembered that Keta could go weeks without food and was probably well acquainted with the effects of fasting. "Take it slow," she warned.

Hannah picked up the sandwich and took a tentative bite. She chewed carefully. The bread was tasty, the paste bland, but it didn't matter. The moment she swallowed, she found she wanted more. She began to take multiple bites at once.

"Slow down," Keta commanded.

Hannah did as she said, but it was hard. She paused to take another sip of water. As she did so, her eyes met Keta's. She could tell her friend was also tired. She smiled gently. "Thanks for coming to my rescue."

Keta waved a hand as if it were nothing. "You're welcome."

"Lucas said you had to call in some debts."

Keta nodded. "Luckily, no one had to die for your release."

Hannah paused in the middle of another bite of the sandwich.

"I was joking," Keta clarified.

"Oh." Hannah felt chagrined inside. Ashamedly, she hadn't put it past Keta to kill people for quick money.

Keta grinned. "My humor is still not human, I think. I've gotten better at reading Lucas', but not perfect yet." When she mentioned Lucas, her hand went to her belly and she caressed it lovingly.

"So…" Hannah intoned, munching on part of the apple, "I guess you and Lucas get along okay now."

Keta grinned again. "You could say that. Honestly, I never thought I'd go for a human, but Lucas is…unique."

Hannah chewed slowly. He certainly was unique…and rash and arrogant and annoying.

Keta raised her eyebrows. "You don't like him, do you?"

Hannah sighed, knowing her face must have projected her inner feelings regarding her former XO. She took another gulp of water before answering carefully. "I don't know how I feel about him."

"He's been guilty all these months," Keta said, arms folding across her chest. "Then when the Reapers came, he felt even worse."

"Yes, well…" Hannah said, "He almost killed Jane. You don't get over something like that in a day."

"You've had months."

Hannah glared at Keta. "Whatever. It's not easy."

"I understand," Keta said, "He deserves your anger. I just wanted you to know he's truly sorry."

Hannah took another bite of the sandwich. "You know gender?" she asked, changing the subject.

Keta touched her belly again, a happy smile directed its way. "Female…Never thought I'd have a child."

"Must be hard being pregnant at our age," Hannah assumed, thinking back to her own pregnancy so many years ago.

"Bartarians are fertile for longer than human women," Keta explained. "It's not uncommon for a batarian my age to have a child."

"As I recall," Hannah said, recollecting the first time she met Keta, "You didn't want to be a baby factory."

Keta nodded. "True. At the time, though, I didn't have anyone I wanted to make a child with. I certainly wasn't going to have a child with Balak."

"And I assume, not Jeparn either," Hannah said, remembering she'd had a relationship with the Salarian in the past.

Keta laughed. "He was a means to an end, nothing more. I'm glad he joined us here, though. He's useful to us."

"I thought you said you'd kill him the next time you saw him."

"I think I might have if he hadn't already looked so beaten down when I found him after he fled Omega. He was in a sorry state. I gave him something to do, a place to ply his trade."

"What exactly are you doing on this ship?" Hannah inquired as she finished the apple.

"Trying to outlast the invasion. I told you I thought your daughter was right."

Hannah nodded.

"I started contacting people months ago, bought this ship, found those I thought could make it through this holocaust." Keta paused and blew a breath out her nose. "Did Lucas tell you batarian space is now Reaper space?"

Hannah shook her head.

"My home world is essentially gone. I haven't heard from my family in weeks. This is all I have left." Hannah read in Keta's eyes determination, anger and fear all rolled into one. "If it weren't for this one," Keta pointed to her belly, "I might fight. Right now, I'm just trying to live for her."

Hannah eyed the batarian seriously. "What do you want me to do here?"

"Heal," Keta instructed, standing up, her hand under her belly. "I have ideas for you, but right now, you need to rest and get better. And this is my ship, so that's an order." Keta's eyes danced mischievously.

Hannah chuckled. "Alright…Captain?"

Keta put a hand thoughtfully to her chin. "Hum…that sounds nice. They call me 'boss' though."

"Alright, boss," Hannah said, saluting.

Keta laughed loudly and exited the room.

Weeks passed by as Hannah's arm and leg slowly mended. Keta came by to see her daily, sometimes wheeling her to parts of the ship, showing off her "baby" as she called it. It was miniscule compared to a dreadnought, but still impressive. It had a lower and upper level. The lower level contained housing for the crew, the engine room, the med bay, the hangar and a storage area. The upper level comprised the bridge, a small common room, Keta's and Lucas' quarters, and the mess. Hannah marveled that Keta had raised enough funds to buy the ship. When she'd inquired, Keta had tactfully turned the conversation elsewhere, clearly not willing to go into details about how she had managed to obtain the Menari. There were about forty crew members on board, drawn from different races and walks of life. Most had a checkered past and some connection with Keta's personal history. There were several rough looking asari, a group of krogans, Jeparn plus five other salarians, Thad and his rowdy peers, two vorcha, and, not surprisingly, quite a number of batarians. Keta noted the trouble she had between them at times, but gradually, they'd learned to work together, especially after the Reaper attacks. Nothing bonded them together quicker than the threat of annihilation. Hannah wondered once why Keta hadn't taken in any turians. Apparently, all Keta's run-ins with turians had taken a turn for the worse as she'd always been on the wrong end, facing a cop and having to explain her way out of trouble.

Besides Keta, Hannah had other consistent visitors. Toureau hadn't forgotten her captain and came by regularly, checking on the progress of her healing. She also was doing much better. Lucas had put her to work on the bridge monitoring communications. Toureau sang Lucas' praises and Hannah remembered how much the crew had warmed to him. She also noted Lucas' wisdom in giving Toureau something to do so she wouldn't dwell on her situation. It was those mindful actions Hannah had missed in her XO; that, and Lucas' friendship, something she still couldn't bring herself to reclaim. Toureau still suffered from headaches now and then, but said she thought they were getting better day by day.

Of course, Hannah spent most of her time with Abana Riley. Riley had changed altogether from the young woman she had known on the Avian. Then, Riley had been the champion of strict adherence to regulation and a warrior in her own right. Now, she was softer, more compassionate, and Hannah thought, sad. Over time, she'd wiggled out of Riley the reason for her sorrow: she'd begun a relationship with Brody right before he was killed on Shanxi. Hannah intuited that must have been the time Riley began to re-evaluate her allegiance to the Alliance. She pulled out for a time to think and figure out what she really wanted to do. She'd pursued a career as a doctor, desiring to try her hand at healing rather than killing. She declared the First Contact War a sad misunderstanding that could have been avoided with cooler heads and a lack of itchy trigger fingers.

The person that came by the least was Lucas. Every time he stepped foot in her room, Hannah cringed. Talking to him made her awkward and uncomfortable. She never knew what to say or how to say it. Usually their conversations were quick and overly polite as he asked about her healing and she gave him a short update. He then left and she lay back on her bed, able to relax again. She was grateful that one time he'd stopped by he'd given her a data pad so she could keep up with what was going on in the wider world.

Hannah found herself glued to the data pad. Articles were sketchy. The more communication from systems went down, the less true the news became. Rumor replaced fact. A sense of dread began to overtake Hannah more and more as the weeks went by. One by one, all races were falling to the Reapers. The Reapers had attacked the two races with the largest militaries first: humanity and the turians. They moved through systems with ease, taking first 10% of the galaxy, then 20%, then 30%, and now 60%. When would it end? Who would stop them?

Hannah was overjoyed when she found a show on ANN called "Battlespace." The reporter, Diana Allers, it turned out was imbedded on Jane's ship. Through the show's site, she was able to see Jane again in several recorded interviews. Her daughter displayed a driven attitude, staunch and resolute in her determination to conquer the Reapers. Yet Hannah clearly perceived the results of stress. She could read Jane's eyes better than anyone. Her daughter was under enormous pressure, the galaxy now turning to her for guidance, thrusting upon her the hope of its salvation. Everyone's tune had changed once the Reapers had shown up, proving that Jane had been right all along. Only a few batarians cared now that the Bahak system had been destroyed; the rest of the galaxy was just thankful for the delay and distraught at their lack of preparation. The Council was taking hits all across the extranet for its lack of faith in Jane. Hannah might have felt vindicated and victorious if whole worlds weren't being destroyed. She couldn't find joy in Jane being right as sentient beings perished by the millions.

Through "Battlespace" she learned that the Rachni were, incredibly, on the galaxy's side now, that the turians and krogans were working together since the genophage had been cured, that the Citadel had been attacked by Cerberus and the Council almost assassinated. Udina had been killed and was blamed for Cerberus' presence on the station. Hannah thought that rumor most likely correct. The geth and the quarians had just recently made peace. And most awesome of all, Jane had defeated a Reaper all on her own. In fact, Jane was present in all these developments. Little by little, her daughter seemed to be uniting the entire galaxy, breaking down barriers that had stood for hundreds of years. Hannah's heart swelled with pride as she read about Jane's accomplishments. Daniel's dream all those years ago of a united galaxy might just come to fruition through Jane's efforts—if only they could last long enough to enjoy the outcome of their unity.

Hannah tried to get in contact with Jane through Diana Allers who announced her e-mail address every show. She sent several e-mails using Keta's address, but they kept bouncing back. She had no idea why. In the chaos, it didn't surprise her that communication failed where it usually succeeded.

Six weeks after Hannah boarded the Menari, Riley entered her room, smiled and leaned against the doorframe. "It's time you started walking again," she declared.

Hannah sat up straight in her bed. "I'm ready." She'd been waiting for this for weeks. She hated lazing around when the galaxy was being destroyed all around her. She wanted to be part of the fight. Her resolve faltered, however, when Lucas come through the door.

"I asked Lucas to come help out," Riley commented.

Hannah narrowed her eyes at her old crewmate. Riley had sensed early on that something had gone wrong between Hannah and Lucas. She'd suggested they talk through the problem, come to some solution. Hannah had politely refused. She knew Riley asking Lucas to "help out" was her way of forcing the issue.

Riley turned from Hannah's scowl to give Lucas instructions. "Nothing too fast. Take it easy. Get her to walk down the hall and back after I take off the braces."

"Got it," Lucas said, flicking his eyes uncomfortably and momentarily to Hannah.

Hannah focused on Riley, ignoring Lucas while the braces were removed. She hadn't hurt in a long time, but she still found herself afraid to put pressure on her right side, worried she'd collapse the moment she tried to make use of her newly healed limbs. Riley stepped back from the bed and let Lucas take her place. He put his arm around Hannah's waist and she worked to banish her desire to push him away. She slowly stood up from the bed, placing weight gingerly on her right leg.

"Your bones are fully healed," Riley assured her. "You can try to walk normally."

"Then why is he here?" Hannah questioned, her tone annoyed.

Lucas pretended not to hear her question, his face turned away from her. Riley opened her eyes wide like a mother daring her child to defy a command. "Because it will take time for your muscles to relearn how to use themselves. I'll see you two when you get back." Hannah hated that Riley exited the room swiftly, leaving her at Lucas' mercy.

"Well, let's get to it then," Hannah said, determined to get this over with as quickly as possible. Lucas offered her his arm and she linked her left arm around his right, leaning on him as she walked. Her right leg almost buckled, weak as it was from disuse. Lucas tightened his grip, keeping her on her feet. As she paced down the hall, Hannah also rotated her right arm, wanting to give it the same kind of exercise as her leg. It felt like it took forever to get to the end of the hall. When they made it and turned to walk back to the med bay, Lucas broke the uneasy silence.

"So…how's it feel?"

"Good," Hannah replied shortly.

"Soon you'll be a regular crew member," Lucas encouraged.

Hannah said nothing in reply, just kept moving back down the hall, refusing to look his direction. They had just reached the middle when Lucas let go. Hannah lurched awkwardly and stumbled sideways into the wall, bracing herself against it with both her arms. "What the…"

"When are you going to forgive me?"

Hannah turned, leaning with her back against the wall. "You think pushing me into a wall is going to make me forgive you faster?"

"I didn't push you. I let you walk on your own."

Hannah snorted.

"Well?" Lucas asked, hands defiantly on his hips. "How long's it gonna take?"

"I told you I didn't know if I could ever forgive you."

"Yeah, but I thought after all these weeks…"

"You thought wrong."

Lucas stepped back to the other side of the hall as a crew member passed, one of the asari who gazed at them curiously but kept on moving. "Go back to medical on your own then. You obviously can't stand to be near me."

Hannah looked down the hall. She knew Lucas was daring her to get there on her own power. She turned her head back to him with an obstinate air, accepting his challenge. She pushed out from the wall and began to limp her way down the hall, but she didn't get far. She suddenly tripped, her muscles giving out, crashing to the floor. She rolled over as she fell, afraid to catch herself on her right arm.

"Hannah!" Lucas was at her side in a moment. He helped her sit up, but she pushed him away.

"What are you trying to prove?" Hannah snapped at him.

"I thought…You've always been so…strong. I didn't think you'd fall."

Hannah laughed contemptuously. "You know what your problem is Lucas? You always assume you know better than everyone else. You're cocky and arrogant and your way is always the right way."

"You're wrong!" Lucas shot back. "How many times did I follow your orders without asking why? I've spent most of my life doing what you wanted me to."

"Oh yeah? You completely ignored my warnings about the Reapers and decided to kill my daughter!"

"Yeah, about that, it's like the one time I failed you…" Hannah opened her mouth to shout back, but Lucas' voice became louder as he continued. "And I know it was a big failure, colossal. If I'd been successful, I don't know, I think I would have ended up killing myself when I realized what I'd done. The point is, I failed, I messed up…again. You think I don't know what a waste of life I am? That the world would be better without me? I know you should hate me, but I'd come to think of you better than that. I just wish after all the things I've done for you, that you could let the one thing I did so wrong go. Sometimes I just want to ask you to beat the crap out of me, that maybe that would get your anger towards me out of your system."

Hannah stared at Lucas, flummoxed. His speech had overflowed with emotion—sorrow, regret and guilt. She thought back to Jane pushing her pistol barrel down, not letting her kill Lucas when she had the chance. Would killing him have made it all better? She had to regrettably admit that the answer was "no." Jane had said then that killing someone never healed anything, but meant you never got to make it right. This was her opportunity to make it right. So why couldn't she?

"Get me up," she commanded authoritatively.

Lucas sighed in frustration and did as she asked, pulling her to her feet. They walked slowly back to the med bay. Lucas helped Hannah sit back on the bed. As he made for the door, Hannah stopped him with an admission.

"I almost killed you."

Lucas turned around, his eyes registering confusion. "Huh?"

"When you escaped from headquarters, I followed Thad and Krik. I saw the shuttle."

Lucas' breath halted in his throat as he whispered out, "And…"

"And I knew I could take out the escaping prisoner—you."

Lucas spoke quietly. "Why didn't you?"

"Jane stopped me."

Lucas bit his lip. "Jane stopped you?"

"Yeah," Hannah said uncomfortably.

"So, we're even then," Lucas said, putting his hands on his hips again.

"What do you mean?"

"I tried to kill Jane and failed. You tried to kill me and failed. We've both got the same faults on our side. Maybe we should call it a draw."

"Maybe," Hannah said, not sure if it really was a wash.

"See you tomorrow," Lucas said and left the room, leaving Hannah to contemplate the words that had passed between them.

Another couple weeks crawled by. Hannah got stronger by the day. Lucas was always there right on schedule, her partner in her physical therapy. They hadn't brought up their sins again since the first time he'd helped her walk. Their friendship hadn't been restored by any stretch of the imagination, but at least it they had let bygones be bygones for the time being. Hannah still hadn't forgiven Lucas, but she figured she needed him right now and keeping her mouth shut and her pride to herself was the most advantageous course of action.

Finally, when Hannah felt she had regained her former strength, she asked Lucas to take her to Keta. She needed to talk to both of them in priavte. She walked aided only by a cane Riley had given her to keep her steady. Lucas stayed in step next to her, directing her to his and Keta's quarters. When she entered, Keta was laying on the bed on her side, now six months pregnant and struggling with the uncomfortable size of her abdomen. She'd always been petite and her large belly overwhelmed her easily. She sat up on the bed when Hannah appeared.

"You wanted to see me?"

"I need to talk to you and Lucas."

Lucas pointed to an easy chair. Hannah walked over and sat, breathing a little heavily after her trip up to the bridge. Lucas sat on the bed next to Keta, wrapping his arm around her shoulders.

"So, what is it?" Keta asked.

"I'm better now. You said you had an idea of how you wanted to use me."

"Yes," Keta said. She paused for a moment, sucking in a sharp breath.

"Are you okay?" Lucas asked, concern crossing his face.

Keta nodded and smiled. "She just kicked again. She's getting a bit too active, pummeling me most of the night and day. We're going to have a hard time keeping up with her."

Lucas grinned and kissed Keta on the forehead. "In other words, she's going to be just like her mother."

Keta smiled from ear to ear. Hannah marveled inside. Who would have ever thought Lucas and Keta would end up together and about to be parents? What a wild galaxy they lived in.

Keta turned her attention back to Hannah. "You know about stealth, avoidance techniques and Reaper warfare. You can help us stay hidden and teach us how to escape Reapers if they find us."

Hannah took a breath. She knew Lucas and Keta wouldn't want to hear what she said next. "I can't do as you ask."

"What?" Lucas blurted out. "Why?"

"It's not that I don't want to help you, but I need to get back to the fleets. I want to find them. I want to fight the Reapers, not hide away from them."

"Red," Lucas said, agitated, "They're taking systems by the hour. No one's gonna make it through this facing them head on."

"You don't understand," Keta insisted, her hand protectively covering her belly. "There is no fighting them, only avoiding them."

"I do understand," Hannah asserted. "In the few weeks I've been here, 65% of the galaxy has fallen to the Reapers. We're losing. We're all going to lose. They aren't going to stop till they've killed everyone out there. The only chance we're going to have is fighting back."

"We've got enough food and resources to last us a year," Lucas argued. "We can outlast them."

"What is there to outlast?" Hannah asked. "If they take every system, there's nowhere left to go. What do you do when your year is up?"

"We find a planet undisturbed, take the resources and get out quickly," Lucas said.

"There won't be a planet left with resources to take. Look, I've read what Jane's up to. She's been uniting races all across the galaxy. My guess is they're pooling their navies and armies, getting ready for the largest battle of our time. The only way to be safe from the Reapers is to take them down and with all of us together, maybe we can just do it."

"But…" Lucas started to protest, then was interrupted.

"Get her back to the fleets," Keta ordered.

"Keta…" Lucas said, turning to her.

"If she wants to fight, let her. If she's right, this may be the only chance our daughter has to live." Keta reached out and took Lucas' hand, placing it on her belly. Lucas swallowed hard, then turned to Hannah.

"Okay. We'll try and find out where they are and get you back."

"Thank you."

"But I hope you understand what a risk this is. I'm still a criminal to the Alliance."

Hannah smiled grimly. "Something tells me, Lucas, they've got enough to worry about right now. I'm sure thoughts of you haven't entered their minds for weeks."