Alec grimaced as he choked down his limp food. The scrambled eggs were way too watery, the bacon was burnt, and the orange juice tasted like it was made from powder. He made a face as he swallowed the last lump, actually wishing he was back on the Citadel for that tasty calamari dish that his favorite asari place had to offer. It was certainly healthier than this gruel.

He had woken up in the morning to find that Tali had retrieved her suit while he was still asleep. He had looked all over the suite but it appeared that she had already left to go and fetch breakfast, most likely still upset over last night, not that he could blame her.

After taking a shower, he had put on his jacket, activating the redundant shield generator out of habit, and holstered his Predator pistol. Despite the regulations forbidding weapons in this building, he and his cohorts had been given a wide berth, most likely in a gesture of trust from their human hosts.

With nothing else to do, he took the elevator down to the cafeteria, hopeful that he could find one of his friends sitting at a table and share a conversation with them. He was disappointed when he was the only one in the expansive room; everyone had already eaten their rations ahead of him.

And now he sat, trying desperately to keep the rotten food down, musing over his massive mess that he had created the other night. Various conversation branches ran through his head on how to approach the situation, none of them offered any solace or any reassurance on how to make things right. All he could hope for now was that Tali could forgive him when she was in a mood to listen.

An officer was striding towards him now, heels clicking on the floor as his fast pace rapidly brought him to where Alec sat.

"Sir," the officer announced.

Alec waved a hand, "Spit it out, then."

The man took no notice of Alec's rudeness, "The Speaker of the House requests your presence in the loading area at once, sir."

Alec sat up, "Anthony? What for?"

"If you'll just follow me, sir," the officer intentioned. "He will debrief you."

Debrief? What is this, fucking war games?

More than a little wary, Alec shoved his tray to the side of the table as he stood to match the officer, "Then lead the way."

The officer then smartly turned to start walking at his normal pace, which was rather brisk, as they moved to the elevator at the end of the room. Alec was getting pretty sick of having to spend most of his life inside these damned boxes but he kept any snarky comments to himself. He wanted to know exactly what Anthony was up to and why he wanted to meet him in the loading area, of all places.

When the doors opened, he found himself standing in a rather more industrial looking area than the posh, carpeted floors that had been so immaculately cleaned on the floors above. A single armored vehicle was parked in front of an upward sloping ramp that led outside, flanked by eight armed guards that created a perimeter around the building. In front of the rear doors to the vehicle stood Anthony, smoking a cigar, taking advantage of the lack of smoke detectors in the area.

"What the hell is all this, Anthony?" Alec asked as he strode over to the vehicle.

The man shrugged, "The talks don't continue until tomorrow and I figured that you and your friends make the most of your downtime as long as you're staying here."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"I mean is that your asari friend had been vocally stressing her desire to see more of the city, echoing similar requests from the krogan and the turian, so I figured that we give them the opportunity as long as we've hit this pause in our negotiations."

Negotiations. There was that word again. The word that Alec had repeatedly stressed was not the point of this meeting anymore. Had they not been listening?

Trying to dissipate his burning rage, Alec finally glanced over at the vehicle in question. It was colored white, six wheeled, all independent axis. Alec had recognized it from military shows as a BAE Caiman, one of the most durable tactical vehicles in the world. It was a design that was created in 2005 and, much like the Humvee, it had remained relatively unchanged through all of its decades of service, capable of handling enormous amounts of punishment.

Alec gestured to the Caiman, "Is that what we're going in?"

Anthony shrugged, "Despite the fact that you are going to the capital city of the nation, we like to take every precaution. Besides, this prevents any steely-eyed civilian from gazing upon you guys as you roll through the streets. They see a vehicle like this and they will assume it's normal military business and just turn their heads away. Nothing abnormal about that."

"So, that's it? This is all just a guided tour? A minor distraction while the opposite side prepares their next blunders?"

"I wouldn't say guided," Anthony corrected. "They'll have you. You're more familiar with the area than you are and I don't think we can trust anyone else to talk with your friends."

The way he intoned the word "friends" made Alec squint a little in suspicion. Nothing was making any sense. A trip to the capital? Now? What was the actual point? He tried to look for any tell in Anthony's eyes to see if there was anything deceiving behind the glaze of his glasses. He could find no such sign.

"Alec," Anthony sighed as he strode over to put an arm around his friend. "There's nothing to worry about here. Just relax today. After yesterday's show I would expect that you're a little burnt out."

"You could say that," Alec said with a weak laugh.

"Then take me up on this. Your friends are already inside the vehicle. They've been waiting for the past fifteen minutes. Just sit with them, talk to your heart's content, and see the sights. It's a beautiful city, Alec. It hasn't changed that much since you've been gone."

Alec nodded dimly, "I…always did like D.C…."

"Then go," Anthony intentioned. "Enjoy today. Be with your wife. I know that she would love it."

You don't know anything.

Alec looked straight forward, not acknowledging his former friend. His frown softened, "Well…since they've been waiting on me it would be rude to linger any longer. Especially since their minds have already been made up."

"That's it," Anthony grinned broadly, holding out his hand. "Let me know how it goes when you get back."

Not bothering to reply, Alec shook the offered hand and clambered up into the Caiman. Even though it had been converted for non-military personnel, it still was quite spartan. The seats were little more than benches with some tarp over them. The floor was hard steel and there were racks overhead the perfect height for someone to bang their head against.

Seated in four of the spaces were Garrus, Liara, Wrex (looking a little cramped), and Tali. All of their gazes turned to meet Alec as he stumbled about trying to find a seat. Ignoring Garrus' subtle shake of the head, he moved over to sit next to Tali who, as he sat down, slightly shifted away from him.

He didn't respond to that, despite the rush of shame he felt, and turned to address Garrus instead, "Wish someone would have told me ahead of time that this was the plan."

The turian shrugged, "Hey, you were completely out of it. Plus, Liara wouldn't shut up about seeing more than a conference room on your planet."

"That's only because you wouldn't shut up about the vids that were offered in our rooms," Liara shot back. "You kept on complaining so loudly that I had to request something to take my mind off your endless badgering."

"Because all that was on were human sports, and every single one featured them handling balls of some sort. What is the human fascination with balls anyway, Alec?" Garrus now looked at Alec with a mischievous glare.

Alec chuckled, "Shut up, Garrus. It's a national pastime so just get over yourself."

"Back on Palaven, our sports made actual sense because we didn't feature any-"

"You turians," Wrex rumbled with a hint of amusement. "Always with you and your traditions. Hate to break it to you, Garrus, but I saw a sport on the vidscreen last night that would have piqued your interest. It featured two humans just beating on each other with gloves."

"What? They had that? That sounds so much better!"

"Although," the krogan groused. "It wasn't as entertaining as it sounds because no one died. Shame, a krogan fight like that would have lasted far longer and would have been bloodier."

Alec sighed, "Sorry to burst your bubble, Wrex, but us humans want these sports to be as safe as possible. It's really difficult for anyone to die in these games, despite the inherent violence."

"Ehh, it was watchable at least."

Tali shifted in her seat, uncomfortable at the conversation which had become uninteresting to her. Alec could tell that she was still monumentally upset, but didn't know if he should approach her or should she just warm up on her own time. She still loved him, though, right? Surely a little mix up such as this won't have dire consequences in the future, would it?

Before he could elicit a whisper, he felt the vibration as two soldiers clambered into the truck, both wearing combat greens as the mighty Caiman growled to life. Strapping themselves in (Liara having to reach over to help Wrex with his buckle) the vehicle sprung forward and tilted as it drove up the ramp, into the harsh sunlight.

Anthony pushed open the door to the office to find Lt. General Palmquist sitting at his desk, staring at something on his computer.

"They're away," Anthony grinned.

Palmquist looked up gravely, "And the birds?"

"Took off forty-five minutes ago. You have my permission to make the call when we're done here."

"I'll see to it, then," the general nodded. "What's the game plan?"

"Tracking device has been planted. It will be coordinated once it reaches an area of interest."

"Not with a lot of civilians, I hope?"

"That has been taken into consideration."

Palmquist motioned to his monitor as he tore his eyes away from it, "And what about this? Should we take this into consideration?"

Anthony stopped, "What are you talking about?"

There was a funny look in Palmquist's eyes as he simply turned the screen around to face Anthony in response.

It was a video file, high quality, and the contents of it made Anthony's mouth open slightly in surprise, astounded at the contents.

A man was situated on his knees, in front of a desk, but on that desk sat a woman. This woman was not an earthling by any stretch of the word for her skin was a cool grey, her the digits on her limbs did not match up, the proportions on her body were skinnier than a human's, and her hair was a luscious silver. It took Anthony a few seconds to realize that he was looking at an unmasked quarian, completely bare of her suit.

The man's back was to the camera as he buried his face between her legs as she sat atop the desk. The act, Anthony noted, appeared to have the same effect on the quarian as it did on regular humans but he couldn't help but lean forward to catch her reaction as her mouth opened in a gasp, obviously caught up in her pleasurable throngs. He watched a little more, seeing her body heave and writhe as she was obviously getting close, before Palmquist paused the video, with a satisfied smirk.

"Never seen one behind the masks before, let alone the suits, but I have to admit that she definitely is striking...for an alien."

Anthony fumbled with his hands as he pushed his glasses back up to his face, "Where…where did you get this?"

The man looked back, all bullshit aside, "How do you think? We bugged the rooms prior to their arrival."

"Is there any audio with this?"

Palmquist scoffed, "We're the NSA, of course we have audio. In fact, we have multiple angles of the entire encounter." Tapping a series of buttons, the camera view changed to view a profile and even an overhead shot. Nothing on the screen was covered, everything was all laid out in front of the two men, able to see everything.

"Good Christ," Anthony breathed.

"It's one thing to hear about such interspecies relations," the general agreed. "But it's completely another thing to see it."

"But…what can we do with this?"

Palmquist folded his hands on his desk, "This video could be made to strengthen our position. If…and I mean if, the plan succeeds, we have proof that the human that instigated this entire cock-up was having an affair with an alien. The media will go ballistic and spin the entire story for us." He sat back, a smug smile on his face.

Anthony gaped, "That could work, but you haven't seen the things on the internet people can do. A twelve year old could produce an animated movie now, provided they have access to a few Adobe suites. What good could you think this video do? You will get the conspiracy theorists in a neat line, ready to pick this video apart piece by piece when they try to determine its legitimacy."

"It's legitimate. No doubt about it."

"I'm not questioning you, I'm questioning if the people will react in the way you'd expect. I think you're putting too much stock in just this one smut shot that it could threaten to derail what it is we've built here."

"You mean…derail you?" Palmquist intoned. "We won't be able to block the facial recognition unless we blur the faces on screen. If we don't, there are still enough similarities between your friend, despite his absence, to stir up conversation. It might get back to you, it might not, but you're worried what this will do for your reputation."

Anthony gritted his teeth, "I…appreciate the gesture, Palmquist. But I don't think that we will need to utilize that as the right leverage."

"Admit it, it saddens you to see your former friend in this state."

"Yes," Anthony lowered his head. "I really do regret that he had to come to this. Even though he…appears happy."

"Happiness doesn't make it right, Mr. Speaker."

"Very true. Although we've wasted enough time as it is. Go to the comm array and let them know the change of plans. I have everyone ready to mobilize on my word."

Palmquist stood and made for the door, "Remember, Mr. Speaker, although it isn't my place to remind you. Discretion."

Cruising at a comfortable 35,000 feet, the modified Boeing 747-8 sliced through the atmosphere on its way back to its country of origin. The plane itself was configured by the military and featured every anti-attack combat suite developed, capable of evading surface-to-air missiles and even could withstand electronic interference.

Right now, the plane was somewhere over East Germany when a squawk in the pilot's headphones caused him to jump in his seat. He glanced around nervously, his copilot and navigators all looked at him and nodded. They had heard it too.

The distorted noise came again and the pilot fiddled with the knob to try and clear up the signal. He twisted it slowly to the right before the words came out clear as day.

"Pilot, adjust frequency to 367 MHz and standby for new orders."

The man complied, twisting the knob on his dashboard until the voice spoke once again.

"Air Force One, this is Raven's Nest, we have diverted all radio traffic to our location from Andrews and will now be handling any future exchanges, copy over."

"Roger, Raven's Nest," the pilot smoothly replied. "How copy, over."

"Air Force One, Tertiary Protocol is now in effect. Begin activation measures, over."

The pilot nodded to the man sitting next to him, who proceeded to unlock the center console, grabbing a thick file. The pilot took the offered file and opened it to the first page, where a confirmation code was given.

"Raven's Nest, awaiting confirmation code, over."

"Five-zero-foxtrot-lima-alpha, X-ray-charlie-six-niner, the hands of many give power to the few," the intercom rattled.

"Confirmation code accepted," the pilot replied. "Tertiary Protocol in effect, will now divert to stated area and will deactivate all tracking beacons and remain radio silent for the allotted time, over."

"Time to reactivation and radio contact is ninety-six hours. From that point on, no one on board is to respond back at base until that time has passed starting now, over."

"Solid copy, Raven's Nest," the pilot answered as he flicked a switch on his digital watch as the tiny numbers began to tumble. "Has Little Brother been contacted, over?"

"Air Force One, Air Force Two had been notified prior and has already begun its proceeding to its designated base. Reminder, no contact to be made between you for any reason, over."

The copilot was now removing a red sheet from the file. Tearing off a plastic strip, he showed the location of their designated destination.

"Air Force One copies, Raven's Nest. Proceeding to target now, out."

The pilot had faint beads of sweat on his forehead as he turned to one of the navigators, "Set course for Incirlik AFB and disable the trackers."

"That's in Turkey, right?" the navigator asked as he already was flicking switches.

"Right, so when that's done, I want you to enable the electronic jammers. No signals leave this plane until our allotted time is up. None."

Turning the yoke to the side, the blue and white airplane made a lazy half circle in the air before straightening out over the mountainous countryside. They were in the dark now, all alone.

The Caiman, despite its six enormous tires, was quite the uncomfortable experience. A hard bump sent everyone jolting in their seats, the hard buckles and the benches only making the experience all the more worse. Alec glared at the front to where the driver was laughing with his friend. Sure, they were all nice and cozy but what about their passengers? They were paid to drive them, not to break their spines.

Alec blew air out of his mouth in frustration but no one was really noticing. Everyone was all glued to their respective windows as the sights and sounds of Washington D.C. bustled by. Even Tali seemed to be enjoying herself at this time.

He wasn't looking out the window because he was still reflecting on the best approach to talk to his wife. Plus, he had been to this city several times over to the point where it no longer interested him. He could only watch and smile as his friends gaped in amazement.

Garrus seemed to be with him in that regard, "Liara, if your mouth could drop any farther we'd have to pick it up on the ground."

"It's just fantastic," she gasped. "I mean, it's so crowded here, with ground transportation being the only viable option and all."

Alec chuckled, "Well, things will change drastically once we get skycar technology here. Of course, the movies claimed that those would come around in 2015 and I have yet to see a hoverboard…"

Tali turned to Alec as he said that, noting the reference. He gave a glance at her glowing eyes and gave a small smile. She hesitated before taking her gaze back out the window. Alec drooped at the silent rebuke.

If the people outside could only imagine what the contents of the large vehicle held. For years, many people had only dreamed of seeing actual aliens before and now hundreds of them were mere feet away from several of them, and they didn't even know it.

"This is depressing," Wrex grumbled. "We've had more advanced technology than you humans for centuries and yet your world is as clean as the Citadel. I mean, we did kind of ruin ours with a nuclear war but even so…"

"Don't go there with your assumptions again, Wrex," Alec held up a hand. "Bear in mind, this is one city in one of the most civilized countries on the planet. There are areas where the living conditions are absolutely horrid. Take my word for it."

"Oh, it sounds like I'd fit right in," Wrex gave a toothy grin.

"Any particular destination, sir?" the driver called back from the front. Alec leaned over to glance out his own window. He recognized that they were approaching Columbus Circle, right next to the train station. He leaned back to call out.

"Take us on Constitution, we should check out the Mall."

"The Mall?" Tali spoke for the first time this journey.

"The National Mall, it has most of the country's famous landmarks."

"Goddess, I'm excited," Liara breathed.

The vehicle pushed forward through the mid-morning traffic as it passed by several official looking buildings. Alec recognized a few of the Smithsonian institutes and considered mentioning something to the group before Tali burst out.

"Keelah, what is that?"

Alec tilted to see what she was talking about, "Ah. That obelisk is the Washington Monument. It was named after our first president and is the tallest structure in the area. It's like that as a sign of respect."

"I had no idea that humans were so proficient in stone work," Liara mused.

"Liara," Tali said teasingly, sounding more and more normal. "You never really knew much about humans to begin with, and that's because Alec was incapable of telling you some of the finer points."

Alec threw up his hands jokingly, "What is this? Suddenly I'm being bombarded by you two. I'm not a walking codex entry, Liara. If you were ever going to learn more about humans, then coming to Earth was the only way you could accomplish that."

"But, wait," Garrus barged in. "Where does this 'President' of yours have an office?"

Alec pointed on the opposite side of the vehicle, "Right there. Ask and you shall receive."

"What do they call that building?" Liara asked.

"The White House."

"No, I'm being serious."

"So am I."

Liara's face held a look of absolute incredulity, "You're kidding, right?"

Alec shrugged, "We humans are very literal, I guess."

The asari shook her head, "Goddess…"

The driver brought his head back again, "Any other places of interest?"

"Loop back around on Independence and go north on 17th so we can see the memorial," Alec called.

"Memorial?" asked Tali.

"The World War II Memorial," Alec clarified.

The quarian gave a tiny gasp, "World…War?"

Alec nodded, "About a hundred years ago this country was involved in a war against the powers in Europe and Japan, spanning the seas of the planet. We fought with our allies in a brutal campaign against those where were doing atrocities to other people."

"What sort of atrocities?" Wrex leaned forward, interested. "And were their actions justified?"

"Not really, they were rounding up entire ethnic groups and executing them one by one. Millions were killed this way and we reacted too late as a nation to save all of them."

Wrex tilted his head, "Then what was the point of all that slaughter?"

"The leader of the other country believed his people to be superior to the ones he deemed 'unworthy.' To demonstrate this fact, he created his own cult and it grew into a national force, spreading across continents until other nations intervened. We eventually defeated them and won the war, but at a huge loss of life. We even used nuclear weapons for the first and only time in our history."

Garrus lowered his head, "But that didn't escalate in full blown nuclear conflict?"

"We were the only ones with the technology at the time. We used them as a last ditch effort to make our enemies surrender, which they did. But the world was so horrified at the scale of destruction that they caused that everyone vowed never to use another nuclear weapon again."

The truck was now passing by the monument, a series of fifty columns for the fifty states arranged around a pool. The group watched silently as the truck slowed down to give everyone enough time to see it.

"We're diverting to Virginia," the driver said. "Seems to be a little traffic on 17th now, I'll try to go around it."

Not answering, Alec leaned back as the rest of the group slowly turned away, sobered up by the history lesson. Alec closed his eyes and reflected on his friends' concerned faces. They truly were a good audience, one that cared. He was just so lucky to have-

He felt fingers force themselves into his right hand, giving a squeeze. Alec's eyes shot open as he glanced to find Tali looking at him. In genuine surprise, he glanced at her actions and gave a return squeeze. Her eyes, glowing behind the mask, seemed to be requesting something from him.

"Tali…about last night…I cannot tell you how sorry I-"

She shook her head, placing a finger on his lips. "No apologizing," she whispered. "I should be the one who is sorry for my behavior."

Alec shook his head indignantly, "That's not fair, Tali. There was no excuse for my-"

"You've already done enough apologizing last night. You're starting to repeat yourself now."

"Because I was upset. I hated the fact that no one on this planet ever agrees with anything. I hate feeling so helpless in a position where I know I can make a difference this time."

"I understand now," Tali soothed. "Quarians think of everyone in their crew, in their life. They consider each and every soul your family. I…know that humans don't see it that way, even though I colored them with my own perceptions."

"It just isn't that simple for us when we have a planet of billions to take care of," Alec agreed.

The helmet dipped in a nod, "That's what I failed to understand before. Humans see the bigger picture better than quarians can. That also means that they hold closer the people we know, the people we love." She scooted closer so that their hips were touching, "You…you did what you thought was right because you just wanted to be protective. But you weren't thinking about the Council, were you?"

Alec shook his head, "No…just the one quarian in the world that matters to me."

She gave a faint giggle, "Bosh'tet, but you may have went overboard a little with your threat."

"I wholeheartedly admit that it was a mistake," Alec said. "I just wanted to expedite the process further, get it over with so that I could go back home, where it's safe."

"Next time," she whispered. "Maybe you should bring me along to keep you in line?"

Alec's hand brushed over her visor, "That would probably be the best course of action."

Her hands reached over to cup his head, "We'll be fine, Alec. I know this because I-"

"What the?" the driver in front suddenly exclaimed. "IED!"

Everyone in the back suddenly slid forward as the brakes on the Caiman engaged, locking up as the vehicle slowly skidded. There was a loud noise and a rush of smoke and dust as the entire front of the vehicle lifted and tipped over on its side.

There was screaming in the air as the bullets began to fly.