The Capitol building was quiet as Lieutenant General Palmquist briskly walked through the marble hallway. He was in a mood and he needed someone to vent on. Right away.

He quickly found the door he was searching for, labeled with a brass plaque marked "Speaker of the House," he quickly barged in, ignored the flustered receptionist and slid open the door to find Anthony smirking at him.

"General," the man stood. "I wasn't expecting you this early. I did remind you that I had an appointment with-"

His words were suddenly cut off as Palmquist grabbed him by the throat and pushed him onto the far wall. Any noise from the disturbance did not escape the room, it was just the two of them.

"What did I say?" Palmquist hissed. "I told you to use discretion. What the fuck was all that about? You sent the Gen Vs into the heart of the fucking capital city, you stupid son of a bitch! How are you going to explain that to Congress!"

Anthony shook off the director's grip, "I told you I was going to handle it. You neglected to ask how. I saw an opportunity and I used it."

"You…your actions got dozens of civilians killed! I saw the reports from the team leader, most of them were caused by our side. Our side! How is this not going to blow up in our faces!"

Anthony frowned, "Relax, general. Did your reports fail to mention that the aliens were using human weapons throughout the entire exchange? There was one instance in which foreign firearms were used, yes, but from what we can discern they did not impact with any civilians, only our men. We can keep our men off the autopsy reports should this come to light."

"You were supposed to use the Generation V soldiers outside of the fucking city. Outside! I still haven't heard an explanation for why you did that! You could have stuck a bomb to the underside of their vehicle, you could have ordered the vehicle to drive to a deserted area. You did not need to bomb it mere blocks away from the fucking White House and chase them down the National Mall with helicopters and F-fucking-22s!"

"The problem with your ideas, general," Anthony said sternly. "Is that they have no longevity. You wanted me to leak a sex tape as one of your options. Those things may be hot for the first few months but then people start to question them, even forget them altogether. I can't just use a piece like that to disprove anything to do with the aliens' disingenuous agenda."

Anthony swallowed to catch a breath, "Also, a bomb to the vehicle? When should I have done that? At the NSA itself? You know as well as I do that we can't bring an explosive device anywhere near the campus without alarms raising holy hell everywhere. Since we couldn't move them anywhere else, that option was out of the question instantly. Also, the problem with taking these creatures to a remote area and capping them leads to no discernable proof for anyone who wasn't there. We would have to feed to the public the idea that the aliens were trying to rebel against us, that they threatened us."

"Which they practically did!" exclaimed Palmquist.

"But how could we prove it? How could we show the world that they did not come in peace as they so claimed? In order to get this idea across everyone's thick skull, I engineered the operation so that the public could see in full view, aliens attacking our soldiers. Never mind that we made the first strike, eyewitness reports are rarely accurate. With the proximity of the attack and the media handling the spin, we can say anything we want."

Anthony sat back down, "The fact that civilians were killed is tragic, yes, but it also strengthens our position. Everyone knows that they were using the exact same type of weapons that our own troops were using. Even if they were to compare the exact guns the bullets came from, we could easily falsify the evidence and claim that the aliens were the ones that shot our people. All we have to do is say this in front of a camera and it becomes reality."

"This was a mistake," Palmquist stammered. "You…should have told me beforehand. If I knew you were going to take advantage of the Tertiary Protocol this way?"

"You'd what? You better get it into your head that with Numbers One and Two incommunicado, I am the acting President of the United States of America. The public will listen to what I have to feed them. You would have me present a video of a human eating out an alien from seven different angles. I will now give them the aftermath of a massacre. A warning to the dangers aliens present to our culture, our world. The deployment of the Gen Vs will only earn us praise from the community. That we were quick enough to react to such a situation. Think of the possibilities, Palmquist! We will be allowed to expand our military operations even more, we will earn the admiration and fear of the entire world as the only country to beat back an alien invasion. This is a victory, general. But you are so short-sighted that you didn't even see it at first."

Palmquist slumped into the opposite chair, drained, "What…what are you going to tell Congress?"

"The same thing I just told you. The public will rally behind us as we mourn the loss of life. A national tragedy always does wonders at bringing a country together. No one would dare side for the aliens, not after what happened here."

Anthony straightened his tie as he made for the door. He put a large hand on Palmquist's shoulder as he passed, "I did not make this decision lightly, Palmquist. However, it was the only way to get the job done. You convinced me that they feared us. And now they have another excuse to fear us even more."

"But will they push back against their fear? How about your friend? Despite the mass of personnel you pushed today, you failed to kill even one of them."

Anthony snorted, "Alec was never the physical type. He'd just as soon cower in the corner and take his beating. And after the crap we inflicted on his wife, he will be begging to go back to whatever planet he calls home, because Earth ain't it."

Alec felt something rustling his shoulder. He sat up, groggily, as he got his bearings. He was back on the Alamo, having spent the night on an uncomfortable bench in one of the hallways. Across, on another bench, lay Dayrl and Vaeri, both having finally gotten some sleep when Alec had rushed onto the ship, covered in blood and holding the slumped body of their mother. The sight must have been horrible for them, having to witness such a traumatic event. He was impressed at how his children tried to be brave for their mother, doing their damnedest not to cry in front of him.

In the end, though, they had succumbed to their shock and grief and he had held them both as they cried, their bodies clinging onto his for support. Alec had already exhausted all his tears, he could not join them, no matter how much he longed to.

Now, Alec was just getting himself resituated as he saw the stick-like figure of Mordin hovering over him, slight spots of blood staining his otherwise pristine coat.

"Doctor, just give it to me straight, no fluff," Alec pleaded.

Mordin nodded, "Patient is stable now. Resting. Missing limb is currently undergoing flash clone procedure. Should be done within a few hours. Will surgically reattach when ready. Tali'Zorah will be fine, Captain."

Alec let out a sob of relief, this was the closest he had ever come to losing her and now she was still here, in spite of it all. "Thank you, doctor," Alec breathed. "It's just…you have no idea how scared I…she means a lot to me, you understand…"

Mordin crouched to Alec's eye level, "Perfectly, captain. Procedure quite treatable for current medicine capabilities. Have noted that such procedures are not present in human culture."

"Yes," Alec nodded slowly. "I'm just…amazed at how far someone can be saved, even when they've lost so much…"

"Perhaps an incentive for Earth to cease aggression, hmm?"

Alec slowly got to his feet, "I have to admit, doctor. That isn't a likely option at this point."

"Understandable. But should let you know. Patient is conscious. Can go see her now if you wish. Plenty of time until surgery. Will look after the young ones. They have been quite conversational in the days we have spent here."

Alec smiled at that, "They're good kids. Thank you again, doctor." He held out his hand to the salarian, who shook it energetically.

"No need to thank, Captain. Only did my duty. Only my duty."

The door carefully stepped open as Alec entered the room. Being a spaceship, the interior was utilitarian. Nothing to make anyone feel at home, just plain white and some sparse medical instruments hanging on the walls. Alec pulled a chair from the wall to sit beside the bed in the middle of the room, where a quarian outside of her suit was currently resting.

Alec scooted forward so that he could be by the bed, trying to keep his gaze from the stump of her leg, despite the fact that it was currently wrapped in bandages. Hearing the noise, a mass of silver hair turned and Alec saw the familiar grey face and the beautiful blue eyes again.

"Tali, um…" he started. "Mordin told me that you were awake and I came right when-"

Tali grabbed his head as she kissed him forcefully. Alec was surprised at her action but quickly relaxed, letting her set the pace, control the movements. She kissed with a longing need, as if there had been something missing from her life. Her tongue parted his lips and she was blowing air in and out through her nose, becoming more and more desperate with each passing moment. Eventually, she withdrew and caressed his head, tears starting to fall down her cheeks.

"Alec…oh, Alec," she mumbled. "I…didn't know if I would get to see you again. I…I thought…"

"You're going to be fine, my love," Alec said, a smile forming across his face. "Mordin told me that you would have your leg back in just a few hours. You're going to be just fine."

If Alec had believed that her eyes couldn't be any more watery, he was proved wrong as she started to break down, "Oh…oh Keelah…that is…I don't know what…it's all so…" She gulped, "I thought, for a second, that I would never walk the same again. I can still feel my leg, but I can't move it…because…I…"

Alec hugged her, running his hands up and down her back, feeling her muscles relax from his gentle touch. Her tears were dampening his shirt at the shoulder but he continued to clutch her tightly. She drew back but continued to grasp at both of his hands, now noticing his injuries.

"Oh no," she gasped. "You're hurt too."

"It's nothing, Tali," Alec shook his head.

"Nothing? You're missing a finger! Why didn't you talk to Mordin when you got here?"

Alec sharpened his words, "Because I was too preoccupied at trying to save my wife, that's why!"

Tali stiffened at that, "I'm…I'm sorry, you're right. But I still feel guilty…I'm going to get my leg back but you don't seem to care about your finger."

Alec shook his head, "Woman, in spite of how long we've been together you're still thinking of others before yourself all the time."

"I can't help it," she shrugged. "It's all part of being a quarian. But I'm still surprised that you haven't gotten any treatment for that."

Tali was only half off. Mordin, being ever anal, had noticed the wound on Alec's hand long beforehand and had repeatedly asked him if he wanted to treat it. Alec had repeatedly refused until he stood to his full height and proclaimed, "It's only a fucking flesh wound!" Mordin then focused his efforts on both Garrus and Tali only after that.

Alec gazed at his maimed hand, "It's not like I ever used my little finger much. Besides, I'm now one step closer to practically being a quarian in build."

Tali giggled, "You still have to cut off a few more digits there, love. I'm going to guess that you're not all that serious about it."

"You're damn right."

"Humans," Tali smiled, but quickly frowned. "What…what about Garrus? I had heard that he was also in surgery because he needed an operation. Was…was it bad?"

Alec grimaced, "Garrus had to take a few grafts from the samples Mordin had on file. He also received some cybernetics to hold his mandible in place. I'm not going to lie, Tali, the whole right side of his face is messed up. He's going to be heavily scarred for the rest of his life. But he's alive and that's all that matters right now."

Tali nodded, "That's…I guess that's good then. Any word from Liara? Or Wrex?"

"Just burns and scratches, nothing major. I can't even begin to think on how close we were to being killed several times over. I can't imagine what was going on over there."

"What do you think the Council will do?" Tali asked.

Alec stared off into space, "Probably blockade the planet again. Wait twenty more years to contact Earth, who knows? They're not going to aggravate Earth any more, that is."

"Alec, I'm so sorry."

"So am I. I now feel terrible that I gave my people one last chance to redeem themselves. One chance, and they blew it. I blew it. I can't believe they would go that far, though. I mean, shooting at us in the streets of the capital? What kind of crazy idea was that?"

"I agree," Tali sighed. "It doesn't make any sense. But shouldn't we go to the Citadel now? Why are we still in orbit?"

"Because," Alec started. "I…just didn't want to leave yet. I guess I wanted to confirm for myself if this was how my people really felt about the whole ordeal."

"And what of that spectre? Saren?"

"Fuck," Alec breathed. "I forgot all about him. When we get back to the Citadel, I'm going to do everything in my power to have that bastard court-martialed, spectre be damned. I can get Garrus on my side, he's been hurting after that little prick for years."

"As long as it doesn't end up with someone getting shot, I say go for it," Tali waved a hand.

"Knowing my luck," Alec said in mock gloom. "That just might happen."

Both of them looked at one another for a few minutes. Not saying a word, smiling at the other. It said a lot about two people when both of them could enjoy a moment together without having to speak. Their affection for the other radiated throughout the room as both human and quarian held each other's hands as they gently caressed the other.

Alec cleared his throat, "You know, the kids are sleeping outside, but if you're up for it, I can bring them in to say hi. They've been worried sick the whole night when I came in with you."

"How…how much did they see?"

Alec lowered his head, "Enough."

Tali gave a small smile, "Let them in, let me see my children."

"At once, ma'am," Alec slid open the door and leaned his head out. From Tali's perspective, he whispered a few words and leaned back in as two smaller quarians practically ran into the room.

"Mom!" exclaimed Vaeri, Dayrl right behind her.

Tali spread her arms as she embraced her son and daughter, tears starting to fall again as the family was made whole. Alec stood in the doorway as he watched it all. Biting back his own tears, he walked forward to embrace the group, giving a kiss to Tali's forehead.

"I'll give you time to yourselves. Don't go too hard on your mother, kids."

They only nodded as Alec slowly walked out of the room, feeling as assured as he'd ever felt in years.

The bandages were itching like hell. Garrus was considering handcuffing his wrist to his waist in an attempt to stop itching at them. But he couldn't help himself. His face was irritating him to the point where he thought he was going to go mad. Mordin had said that he had put a salve that should have reduced the inflammation but even so, it burned.

Biting back a snarl of discomfort, he walked onto the elevator and pressed the button for the captain's cabin. He had just finished meeting with Tali in the med bay right before she was wheeled out for surgery. Despite her grievous injury, it looked like that she would get away relatively cleanly, all things considered.

Lucky her.

Garrus could only sigh at his predicament. He had been careless, stupid to think that they were scot-free at the last moment, only for it to come crashing down as his world went to pieces. The salarian had advised against excess mandible movement for the first month, but it still twitched, desperately trying to break free of its prison and emote his pain to the world. Non-turians wouldn't catch the gesture, but his friends, who he knew for years, would instantly pick up on it. They understood him, probably better than his parents ever did, and that was why he considered them his second family. Everyone was there for each other and he loved them all.

The elevator chimed and Garrus stepped off to see that the door to the cabin was unlocked. That was odd, it was usually sealed red. Stepping forward, the door slid open to reveal that there was no one in the cramped space. It wasn't like Alec was playing hide-and-seek on this deck anyway. It wasn't possible to hide on a turian frigate.

Concerned, Garrus strode back onto the elevator before he had a funny thought. Wanting to dissuade his ridiculous notion, he depressed the button for bottommost floor and waited until the door would open again.

When he finally reached the broad expanse that housed the shuttle and doubled as an armory, he swept his gaze across, simultaneously nodding to the turian and geth guards that flanked the doors. A figure stepped out behind a corner, wreathed in a spare black and red armor.

Garrus' left mandible, free from any bandages, twitched in surprise. Alec had never looked more dangerous in his life. A Paladin heavy pistol hung at his side, two bandoliers of thermal clips were slung around his chestplate, two Kassa Locust submachine guns were hooked onto the magnetic strips on his back. And, in his hands, he hefted a geth Spitfire, an automatic plasma rifle that was equivalent to a minigun. Alec turned and saw Garrus, halting in his tracks.

"Um…Alec," Garrus tilted his head. "What are you doing?"

Alec sighed, clearly he didn't want to be discovered now, "What does it look like?"

Garrus stopped right in front of him, "From where I'm standing, it looks like you're about to take on your entire planet. You certainly have all the ammunition in the universe to pull it off."

Alec glared, "I know who did this to us, Garrus. Who threatened to tear apart our family. What happened here could only have been ordered by the President."

"So?"

"So, we never saw the President, or the Vice President. In fact, we never heard anything at all. The succession of power for the American government would fall next to the Speaker of the House, who happens to be-"

"Anthony Wyatt," Garrus breathed."

"Precisely."

"But, Alec," Garrus shook his head. "This is absolutely insane. You're talking about going down there, by yourself, and trying to kill the most powerful man in your country."

"The most powerful man…at the moment."

"It doesn't matter! What matters is that you're about to needlessly throw your life away to get revenge. I regret what happened, yes, but that doesn't mean that I want to blindly rush in to open warfare!"

"It won't be like that," Alec protested. "They've never faced anything like me before. I have the edge now. They won't be able to kill me."

Garrus grabbed Alec's armored shoulders, "It's thinking like that which upsets me! Spirits, Alec, you're talking about needlessly putting your life in danger here, when you've got a family you need to care for. You have a duty to them, to stand by them when they need you the most. I'm your friend, Alec, and I consider yourself to be part of my family. So listen to me: it isn't worth it. Please, just let this go. We…we will get over it in time, but I don't want my family to be more hurt than it already is…"

Alec paused, it was very rare when turians got emotional, especially when the turian in question was Garrus Vakarian. He was shocked at the turian's words, ashamed at the hurt he felt for what he was about to do.

"Damn it, Garrus," he sighed, shoulders slumping in defeat. "I'm…I'm so sorry…"

"You'll be fine, Alec," Garrus said, relief in his voice. "You don't need to be s-"

Alec whirled with his right fist, catching the turian just below the jaw (carefully aimed at his uninjured left side) and Garrus collapsed, unconscious. Alec knelt down and propped him up in a more comfortable position. He put a hand on his friend's shoulder in a salute.

"I'm sorry for that, my friend. But, the fact of the matter is…I can't let it go. If I don't do this, our family will still be in danger from humanity. I have to stop the man who did this and if that means putting my life in danger, then so be it. But no one else is getting hurt, today, tomorrow, not ever. I'll make sure of that."

He waved over a geth guard, who marched over, attentive, "Take Garrus to the other med-bay room. Make sure he's comfortable and please relay my sincerest apologies when he wakes."

"Acknowledged, Lee-Captain," the geth nodded. Alec watched the synthetic gingerly pick up the turian and carry him over to the elevator. With the bay completely devoid of other life, Alec depressed a button on his collar, causing the helmet to his Terminus armor to assemble itself around his head. He activated all of the features on his HUD, glancing around for the minimal calibrations. When everything was ready to go, he climbed on board the nearest Kodiak, sensors warming at his presence. Despite the fact that the shuttles used electronic sensors for maneuvering, Alec preferred to initiate the virtual windows every time he flew. It was all part of being human, they liked their reference points.

As he motioned his fingers over the holographic controls, the shuttle turned as the bay door opened, exposing the blackness of the infinite night to him. Adjusting himself in his seat so that he would be more comfortable, the shuttle quietly eased out of the Alamo, towards the pale blue dot that billions called home.

It would have enough room for one more visitor.