The last of the bodies fell to the ground as Garrus, Wrex, and Liara cautiously moved up the corridor. The whole place stank of death, there was a salty, iron taste added to the mix. Garrus rubbed his nose, wincing at the stench.

All of them ejected their thermal clips, even if they had not been fully used yet. They had no idea if they were done with the rest of the troops in this building. He sincerely hoped so, this had gotten old immediately.

Using the beacon embedded in Alec's armor, they had tracked his progress through the subway to a building just on the outskirts of the capital. Unfortunately for them, this building happened to be located in the middle of a military airfield. Curiously, the air defenses were not online at the time and there seemed to be no one on the field at the moment. Taking advantage of the lull in the security, Dayrl had landed the Kodiak on the roof of the main building and all four of them ran off, down the stairs to find their friend.

Garrus was surprised when they finally located him. The man looked like he was near death, his head was tilted to the side and his gaze had been distant. He was completely covered in blood, some of it from what appeared to be a broken nose and the rest from the mangled body that was lying in the train car next to him that he recognized as Alec's friend, the Speaker of the House. He wanted to say something to the human, ask him if he was all right until the familiar troopers burst out of a nearby hallway, causing him to rethink his plan and engaged in a fury. Tali had whisked him away quickly, he knew he would be in good hands after that. No words had been exchanged between him, Liara, or Wrex as they fired on the soldiers. Just cold, silent ferocity as they had methodically downed one man after another.

The corridor jutted off to the left slightly as the railing of a staircase came into view. All three of them gingerly proceeded down, weapons ahead as light from a nearby room gave off a faint glow. Without warning, the staircase deposited them in the middle of a huge expanse. Garrus was not prepared for what he saw and he growled in surprise.

They were atop a balcony overlooking the room, which was filled with electronic equipment. Rows and rows of monitor workstations lined the area. Huge screens adorned every wall, one displaying the entire map of countries. Atop the screen sat a sign which read, "USAFB Andrews NSA Outpost Tiger." Garrus did not know what the acronyms meant but did not give it any more thought as he lifted his rifle so that everyone could see.

There were about twelve people in the room in all, not counting themselves. The outpost was clearly meant to be manned by a skeleton staff, accessible to those with the highest clearance. Out of those twelve, only two were Generation V soldiers, their weapons twitching by their sides as they glanced around in anticipation. The rest were all wearing normal clothes, looking stunned at their position as the turian, krogan, and asari swept their weapons around. Slowly, they walked down the staircase to approach the man standing in the center of the room, who was scowling in apprehension. Garrus saw that the man's name tag, pinned on his dress blues, read "Palmquist."

"Palmquist," Garrus started. "Order your men to stand down now or I will have no choice but-"

"Drop your weapons!" he heard a voice yell. The turian turned his head, expecting to see another black soldier that he missed but instead it was just an aide. He held a small pistol in his hand and it shook in his hands as he directed it back and forth, trying to cover all three of them.

Garrus shook his head, he didn't need this. "Shut up," he spat as he plucked a mini-flashbang from his belt. When the aide's gun had twisted away from him, Garrus tossed the round ball and it hurled straight towards the human's face. His aim was better than he'd realized because it burst right in front of the man's eyes, sending white phosphorous into them, causing him to scream in pain as he dropped the gun, his body following soon after as he rubbed with his hands.

"I can't see!" he howled. "I can't see!"

"Harper!" Palmquist shouted, shocked. Garrus suddenly turned his pistol onto the general, causing him to stop as he was about to assist the aide.

"I just permanently blinded that man, Palmquist," Garrus growled. "I won't ask again. Tell your men to stand down now. Do it!"

"Drop them," Palmquist sighed as the clunk of rifles and pistols hit the floor soon after. Garrus now noted that on the huge screen with the countries, there was a small yellow icon with a dashed line behind it. The yellow circle was currently shown to have passed out of Earth's troposphere and was now heading up into the atmosphere. Confused, Garrus followed the dashed line as he searched for its point of origin. Apparently, in what they called the Atlantic Ocean, a ship designated the USS Wyoming was the cause of whatever was now approaching an array of red dots that he recognized as the ships of the Council fleet.

"That yellow dot," Garrus gestured. "What is that?"

The man smirked, "That…is a Trident II SLBM. A nuclear missile locked on to your fleet."

The boldness of this human caused Garrus to boil. He was nearing his breaking point at the brashness these humans had exhibited. To fire on the fleet was an act of war, how could they be so callous to the immense loss of life? He resisted the urge to break the man's neck right in front of him as he raised his pistol to within an inch of his forehead.

"Disarm it. Now!"

Palmquist shrugged, "I cannot. Only an order like that can come from the President, or in this case, the Speaker of the House."

"He's dead. Are you going to stall some more or do I have to take matters in my own hands?"

The general's eyes widened at the news before regaining his composure, "Then…by law executive power passes to the President pro tempore-"

"Enough!" Garrus roared, slamming the man against the nearest console. "No more excuses. Divert that missile or I will blow your brains out right here, right now!"

Palmquist trembled as his eyes met the barrel of the pistol, "I…can't. I don't have the codes to execute such an order…"

"Garrus," Liara was now at his side. "We don't need the code."

"What do you mean?" the turian glanced at the asari, still not moving the gun an inch.

Liara walked over to the monitor in front of the giant screen, engaging her omni-tool, "These systems are secured physically but if I introduce a crack in the interface, the advanced software will overload the firewalls and open briefly, allowing me to access the launch controls."

The board now showed an outline of a box around the yellow dot, now thousands of miles above the surface, indicating direct user control. Garrus smiled at the sight, "You just lost your bargaining chip, general."

Palmquist's color had drained from his face as he watched in horror. Liara was slumping in relief until she tilted her head in shock. "Garrus," she said. "We have a problem."

Now Garrus was getting annoyed at the shift in mood, "What now?"

"The missile access…it isn't mine. Someone else must have overridden it before me." She tapped several keys on her omni-tool but the screen failed to show any change.

"If you don't have it, then who does?"

"I do…Vakarian," came a grating voice.

All three of them whirled to spot the new figure perched on the balcony. Draped in grey armor, arm wreathed in an orange glow, as he came down the stairs, was Saren Arterius.

"Saren?" Garrus was dumbstruck. "What the hell?"

"I told you, Vakarian," the spectre drawled. "That I would follow you down to this planet if you continued to disobey my orders. It seems my help was greatly needed in this case, so I thank you for that."

"That was not your call to make, Arterius. You're not my captain."

"And in the absence of your captain, I am in command!"

"We are part of Alec's command team and you have no jurisdiction over us. I have been a spectre longer than you, you little prick. You're not going to leave my ass in the fire again!"

"On the contrary," Saren waved his arm. "I am the one with the power now." He fiddled with his tool and the yellow dot changed course. Garrus tilted his head in worry. The fleet was no longer being targeted, which was a good thing, but now a single red dot appeared on what looked like the eastern coast of this country, further to the north and on a small island in a bay.

"What are you doing?" Liara asked.

"Scans of this planet show that this is the highest populated area of the country. Conveniently, it is also a stone's throw from where we are now. These humans thought they could attack us and get away with it. Now they pay the ultimate price."

Garrus' jaw dropped, "Damn it, Arterius. Can't you see it's over? We don't need to punish the humans any more, this isn't what we came here for?"

"What we came here for?" the spectre intoned. "You deliberately deployed on a planet bearing weapons and have killed hundreds of their countrymen in the span of two hours. You revel in the death of many and now you grow a conscience when I demand blood for blood? I expected more from you, Vakarian."

Wrex growled and started to lower his shotgun but Saren backed up towards the staircase, pistol in his right hand, "Don't even think about it, krogan. You need to learn your place. To sit in the corner, docile and obedient."

The krogan bared his teeth in a snarl. The yellow dot was now fast approaching the tiny red dot. The humans in the room were now starting to murmur in worry. Palmquist was jerking back in forth in panic.

Garrus stepped forward, "Saren. For the last time, don't do it."

"You sound like a malfunctioning VI," the turian laughed as he was now back on the balcony, overlooking the scene. "I don't care what you want, Vakarian. These apes need to learn where they stand in this galaxy if they ever want to realize their potential."

"You're just sabotaging them so that never happens!"

Saren's mandibles parted in a cruel smile, "That is correct, Garrus. But beyond your concern because there is nothing you can do to stop me!"

A huge boom rocked the whole room as everyone ducked for cover, thinking that the rogue spectre had fired. Garrus glanced up to see a burst of blue blood spew from Saren's left side, his arm falling to the ground, severed. The maimed turian teetered on the guardrail as a three-toed boot connected with his back, flipping him end over end to land head first on the hard ground from the tall balcony.

"Not if I have anything to say about it, bosh'tet."

Tali stepped out onto the metal grating where Saren once stood, shotgun smoking as she surveyed the scene. Garrus' jaw dropped even further as he saw the quarian confidentially stride down the steps towards Saren. She pumped the gun in her hands as she aimed it at the turian's head. Liara rushed over to check for signs of life.

"Goddess," she whispered. "He's still alive."

"Want me to put him out of his misery?" Tali asked, adjusting herself.

Liara shook her head, "He's not dying, he's in a coma, from the looks of the scan. With the amount of blood he's lost he would be in deep shock if he already wasn't in this state."

"So is that a yes or a no?"

Liara glared at the quarian, "We can't just kill him. We probably won't need to as the combination of his injuries will most likely result in some acute memory loss." Tali lowered her gun at the asari's words, listening to her reason. Liara stopped and did a double take, "Wait…Saren's not holding onto the connection with the missile anymore yet the display still states that someone has maintained connection, who-?"

"I am."

Liara and Tali glanced up as Alec slowly and deliberately climbed down the steep steps, omni-tool at the ready. He looked like he just crawled out of a literal bloodbath, his voice was weak, he had a pronounced limp, but he stood all the same, confident look in his eyes.

Alec walked over to the screen as he gazed up at it. The missile was still heading on its present course, New York City, he noted. But he made no motion to change it, even though he had less than three minutes until detonation. He slowly turned around to face Palmquist for the first time.

"You were there the first night," he said. "With Anthony…the director of the NSA."

"I don't mean to be rude," Palmquist said weakly. "But would you mind diverting that thing before you kill millions of your own kind?"

Alec laughed quietly, "That's a good one, general. 'My own kind.' That was the topic that has always been in question the second I stepped back onto this planet. Whether or not I was always loyal to Earth." He turned away and started to walk towards the screen, "You know, I loved this place once. I had believed that I would never leave it as I was always told that this was the only planet I could call home. That turned out to be a complete lie. I have seen the nature of this world compared to the entire galaxy. There are many redeeming traits about humanity, but it still has to embrace them if they want to grow and mature as a species. I genuinely do believe that humanity can accomplish that feat."

The timer now read two minutes left but Alec still spoke, "But as much as I hate to admit it, Saren did have a point. In light of the evidence presented to you, you failed to comprehend the consequences of your actions. You needlessly sent men to their deaths, general. You practically ordered them to die for their country because you erroneously thought that we were a threat to you. You wanted to shove this problem away instead of face it head on! You are a coward, general!"

"The…the missile," Palmquist stammered. Tali was shifting from foot to foot, getting agitated. Garrus and Liara were both gaping in astonishment. Wrex's eyes were wide in anticipation.

"Look at what you made me do!" Alec screamed. "What have I done! I killed more humans today in one sitting than anyone ever has on this planet! I will be known as the biggest mass murderer the world has ever known! All because of you and your failed demonstration to prove to yourselves that you were the ones swinging the biggest stick in the room."

Alec glanced back toward the clock where only a minute remained, the yellow dot getting closer to the surface, "Why not let the missile hit, general? It would be a poignant reminder of your mistake. Millions of lives extinguished? Fuck them. When I'm done here, the remainder will be on your head, not mine."

"Please," Palmquist fell to his knees as the clocked ticked past thirty seconds. "I'm begging you…I will do anything you ask…just don't kill them…"

Alec let a smile slowly work its way across his face, "I believe you, Palmquist. And do you know why? Because I am human, just like you."

Alec let his finger fall across one of the buttons on his omni-tool. Instantly, the yellow dot on the screen vanished, only the dotted line left in its wake remained, projecting its path through space. A tiny text box popped up which read "Missile Abort." Alec closed the tool as he nodded with finality, "They are still alive, despite your actions, general. Know that."

Palmquist opened his mouth, perhaps to curse at him, perhaps to thank him when a black fist lashed out and hit near the bottom of his jaw. The director was flung to the side as his body flopped like a rag doll. Alec clutched his hand as he grimaced in pain.

"You're taking the fall today. Someone has to pay."

Without looking back, he purposefully strode towards the staircase, clambering up the steps one at a time, wincing as he did so. The rest of his squad followed him up, Wrex throwing the limp form of Saren over his side. His friends tried to help him ascend but were rebuffed every time. He finally relented when a familiar presence was forced by his side, taking an arm. He looked at Tali who gave a subtle shake of her head and he surrendered, letting her guide him up the stairs to reach the roof, where the Kodiak was waiting.

The wind roared across, making him shut his eyes from the debris being blown into his face. With Tali's help, he stumbled into the waiting cabin of the shuttle and glanced over to his left and blinked in surprise.

"Kasumi? How did you get here so fast?"

The thief gave a small grin, "Practice. You should know better than to question me by now."

"Point taken."

"Wait," Garrus held up a hand. "Who's this and is she really coming with us?"

"Sorry, you giant turkey," the woman said. "You're stuck with me for the rest of the way. Kasumi Goto."

Garrus eyes widened for confirmation from Alec who merely shrugged, "She's coming Garrus, at least be nice and introduce yourself."

"Why are you making me do this?" Garrus groaned.

"Because you get along so well with humans, now give her your name and stop stammering like a teenager."

As Garrus began his awkward introduction, Alec happened to glance forward at the cockpit where he saw two new, but familiar faces staring at him.

"You've got to be kidding me," he turned to Tali. "You brought the kids with you?"

"They kind of stowed away," she said defensively. "They also brought up the convincing argument of rescuing their idiot father. You see what kind of role model you are?"

Vaeri was waving slightly to him in greeting as Dayrl gaped. Alec moved across the craft to give each one a clumsy one-armed hug.

"Dad," Dayrl pointed out. "You're covered in blood."

"I know son," he sighed. "You should see the other guy."

"Weren't you the one telling us all those years ago that violence is not the answer to all your problems?" Vaeri said with some mischief but worry all the same.

"For that, you're grounded, young lady," Alec smiled. "Tell your boyfriend the bad news because you're not going to be seeing him for the rest of your natural life."

Vaeri looked at Dayrl, "He's going to be fine."

"Stubborn kids," Alec groused to Tali.

"They know who they take after," she laughed.

"Is there any way I can shift the blame to you on this?"

"Not a chance, mister."

They shared a quiet chuckle as the shuttle started to ascend. From his position, Alec could see several helicopters land in front of the building, all over the runways as they left the Air Force base. There were several red and blue lights as police cars surrounded the area. None of them paid the alien craft any mind as it quickly gained altitude, passing the cloud cover where it could be finally alone. All too soon, the blue glow of Earth filled the cabin as the blackness of space overtook them. Tali looked at her husband and saw a faint smile on his lips.

"What are you smiling about?" she asked, unsure of what to feel.

"Just thought of the perfect expression for the occasion," Alec replied softly.

"And that is?"

Alec turned to face his wife, putting a hand to the side of her visor, gently brushing it, "Keelah se'lai."

The bar was empty at this time. It must have been a universal constant because no matter the species, no one visits a bar in the middle of the afternoon. But that's what the six of them were doing right now. They sat around a table as they sipped their drinks, relaxing after the hectic week.

Alec swept his gaze across the table. Wrex was busy chomping down food, following it up with swigs of ryncol. Liara was sitting perfectly poised in her chair, holding her drink with elegance. Garrus looked bored as Kasumi was practically clutching his arm to the point where he was losing circulation, firing off question after question in her excitement. Next to him, Tali laughed at the poor turian's predicament and glanced up at the second floor. Dayrl and Vaeri were busy at the quasar machines, having been given money to spend. That and the Skyllian-Five tables would properly occupy them while the grown-ups were talking.

But not one of them had spoken since they had arrived at Flux. The music was quiet enough at this time for everyone to speak normally, yet, aside from Kasumi's badgering, not one of them had uttered so much as a word.

A clicking of heels caused Alec to tilt his head back and he straightened as he recognized who was approaching. "Councilor," Alec said, extending a hand.

"Captain Lee," the turian replied somberly, shaking the offered appendage. To the rest of the group he merely nodded and grabbed a chair from another table as he sat down with the group.

"How did the proceedings go on Earth?" Alec asked.

"Quite well," the councilor replied. "The representatives had heard about the…unfortunate trouble that had brewed in that original city last week. They were rather apologetic and amicable to whatever clauses we offered for their cooperation."

"'Original city?'" Tali asked.

"We were escorted to a town called London. It was a rather impressive place to hold a talk."

"So what happened?" Garrus leaned over the table."

The councilor spread his arms, "They agreed to one representative within the hour. The country designated the "United States of America" had abstained from the talks entirely. It seemed that they had been forced to recuse after their brash actions."

"Was there any word on that?" Alec arched an eyebrow.

"A military commander named Palmquist was imprisoned and is currently awaiting trial. They predict that he will get a life sentence for apparently breaking several laws including a conspiracy to seize power, a misallocation of resources, and a botched operation that put millions of lives in danger."

Alec nodded in satisfaction, "Good."

"I'm surprised, on Palaven he would have been publicly executed but your people are being extremely lenient in my eyes. I would be ashamed if I was involved with that government right about now. To be honest, that whole country is embarrassed at what happened. They're talking about proclaiming that day as a national tragedy, for their actions, not yours. Some members actually want to prosecute you specifically but everyone at this table and in that chamber knows that you are clear from any wrongdoing in our eyes."

"It's not like they have any jurisdiction on me, right?"

"Correct. Although it might be in your best interest if you stay away from Earth for a while, just until things cool down."

"But, humans in general," Liara piped up. "What will happen to them?"

"For deliberately attempting to attack our fleet, we initially decided to leave without acknowledging them at all. It was only by the insistence of your captain here that we give them yet another chance. With that being said, their representative will be relocated to the Citadel within six months; we will also begin providing humans with alternative means of propulsion technology so that they will be able to travel like we travel. This technology will be granted in staggered intervals for the purposes of controlling population growth."

"Sounds familiar," Wrex grumbled.

Ignoring him, the councilor continued, "I think we're taking a big risk here, if I'm being honest. Rest assured, we will be keeping a closer eye on them as they continue to grow but I don't want something like this spiraling out of control again. The next time, I may not be so lenient." The councilor stood to go but Alec turned to ask one last question.

"Councilor, about the spectre Arterius. What is his condition?"

"Spectre Saren Arterius is recovering from his shuttle accident. He cannot remember the events of most of the voyage but the doctors say that he will be mobile and back to normal within a month. I'm rather surprised that such a spectre would be so clumsy in this regard."

"Yeah, well," Alec scratched the back of his head. "Accidents happen."

The turian's mandibles clicked together, "Indeed. Hopefully this sort of thing doesn't become a habit, hmm?"

Alec could only nod as the turian stalked off, hiding a small smile behind his hand. A shuttle crash...right.

Now lacking a source of conversation again, the whole group resumed their silence as they went back to their drinks. Alec waved a hand for a refill as everyone was absorbed by the ambient noise, merely riding the waves as the sound coursed through, sublime in the motions.

The four of them were now walking towards the bay. Alec and Tali were holding hands as Dayrl and Vaeri loped ahead of them. They had said their goodbyes to the group on their way out, Wrex choosing to stay on the Citadel until night fell so that he could cause a good, old-fashioned barfight to relieve the stress he'd accumulated. Liara had departed for her apartment after giving everyone a hug and promised to call soon. Garrus, with a pained expression on his face, embraced both Alec and Tali like family and left with Kasumi, who was now living next to him at C-Sec until he could get her settled in to the routine of the station and maybe find her a real job. Something told Alec that his plan would go askew, based on Kasumi's suggestive wiggle of her eyebrows. He paid the move no mind as he promised to ask them all to stop by the house soon. It was always nice to spend a quiet evening with friends.

"Oh, Dayrl," Alec called.

"Yeah, dad?"

"I didn't want to call you out in front of everybody but you do know that your messages are still routed through my omni-tool, right?"

"Right?"

"So, when were you going to tell me that you had been accepted by the flight school?"

Tali halted, clearly thunderstruck at the news, "You got into the academy? That…that's wonderful!"

Dayrl had a confused expression as his mother swooped in to embrace him, "You…you're not mad?"

"Why would I be mad?" Alec laughed at the question. "You never mentioned that you even applied to be in the Fleet, but this is fantastic all the same!"

"I just thought…after all you guys have been through, that you wouldn't want me doing something that could get me hurt…"

"Son," Alec said gently. "As long as you're doing a job that you love, you can do anything you want. Besides, your mother and grandfather used to be in the Fleet, so there's a precedent. I have the utmost confidence in you. Although that explains how you managed to fly the shuttle so well…"

"I told you they'd take it well!" Vaeri laughed to her brother.

"Then you might like this, young lady," Tali now said to her.

"What? Did you automatically fill in an application for flight school for me too?"

"Nothing of the sort," Tali said. "But, your father and I were talking on the way back and we noticed how wonderfully behaved you kids were. You were so brave, so mature, and it really made us proud to see you out there."

"Thanks, mom," Vaeri said sheepishly.

"Therefore," Tali continued. "Your father and I have both agreed that you can take your Pilgrimage this year."

"What!" Vaeri shouted in jubilation. "You're serious?"

"Do you not think you're ready?" Alec teased. "Because if you don't then there's always next-"

"I've been waiting for this moment my whole life!" she squealed as she embraced her parents fiercely. "Thank you, thank you, thank you!"

Some time later, when everyone was good and settled, the airlock doors to a sharp, angular turian cruiser closed and the maneuvering jets propelled it away from the Citadel. Finding the proper clearance, the Alamo gently eased its way around the station, basking in its presence one last time before the periwinkle nebula swallowed it up. Free of the rosy light, the ship propelled itself towards the straight, pulsing mass relay at the edge of the system. A spark jumped between the energy core and the craft, sending the family on course to Rannoch, to the place they called home.

It was the only home that Alec Lee ever wished to know.