They found her long after the Citadel had started it's night cycle, all the shops closed down and the Keepers out. Sitting down on either side of her on her seat on a ledge overlooking the Presidium, they didn't say anything, the three of them sitting there in the silence.
"Sorry I ran." Persephone said, looking down at her hands.
"Don't be, kiddo." Shepard said, "You got hit with something big after a not so great day, we understand."
"Persephone," Kaidan started, "We don't expect you to start calling us "mom" and "dad". We know that will take time, if it ever happens."
"Yeah." She said, still looking at her hands. "How are you two dealing with it? You just found out you're parents to a Cerberus science project."
"Honestly, I'm angry as hell." Kaidan admitted and she looked at him, "Madeline worked for them for almost a year and they never once even hinted that they recovered a child? And that that child was alive and well? If we had known about you…" He stopped, taking a breath and letting it out slowly, "If we had known about you, there wouldn't have been a force in this galaxy that would have kept us from you." Reaching over hesitantly, she took his hand and he held it tightly.
"Think of it this way," Persephone said, "I bet you anything I was a fussy baby." He gave a low chuckle at that, squeezing her hand.
"Yeah, they took care of the difficult parts for us." Shepard said, "If you were anything like how I was as a toddler, according to your grandmother, I gave whole new meaning to the phrase Terrible Two's."
"I have a grandmother?" Persephone asked and she nodded.
"And a grandfather. No aunts or uncles, but plenty of great aunts and uncles. The Shepard Clan is pretty big." Shepard said.
"The Alenko Family isn't small either." Kaidan said, "I have several aunts and uncles, lots of cousins. I'm also an only child, though." Persephone gave a small sound of amusement and he looked at her, a small smile pulling at his lips. "What?"
"Shepard and I were hoping that we'd find out something about me today, maybe track down my family, or someone who knows me." Persephone said and Shepard gave an identical sound.
"Mission accomplished." She said, "Technically, you're a Shepard."
"Technically I'm a Shepard-Alenko." Persephone said.
"Persephone Shepard-Alenko." Kaidan said, "I like the sound of that, we'll have to get it official, though I doubt there's a birth certificate. Maddy told me you're a biotic?"
"Yeah, nothing too extreme, though." Persephone said with a shrug. "Must have been exposed when the first Normandy's drive core went up."
"She Threw Garrus out of the room we found her in." Shepard said with a snort.
"Not hard!" She said defensively, "It was a mini Throw! Not to hurt him, just to...get him out of the room."
"Was he all right?" Kaidan asked, his expression a mix of worried and amused.
"Yeah, he was fine. His pride was more injured than he was." Shepard said and pat Persephone's knee. "Come on, kiddo, we have to get back to the Normandy."
"Okay." Persephone said and got to her feet. "Meet you there." Without another word, she stepped off the ledge, dropping out of sight.
"Persephone!" Shepard and Kaidan both exclaimed, looking down the dead drop.
"What?" She asked, coming back into view, looking up at them, biotics still flickering slightly over her clothes.
"Did...did you float down?" Kaidan asked she shrugged.
"You guys can't do that?" She asked.
"No!" They exclaimed at the same time and she snorted.
"Lightweights." There was a subsonic pulse and she came floating up, landing gracefully on the ledge again, her biotics flickering once before extinguishing.
"Now you're just showing off." Kaidan said and looked at Shepard, "Your daughter." Persephone gave a small giggle at that and Shepard pulled her to her side, giving Kaidan a wide cheeky grin.
"Are we leaving immediately, or…" Persephone let the question trail off.
"I still have a few things I need to do here and the Normandy is expecting deliveries tomorrow so we'll be docked for at least another day." Shepard said and she nodded.
"That's great!" Kaidan said, "Let me take you two out to lunch tomorrow, there's this noodle place on Zakera ward that is absolutely incredible."
"Ooh, noodles." Shepard said happily, "How about it, kiddo?"
"I've never had noodles before." Persephone said, somewhat excited at trying something new.
"Shepard, you know what one I'm talking about?"
"I think I do." Shepard said, "We'll meet you there at how's fourteen-hundred? I'm taking her to the C-Sec shooting range for marksman testing in the morning."
"Sounds good to me, fourteen-hundred it is." Kaidan said with a smile.
"Meet you back at the ship? I want to talk to Kaidan for a bit." Shepard said and Persephone gave a shrug.
"Sure." She said, "Kaidan, it was um...nice to meet you."
"It was nice to meet you too, Persephone." He said and paused, "How do you feel about hugs?"
"From what I've experienced of them, I like them." Persephone said and he pulled her into his arms for a warm hug which she returned, a small smile on her face. Shepard watched as they parted, her expression soft and Persephone gave them both a short wave as she left, vanishing towards the elevators.
"We have a daughter." Shepard said when she was gone.
"She seems amazing." Kaidan said, "They tortured her, didn't they. Cerberus, I mean."
"I think so, yeah." Shepard said, "She has these scars...it breaks my heart. I don't know why they did it, what they were trying to do. Seeing them...maybe it was better that they took her memories away."
"But we have a daughter." He turned her, lacing his arms around her waist and pulling her close, "We made a life, Madeline."
"Yes, we did." She said, her hands sliding over his chest to weave her fingers in his hair.
"And while yes, it does matter that we weren't at least offered the opportunity to raise her ourselves," He said, "She's with us now and those bastards will never hurt her again."
"Always looking on the bright side, Kaidan."
"Well, of course." He said and leaned in, pressing his lips to hers in a gentle kiss. "I...love you, Madeline."
"I love you too, Kaidan."
"It felt good to finally say that." Kaidan said.
"Come back to the Normandy, Kaidan. I could sure use you." Shepard said and he sighed.
"I want to, I do, but there are some things that I feel like I need to do here." He said and she nodded.
"I understand." Shepard said and she moved to pull away, but his arms tightened around her waist, keeping her close. His kiss surprised her, the gentle gasp pulling him closer and she shivered in his arms as his lips parted hers, his tongue slipping into her mouth to swirl against her own. Need and want slammed into her hard and she found herself pressing against him, fingers skirting over the amp port at the back of his neck and making him groan into her lips.
"Madeline…" He whispered against her lips, "I have a small place nearby, but if you don't…"
"I don't know, Kaidan," Her tone was teasing, "You were pretty injured, are you sure you should be doing strenuous activity?"
"Maddy…" He growled, pulling her into another searing kiss.
Persephone laid down on the cot below Engineering, her mind sorting through the day's events. She had a family, a mother and father who appeared to care about her, or at least cared that she existed. Kaidan's anger at not knowing about her had seemed genuine and the way he had hugged her was so warm and caring, as if knowing that she existing and holding her in his arms was a defining moment for him.
She heard the door to Engineering slide open, James' galloping gait coming down the stairs and she sat up, pulling her legs under her.
"Hey." He said, giving her a small smile.
"Come to corner me again?" She asked, but her tone was light, teasing, the corner of her lips perking gently.
"Nah." He said, "You and Shepard were gone for a while."
"Yeah, we were." Persephone said, looking down at her hands.
"So what'd you guys find out?" He asked, knowing her and Shepard's little side mission on the Citadel.
"Quite a bit actually. I have parents." She said and a wide smile split his face.
"That's great!" He said, "Who are they? Did you meet them?"
"Oh, yeah, I met them." She said and laid out what had happened, leaving out the physical exam, starting with Shepard introducing her to Kaidan. He was quiet when she was done and she watched the wheels in his head turn as he processed what she had said.
"Well, damn." James said finally, "Shepard's your mom."
"Yes, she is. Apparently the reason why I can't remember my life before the facility, is because I didn't have one. I was...born fully grown a little over a year ago." Persephone said and he was quiet again, the air in the area becoming uncomfortable as the information settled between them and she could almost watch as he closed himself off.
"I mean, it's something, right?" He said finally and she nodded.
"James, um...don't tell anyone?" She asked, "I don't know what Shepard wants to do with this information, if she wants to tell the crew about me, or keep it close. I'm leaving that up to her."
"No, absolutely, yeah I won't tell anyone. It's not really my thing to tell." James said, "Uh...I should get back up to the crew deck."
"By all means, thanks for stopping by." Persephone said and didn't look up as he left. Tears burned her eyes and she wiped them away, cursing herself for being so emotional about this. It seemed she would no longer have to watch herself around Vega, the fact that she was a literal lab experiment appeared to have killed any interest he had shown in her. It was better this way, anyway.