"You're certain you don't want to use the machines on the Normandy?" Dr. Chakwas asked as she poured them each another glass of amber liquid. Shepard was surprised, and happy, that the bottle of Serrice Ice brandy made it through the war intact. The doctor brought it with her from the ship, reminding her that they had made a promise to have a drink every year. Of course, Shepard couldn't refuse the offer.

The din of noise from the crowd out in the living room, dining room, and backyard was comforting. In the hospital, there was always noise, but it was usually the machines attached to her. Yes, she had frequent visitors, and Miranda was great company … being here, though, listening to the light-heartedness made her anxiety ease away slightly. Or maybe the anxiety was ebbing because this was now the third drink she had taken. Six months on medications and little else left her tolerance to be desired.

For now, she enjoyed the nice fuzz that hushed her thoughts and relished in the warm feeling in her muscles. She made a note to ask Liara for a glass of water soon.

"'Machines on the Normandy?'" Shepard repeated, slightly confused. She propped herself up against the kitchen counter, feeling the cool marble press into the small of her back. "What do you mean?"

Karin sighed and smiled. "Your scars, dear."

"Oh!" The commander's hand instinctively went up to touch the left side of her neck. "I forget about them a lot, honestly."

"You're a fan of them, then?"

"Hmm, I suppose I am. Kind of like my own version of badges at this point, don't you think? Cerberus repaired all of my old ones when they brought me back. It was about time I rebuilt the collection."

Sipping some brandy, Karin shook her head, though her smile didn't leave her face. "And I'm sure your other half approves just as much."

"Hey, Garrus gets to show his scars off all the time. Someone needs to give him a run for his money."

"Well, I used to think I did a pretty good job of that on my own," a deep, heavily accented voice said from the doorway.

The two looked over to see Zaeed Massani standing with his arms crossed and a smirk. Garrus's face all but seemed to split in two from his own smile. Shepard pulled away from the counter to hug the mercenary. Zaeed laughed, though his body tensed up to her approach.

"Whoa, there, Shepard," he joked, "don't want your turian to get any ideas."

"Zaeed!" Shepard exclaimed happily. "Where the hell did you come from?"

"Had to do some cleaning up after the bastards finally went down," Zaeed explained, waving his hand dismissively. "Vakarian here got a hold of me a few days ago. Little hurt that you didn't sooner, Shepard."

"I've been in the hospital for six months with a salarian that glares me down if I so much as sneeze too hard," Shepard sighed.

"The great commander Shepard thwarted by a bossy piss of a salarian? Never thought I'd see the day." He pointed at her left eye. "And trying to look like me, too."

She grinned. "Well, it's not a shot in the face."

"No one can top that one, in my opinion."

Garrus scoffed. "Did everyone forget that I took a mech rocket to the face? I think that beats gunshot."

"Dr. Chakwas," Shepard asked, looking to her. "Who wins best scarring?"

"Well, I am the one who operated on Garrus," the doctor replied. "So I have to gloat about my own work, don't I?"

The group laughed together, talking more and more animatedly about their adventures away from each other. Shepard was hardly surprised that Zaeed had already picked up more bounty hunting targets, along with some free contracts that offered a high amount of credits. No matter what happened to their existence, it was obvious that people would go back to their ways, some taking advantage of others' vulnerability. It slightly upset her more that she couldn't immediately go out with Zaeed and do something about it as well. The drinks in her system made it seem like a brilliant idea.

"So, are you in London for another contract, then?" she asked.

"Nah, the goddamn fool thinks he's out of sight over in New York, actually," the man shrugged. "I'll get him taken care of by the end of the week. I just came around here to take your drinks, of course."

"Makes sense." Shepard nudged her shoulder against Garrus, who had been standing beside her. The turian turned to look at her with a slightly questioning look. "Maybe we should get into the business. What do you think, Vakarian? Maybe it's time to dust off your old codename."

The turian laughed. "The rogue Spectre and Archangel back to fight crime again?"

"I think we'd make a pretty good team."

"Yeah, the rogue Spectre who'd help a bunny cross the goddamn road before putting a bullet between another man's eyes," Zaeed chuckled, shaking his head.

Shepard raised an eyebrow in his direction. "And what is that supposed to mean?"

"Admit it, Shepard, you always want to save everyone before you start firing. That's not really a mercenary attitude."

Garrus gently touched Shepard's side as the woman made a slight face. "She wouldn't be Shepard otherwise."

"'Course not. She does drink like a mercenary, though. I gotta give you that."

"Damn right," Shepard laughed, handing him a drink. "Where are you headed to after New York?"

"Might start working on my retirement plan."

"Retirement?" Garrus said. "Zaeed, you really think you can handle that?"

"I suppose it's about time Jessie and I settled down, enjoyed a seaside view."

"I wonder how many times he'd say 'goddamn waves' in a day," Shepard grinned.

Zaeed laughed with the rest of them as another group came in from the living room. Javik and Zaeed greeted each other happily, which made Shepard smile. Ever since the party she threw on the Citadel, she was surprised to see how much the two of them got along. Javik even said that he thought Zaeed was really a Prothean in disguise, rather proudly. As everyone went about their own conversations, Shepard slipped her arms around Garrus's middle, a small smile coming to her face.

"Thank you," she said quietly, giving him a squeeze.

"For what?" Garrus asked.

"For everything … for putting up with me."

The turian laughed before kissing the top of her head. "It's not that hard, Shepard."

"You do know what I miss, though?"

"And what's that?"

She ran a hand slowly across his waist. "I haven't heard your seductive voice in a long time. There was this particular turian on shore leave a little while back that had an amazing seductive voice …."

His pitch lowered as he leaned down to press his forehead to hers. "The amazing part is that I can say anything, and it sounds sexy."

Goosebumps erupted across her skin as a shiver ran through her. "Pretty amazing."

"You know, I did promise I would help you feel better. And I'm sure there's somewhere we could—"

"I would say pardon my interruption," a light voice said from across the room, "but I'm a little worried where this is going while I'm in the room."

The two separated to look over by the small table in the corner. Shepard was slightly confused, thinking she had just imagined hearing something (which wouldn't have been much of a shock to her), but Garrus's reaction confused her more. The turian laughed and shook his head in that direction, his mandibles flared up in a smirk.

"Well, you could have just left the room," he replied.

"And miss all the fun?" the voice continued. "Don't be silly, Garrus."

Shepard squinted at the corner of the room, becoming a little unnerved at that point.

"Oh, come on, Shep. You can't tell me you're that bad at this."

"Kasumi?"

The thief's cloaking deactivated with a small flash of light, revealing Kasumi Goto sitting on top of the kitchen table, her legs crossed casually at her knees. She took a drink from a glass that had appeared along with her before laughing.

"Wow," she joked. "It hasn't been that long, has it? Garrus had me figured out before he started his 'sexy voice' bit."

"He did?" Shepard asked, looking to him.

Garrus gestured up toward his head. "Between the visor detecting heat signatures and my own hearing, yeah. Though my visor couldn't pick up heat signatures back when Kasumi enjoyed that particular game on the Normandy."

"True, that made it more fun," Kasumi said with a smile. "Have you ever seen a turian jump? It's pretty entertaining."

"I've seen him jump from other reasons," Shepard answered with her own smirk.

"The challenge to get me to blush is still alive and well, I see," Garrus sighed.

Walking across the room, the commander hugged Kasumi close to her. Surprisingly, the other woman didn't pull away. Instead, she put her arms around her and squeezed gently. Kasumi was always slender, quick and nimble were primary traits in her line of work, but Shepard felt the outline of her ribs around her middle. Looking closer, she saw a slight sag in the fabric of her outfit, which usually hugged her frame closely. Then, in her face, the smile was slightly strained, as if it had lost some of its light.

"I'm so happy to see you," Shepard said honestly. "I was worried, after the Crucible …"

"Harder to get rid of me than you think, obviously," Kasumi laughed once more. "I could say the same for Zaeed, too. He was chatting with Javik about shooting something, so I didn't want to interrupt."

"How have you been? Where have you been? I was worried you were with one of the missing ships."

"No, our ship was fine. We made it out of the blast, landed back on Earth. It was kind of strange, really. Some parts were perfectly fine, other parts were hardly holding together. I finally came to London after I heard some news that Citadel survivors were being brought here."

"And how long ago was that?" Garrus asked.

The thief was silent for a moment, putting a hand on her chin. "About three months ago, I think."

"Three months?!" Shepard exclaimed. "Why didn't you tell any of us you were here?"

"I had some things to look into around here first. I found Garrus my first couple of days here. I figured if he was here, you wouldn't be too far away."

"Things to look into?"

Kasumi tilted her head down, letting the darkness of her hood cover her face. Shepard had become used to the woman not telling her much about her life. More often than not, she pointed out that she wasn't one to hold on to her past. It was easier to move on, force everything to be okay instead of wallowing in what wasn't. Besides, she could always take what she needed. She was a thief, after all … This time, she sighed, looking to her hands in her lap.

"Keiji's graybox stopped working," she explained. Shepard stayed quiet, leaving her friend to her thoughts for a minute. Kasumi went on, still not looking up. "It was after the end of the war, after you apparently blew them up. Nice going, by the way."

Shepard huffed a laugh. "Thank you … Is there anything someone can do about it?"

"The contacts I found weren't much help. One of the scientists I came across said it seemed like the technology was just kind of erased, like it never existed in the first place. Waste of credits to tell me what I already knew."

"Liara's really good with that type of technology," Garrus pointed out. "Maybe she could take a look at it."

Kasumi shook her head, finally looking up at the two of them. "No, it's all right. It's just been harder to let go than I thought. Keiji would eventually tell me to get over it, anyway."

"I'm sure he wouldn't say that," Shepard argued.

"True, he did have a better way of phrasing things. But I think it's time I do. Work keeps me busy. And with Jacob now off the market …"

"Surprised you didn't go see him first, honestly."

Her smile returned, a little brighter. "Oh, Shep … he's over on Horizon now. That's just too far to travel right now. He's doing great, though."

"So are you planning on sticking around?" Garrus asked.

Kasumi shrugged. "You know the funny part about a post-war galaxy? People still have some many things to steal. I actually have a group together to go after a collector friend of mine. By the sound of it, he's been being a little too stingy, not willing to help out with all of the rebuild efforts. I'm working on some potential buyers. And don't give me that look, Shep. The money is going toward helping rebuild. Well, most of it, anyway."

"Modern-day avenger," Shepard joked. "You're like a space Robin Hood."

"I loved books about him, actually."

"You aren't leaving now, are you?"

"Not immediately. I have a few days before we take off."

"Good." Shepard turned to the cabinet that contained the alcohol in Liara's kitchen. "Take your pick. Kaidan has demanded control of the grill, so we should have some food soon. And I won't take 'no' for an answer. I'm missing too many of my friends as it is."

Kasumi smiled and pulled herself off of the table. She made her own drink, then disappeared before their eyes. Shepard groaned, but allowed her friend to stayed cloaked. Garrus promised to keep an eye out for her heat signature as they split up to go see more of their friends. Traynor and Liara were playing a game of chess, poking fun at each other occasionally. Javik and Zaeed welcomed Garrus into their discussion about weaponry, their rumbling laughs rolling across the crowd. A group had gathered around the grill with Kaidan, his favorite Canadian beer in his hand.

Soon, the group would be eating together. For now, Shepard enjoyed the fresh drink in her hand, and the voices that continued to carry on around her.