AN: Another weekly update. This shit is like clockwork. Except bad clockwork because it's only technically been six days...

Are you going to give me shit about my time keeping or are you just going to enjoy the extra day? I leave the choice up to you.

Thanks to everyone who reads, with special thanks to everyone who follows/favs and super special thanks to everyone who has reviewed. You guys rock!

Super special thanks to 2kinds from DA for betaing for me!

Hope you guys enjoy!

Chapter Twenty Eight - Changing Plans

The Citadel - Kara's Bakery

2253 - 57 Years After the End of the Reaper War

"Yeah, I'm not buying it," Hilary announced, interrupting her own story again.

"Not buying what?" Riina asked, not quite believing how much work this was turning out to be.

"That you didn't go to Auntie Jane and Uncle Garrus with this because you didn't want to upset them. You have to know that they have expected you to ask-"

"Just as Vi asked, I know," Riina said sharply, cutting her off. "But I think we both know that they avoided the… harsher aspects of the truth."

"And I think we both know that was only because they wanted to spare a little girl from the truth about her heroes. But they were never your heroes, were they?"

"Don't sound so upset about it. I never had heroes. I don't have enough faith in people."

Hilary spent a moment regarding her carefully before responding. "You know, ever since you were a little girl, you've had a particularly annoying talent for lying."

"I guess it's just one more side effect of being a - what was it you said, again? 'Lost little girl'? 'Abandoned by her parents'?"

"I might agree that it goes back to your parents but-"

"Look, Hilary, I'm kind of pressed for time. Can we just get back to the story?"

"Of course…"

The Normandy

2220 - 24 Years After the End of the Reaper War

"You could-"

"No!" Sarah cut her friend off, realising where she was going. "Not without permission."

"Sarah, she is clearly terrified. We need to communicate with her and you might be the only one capable of getting through. Can you honestly say that you haven't purposefully 'listened in' on anyone since you figured out that you could?"

Sarah looked away as her thoughts turned to how she had listened in on the councillors earlier that day. But that felt different. She did that because she needed to succeed. Not for her, but for others. Plus, they had been adults. Intruding on this young girl's thoughts without permission seemed much, much worse. "This is different…"

"Sarah, she can't give you permission. If nothing else, you have to assure her."

Sarah sighed before turning her attention back to the hybrid girl. "If you can understand us, now would be the time to let us know."

The girl continued to look scared but, after a few moments, she nodded, allowing Sarah to breathe a sigh of relief.

"So, you can understand us?"

She nodded once more but said nothing.

"Don't worry," Sarah assured. "We won't hurt you. I promise." She indicated to her own plates. "See? I'm like you."

The girl's terror seemed to lessen at that but she still didn't speak, simply nodding once more.

"Can you speak?" Sarah finally asked her.

The girl paused for a few moments before shaking her head.

"I… I might have a way we can communicate with each other. But only if you agree."

The girl seemed uncertain at that, shrinking away from her.

"It's okay. You don't have to if you don't want to," Sarah assured her with a smile.

The girl looked towards Tia, frowning at her.

"I think I'd better go," Tia said, sensing that the girl was distrustful of her.

"Okay," Sarah agreed before turning her attention back to the girl as Tia left the room. "You don't have to be scared here, you know? We won't hurt you."

The girl frowned at her before reaching forward, seemingly examining Sarah. After a moment, Sarah realised that she was looking for defects.

"You won't find any," Sarah told her. "I'm a doctor and, with some help from friends, I managed to figure out a cure for our defects. I gave you some before. You should already be feeling the effects."

The girl looked over herself immediately, her gaze immediately drawn to her hand, which was still deformed.

Sarah gave her an apologetic smile. "That might need a little surgery to help it along," she explained. "But it's perfectly fixable. If you even want it fixed. Maybe you like it like that…"

The girl shook her head immediately, widening Sarah's smile.

"Okay then. We'll schedule that as soon as possible."

The girl smiled before frowning. She seemed as if she was trying to figure out how to communicate something.

"Can you write?" Sarah asked.

The girl shook her head.

"I guess you can't read either, huh?"

Another shake.

"If you want to communicate something you can. I can… I can see what you're trying to say but only if you let me."

The girl paused for a moment before nodding.

"Okay. Hold out your hand. This is easier if I'm touching you."

The girl held out her hand, a little cautiously, and Sarah took it in hers, opening herself up to the girl's thoughts, fighting her own defences and fears along the way. It wasn't easy - it had been hard enough when she had first tried this with Red - but it wasn't as difficult as it would have been just mere weeks ago, showing her just how much progress she had made with her effort to get a handle on her abilities.

How is this supposed to work?

"I can hear what you're trying to say," Sarah answered the girl's unspoken thought, causing her to suddenly rip her hand from Sarah's grasp. "I… I'm sorry if I startled you," Sarah apologised.

The girl watched her warily before holding her hand out once more, allowing Sarah to take it again.

What are you?

"That is a question that even I can't quite answer. Mostly, I'm a hybrid, just like you, but… I have a few extras. Like the telepathy."

But you don't work for Cerberus.

"No. I never did."

But you're a hybrid.

"Right. But I was born, not grown in a lab."

I don't understand.

Sarah paused for a moment before trying to turn the connection the other way, to give the hybrid her knowledge, wondering if it would even work.

I… I understand now. I think…

So, apparently it did, Sarah figured. "Sorry if that was a little weird… I didn't quite know how to explain without a lot of preamble to give you the correct context…"

It's okay, the girl assured her.

Sarah realised at that point that she had been referring to her as 'the hybrid girl'. "Do you have a name?"

A name?

"Maybe a… a designation or something? Something I can call you…"

Hybrid Unit 1205

"That's not very personal, is it?"

Personal?

"Is that what you want to be called? Usually, children are given names when they're born though, in some cultures, they can choose their own names when they come of age. You can choose your own name if you want."

The girl just stared at her blankly for a few moments before answering. I don't know what to choose…

"Well, you've got as long as you like to decide."

"So, are you going to tell me what's wrong?" Liara asked as she made her way over to where Tia was working.

"Nothing," Tia told her quickly. "I just… wanted to get to work…"

"Right. Only about two minutes after you got back here, you got right to work?"

Tia shrugged, refusing to lift her gaze from her work. "I had plenty of time off when I was on the Citadel."

"Seriously, what's wrong?"

Tia sighed, rubbing her eyes with the heel of her hands before replying. "The hybrid girl… she was so terrified of me…"

"You mean the girl who has been systematically abused for the entirety of her short life span? Who has probably never even seen an asari before?"

"Okay, well, when you put it like that my worries seem dumb but… I don't know… I see how Sarah is with her and… I'm not like that. I can't just… I don't find it so easy to… You know what? Never mind…"

Liara regarded her for a moment before deciding to leave it alone, figuring that Tia would bring it up again when she wanted to talk about it. "Well, I was going to find you anyway. You know that lead you found yesterday?"

"Yeah?"

"It paid off. We've got a location for a Cerberus base."

Tia smiled at that. "Good. I think everyone's ready to take this fight to them."

Liara nodded in agreement, pausing for a few moments before talking again. "You know, my offer's still open…"

"Offer?"

"You know, the one you didn't give me an answer to before you rushed off back to the Citadel."

"I…" Tia sighed, shaking her head a little. "I'm still on probation, remember? I doubt you'd be able to convince anyone else to allow a criminal of my caliber to work for the Shadow Broker."

"On the contrary, both Shepard and the Executor have agreed. You'd simply be transferred from Solana's watch to Shepard's."

Tia thought for another few moments before sighing again. "I would be lying if I said I wasn't tempted but… I know that, once Cerberus is dealt with, Philip wants to return to the Citadel for good."

"Plans can change," Liara reasoned.

"I know. I… I'll think about it."

"Come on, let's get this info to the others."

"Do you not think that you might be handing them exactly what they want?" Tiberius asked, a little tiredly, as he followed Sarah into the shuttle bay.

"Red, I love you dearly but, if you don't stop trying to find reasons for me to stay on the ship, I'll make sure you're the one staying put and we'll see how you like it," Sarah countered as she moved to the weapons bench, getting her gear ready.

"They're not looking for me," Tiberius reasoned. "It just seems like you're making it easy for them."

"No, Red, I'm going to show them just how difficult killing me is," she told him as she spun around to face him, a fire burning bright behind her eyes as her subharmonics growled a little with determination. "I promised that I wouldn't leave you again and I meant it." Her tone softened as she leaned forward, lightly kissing him in an attempt to reassure him.

He responded by drawing her closer to him, deepening the kiss with his own slight growl. "I'm going to hold you to that," he said as he pulled away.

"I think I'd be disappointed if you didn't. Now, come on, we've got a Cerberus base to deal with." They pulled away from each other, only to realise that they had an audience as Shepard cleared her throat.

"You two are so cute it's nauseating," she told her daughter as she picked up her own gear.

Sarah smiled at that, blushing more than a little, before changing the subject. "So, back me up here, there's absolutely no reason why I shouldn't be going with you guys, right?"

"You mean apart from the fact that you're the one person they're looking for?"

Sarah just glared in reply.

"I was joking. Of course not. Your training is more than up to scratch."

"Told you," Sarah said to her bondmate, earning her a slight shake of his head as the two women headed off towards the shuttle.

"She gets her suicidal tendencies from her mother," Garrus explained to the younger turian. "But, while it may not be always easy to remember, Shepards are very good at taking care of themselves."

"I know, it's just… Never mind…"

"Hey, you're not the only one to lose your bondmate. I know it's difficult. But, trust me, if there was any real chance of her getting hurt, her mother and I wouldn't let her go. This is just a routine mission. If anything, we're going in overpowered…"

"Hey, I brought you lunch," Philip said as he approached where Tia was working.

"Thanks," she replied, taking the sandwich from him with a grateful smile.

"Only you could celebrate a breakthrough with more work," he joked as he pulled up a chair next to her, sitting on it backwards.

Tia gave him a brief smile at that but it faded quickly. "I guess this kind of work just agrees with me."

"Don't pull that BS with me, Tia. Something's bothering you."

Her smile returned as she abandoned her work, turning towards him. "Sometimes it's annoying that you can read me like a book."

"So, are you going to tell me what's up or not?" he asked, ignoring her distraction attempt.

She sighed, folding her arms. "It's… When you called me back to the Citadel I decided to stay to help keep an eye on Tiberius. And… I wanted to see if we could be something again… But, before I left, I was offered a permanent position here as an agent of the Shadow Broker. She says that, if I want, I can still have it."

"Is that what you want?" Philip asked, careful to keep his tone neutral.

"I… I don't know. Maybe. It's… Don't get me wrong, I like the Citadel, but…"

"Whenever you talk about your old life, you say that you're glad to have left but… this seems like a step back towards that."

"This is different. This is for the right reasons. And I can't deny that there are some aspects that I miss…"

"So, this is what you want? Instead of coming back home with me?"

"You could stay here too. And it would only be for a few years. I mean, come on, it's not as if there's any reason for us to stay put."

"There could be," he reasoned quietly.

Tia froze as she realised what he was saying. "I… You know, I'm still hungry. I think I'm gonna go get something else."

"Tia?" Philip called after her as she rushed from the room, but she didn't look back.