"This. Is. Awesome." Liara exclaimed ten days later as they stood in the busy street of the lower levels in New Chicago. Before the three was a newly built building, four stories high and a couple blocks long. It was made of a mixture of burgundy stone and alienite, and had a big park-like field, a basketball court, and a pool. Much of the surrounding buildings were cleaned up or in the process of being torn down to make more room. A stone sign above the double French doors read "Starcourse Orphanage".
"I remodeled my old orphanage." Mali said with pride. "Now kids will have a place to stay off the streets." Liara grabbed her into a hug.
"Remodeled?" Shepard scoffed. "This is way more than just remodeled!" He'd seen old pictures of the ratty two story shack.
"Just wait till I build the laser tag and paintball course." Mali smiled.
"I'm so proud." Liara smiled. Something caught her eye off to the left. A familiar woman with dark hair was leaning against a street corner with her arms crossed, smiling.
"Uh, why don't you guys go explore for a second." Mali said.
"Ok." Shepard nodded, taking Liara's hand. Mali watched with a smile as they walked toward the field, and then turned away. As much as they wouldn't admit it, Mali could tell things were starting to heat up between the two. She jogged passed the gurgling fountain in the middle of the square in front of the orphanage and went to the street corner that had caught her attention.
"Miranda?" Mali asked, jogging over to the woman.
"Hey Mali." The woman greeted her. She had been released from the hospital at almost the same time Mali had been. She had only stayed a couple of weeks with them before leaving very suddenly. This was the first time Mali had seen her since. "I heard you got the Medal of Honor."
"Yah. You deserve it more than me though, for all those years locked up." Miranda smiled a soft smile.
"It feels good to be free again." She took a deep breath of air.
"What are you going to do now that you're out?" Mali asked.
"Oh, this and that." The woman replied mysteriously. "Actually, this is the reason I came by, we have something to discuss with you. Kasumi?" A shadow melded from the alley behind and came to stand by Miranda's side, it was a woman in a black hood.
"Uh, hi." Mali raised her hand in a wave awkwardly, rather surprised. Cadence could take lessons from this girl, she was so good at stealth.
"Somali, glad to finally meet you." Her voice was soft, but hard, like she had witnessed more pain than anyone should.
"You know it was Kasumi who named you, right?" Miranda threw out there, referring to the mission where they had taken Mali from Udina's ship.
"Uh, no." Mali blinked, surprised. "No I didn't."
"It didn't feel right for me to leave a child at a doorstep with no name." Kasumi said, "I named you after my great grand-mother. She used to make mean chicken dumplings. Carry the name well."
"Oh, yah—I will." Mali responded, nodding vigorously. Anything to stay on the good side of this woman—she didn't even want to think about the bad side (Miranda was chuckling, she knew the effect Kasumi had on people). "So…the reason you came…?" Mali asked.
"Oh, don't look at us, we were just the escorts." Miranda said, smiling. She was looking at someone over Mali's shoulder. Mali spun around and came nose to nose with Abbara Finch.
"Professor Finch?" Mali asked surprised, and a little horrified. Ok, a lot more than a little.
"Don't be so surprised Mali." Finch smiled. "Look at me and you," She said, turning and taking in the square, "back here again at the orphanage. I love what you've done with the place." She turned back. With horror, Finch's nose jogged something in the teen's memory. Mali imagined a red frizzy wig and tattered clothing.
"Mrs. McCruely?!" Mali almost screamed. "What the heck is going on here?" Finch chuckled.
"We work for a secret organization that tries to protect the galaxy from people who would destroy it. That organization has taken a special interest in you Mali, for many years, and now they would like to enlist you into their forces. We are called SOLVE." Mali looked at Miranda.
"Are you a part of this too?" Miranda nodded.
"SOLVE is the reason you didn't grow up a slave to Udina. That was us, taking you from his ship."
"And the reason you found Yane and learned how to survive and fight." Finch added.
"Explain that to me," Mali whirled on her, "how stabbing Liara helped the galaxy?!" She asked furiously. Finch nodded.
"Fair question. She was going to take you away, and we couldn't have that happening yet, it wasn't time, and it would take you from under Udina's eye. I made sure it was a flesh wound, and by stabbing her I also got you to move on from the orphanage. We knew that it was only a matter of time before Udina found you, and so where you were, so would be his agents, and our chance to gain information on what he was planning. We had known for a while that he was working on something big, and that you were his key. So we made sure you were far enough away that you would be safe, but not far enough away that he wouldn't be able to keep working. Then, we provided you with the opportunity to stop his plan and save the galaxy. SOLVE has been in every stage of your whole life, watching out for you."
"Or using me." Mali countered.
"We knew you could handle it."
"I almost broke, many times!"
"But you never did." Finch replied. "We only have one goal: protect the galaxy. If you want to do that, we will always have room for you in our ranks. Think about it, Mali. There are still so many pending threats out there; the galaxy is never fully safe." Mali frowned.
"How do I know you're not like Cerberus?" Finch raised her arms, indicating the street they were on.
"The evidence is right here. People are alive, this city isn't burning to the ground. Our plans worked out. You know how to contact us if you want in." Finch indicated Miranda. The three adults turned back to the alley.
"Hey! Your name isn't really Abbara Finch, is it?" Mali called. Finch turned, a smile on her face.
"Not even close." She said, before the three of them melted into the shadows. Mali turned away, a little giddy from the encounter. She spied Liara and Shepard across the square, waiting for her. She skipped over and met them halfway, at the fountain. Mali didn't know what all of that had meant, but a feeling in the pit of her stomach was growing, something she didn't fully understand yet, like something cold had brushed her skin. If anything was clear to Mali, it was that it was in her blood to protect the galaxy, and no matter what she did, that would always be her fate. She was brought back by Shepard's hand on her shoulder and his question.
"Was that Professor Finch and Miranda?" Shepard asked, peering into the alleyway. "What'd they want?" He asked.
"An autograph." Mali joked, trying to shake the feeling for now. Shepard smiled and mussed her hair.
"Why don't we go get some ice cream?" he asked. Mali laughed.
"Here in the lower levels?" She snorted.
"Then in the higher ones," he responded, "we could say hi to that policewoman friend of yours." Mali wrapped one arm around Liara's shoulders and her other around Shepard's, smiling. Life was good.
"That's fine with me, as long as we get into a gang fight or two along the way." Mali laughed as they walked toward the shuttle bay. Behind them, the orphanage's door was opened for the first child. A raggedy girl with blonde hair, about five years old.