Hope stood absolutely still in a parade rest as she thought how best to talk to Hackett. She wasn't stupid- she knew exactly why he had decided to call while the Normandy was getting ready to leave the Citadel.

It had everything to do with that footage.

"Joker, patch him through."

"Okay, but we need to come up with some kind of gesture that tells me that I should hang up on the old bastard."

Shepard shook her head tiredly. "No, I have to see this through."

"Patching you through." Before he cut off he added, "Don't say I didn't try to help."

"Admiral," she greeted, snapping a crisp salute.

Hackett just stared at her, keeping her locked in a formal salute. After more than a minute, he responded to her salute in kind and waited until she was in her parade rest. "Is anyone else in the room with you?" he demanded.

Looking around, she shook her head. "No, sir."

Again, Hackett fell silent. Shepard, once again, felt like she was a little girl on Arcturus getting ready to be chastised for something that most other people would have let slide.

"Tell me about your shore leave, Commander."

"Pretty typical for one of my shore leaves, honestly- starts out pretty relaxed, turns into a lot of shooting," she shrugged.

Hackett rubbed the bridge of his nose and sighed tiredly. "I've never told you this, but I've made a career out of protecting you. I don't know if you ever realized that. I told Alenko when he was back in Huerta and I don't know if he believed me."

"Excuse me?"

"Hope, after Elysium, I made a promise to your parents. I promised that I would protect you from any shit storm that could come your way. You were unhappy with the cameras- I made sure they stayed away. Then, after you joined the N-program-"

"Hackett-"

"After you joined the N-program, it was easier because most of your ops were under the radar. You didn't know how to fail and you didn't need the fanfare. None-the-less, I fought to be highly respected among the Alliance just in case I needed to uphold my promise in the future.

"Then you were chosen to be a Spectre candidate- the only human candidate- and I knew that I would have to step in once again sooner rather than later. The Normandy was a very special design and, when it was half way complete, we decided that she would be yours. You would need a ship of your own when you became a Spectre- there was never a doubt in my mind that you would become one. I made sure that Anderson was placed in command and that you were his XO- I lied to Alenko in that regard."

"Why are you telling me this?" Hope asked, feeling truly shaken to her core by what he was telling her.

She couldn't believe it.

She had never suspected.

How many other things had he done to help her? Did he take the heat from the Battle of the Citadel? How much else had he not told her?

"Over the years I had stored favors. Everything from covering shifts to keeping some very important secrets. All of those stored favors were there for when I needed to help you. I kept everything wrote down and kept a backup for when it was needed to call upon those people. Since you've become a Spectre, I've called in a great many number of favors.

"Hope, I'm almost out of them."

Shifting from foot to foot, she murmured, "I never asked you to help me."

"Hope, I was there when you were born and watched you grow up into the woman and soldier that you are. The thing that's special about that is that you never have to ask."

"Why are you telling me all of this?" she repeated.

"You broke the one rule that you've always followed while in the Alliance."

"Fraternization?"

Hackett gave her a look that said he knew she was being ridiculous because he'd known about Kaidan since the beginning. "Don't ask, don't tell."

Shepard narrowed her eyes. "Okay, so now what?"

"Protocol dictates that you both be court martialed and brought in for questioning. Major Alenko would be dishonorably discharged-"

"I'm his Commanding Officer- rank aside- and, if you let that happen, I promise you that I'd fill them in on our relationship back when I outranked him. I would rather you and the other admirals strip me of my rank as opposed to him- it wouldn't be the first time."

It hadn't been her intention to hurt Hackett with her words, but he flinched as though she had physically assaulted him. She didn't want to hurt him because he had been a constant in her life- someone she could always count on to listen.

"I'm not asking for your help, Steven," she informed him, dropping any façade of formality. "I will gladly stand trial for breach of protocol."

"I could order you to stop seeing him."

"You could add disobeying a direct order to my court martial."

Hackett lowered his head, his brow wrinkled in thought. "It'll really hit the fan when you save the galaxy," Hackett warned her.

"I'm thinking of retiring."

Hackett blinked at her, his mouth opening and closing as though he couldn't get words out. "Hope-"

"If the Alliance wants to punish Kaidan because of something that happened while on an under-cover mission, they can kiss their savior good-bye. I can send in my letter if that'd help."

"You're not retiring, Hope. Hell, I'll say that the Alliance can't punish you two over something that happened on the Citadel while…while in the middle of Spectre business."

"I'm not asking for your help."

"Didn't I already tell you that you would never have to? I just have one question before I go and do this."

"Yeah?"

"This is for than me, by the way. Your parents would like to know the answer as well."

"And yet you haven't asked a question to which I could give an answer to."

Hackett gave her a disapproving look that she had grown to know over the years. She was even pretty sure that she could copy it exactly. "It's safe to assume that you're pretty serious about him."

"That's not a question."

"What are your plans with Alenko?"

Hope felt her eyes widen as she gaped at the image of Hackett. "We're in the middle of a galactic war!" she reminded him- as though he could possibly forget.

"Nate wants to know if he and Kaidan need to have a sit down and have a talk about the future- don't shoot the messenger."

"And, by daddy, you mean him and you."

"Apples and oranges, Hope."

"What's going to happen about our little…display?"

Hackett looked down at a datapad that he was holding and nodded absently to himself. "When you save the galaxy, nothing'll come from it. The Alliance will, no doubt, fully back your relationship with the Major. You're due for a promotion anyway."

Hope smiled and nodded. "Thank you," she murmured.

"Take care, Hope."

"Tell dad that he could call sometime. I wanna talk to him too, you know."

"Oh, I'm sure he'll be calling in no time. Hackett out."

As Hackett's image flickered away, Shepard turned and saw Kaidan standing just inside the room. He looked a mixture of shocked and nervous.

"Your dad wants to talk to me?"

"Apparently."

Shepard walked towards him and leaned her weight into him as he wrapped his arms around her. "Well, if he's anything like you, then I'm in trouble."

"Nah," she assured him, "I'm his little girl- I'll protect you."

He kissed the top of her head. "Wanna head upstairs?"

"What're we waiting for?"