Shepard had noticed that Jack was quieter than usual following her talk with Lt. Sanders. Donnelly seemed unconcerned about his significant other's behavior, and when pressed he'd told Shepard that Jack was like a cat. "Just give her some space, sir, and she'll eventually let us know what's up." The Commander trusted the engineer's judgement. But he couldn't help but feel that itch in his mind which came with knowing there was some problem in his crew that needed to be dealt with.

At least Jack seemed in decent spirits as their group strolled along one of the Presidum's walkways. Shepard was making good on his promise to Jack while also making it a bit of a 'double-date'. Tali and Jack strolled in front of the two men, and the quarian acted as tour guide for the biotic. Surprisingly, Jack seemed at least a little interested in the sights that Tali pointed out.

They had one minor incident on the way to the restaurant. As they rounded a corner, a small ferret-like man popped out of a shrubbery. A camera drone popped out as well and hovered over his shoulder. "Commander Shepard? Tim Howard, Galax News Network. What do you say to the allegations that-"

Both Tim and the drone became surrounded by a blue glow which then pitched them over the railing and into one of the Presidum's many lakes.

Shepard laughed. "Thanks," he said to Jack. She just shrugged with a little smile. It was surprising that someone had tried an ambush interview. It had started out as normal curiousity, but then the scrutiny had gotten really ridiculous after the first few days on the Citadel. The final straw had been when Pat Simons had tried to do a little clothes shopping. A paparazzi had actually barged into the copilot's dressing room while she was changing.

As a result, Shepard did two things. First, he sent out a press release politely asking that all journalists and photographers refer any questions to the Council and their press department, and to also please cease bothering the Normandy's crew.

Second, he had let Jack and Kasumi off of the leash.

They'd been told not to kill or permanently injure any of them. But the duo had been given full permission to get...creative...if anybody continued to harass the crew.

Five of the would-be photographers had been found naked and duct-taped to the underside of the Presidium's skybridges. Two more had been found naked as well, but this time with their heads jammed into each other's crotches; the pair had been tied together by a long piece of steel tubing bent around them like twine.

The one who'd invaded Simons' privacy had gotten the worst of it, after the twit had tried it again with Kelly Chambers. What Jack had done skirted the edge of the 'no permanent injury' rule, but the proctologists assured Shepard that the man would make a full recovery...after they'd fished all the bits of camera drone out of him.

C-Sec, for their part, had taken a look at the circumstances, a look at Shepard's Spectre status, and then had pointedly looked the other way.

The word had gone out. Don't bother Shepard's crew. They were now down to a few die-hards like the reporter currently going for a swim.

The restaurant lived up to its billing. They were met at the door by a polite asari in a subtly tasteful tuxedo-like garment. "Welcome, sir. So glad you could join us this evening."

Shepard smiled. "Thanks. I called ahead, I'm..."

The asari laughed. "No need for introductions, Commander. You're all famous by this point. Please, follow me."

----------------------------------------

They even had quarian meals available. The waiter assured them that they were freshly prepared but also thoroughly sterilized, and also of the proper consistency for Tali's suit interface.

The evening passed pleasantly. Jack's order of three separate entrees made the waiter raise one eyebrow, but nothing more. Old stories flowed along with the wine. Donnelly told of his drinking contest with a turian aboard the Perugia, and both Shepard and Tali spoke of funny little moments during the chase after Saren.

"...so I'm doing my rounds of the ship," said Shepard with a smile. "And I'm walking by the sleeper pods when the door to one of the pods flies open. It was perfect timing. Bam, the door catches me right in the nose and I go down. I'm clutching at my face. I look up, my eyes are streaming and blood's pouring out of my nose, and I see Tali tumbling out of the pod. She starts darting around like a hummingbird, looking everywhere at once." He laughed heartily. "And all the time she's saying 'What is it? What broke?'. It took me a good ten minutes to calm her down."

Tali shrugged. "It's not my fault if you humans build your ships so quiet. On quarian ships, if it's quiet then something has gone seriously wrong."

Jack kept silent until Shepard pressed her for a story as well. "Most of the sh..stuff I've done isn't fun to talk about." She thought a bit. "Although there was that one time when I got charged with felony vandalism by the hanar." Jack laughed. "I'd managed to make a new crater on one of their moons with a space station."

"A space station?" asked Tali. "Was that the one you kinda-sorta stole?"

The biotic gave a grin. "They shouldn't have left the keys in it, is all I'm sayin'. Anyways, I was on the shuttle and running the fu..heck away. But I had the rear camera on and I was admiring the light show. It was a pretty nice explosion, if I do say so myself. And then the comm board lit up and I knew it was them even before I opened it. That was the only time I've seen one of the jellies just lose it."

Shepard laughed. "I can't believe it. I spent thirty minutes arguing with a hanar once and it never even raised its voice."

Jack grinned wider. "It turns out they really liked that moon. I guess there was a Prothean base on it, so the silly fu..fellows though it was holy ground. That was the first and only time I was ever cursed out by a big stupid jellyfish."

As they left the restaurant, Shepard felt a touch on his shoulder. Jack twitched her head over to a figure standing some distance away. "She smells like a reporter, Boss. You want me to give her swimming lessons?"

Shepard looked closer at the reporter. He recognized the dark hair and cinnamon-colored complexion. "Actually, I think this one I'll talk to. You guys go on ahead. I'll catch up in a bit."

Jack looked surprised, but shrugged and walked off with Tali and Donnelly.

Shepard strolled towards the reporter, who straightened up and waved cautiously as he drew close. She was clearly trying hard to not appear as an 'ambusher'. "Good evening, Commander Shepard. Khalisah Al-Jilani, Westerlund News. Do you have a moment?"

He nodded, and a small camera drone moved out from behind the reporter. "Good to see you again, Khalisah."

Al-Jilani smiled a trifle obsequiously. "And you too, Commander. I just wanted to talk about how vindicated you must feel now that the Council has reinstated you."

"I was reinstated months ago," said Shepard. He kept his voice level. "It was during my first visit to the Citadel after my absence. I had an ongoing mission in the Terminus Systems, which is why I haven't been around. Now that the mission is concluded, I'm back to report to the Council."

"I see. And what does that report cover? The Council hasn't been saying much. As you can imagine, there have been many rumors about your mission. Our viewers would love to hear about it straight from you."

"I prevented a race in the Terminus Systems from constructing a dangerously capable artificial intelligence."

The reporter's smile became more predatory. "I have sources that say this 'artificial intelligence' was actually a Reaper."

"The Council has not confirmed the existence of Reapers," replied Shepard. "Some of the details are classified, but I can say that this AI would have been a significant threat."

"So is the Council changing its policies?"

"Not at all. The Council has always forbidden the construction of true AIs except under very controlled circumstances. As you can imagine, this particular incident was about as far from 'controlled' as one could get."

"I'm sure. But my sources also say that..."

Shepard laughed gently. "I'm sure you have plenty of sources. Some of them may even be true."

Al-Jilani looked down and sighed. She touched a few controls on her omni-tool and the camera drone's lights shut off. "You're as smooth as you ever were, Shepard. Can we talk? Off the record, I mean."

The Commander tilted his head. "Off the record? Really?"

The reporter's eyes were now haunted. "Really. No bullshit."

He waved a hand towards her for her to continue.

She stepped a little closer. "Your report was leaked. The full report."

"To whom?"

"Me. And just me, for now."

Shepard looked levelly at her. "Did you read it all?"

She nodded and looked away. "Yes. It's true. It was all true. You were right about all of it. The Reapers...they exist." Al-Jilani's face hardened. "And you saw what the Council said about you while you were gone. Why do you still protect them?"

He sighed. "If you read that report, then you know why. My personal feelings are not important right now. Yes, it would be satisfying to go public and show them up as a bunch of horse's asses...Councilor Anderson excluded, of course."

"Of course."

"But then what? Trust in the Council is what keeps a good chunk of the galaxy working together. It only works because the races think it works."

Al-Jilani hugged herself. "And if there's division and mistrust...it will be that much worse when the Reapers return."

"If, not when. I'm not giving up hope. And I need the Council and their resources if we're going to have a shot at stopping them."

There was a long moment while the reporter stared off into space. Finally she nodded. "You've made your case, Commander. I'm deleting that report. Even if it is the biggest scoop of my career."

He looked her in the eyes. "I thank you. I can give you an exclusive bit of news in return. I'm resigning my Alliance commission."

She blinked in surprise. "On the record?"

"On the record. I need to be able to work with everyone. Some still suspect me of being an Alliance puppet."

The reporter shook her head. "I'm sorry to hear that, Shepard. I've never made it a secret that I distrust the Council. This seems like you're getting in bed with them even more, so to speak."

"I need them, Al-Jilani. But I don't trust them either. That's why I also need people like you. The Council knows they screwed up, so they're going to be on their best behavior for a while. It's up to people like you to keep asking the tough questions. Keep up the pressure. We need you to keep them honest."

She gave a wry smile. "I can see why you inspire such loyalty, Commander. Have a nice night."

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Mordin Solus began to get what humans would call 'antsy'. It had been a whole two weeks since any major crisis had arisen which required his unique talents. He knew that Shepard and his crew were recuperating and preparing for the next missions, but the seemingly endless wait grated at him. Besides, he had other work to do.

He thought about it as he strolled through Zakera Ward. The task ahead of him would ordinarily fill him with frustration. Undo something he'd spent so much effort on? Madness! But he had seen first-hand the pain that he'd caused. It had to be done.

As the salarian rounded a corner he saw a huge bulk ahead of him. The krogan had his back to him, and was presently occupied with a trio of females that were chatting and taking pictures with him. One was a turian, and the other two human.

"So how big is your gun, Grunt?" asked the turian. Mordin picked up the double meaning even though he didn't possess anything resembling a mammalian sex drive.

Grunt, however, let the meaning sail right over his huge head. "It is very large," he replied. "I can show you."

One of the human females laughed. "Oooh, yeah, Saloria. Let Grunt show you his big gun."

Mordin was fascinated. Surely the krogan realized that they were...what was the word...'flirting' with him?

The krogan did not. "Here! Isn't it nice?"

The third female laughed. "Yes, it is. Can I touch it?"

"Of course!"

Mordin had seen enough. Besides, if Grunt caught sight of him he might call him over. So far, his interactions with the super-soldier had been short. Mordin wanted to keep it that way. The doctor slipped back around the corner and began walking the other way.

His mind turned back to the problem at hand. Dispersal was going to be a problem. He might be able to come up with a way to reverse the genetic flaw that he had so carefully re-crafted, but it would have to be done quickly. He had deliberately made the genophage able to deal with the famed krogan adapatability, and any normal attempt to simply negate it would fail...

His musings were cut short as he came to a wall he didn't remember being there. He looked up and realized that the 'wall' was actually Grunt.

"Doctor Solus." The usually amiable krogan now looked anything but friendly. "We have much to discuss."

One smaller part of Mordin's mind admired the krogan's speed and stealth. The other, larger, part of his mind began to look for possible escape routes.

Grunt tilted his head. "I do mean discuss, Doctor." His expression became oddly...determined.

That quieted some of Mordin's fear, but didn't dissipate it completely. "Certainly," he said aloud. "What is subject under discussion?"

"The future of the krogan."

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Kasumi tightened her arm around Garrus' narrow waist. "Thank you for the meal, cutie." She was wearing the lavender dress he'd bought for her on Illium. After some modification by Tali, it now had a thin diaphanous hood she could pull over her head if needed...which was part of its fully functioning cloak.

He patted her small hand with his huge clawed one. "Don't mention it. Thanks for agreeing to come to Palaven."

The two of them leaned on the railing overlooking one of the Presidium's lakes. Kasumi looked up at the artificial sky overhead. It was darkened in a simulated night. "It wasn't that big of a sacrifice on my part," she said. "I'd be an idiot to pass up the chance to see where you came from."

If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it.

Garrus shrugged. "It's just a place. I think it's beautiful, but then I would, wouldn't I?" He chuckled. "Still, I appreciate it. Let me know if there's something I can do to repay you."

The little thief looked around. There were a few others around this time of night, but for the most part they were alone. Her next request was something she'd been nerving herself up to for a while. Kasumi took a deep breath before she continued. "Actually, there is something else I want you to do."

She let go of his arm and turned to face him. Garrus, for his part, looked somewhat concerned. She knew he'd gotten good enough at reading human expressions to realize she was being serious. Kasumi held both of his hands in hers as she looked up into his deep-set blue eyes.

"Garrus, I want you to bite me."

The turian blinked in surprise. "You mean...actually bite you?"

She nodded.

"You do know what that means for turians, right?"

"Of course, you doofus dinosaur. I wouldn't have asked otherwise."

He stared at her for a long moment, so long that her heart started to sink. Had she misjudged his feelings for her?

Then he squeezed her hands. "I can't tell you how...full that makes me feel, Kasumi. I'd be honored to. Let's head back and..."

She shook her head. "No. Right here, right now. I don't care who's watching. I want you to mark me as yours."

He chuckled again. "We mark each other, dear." The turian went down on one knee in front of her and then slowly leaned his his head in to the nape of her neck. His warm breath washed over her skin as Kasumi gripped his shoulder. Her heart was pounding harder than it ever had, even in the Collector base. Every instinct was screaming at her to run, there was an apex predator at her neck who was getting ready to tear out her throat...

Garrus gently placed his open mouth at the base of her neck. Then, without warning, he clamped down. There was a brief, shocking pain as the sharp edges of his mouth sank into her skin, followed by his equally sharp fangs. Kasumi gritted her teeth. She was not going to cry out, damn it all. He didn't bite down hard, just enough to break the skin. He carefully opened his mouth and let go, and then she felt his tongue gently lap at her fresh wound.

"Now it's your turn," he said, and tilted his neck so that he was exposed to her. There was a patch of bare, pebbled skin there amongst all of the natural armor plating.

Kasumi hesitated. "I'll do my best. We humans don't have teeth as sharp as yours..."

"I trust you. Get in there and bite me, monkey-girl."

She did as he asked. It went all right, although she definitely made more of a mess of it. Garrus was a champ about it though. His blood tasted odd, not quite as metallic as human blood. Once it was over he stood and they gazed at each other for a long moment.

"I'm trying to come up with something carefree and snarky to say, but I can't," said Garrus. "I guess I've lost that particular defense mechanism, eh?"

"Only for the moment, I hope," she replied with a grin. "I'd hate to have you get all serious on me...husband."

Garrus laughed. "Well, it's not quite official yet...wife. There's a ceremony we'll need to go through first. And my parents are going to want to throw a big party when they hear the news."

She grasped his forearm. "I see some things are universal. They'll be okay with me being a squishy human?"

"My father might click his mandibles at the idea, but my family was pretty sure I was going to die alone. They'll be happy that I'm not off by myself battering my head against an unjust universe."

"So that's settled, then," she said with satisfaction. She took his arm and the pair strolled off. "Now, we should get our story straight. Let's say I'm an antiques dealer, and you first met me on Illium. I happened to be on the Citadel when you came back and we reconnected."

"Our eyes met across a crowded room," mused Garrus. "A whirlwind romance, then we're separated by cruel fate. Followed by a sudden, happy reunion. Oh yeah, my sister will eat that stuff up..."

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Mordin finished his confession while he looked down at his hands. They were gifted hands which had taken many lives but saved so many more. He didn't look up. In a way, he hoped that Grunt would simply go berserk. Running for his life would help keep him from thinking about his past actions.

Instead, Grunt leaned back in his chair. The krogan had suggested going for something the humans called 'coffee'. It was some sort of brewed stimulant that only humans (and krogan) could drink. The salarian had taken one sniff of Grunt's coffee and knew it would kill him to drink it. So Mordin was sticking with herbal tea.

"Thank you," said Grunt.

Mordin looked up in surprise. That was almost the last thing he ever expected the krogan to say.

Grunt's face still had that strange determination. "For your honesty, I mean."

The salarian slumped in his chair and stared at the floor. "I have not told many about this. Shepard and you only ones outside of STG to know."

"Let us keep it that way," said Grunt. He picked up his cup and downed it in one gulp. "What are your intentions for the future?"

Mordin looked the krogan in the eyes. "To fix it. Must put it right. Too much blood on my hands."

Grunt finally smiled. "We must put it right. On both sides. You cannot simply cure the genophage."

Mordin blinked as his eyes widended. That was exactly the last thing he ever expected a krogan to say. "Why not?"

The krogan looked down at the table. "Our race has not been wise. There was a reason for the genophage in the first place. You know this, or you would never have agreed to work on its modification. You are not sadistic."

The doctor shook his head. "Irrelevant. Have seen what pain my hands have wrought. Cannot be permitted to continue."

"I agree, but we must work together. You must cure the genophage, and I must cure the krogan." Grunt sighed. "It is difficult, but I will have to leave my Battlemaster and go to Tuchanka. Urdnot Wrex has made a good start, but he will need help. I must bear witness to all krogan. I must teach them all the true meaning of krantt."

For the first time in a long while, Mordin felt an odd sensation of lightness in his chest. Was this what some called 'hope'? He smiled. "Must go to Sur'Kesh, myself. Access genetic records, make plans. Should keep in touch with each other."

"We should," replied Grunt. He rose and stuck out a huge paw to the diminutive salarian. Mordin carefully shook the proffered hand. "I count you as a friend, Mordin Solus," said Grunt. He smiled wider. "Now I must go. Those females liked the 'innocent and clueless' act. I think I can get at least one of them into bed. Perhaps all three."

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Donnelly almost followed Shepard and Tali into the Normandy's airlock, only to be stopped by a tug on his arm from Jack.

"I've got a surprise, dude. Come with me."

He raised an eyebrow, but went along with it. They strolled back from the docks with Jack's smaller arms around his bicep. "Can you at least give me a hint, lassie?"

She smiled. "Kasumi knows a guy who has a nice apartment up in the Presidium. He's off doing some sort of trade deal. I thought we could use a little change of scenery."

Donnelly almost wanted to ask if this 'guy' actually knew that his apartment was being used, but he figured that ignorance was better in this situation. "I see."

The elevator ride was surprisingly quiet. He figured that Jack would use the opportunity to get frisky with him, but right now she seemed preoccupied. He was also curious about her deliberate attempt to not swear during dinner. His curiosity burned strong, but he knew Jack. As he'd told Shepard, she needed her space.

Jack leaned into his shoulder. "Thanks."

"For what, lass?"

"For not bugging me. I know I've been out of sorts lately, but it's not because of you. I'll tell you tomorrow, okay? Let's just shut our brains off for tonight."

He patted her hand. "Sure thing."

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The apartment turned out to be very nice; it was high up along the wall of the Presidium and had a huge panoramic picture window that looked out over the walkways and lakes far below. Donnelly took a quick look down and then turned away. Jack stood in the doorway leading to the bedroom. She smiled and crooked a finger at him. He smiled back and began walking towards her, only to be frozen in place by a blue glow.

"Oh, no," she said teasingly. "You have to watch us first."

"Us?"

A redheaded form walked out from behind the doorway and stood behind Jack. Kelly giggled as she looked over Jack's shoulder at Donnelly's stunned face.

"I think he forgot about our little offer, Jack," said Kelly. She slid her arms around Jack's stomach and began to greedily run them up and down the biotic's body.

Jack hummed with pleasure and leaned back into Kelly. "I think you're right. How should we punish him?"

The blue glow shut off, but before Donnelly could react a pair of strong blue arms slid around him and pinned his arms to his sides.

"I'll take care of that, my dears," said Samara. He could feel her breath on his ear. "What do you think, Marcus? Should I punish you for forgetting?" A tongue playfully licked at his earlobe.

"Now, Samara, you do have to admit a lot has happened since then."

"Mmmm, yes. But I thought you engineers were supposed to be detail-oriented." Her arms tightened around him in a fierce hug.

"Ooof...I really hope you're teasing, Samara."

"Oh, I am. Mostly." Samara's hand slid down and deftly undid his belt and fly, then slid into his pants and gently squeezed. She gave a satisfied hum at what she found. Jack and Kelly already had half of their clothes off, which was an impressive display of flexibility given how they had their mouths locked together. They kept up the kiss as they stripped off the rest of each other's clothing.

Donnelly responded to the sight in front of him as any red-blooded hetero male would. The asari chuckled as she felt his excitement rise. "Well now. My dears, it appears that Marcus is enjoying your show. I think we should make him watch some more. And maybe we'll let him join in...eventually."

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One of the great constants of the universe is that wherever civilization goes, Chinese restaurants go as well. The Citadel was no exception, and thus the apartment's kitchen table was now piled high with small white boxes. Samara had fallen in love (or at least lust) with pot-stickers and had gone through three orders all by herself.

It had been a very instructive time for Donnelly. He'd never 'been' with an asari before. After the mind-rape he'd experienced while in the Collector's clutches, he understandably had cold feet about the whole 'Joining' thing. Samara had been patient and kept her ensuing 'shenanigans' with Donnelly purely physical...for the moment.

After a quite enjoyable time with everyone, Samara had declared herself famished. So they'd ordered enough food for an entire frigate's crew, and tipped the delivery driver well. The young man hadn't batted an eye at being greeted at the door by a statuesque asari without a stitch of clothing. It appeared that being a delivery person on the Citadel inured one to such sights.

And then, in the middle of their eating and chatting, an offhand comment by Donnelly went off like a verbal hand-grenade. The three women looked at him in shock and surprise.

"Wait, wait, wait, your mom's alive?" Jack looked incredulous.

Donnelly realized that he had somehow never told Jack about that. "Um, yeah."

Kelly chortled. She was seated in Donnelly's lap. "Oh, that's perfect. You're going to love her, Jack."

The biotic didn't look angry, just confused. "I don't get it. When you told me that story about getting your ass beat, you swore on your mother's grave."

He shrugged. "It was a figure of speech?" It sounded lame even as he said it.

Samara laughed. "And you're always talking about your 'poor mum'. I admit I thought she was deceased as well."

"Well, she's not," said Donnelly, a trifle defensively. "And she had to put up with my shite when I was growin' up, so I always think of her as me poor mum."

Kelly leaned forward and grabbed an egg roll. She gave a gratuitous grind of her bare bottom into Donnelly's lap as she did so. "I remember when we were in those damn cylinders, and you created that sanctuary memory for us of sitting in her kitchen. I hoped then that I could meet her someday."

"What's she like?" asked Jack. Now her confusion was replaced with curiosity.

Kelly grinned. "She's absolutely adorable. She's smaller than me, and she's got the most amazing accent." She leaned against Donnelly. "And she's feisty, like our engineer here. When my mother showed up, his mom was ready to beat that bitch's ass into paste."

Donnelly chuckled. "That's me mum, all right. I'm so in for it when I call her. She's gonna give me an earful about not keeping in touch."

Jack absently tapped a little ditty on the table with her hand. "I guess you and I need to meet her, sooner or later. Probably sooner." She looked a little scared. "Is...is she going to be okay with me? I mean, I'm not, you know, normal."

"Neither is she," replied Donnelly. "Trust me, you and her are gonna be thick as thieves."

"I hope we can meet her too," said Kelly. "I mean, if you're okay with it."

Samara smiled. "I have to admit, I am interested in visiting Earth."

Donnelly shrugged. "I don't see why not. Mum is gonna be thrilled to have so much company."

The asari leaned back. "I'm feeling nicely full. What should we do next? Ah, yes, that's right. You!" She pointed at Donnelly. "You and I have an appointment."

He cleared his throat. "Ah. I guess we do."

Kelly kissed his neck. "It will be okay, Marcus. Really, it will. Jack and I will be there too."

He let himself be led back into the bedroom. He felt oddly disconnected, as if he'd taken a leap off of a cliff and was waiting for his parachute to open.

Jack hopped up on the bed and patted in between her legs. "Sit here, buddy. I'll be right behind you."

Donnelly complied. As he turned to face Samara, he felt Jack's hands squeeze his shoulders. Kelly lay alongside him and gently stroked his thigh, like she was calming a skittish racehorse.

"Sorry I'm being such a dafty about this," he said.

Samara loomed over him, but her smile was gentle. "I understand, dear heart." She gripped his face with her hands and stared deep into him with those ageless, pale blue eyes of hers. "Your first experience was not gentle, you poor thing. Let me show you what it means to truly touch someone's mind."

Her eyes began to dilate. "Embrace eternity..."

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Shepard stood back. The wall facing the Normandy's elevator now held twenty nameplates arranged in a column. The column started with the name 'Navigator Charles Pressly' at the top, followed by the others who had died during the Collector attack over Alchera. Shepard looked down at the final nameplate in his hand and pondered the choices he'd made before and after that attack.

Zaeed came lurching around the corner. The mercenary had finally gotten his vertebrae and nerves replaced, and he was getting around on forearm crutches while his legs re-learned how to walk. He stood next to Shepard in front of the new memorial wall and looked it over.

The Commander fished a small metal object out of his pocket and handed it to Zaeed. "Here. I owe you a new one, after all."

Zaeed took the lighter with a chuckle. "Thanks for rememberin'." He looked back up at the list of names. "Good people?"

"The best," replied Shepard. And then he stepped forward and placed the last nameplate on the wall, right at the top of the column.

GUNNERY CHIEF ASHLEY WILLIAMS

They both regarded the nameplate in silence for a while before Zaeed spoke. "You're gonna add more names to this wall, you know."

Shepard nodded. "And one day it'll be my name up there as well. The only thing I can do in the meantime is to keep this list as short as possible."

"Yeah. Well, you're good at that."

There was another silence.

"So what's next?" asked Shepard. "After you're fully mobile, I mean."

Zaeed smiled. "Well, after that whole sharing-memories thing on the Collector base, Lucy and Sheila realized they have strong feelin's for each other. And it turns out they aren't too intimidated by my rugged good looks and natural charm."

Shepard looked sideways at the mercenary. "I know you made a nice payday off of the mission. Are you going to buy a farm and settle down?"

Zaeed gave a loud and raspy laugh in reply. "Hah! As if I could. I'd gnaw my own foot off inside of six months if I ever tried to retire. Fortunately, both of the girls are understanding of my roving lifestyle. They don't mind a bit of travel."

Shepard shook his head in amusement. "And I guess you'll be traveling in style with the money you made."

The mercenary shrugged. "Not really. Most of it is goin' into the new venture I'm startin' up. What do you think of 'Massani's Marauders' as a title?"

"I like the name. But...a new merc company? Are you sure you can compete with the big three?"

"Hell yes! I know most of the quality people in those outfits. Especially the Blue Suns. I'll be offerin' better profit sharing and jobs with...let's say better moral clarity. Yeah, I'll be able to poach 'em no problem. Give me twelve months, and we'll be givin' those other groups a run for their money."

Shepard turned away from the wall to face him. "Well, I wish you luck. If you need any work, let me know. I'll definitely have some odd jobs for you in the future."

"The odder the better, Shepard. Just say the word and I'll be there." They shook hands and Zaeed lurched off cheerfully.

Shepard regarded the wall one last time and then walked away with purpose. It was time to stop dwelling in the past. After all, he had a galaxy to protect.

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It turned out that both Jack and Samara snored. Kelly was still asleep when the noise woke Donnelly. He lay in the middle of them all and pondered life for a bit. He and Jack were an item, that much was certain. Samara and Kelly were an item, that much was also certain. But what were the four of them? What he'd experienced with Samara...and Kelly, for that matter...went well beyond a simple roll in the hay.

After some thought, he decided that they were all important to each other and left it at that. The details would sort themselves out in due course. Donnelly carefully extricated himself from the cuddle-pile of warm bodies and padded out into the living room. The panoramic window now looked out on another perfect day on the Presidium. He rolled his neck around and stretched his arms over his head. Maybe he could find some coffee in the kitchen.

He felt a tattooed presence behind him. A slim hand patted his bare rump. "Mornin', Assface."

"Good morning, ya wee scunner." He turned and kissed her forehead.

She hugged him in response. "We need to talk."

He held her while he waited. He was pretty sure that this wasn't a breakup. They had been through too much together. But something was bothering Jack, and now she was finally ready to tell him.

"Go ahead, lass," he said softly.

Jack took a deep breath. "That Sanders chick I met with. She's made an offer for me to join the Grissom Academy."

"As a teacher?"

She nodded. "Biotic training."

He stroked her scalp. "Congratulations. And I mean that."

"I know you do, it's just that...what about us? I can't ask you to go off into the middle of nowhere and squat in a space station."

"But you want to do this?"

There followed a long pause.

"Yeah," she said in a small voice. "Let's face it, this is probably the closest thing I'll ever get to an honest job. I at least want to see how the other half lives, you know?" She chuckled, but he could hear a tinge of sadness in it.

He laughed, but in a much more jovial manner.

"What's so funny, Assface?"

Donnelly kissed her head. "By an amazing coincidence, it turns out they have trouble getting good engineers who are willing to, as you put it, go squat in a space station. Sanders and I had a little talk the other day as well."

She looked up at him. "You did?"

He smiled down at her. "They made me an offer too. A very generous one. I sense Hackett's hand in things, but I'm not going to look too closely into it."

Jack relaxed against him. "You little fucker. Why didn't you say something?"

"I was waiting to see what you wanted to do first, lass. Where you go, I go."

She looked down and sniffed a little. "Damn it. I'm turning into a weepy little bitch."

"So that's settled, then."

Jack shrugged. Her face was neutral, and Donnelly finally felt a little twinge of fear.

"Maybe," she replied. "I mean, we'll go to Grissom and be awesome, because we're awesome. And it'll be great for a long time. But then I'll do something to piss you off, because pushing buttons is what I do, or you'll get all techie on me one too many times and piss me off, because that's what you do. And then we'll yell at each other and say hurtful shit and break up..."

Donnelly opened his mouth to protest, but then Jack looked up at him. Her warm brown eyes met his as she kept speaking.

"...and then we'll remember that we didn't give up on each other, even in the middle of hell itself. So we'll get back together and have amazing make-up sex and keep going. The Reapers will try some shit and we'll team back up with Shepard. Then we'll go grind those robot-squid fuckers up and sell the powder as herbal supplements. After that we'll go back to Grissom and get old and crotchety and so disgustingly in love with each other that the universe itself will throw up its hands and say 'fine, you two assholes get to live forever'."

Donnelly pondered for a little bit before replying. "Why Jack, I think you're becoming an optimist."

"What can I say, Assface?" She smooched his nose. "You are one very bad influence."

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"No mistakes in the tango, darling, not like life. It's simple. That's what makes the tango so great. If you make a mistake, get all tangled up, just tango on."

- Lt. Col. Frank Slade, 'Scent of a Woman'