-o-O-o-

Chapter 1

Admiral Terra Shepard walked into the docking bay in her dress blues to a round of raucous applause from her crew, among others. Warmth filled her as she looked at them all gathered together again. Like them, she'd been passing time elsewhere for the last year and a half, just waiting for this moment.

Flashes of light to her left reminded her this was an event she had to share beyond her circle of friends and family. A multitude of reporters were crammed to one side, calling out in a bid to get a sound-bite to accompany the footage being captured by the hovering cameras clinking against each other. They were under the watchful eyes of the C-Sec officers Garrus had placed for crowd control, and Garrus himself was vigilantly overseeing them all from his elevated view beside the airlock.

Her pulse quickening in anticipation as the crew parted for her, Shepard could only focus beyond the viewing window at the newly-constructed vessel that beckoned her.

'SSV Normandy' was emblazoned proudly across the sleek flank in that familiar blue, but framed in black. As expected, the Alliance emblem followed it with its solid arcs and stars, but more prominently was the far larger symbol of the Spectres in silver, superimposed over the name without interfering, instead giving 'Normandy' a winged look. It was a nod from both the Alliance and the Council that Normandy was built solely for the command of the first human Spectre, and Shepard was incredibly honoured by it.

"She's waiting for you." Kaidan's voice and proximity as he spoke softly into her ear never failed to reach her core, and heat rose up to her cheeks. She checked around her, hoping no one noticed. A quick glance revealed his luscious lips pressed together as though not to laugh. He'd done it on purpose, but two could play that game, and she turned just enough so that her backside brushed against his crotch, eliciting a small intake of breath from her husband. She flung him a look, silently telling him she was definitely going to make time to christen those new quarters in the coming hours….

"What do you think, Shepard?" called out Donnelly, his 20 month-old daughter perched on his shoulders, looking bemused by it all. "She's a beauty, right?" He grinned out at the ship that awaited them.

"Of course she is. She's been made with love," enthused Gabby.

Shepard moved towards them, reaching up to stroke the sweet face of Skye. "She's just as gorgeous as the last time I saw her."

"Uh… I was talking about the ship, actually," said Ken, and Shepard laughed.

"She knows that, dummy," sighed Gabby before beaming proudly up at her little girl, understanding Shepard's words as the double meaning she'd intended.

"Oh. Right." Ken still looked none the wiser. "Well I can't tell you how grateful we are to you for bringing us in for the re-build. It's been a real privilege," gushed Ken. "I could have happily done it without being bossed about by the old guy-"

"Hey, watch it," warned Adams, light-heartedly.

"-but that young quarian of yours actually taught me a thing or two!"

"Her engineers better keep her in tip-top condition," ribbed Daniels.

Shepard's quarian engineer, Clay, stepped forward with a salute. "Don't worry. I think we're up to the task."

"Daniels was right, though" added Adams. "The SR-3's got our hearts and souls poured into her, Admiral. She's made for you."

The rumble of accord from everyone around her sent Shepard on the edge of blubbering, only the presence of the cameras keeping her mask in place.

A small figure passed by them determinedly, little hands grasping the railing. Aurora 'Rorie' Alenko peered out intently, before turning with a pout. "I want it to have a five on it, so it's the same number as me."

The declaration made them all laugh and Shepard crouched to address her daughter as she looked at the SR-3 detailed on the thrusters. "That's how many 'Normandy's' there been. I'm really hoping there's no need for a fourth, let alone a fifth."

"Couldn't agree more," said Kaidan. Their eight-month old son, Nathan, was held securely within the circle of his father's arm, and far more interested in the floating machines recording them. "And what would happen when you turn six?"

Rorie looked up at her father like he'd lost all sense. "You change the number, daddy. It's only paint."

"Huh! Right. Uh, sorry, honey."

"Admiral Shepard!" The reporter's voice shouted over the others, pulling her rudely out of a private moment in its demand to be heard. "It's been close to two years since the last Normandy was destroyed. Will you finally release a response as to exactly what happened and by whom?" Shepard relegated that and the rest of the ensuing questions back to incessant background noise. It was all she could do. The Council had requested the past threat of the Leviathans be kept quiet to maintain the public's perception they were safe. The idea of indoctrination was one that was feared as much as any unseen killer such as a viral epidemic, and people rested easier believing it had been wiped out along with the Reapers. Shepard felt no desire to change that, even if that threat had also been eradicated.

She was about to turn away when she glimpsed a face at the back of the crowd so familiar but so shockingly impossible that it took her breath away. Anderson.

He wore that no-nonsense look that had been broadcast so many times since his death: it demanded respect while telling you he was someone you could confide in without judgement. Then a reporter jostled in front of him and when the view cleared so too had the vision of David.

"Mommy?"

The sound of Rorie's voice tinged with worry had Shepard blinking out of her trance, and running a reassuring hand over her daughter's black hair.

Kaidan moved to block the media's view with his back. "Ignore them. The Council wanted a big show of Normandy's unveiling, not a Q&A session."

Shepard gave Kaidan a nod, choosing not to correct his assumption, though an unease spread through her. She missed David, and she'd have loved him to be here for this, but actually conjuring him up in her mind was beyond creepy. When Kaidan moved again, her eyes involuntarily flicked back to where she'd imagined Anderson but, of course, there was nothing there.

Then the thrum of the ship's engines started on the other side of the glass, drawing her attention back to where it belonged, and provoking further elation from the crew. It was no surprise her impatient pilot was already aboard – Joker abhorred ceremony as much as she did - and that was doubtless his way of telling her to 'hurry it up, already'.

Adams stepped in front of her with a smart salute and a proud grin. "Ready, Admiral?"

"Absolutely. Lead the way, Adams."

Thoughts of being on her new ship and leaving this media circus behind, spurred Shepard on, and her 'episode' was pushed to the back of her mind. Rorie raced past Adams to be the first at the door. "Excited?" Shepard laughed at her daughter.

"Uh huh!" Rorie bounced, long used to the press attention and paying no mind as the lights and flashes followed her. Shepard was caught up in that enthusiasm as she stopped at the airlock. Her hand rested briefly on Garrus' arm by way of greeting, to which she received the barest of nods before he returned to his watch; as always taking personal responsibility for the safety of the younger members of their eclectic and ever-growing 'family'.

Behind her, the reporters quietened, waiting for a speech. The crew had congregated around her again, and the only thing she read in their faces was the same eagerness she felt to get this done so they could board. With no compulsion to accommodate the media, she simply declared, "Let's do this," to an approving round of cheers and whistles from her crew.

"Care to do the honours, Miss Alenko?" Adams gestured at the door whilst addressing Rorie who looked beyond pleased at the VIP treatment.

"Open Sesame," Rorie declared regally to the door, and the hatch slid open invitingly to yet another round of applause from the crew behind them.

"Happy flying," wished Garrus. "Oh, and Rorie – no calibrating without me," he said with pretend sincerity.

Rorie giggled, then gave him a salute with an "Aye, Uncle Gus."

Stepping on board was like returning home after far too long away, and Shepard could admit there were times she thought Normandy would never be ready. She savoured the moment, absorbing every detail she could see from where she stood: the low lighting, the hum of the engine gently vibrating the floor beneath her and driving life through every part of the ship, the murmur of her crew conversing as they filed past her and into the ship, the smell of recycled air and leather. That last one, in particular, made her smile.

"So you got the leather seat," she grinned as she entered the bridge.

Joker spun to face her with the look of a man who had gotten everything he wanted in life. "Fits like a glove – a soft, sexy padded one. Guess the Brass have finally wised up to the fact they need to look after their finest." He sank back with a contented sigh. "Boy, it's good to be back. Hackett's ship is great and all, but she's no Normandy." He returned to his console. "Oh, and welcome aboard, Admiral," he flung over his shoulder as an after-thought.

"What about me, Uncle Joker?" Rorie skipped over to peer around his chair.

"Yeah, yeah, you too, Pip-squeak. Just don't-touch-anything."

"Are you taking me to school now!?" she squealed in delight, jumping into the co-pilot's seat. "Can I drive?"

Rorie reached for the console and Joker batted her hand away. "Uh, what did I just say? Yes, I am, and no, you can't. Go find Cortez. I'm sure he'll let you drive a shuttle."

"Really!?"

Shepard gave the back of Joker's head a light slap while Kaidan audibly sighed beside her.

"No, honey, and stop teasing her, Joker," warned Kaidan.

Seeing Rorie in the co-pilot's seat reminded Shepard someone was missing. "Where's Edi?"

"She's down in the AI Core, doing a final check before downloading her systems," explained Joker. "It's been weird not having her around all this time. You wouldn't believe how often I forgot myself and started talking to the air. Pretty sure Hackett's crew think I'm crazy. Having Edi on Liara's ship was just plain unnatural."

"I was merely a passenger on the Avastus. Though it was a fascinating experience to assist the Shadow Broker, I can assure you, Normandy is the only ship for me, Jeff. She alone has the sensor arrays dispersed throughout the ship that I require in order to be a part of it."

"Hey Edi, you're back! I mean, all the way back."

"The transition of my Core backups into Normandy is complete. I am fully integrated."

"So? How does she feel?" Shepard suddenly felt anxious over the answer, like this was an all-important test for Normandy, and to fail in this would be to mar the whole ship.

"Like I have come home."

That made Shepard very happy. Normandy SR-3 was complete.

"Being confined solely to my mobile unit was strangely limiting. It may sound contradictory, but becoming contained within the ship again brings a freedom I have missed."

Shepard couldn't have put it better herself, and it brought no small amount of amazement that she could have so much in common with her artificial friend.

"I know I missed her," purred Joker.

Shepard watched her helmsman stroke his hands over his armrests and knew exactly how he felt. If she could, she would have hugged the ship. The SR-3 may be brand-new, but it still felt like an old companion who had returned from a long absence, helped along by the almost identical layout to its predecessor.

"Can we go downstairs now?" Rorie said with an impatient eagerness, already out of the chair. "I want to show Nate the new shiny ball in En-jeering. Boys like balls. But you can't play with it," she directed at her tiny brother, who was enraptured with his surroundings.

"Uh, we don't have a ball," scoffed Joker.

"Do." Rorie stretched her arms up and out to indicate something huge. "It's this big."

"Yeah, I think I'd have noticed-."

"Drive-core, Joker. In Engineering," Shepard clarified, putting an end to the exchange before it turned into another of their soon-becoming-legendary bickering sessions that the pilot seemed to so readily fall into with Rorie. "Okay, Commander. You know the drill. Get us underway."

"Yes, Ma'am," grinned Joker, quickly distracted by the chance to take the SR-3 for her first test-drive. He quickly contacted Control, and there was a slight tremor as the docking clamps released. "Let the shakedown run commence." Joker cracked his knuckles before his fingers began to glide expertly over the controls, the ship reacting instantly. "Destination: Grissom Academy."

While Kaidan was pulled towards Engineering, Shepard stayed in place. Joker's routine commentary as he checked systems was a sound she'd missed immensely, the words filling the air comfortingly around her. She'd spent too long in training facilities, imparting what she could to wide-eyed ensigns who hung off her every word. Being here, ready for action, was where she was meant to be.

Before she knew it, they had left the Citadel and were on approach to the relay, its two swirling rings continually framing the beautiful blue glow of the element zero held at its centre.

"How's she performing, Commander?"

"Sweet," Joker said, appreciatively. "Having our own guys overseeing the build was an act of genius, Shepard. They care, and it shows. That drive-core's even better than before. FTL will be faster and for longer than ever, and this girl's gonna turn on a dime. Did you know we can stealth longer before we have to vent now, too?"

"They've reinstated the Javelin disruptor torpedoes and Thanix cannon which the turians have upgraded, so she's got a bigger bite than before. Multicore shielding in the form of cyclonic kinetic barriers have been implemented and strengthened courtesy of quarian and geth schematics, and just in case that's not enough, the asari provided their latest Silaris ship armour so Normandy's one tough bitch even without the shields," listed Shepard. "Oh, and she can hold twice as much fuel now, as well." She gave Joker a single raised eyebrow. "You really think I wouldn't know every detail of our girl here?"

"Just checking, Shepard. I know you've been busy nursing…grunts," he added cheekily.

"Laugh it up, fly-boy. Your time will come," she added ominously.

His face went deadly serious. "Hey, they'll have to resurrect my dead body and take over my brain before they get me teaching."

Shepard patted his shoulder. "That's okay, Joker. Not everyone can handle the challenge."

"Oh, low blow, Shepard." He adjusted the cap on his head, with its 'Joker' playing-card image embroidered on its front, and 'ACE' at its back. "It's great to have you back."

"Missed you, Joker," she answered, squeezing his shoulder - not that the Normandy crew past and present hadn't constantly kept in touch and regrouped over the time they'd been parted, but it wasn't the same as working together.

"Of course you did."

Shepard was still relishing her amusement and her environment when they were pulled into the vibrant blues and whites of the relay.

-o-O-o-

-o-O-o-

Kaidan walked through the ship, wondering what adventures awaited Normandy and his wife while hoping he'd get to share some with her. A few more days and he'd be on Earth training a new biotic ops squad. The eight teams already out there were doing a great job, and were helping to maintain the prestige now enjoyed by biotic soldiers. As a result, the number of biotics coming into the Alliance had tripled three-fold, and Grissom was doing its part to ensure the young biotics out there had a happier experience than he'd endured in his teenage years.

That made him think of Rorie. Usually a place for older children, Kahlee Sanders had designed an education program specifically for Rorie in order to have his unique daughter in her Ascension Project. Rorie was currently the only human biotic capable of controlling her dark energy without the use of implants, and the scientist in Kahlee was keen to see just what Rorie's potential was.

She'd been attending for several months now and was absolutely loving it, not least because she was with the 'big children'. Even on her first day, Rorie had taken it all her stride, seemingly undaunted by the concept of staying there for four days in a week. Of course, the appearance of Jack and her varren, Eezo, had made the transition a lot more exciting for his five year old, and she'd almost forgotten to say goodbye in her enthusiasm to explore the academy.

Though he and Terra had dropped her off only an hour ago - much to the amazement of the other students as they stared in awe at the SR-3 outside - he missed her already. Kaidan's last image of his daughter was her riding Eezo, giggling as she waved back at them, and it made him smile every time.

The elevator opened and he stepped into the empty cab, only briefly wondering where Terra was when he caught that delicious fragrance she carried. "Huh! Um... I think I've told you many a time before that you can't hide from me, beautiful."

She materialised on his right with a lovely smile and he immediately pulled her to him and kissed that delectable mouth. "I can't help but notice you seem to be Nate-less," she observed, drawing the corner of her bottom lip between her teeth, which indicated an intent that was purely wicked and as such created a tide of arousal to surge through him.

"Luckily for me, he's currently wooing his way through all the women on board."

"I'm not surprised. He has his father's looks."

Kaidan bent his head to press his lips to a sweet spot she had beneath her jaw, and her arms tightened around him in response. "Think you've got time to test out the bed, Admiral?"

"Hmm…. I suppose it is a priority to ensure every part of the ship is rigorously tested."

"Rigorous…. I like that." One handed, Kaidan released the fastenings of her jacket, then trailed his kisses down to the hollow at the base of her neck.

"Think you could manage it?" she teased breathlessly.

In way of his answer, he slid his hands to cup her behind and lifted her up, deliberately pressing himself at that intimate place of her so she groaned. The cab opened and he carried her through to the cabin, only taking in the briefest of details so he could ascertain his route to the bed. Lowering her down into the surprisingly plush, very non-Alliance bed, he soaked in the vision that was the woman he loved immeasurably. The way she looked at him was almost enough to bring him to his end. But not yet. First, he was going to rigorously send her sky-high, before joining her there.

-o-O-o-

The artificial lights surrounding the research camp kept the night at bay as Lopan Huts exited the science lab with his old friend and work partner, Gates, making their way across the quiet camp to the communal area, all of their colleagues having already retired for the night.

After a whole day spent studying the native organisms through a microscope it was good to get out, even if he had missed the daylight hours. It seemed his employers had discovered a true paradise. So far, he'd found nothing in the surrounding vicinity that might cause harm to anyone, be they another race or his fellow salarians. He'd heard the geologists had even located small deposits of eezo nearby, so their company was going to be making a sizeable profit out of this venture even before they decided on whether to offer their claim on this part of the planet to various governments for colonisation by the highest bidder, or to transform it into a prime holiday destination and reap more profit over a longer term.

Lopan wasn't worried either way. He was here as a scientist, and each new find was exhilarating as he documented and took samples for further study later.

"Hard to believe we've only been here twenty-eight of this planet's cycles," sighed out Gates when they entered the large but currently vacant leisure area that housed the dining and kitchen facilities, as well as recreational items which Lopan had never had an inclination to use. "It feels like we've been here years."

"I'm beginning to think you might be in the wrong career," advised Lopan; he was having a blast.

"Think you might be right," frowned Gates. "What else would I do though? Never really had anything that truly called to me."

Lopan was unsurprised. He'd always had the feeling his good friend was simply following the same path because he couldn't find one of his own. Now Gates had finally recognised it. He patted his friend's shoulder mainly because he didn't know what else to do. Gates had to find his own way.

Moving into what Lopan considered a pointless kitchen, he picked out a packet of paste from a cupboard and sat down while Gates shook his head at him as he switched on the grill plate and readied some fresh produce specially imported for them.

"All this great food and you want to eat that? Aren't you sick of it yet?"

Lopan shrugged. "It has all the nutrition I need, and it's a far more efficient use of my time than standing there cooking."

"What about enjoyment? You can't tell me it's a nice experience."

"It does what it's meant to. Enjoyment I get from my work."

Gates just shook his head again as he set to work like a professional chef, and Lopan wondered if his friend would also see that his new path could actually be right in front of him.

Suddenly, a huge explosion somewhere outside rocked the building they were in, and the two of them stared at each other in shock for a few seconds before scrambling over to peer out of a window in time to hear their security personnel firing out from the perimeter.

"Native animals we haven't discovered maybe?" worried Gates.

Then Lopan could hear his colleagues' screams. Whatever it was had made it past the perimeter. Was the patrol team even still alive? That thought filled him with more fear. That small but skilled security force was all the protection they had.

Lopan's eyes widened as he caught sight of an attacker exiting a habitat, salarian blood splattered across armour. "Krogan!"

"But-but-!" was all Gates could stammer. Lopan understood. There was a truce. An uneasy one, yes – no thanks to their last Dalatrass - but it had held, due to the efforts of the krogan leader Urdnot Wrex, Ambassador Bakara, and Admiral Shepard. But this was an unprovoked slaughter!

The doors to their own building were blown in, and Lopan dived behind the counters, pulling Gates with him, hoping they hadn't been seen.

Hunkered down as low as possible, he and Gates pressed themselves into the floor. Don't look behind here. Don't look behind here, Lopan inwardly pleaded.

The counter exploded, and Lopan could only gape, appalled, as Gates sat there looking down at the hole in his chest.

"Oh dear," Gates rasped at him. His eyes then rolled back and he collapsed.

Dead…. His good friend was dead…. Lopan back-pedalled away from the horrific sight until he bumped into something that made his blood chill. He didn't need to look up, the large hand clamped onto his head and hauled him up until his feet could no longer touch the ground.

A second krogan moved in front of him, laughing nastily.

"Can't hide from us, vermin."

"Please!" begged Lopan, knowing it was futile but needing to try as he writhed under the krogan's grip.

"Clan Urdnot say hello. Krogan vengeance is calling," announced the krogan, and Lopan's racing heart went heavy. Urdnot…. The truce was over. The deeds of his race's leaders had brought this on them. Whatever response his people and their allies took next, it would be too late for him.

The second krogan looked purposefully down at the hot grill-plate Gates had been standing at not five minutes ago, and the evil grin that spread across the krogan's face was enough for Lopan to know exactly what was coming his way.

-o-O-o-