To say her newly awakened daughter was high on morphine was an understatement. The first few days she had spoken nothing but gibberish, clearly confused about everything and nothing. A couple of days after that, whenever Garrus was near, the usually so collected and imposing woman, did nothing but try to flirt his ears off, or whatever the turian equivalent was. Hannah had almost fallen off her chair in laughter as the commander, destroyer of reapers and savior of galaxies had grabbed his face and kissed him so loudly and sloppy that the admiral swore that everyone who walked passed the room could hear her.

Garrus had been very awkward and silent after that, avoiding looking Hannah in the eye unless he had to. They had, however, come to a mutual agreement to take turns watching over her daughter now that she was awake, if somewhat groggy.

Today, Hannah had decided to run a few short errands, seeing as her girl had started to come out of the drugged haze and actually could throw demands. So out she went, because really, right now Hannah would probably do anything her daughter asked of her. It took some time for her to catch a ride, seeing as most of the transport went to construction. All the major cities had taken massive damage, but most of them were slowly getting back on their feet, and a few stores had opened again.

Hannah had grabbed what she needed, before quickly taking a skycar back to the hospital. Once she reached her daughter's room, she stopped right outside to see her and Garrus talking quietly with each other. He had his forehead rested against hers and she had a gleeful smile covering her face.

"Why do I have to be stuck in this stupid bed and you have to look so damn tempting?" She heard her whine, and she snickered quietly to herself.

"I look like this all the time, Shepard." He rumbled and sat back up, much to her disapproval, by the sound of it. "And you still have morphine in your body."

"I have not!" She protested and folded her arms as much as she could. "Can't a girl pay her man a compliment without him accusing her of being high?"

Garrus laughed at that and touched their foreheads together again before standing up.

"I'll take a compliment from you any day." He said and leaned back on his left leg, before he glanced in Hannah's direction. "But your mother is back, and I do believe I should give you two some time."

The admiral was slightly taken aback that he had noticed her, but then smiled and entered the room. He gave her daughter a final stroke on the arm before heading out. He nodded respectfully at Hannah, and then he was gone. The commander leaned back in her bed again and groaned.

"I hate being stuck here, I have never felt more useless!"

Hannah chuckled at that and took a seat at the edge of the bed.

"You have been stuck in hospital-beds before, dear." She smiled. "Plus, I think you need the vacation."

Her daughter scoffed at that, and wrinkled her nose.

"I wouldn't call this vacation..." She grumbled and ran a hand through her hair. It was now a very fluffy, and very solid hat made of hair she had on her head, literally. Hannah knew all too well the absolute nightmare of that.

"What were you whispering about all quietly and whispery when I got back though?" She asked and grinned at her daughter. She gave Hannah a light punch in the arm.

"It's not what you think." She muttered. "I was asking him about the rest of the crew, I looked through most of the cards from them, but they're not saying what they're doing. Just wishing me well." She rubbed her bandaged arm. "I heard Tali was here right when they brought me in, stayed until they said I was going to make it. She's on Rannoch now, probably helping them get started."

Hannah nodded.

"I heard they were all here when you came in" She said. "I didn't get a chance to meet them though, when I arrived here, they had already left, and the ones who were injured had been released."

"Yeah, Ash had a broken leg and such." Her daughter confirmed. "She and Garrus were with me in the final run...Both got pretty beat up, had to leave them behind with the ship." She chuckled bitterly. "Garrus wasn't too happy about that."

"I can imagine." Hannah stroked her cheek and smiled. "He cares about you a lot, he seems very sweet."

The commander hummed and closed her eyes, a small smile on her lips.

"He told me about your little story of me when I was smaller. He's going to tease me forever." She muttered. "So, thanks for that."

Hannah snorted and leaned down to stroke her hair.

"You're most welcome." She snickered. "But come on, it's a funny story, very ironic."

"I guess so." She smiled, before giving her a look. "He also told me that you asked him how we got together. I'm going to kill you for making him tell, and then kill him for breaking so easily."

Hannah laughed out loud and covered her mouth with her palm. Her daughter only frizzled more.

"He was so embarrassed." She muttered. "You could have waited until I woke up, I would have told you...eventually, I swear!"

"Come on, honey." Hannah sighed when she successfully stopped her laughing. "You were stuck on a ship, heading into god knows what, you think I don't know about people seeking pleasure together in situations like those?"

Her daughter was quiet for a moment, clearly contemplating something. She tilted her head to the side and rubbed her chin before replying.
"Yeah, I know...It's just-" She struggled for words. "It's not the kind of start to a relationship you eagerly tell your folks." She groaned and fumbled with her fingers for a bit. "I trusted Garrus, and felt an attachment, sure. But it was just a fun time between friends." A light shrug. "Then after the Collector Base...I don't know, I guess we just crossed the line without even realizing it."

Hannah was quiet at that, and only nodded. The two women sat in silence for a while after that, not awkward, but a comfortable space between mother and child. Then her daughter lightly cleared her throat and looked up.

"Did you buy anything?"

At first Hannah had to let her wheels turn for a bit, then she snapped out of the haze.

"Oh, right!" She grabbed the bag and put it in her lap. "No cafés has actually opened yet, so you'll have to live with a frozen, grocerystore bought pie."

When her daughter had first started to come out of her morphine-drugged state, she had shyly sighed that she would kill for some classic apple pie. After so long living on rationpacks, she thought she damned well deserved some.

"That's more than fine mom." She sighed happily and put the box aside for now. "You didn't even have to, it was a stupid request anyway."

"Bullshit!" Hannah snapped. "Of course I'm going to buy my daughter some goddamn pie, it's like- the simplest request I have ever heard!" She rubbed her over the head and made a frustrated noise. "I even found the candy you mumbled about, took some time, but I did it!" She took out a package of dextro-amino chocolate, a bit unsure why her daughter wanted it.

The commander only stared at her, her mouth agape, before quickly snatching it out of Hannah's hands, apparently very embarrassed.

"What are you even going to use it for?" She asked. "You can't eat it, and if it's for Garrus, I'm hoping by now that he can actually ask me himself."

"It's just a gift!" The commander mumbled, putting it away as well."But thanks, mom."

"Okay, yeah." Hannah chuckled. "No problem, kid."

Her daughter leaned back against her pillow and sighed, giving the admiral a long look.

"Looking forward to get out of here?" She asked gleefully.

"Oh, yeah..." The commander muttered. "This is pure hell."

"I'm sure it's not that bad, dear." She stroked her chin. "What are you going to do once you get well anyway?"
A pleased grin settled upon her daughter's face and she crossed her arms.

"That, my dear mother-" She purred. "-is an x-rated little secret I'm not going to share with you."

"What are you- oh..." Hannah stared at her daughter. "For god's sake, kiddo. Don't give me images, I am your mom!"

When Garrus returned later, the commander was in deep sleep with Hannah quietly reading reports on her pad. He greeted her respectfully and she nodded back with a forced smile before quickly looking down at the text before her again. Despicable, evil little child, she thought bitterly before casting a quick glance her daughter's way. Despicable, evil, stubborn, brave, smart, perfect little child.