Scheplieu stared out the window of the observation lounge, two children playing delightedly at his feet with a large Krogan warrior who was giving them piggy back rides and pretending to be a varren who ate them when they fell laughing with hysterical joy.

"He'll take care of her?"

Shepard nodded. "I don't trust a lot of what Timmy says…but he loves her. This I trust. He'll take care of her. I'll keep in contact with her. Keep her as calm as I can. Visit her. Timmy says there are some experimental procedures he's unwilling to test on her just yet, but he's keeping an eye on in case they show promise."

Scheplieu rubbed the back of neck, expelling a long breath. "I can't believe it. It's just…it sucks. Mantha…" The name trailed off.

"He wants you to keep the children. Take them wherever you have planned, raise them. Protect them." Shepard continued. "Mantha has been told that they died in a hover car wreck and it would mess with that particular fib if she were to accidentally stumble across them."

Tayne, who had been silent until this point, turned and began focusing on the children playing, for all appearances not hearing a word that was said.

"What's better?" Scheplieu asked of Shepard with a bitter smile. "Believing your mother is a cold hearted bitch who's trying to kill you for her own selfish reasons or learning that she almost died giving birth to your youngest sibling and was left with permanent mental damage and you never knew, never picked up on the change."

"Parents are meant to be perfect. They're meant to protect and love and care for you while teaching you how to care for yourself one day." Kaidan answered from his position next to Shepard, speaking more to the girl near him than the man in front of him. "The day they fall off that pedestal, the day you realize for the first time how human they are…that's a terrible day."

"He chose her!" Tayne said suddenly, her pale eyes going moist. "Over us, I mean. The kids."

Shepard grimaced. "Seriously, Tayne, it's not like Timmy's a prize. I mean, really, he's…"

"No. No, I get it." Tayne struggled to contain her tears and failed. "It's like you and Kaidan."

There was a moment of absolute stillness as Shepard absorbed that comment.

"Please don't ever compare my relationship with Kaidan to Timmy's and Mantha's ever again." Shepard finally requested in an abnormally calm voice.

Tayne laughed and hiccupped and laughed again.

"She has a point." Kaidan said in his quiet way, not at all moved by the glare Shepard directed toward him. "There have been times when I was sure you were insane."

"Does the word 'sleeping' and the name Mordin strike fear into your heart?" Shepard retorted.

Kaidan's slow smile had her heart tripping in her chest. "You're confessing to having cheated on me with Mordin while you were going after the Collector base for Cerberus? You slut, you."

Tayne burst out laughing, her tears ending. "I'm going to miss you."

"I'd send a picture, but I'm too lazy. Just look in a mirror." Shepard winked at her and shifted until she was slightly leaning on Kaidan. "The Normandy will drop you off wherever you plan to go, Scheplieu."

"Thank you, Shepard…"

"Oh, stop it with the last names." Jack rolled her eyes. "Make nice and get over yourselves."

"You're just jealous because you don't have one." Shepard retorted and earned an obscene gesture that was immediately picked up by Jane, the female of the three year old twins, and like her older sister a younger copy of Shepard.

"Oh, that's wonderful." Kaidan commented as Jane began using the gesture on her twin brother James. "At this rate she'll have learned all of Shepard's favorite words by the time she's four."

"Like the rest of us, she's a quick study." Tayne said with a grin. "Todd was an idiot for not being happy with her when she was born. Somehow she and James were exposed to eezo while Man…Mom was pregnant. Instead of being exact copies with Infiltrator and Soldier abilities, they're both biotics. Project Phoenix goes down in the tubes as a failure."

"Mantha probably did it on purpose." John shrugged and grinned down at his twin. "Probably protecting Shepard even though she was dead."

Shepard blinked, frowning. "Wait. I never did learn what Project Phoenix was. It was all Spartan this and Spartan that."

Scheplieu gave her a long study and then shrugged. "Project Phoenix…the children at your feet…they were Plan B. Conceived on the day Staff Lieutenant Kaidan Alenko reported you as killed in action."

"Plan B?" Shepard repeated, confused. "What was Plan A?"

"The Lazarus Project." Kaidan answered quietly. "If that failed, they were going to age the Twins artificially until they could train them, imprint/brainwash, whatever your memories and skills on them and hopefully let them step into your shoes against the Reapers."

Shepard closed her eyes and rubbed her stress spot. "So what was the baby? Plan C?" She demanded finally.

Scheplieu gave a shrug. "Never understood why they needed yet another copy of you, LS. Notice they needed three more of you, but only one more of me." He smirked at her.

Shepard's gaze narrowed at him. "This universe is not big enough for the both of us."

"Three more?" Kaidan frowned in confusion. "Only Tayne and Jane are Shepard's genetic twins. Judy isn't."

"I saw the scans while Mantha was pregnant." John shook his head in disagreement. "Judy is a genetic twin. Identical."

Kaidan shook his head again. "No. Mantha is the genetic twin. She was the first. Her template is the one Shepard and Tayne and Jane are all based on. Judy has no genetic manipulation at all. She is the child of the blending of her father and mother's DNA."

"EDI, how many people in this room register as me to your scanners? Including me." Shepard demanded.

"Using basic security scanners there are three human forms identified as Shepard, Commander Kaet. You, the teenage female standing next to Jack and the toddler currently coloring Grunt's eyelids with a purple paint stick." EDI responded.

"His daughter. Timmy's." Shepard said softly crossing the room to the infant sleeping in a standard cushioned lifepod/carrier. "He chose Mantha and sent his daughter away." She watched the small rosebud mouth suck at an imaginary bottle as the child dreamed.

"To protect her from Mantha." Kaidan said quietly. "He sent her to those who would care for her. Her family."

John joined Shepard staring down at the child. "He'll want her back some day, Shepard."

She met his gaze. "Then teach her to survive the way Adam taught me. Taught us. She'll be smart and manipulative as all Hell. Teach her mercy to go with all of that."

Pale eyes met pale eyes and an understanding was reached.

"Call if you need me." Shepard added, her attention shifting to Tayne. "I will come."

A faint smile touched the younger girl's lips. "I know how you feel about your promises, Kaet. Thank you."

Scheplieu moved across the room to the corner where Jack was watching the children play, the expression on her face almost confused, as if she had never been sure that children actually did that.

"What about you?" He asked crossing his arms over his chest, weight on one hip.

Kaidan studied the stance for a moment then turned his head to look at Tayne and then once more to Shepard before laughing softly. All three were standing in the exact same position. Shepard understood at once and immediately moved to lean against a wall.

"What about me?" Jack frowned at him. "If this is about your gun, you're going to be really pissed when you find out what Shepard had done to your armor."

A beautiful smile curved Shepard's lips.

Scheplieu completely ignored her, all of his attention focused on the woman before him. "I still owe you for stopping Shepard."

Kaidan raised an eyebrow at Shepard in question, but she blinked innocent eyes at him and gave a confused shrug as if she had no idea what they were talking about.

Jack frowned. "You don't owe me. I told you, Shepard wouldn't have killed you." She shrugged.

"I'd like to take you to dinner before we leave the Citadel." Scheplieu informed her ignoring the sudden intense interest of everyone in the room over the age of ten, his entire focus on the tattooed woman before him. "Afterwards we can go stroll through the gardens. Maybe buy you some flowers."

Confused, Jack stared at him. "What, a date?"

"Yes. That's when a ruggedly handsome man asks a beautiful, interesting woman to dinner." Scheplieu's tones were exaggerated and slow.

"Why?" Jack seemed genuinely confused. "If you want to be fu…"

"Children, Jack. In the room, listening." Scheplieu cut her off quickly. "And it's just dinner. Not a marriage proposal."

Jack's large eyes looked at Shepard, an almost helpless glint in their depths.

"Go. Take some leave." Shepard shrugged as if the matter were of little concern. "Make him pay. For everything. Several times."

Scheplieu tilted his head toward her. "Get over it, Shepard."

Kaidan grabbed her arms and jerked her back against his chest. "No fighting in front of the children." He ordered.

"I like tiger lilies." Jack said abruptly and left the room as if chased by mechs.

"Break her heart and I will break every bone in your body. Twice." Shepard promised, her eyes on Scheplieu.

The older man's gaze was on the far door. "I think, Little Sis, that it's more likely she'll break mine." He nodded and quickly departed after the angry woman.

"Tayne, I hate to abandon you, but your Aunt is exhausted." Kaidan said to the teenager as he began walking Shepard toward the door. "She's going to go have some dinner and go to bed. Can you handle the kids from here?"

The teenager smiled and nodded. "Sure. I've had lots of practice."

Shepard paused at the door, her expression thoughtful for a moment before she smiled and nodded, the look full of confidence and admiration. "You'll do, Tayne. You'll do very well."

The teenager blushed and nodded. "Thank you."

---

The ride to their cabin was silent and seemed to go on forever. Shepard was lost in her thoughts and instead of relaxing seemed to grow more tense as the doors slid open and they entered their cabin.

"I'm sorry, Kaidan." She finally said, shaking her head. "I'll be better. I'll do better. This won't happen again."

Frowning, he considered her, her frenetic pacing about the small area. "I don't understand." He said watching her.

"I screwed up!" Shepard exploded, agitated but determined. "I was a damn coward and you paid for it. Tayne paid for it. It won't happen again. Never again."

"Okay, that's the third time this has come up and I still don't understand where it's coming from." Kaidan informed her. "You're going to have to spell it out for me, Kaet."

She scrubbed her hands over her face and shook her head. "It's unacceptable. I can't do that…not again. I can't duck my head and pretend it will all go away. I should have made you tell me what was going on from the very beginning, Kaidan. I should have pushed it and not ran away like a little girl because I knew that whatever was bothering you was big and I didn't want to deal with it. That's unacceptable. It won't happen again. I will not duck my responsibilities again."

Kaidan opened his mouth for a long moment nothing came, a battle of confusion on his face as he searched for the words and finally settled on one. "What?" There was disbelief in his tone.

"If I had made you tell me, then I could have confronted Scheplieu. I could have dealt with this whole thing head on. He would never have needed to lure you into a trap, you would never have been hurt and you would never have had that migraine or saw my dead body. Shit, the last thing you need is more fodder for your nightmare." The last was said with such a wealth of self-disgust that Shepard closed her eyes, unable to look at him.

"So, you are a coward because you chose not to deal with a problem that I had already told you was going to hurt you." Kaidan repeated in slow tones. "You're an idiot, Kaet."

She rolled her eyes and shook her head. "I know you're trying to make it better, Kaidan, and I love you for it, but I cannot allow myself to duck things. I will not be a coward again. What if the Reapers were to show tomorrow? Should I just put my head in the sand and say it's someone else's problem, the way I did this time? Unacceptable."

"Oh, for pity's sake. Will you give yourself a break?" Kaidan's temper cracked across the room. "What about my role in this, Kaet? I screwed everything up. I couldn't have made a bigger mess of this if I had been trying."

"You were trying to protect me, I understand that, Kaidan. None of this was your fault." She smiled at him, the gesture holding compassion and love.

Kaidan stared at her and then shook his head. "No, Kaet. I wasn't protecting you, I was wrapping you in a nice safe room with no sharp objects where you wouldn't be hurt. The exact same way you are doing it to me right now."

Confused, she frowned at him. "I don't see…"

"Kaet, if I had told you from the beginning it would have changed everything, exactly like you said. You would never have had to hear it from someone else about your genetic manipulations. About Tayne and Mantha being your genetic twins, about both projects…if I had told you, if I had brought you in, it would never have been dumped on you the way it was. You would never have felt lost and alone and confused." He ran a hand through his hair. "I would never have had to watch you walk away, hurting and know I could do nothing about it because it was my fault. I failed, Kaet. Not you. I was the one that messed up."

She opened her mouth to protest, but he wasn't finished.

"Because of that, Kaet, you think you are a coward?" The question was disbelief. "Because I decided to play the big man and prove I could protect my woman from everything by hiding it from her and I failed? You're not a coward, Kaet, you simply chose the wrong man to stand by your side. Instead of helping, I made things worse."

Incapable of seeing that loathing on his face, that pain and not touch him, Kaet crossed the room and wrapped her arms about him. After a moment, his came about her, clutching her tightly to him.

For a long time they simply stood there, letting silence soothe them and touch heal.

"So…I guess we both screwed up." Kaet murmured, her hands deep in his hair, his face buried in the crook of her neck. "Must mean we're perfect for each other."

He laughed, hot breath against her skin and held her tighter. "Do you honestly think I'd let anyone else have you, Kaet? Besides, you scare the hell out of most men."

With mock affront, she pulled her hands out of his hair and pinched his rear in revenge. "There are plenty of men on the Citadel I could have by simply snapping my fingers."

Brown eyes crinkled with mirth, he settled his hands on her bottom, pulling her closer. "Yes, you could. Conrad Verner would be leading that pack."

"Okay, he's also near the top of the list of people whose names are not mentioned when I want to get you naked." Kaet answered. "Did I tell you I met him on Illium? And he was in N7 armor?"

Kaidan blinked at her. "Okay, that's a bit kinky, in a disturbing way, but it is more plausible than you having an affair with Mordin."

"What?" Kaet exploded. "Not for sex, you idiot! Sheesh, I shot him in the foot!"

Exasperation had Kaidan rolling his eyes. "Kaet, you can't mention wanting to get me naked in one sentence and the very next mention meeting a man on Illium for completely different reasons and expect me to keep up. I'm a man. My brain doesn't do mental gymnastics like that. You say naked and everything in me focuses on only one thing after that and it isn't conversation."

Kaet arched an eyebrow at him and gave him the wicked smile she reserved just for him.

"Naked."