Emergency

The Citadel’s emergency channel came on with a blare that scared the group of children and had Carna and Cyriaca worried as the mention of an attack on the space station reached their ears. The broadcast hadn’t been on for more than half an hour before it was cut off, but the message was clear to the adults: something bad was going on in the Presidium, and the kids might be in danger.

Cyriaca grumbled to herself, making sure to keep her slew of expletives unheard by children, one of which was now approaching Carna, as she rummaged through the pack at her hip for the eye piece that she hated using.

"Miss Carna?“ She heard the frightened call of the child (Barroh, she was sure) as she fastened the eye piece and a rendering of her surroundings came to life. Bubbling with fury on the inside, not very happy that the group of children she’d grown to love and even dubbed her kranttlings were possibly in danger because someone thought it was a good idea to wreak havoc on the Citadel.

Carna, on the other hand, seemed very calm, leaning down to the child that had called to her, frightened by the news. The kids were young, but they were far from stupid and quite aware that something was wrong. The krogan managed to reassure all the children that everything was fine. "You’ll be just fine, but I need you to go with auntie Cyr, alright?”

At the mention of her name, the turian pulled herself up from where she’d been seated on the floor. “What? Hold up.” Whatever it was that Carna was planning, Cyriaca wasn’t sure she’d like it.

"I need you to take the kids to my office–”

"And leave you out here to deal with whatever the hell is outside causing this?“Although a member of the Cabals, Cyriaca knew that her fighting skills weren’t the very best, and her biotics were terribly underdeveloped as she’d never bothered with them since she was blind. Overall, she wasn’t the best fighter around, but she wasn’t going to just leave Carna out on her own.

"Yes.” Carna’s answer came calmly, a contrasting tone to Cyriaca’s irritation, as she ushered the children into a single file line that she then pushed Cyriaca to the front off, leaving the turian’s guide cat at the rear. “Someone has to stay with the kids in case something happens,” she added quietly as their little group began moving towards the safety of her office.

It was hard to ignore that fact, even more when Cyriaca felt a small three-fingered hand grasp hers with the trust and familiarity that came from spending many weeks together. Whether Cyriaca liked it or not, the kids needed her. Both her and Carna, and she couldn’t failed them.

Her hand tightened on the small one in hers, mandibles drawn in even tighter. She didn’t say another word as the doors to the office slide open and the children filed in, her now taking the rear with the quarian child attached to her.

It didn’t take long for the children to settle down in Carna’s office, all of them quickly finding something to entertain themselves with. Even Nala seemed quite content, though equally alert, as she made herself comfortable around a small group of the children. Cyriaca was the only one, Carna noticed, who seemed more tense than anything. The turian leaned against the office desk, mandibles still drawn in and back rigid, even with the child holding on to her hand.

Carna exhaled heavily and shook her head at her girlfriend’s antics. It amused her how Cyriaca had no problem jumping headfirst into a fight, and yet seemed frightened that she was going off to defend the daycare. She moved to stand behind her desk and pulled out one of the drawers that held a shotgun she’d kept in case she ever needed to use it. Over the whir of the weapon expanding from its compact state, she heard Cyr’s voice, “This is bullshit and you know it.”

She chuckled under her breath as she inserted a thermal clip and picked up two extra ones. “I know. And that’s four credits for the swear jar.”

"Fuck your swear jar,“ the turian grumbled under her breath, well aware that she shouldn’t be using such words around the children in the first place.

"I heard that.”

"Good! Because I think that your plan is stupid and–“ Damn it, why couldn’t they just stay and hide together, where they could be safe until everything just died down, instead of Carna going off to fight spirits know what?

"I’ll be right back, I promise.” It wasn’t reassurement to just Cyriaca, but to all of the kids. Carna’s heavy steps were gentle as she moved to stand in front of Cyriaca, and she watched the turian’s tension ebb away as she leaned down and fondly pressed her forehead to Cyr’s.

"If they do so much as touch you,“ Cyriaca began quietly, feeling the quarian child cling to her leg now, "someone’s going to die.”

"I wouldn’t expect any less.“ Her own small chuckle drew one from her girlfriend. "I’m going to lock the door behind me, ” she said more firmly as she drew back with a reassuring squeeze of the turian’s shoulder and then turned to the children. “You kids be good to each other, alright? And that includes you, Cyriaca.”

The children answered with a chorus of “Yes, Miss Carna” while Cyriaca only scoffed, amused, as Carna left the room with the doors sliding shut behind her. Almost immediately after, a beep signaled that the door had been locked, and Cyriaca turned to the kids, moving to sit as she pulled the quarian child to her. As a means of distracting the children from whatever was going on on the other side of the doors, she piped with, “You guys never did finish describing Sur'Kesh to me.” It worked well enough. The kids were soon chatting animatedly, each taking turns to describe and remember as much of the planet’s scenery as they could from what they’d seen. Some of the descriptions were difficult for her to mentally figure out, but hey. The kids were having a swell time, and she was too.