Author's Note: I noticed that I posted an early, unedited draft. Yeah, so here is a better copy.

Disclaimer: Mass Effect World/Characters belong to Bioware and Before the World Will End is by SouthFM.

Prologue

It had to be done.

The commandos assigned to the guard detail had gone down easily enough. So puffed up with their own sense of self-importance they did not expect such a direct attack.

Upon entering the asari embassy, the first guard was so occupied that she couldn't even be bothered to look up from her computer. Just let out an annoyed sigh and announced that public tours were over for the day.

Well, she no longer had to worry about chasing away stray tourists anymore. And that computer that had been so interesting proved a good insertion point for a virus that would disconnected the building from the rest of the Citadel.

Some of the other guards tried to set up a trap in the rear stairwell. There the echo off the thick, metal walls intensified Oźwiena's silent scream.

It became a shooting range with screaming blue targets instead of paper ducks and rabbits.

The remaining commandos met a similar fate in the hallway that led up to the personal office of the asari member of the Citadel Council.

Councilor Nailia stood behind her desk, posed and serene. Waiting. At first, it seemed like she was going to treat death as if he was nothing more than another appointment in her datebook. The bullet took her low in the stomach and shattered her composure.

It was understandable, expected, but still somehow a little disappointing.

She sobbed and lurched towards the door, tripping over her long skirt. She tried to talk, her eyes wide and white. Pale fingers caressed her head, tracing the delicate curves of her tendrils. The touch of living, breathing flesh was repulsive.

The piece of metal was a dark, iridescent black similar to a bird's feather. About as long and thick as a finger with a slick, oily feeling that was cool to the touch. It was a little too wide to fit into the bullet wound and needed to be forced.

The Councilor screamed again, louder. And then, all was quiet.

Tranquil.

Chapter One: Before the World Will End

I don't know where you are/ or how you sleep at night/if you can sleep at all/ under this quiet sky/we've only a few moments/ before the world will end/ and no one seems to notice/ no one seems to notice/ and when I think of you I still have regrets/ the things we never said/ the things we never did/ If I could change the past then the things I said/ I'd have said them more/ I would have said it more/ I love you

"We made pretty good time."

"Good. Good? Gooood?" Joker scoffed, trying out the word as if he had never heard it before, "Yeah, great time. It only took us three days to get to Omega. Normally, that trip would have been a whole five hours."

Madeleine Shepard let out a small, tight smile, "Maybe you should have gotten out and pushed?"

There was just an irritated grumbled and a dirty look for a response.

"Or not."

"EDI, start docking procedures." Joker was edgy, tense. His baby was hurt and he wouldn't be happy again until she was up and running better than new. It didn't help his mood that they were stopping at Omega for repairs. There the supplies they needed would probably either be used or stolen, and still twice as much as they should be. But the Normandy wouldn't make it much farther in its current state. There was little more than duct tape and luck holding her together currently.

The ship couldn't maintain FTL travel for long-distances, forcing them to leapfrog through space. There were gaping holes in the hull. Two of the fuel tanks were leaking. Even the interior of the ship was in shambles, as if a small hurricane had gone through the decks. Most of that damage was cosmetic, but there were quite a few exposed wires and broken consoles. It would be expensive to fix, and that would be a problem. A big problem.

Shepard was trying to stay focused, repeatedly telling herself that what mattered was that the crew had survived. Both the ground team and kidnapped ship members. Even her pet hamster had made it.

They all were a little worse for wear, bruised and battered. Miranda had been shot in the stomach, but it had missed the major organs. And Garrus had a sprained shoulder that kept him from being able to raise his right arm. But that was the worst of it.

Unless you counted the number of crewmembers who chose copious amounts of coffee over sleeping. Shepard didn't blame them; she knew what it was like dreading sleep, the eventual nightmares. Akuze, the Beacon, drifting in space alone except for the sound of the softening hiss of leaking air. She had been having nightmares about the pods as well. Not about being trapped in one, but about the woman who had been. Her shirt had the Horizon Colonial Seal on it, what if it had been…

Stop it.

Shepard gave Joker a firm pat on the shoulder, before leaving the bridge. With the traffic in and around Omega, it would take at least half an hour until they docked. Enough time for her to clean up a bit. What Shepard really wanted was to crawl into bed and sleep through the next three days.

As the elevator doors closed, Shepard slumped against the wall. Hiding the truth from her crew was leaving her drained. Only a few key members knew that they had split from Cerberus. It was for the best. No matter how they spun the truth, Cerberus was a terrorist organization. For as little good they did, they left too much blood and pain in their wake. But now Shepard and her crew were cut off from the massive amount of resources they had. Her state-of-the-art ship was destined to become a patched clunker. The best shipyards of Illium or the Citadel were out of the question, the labor costs alone at those places would be three times the meager amount she had stashed away. And it was unlikely that they would just walk away. Cerberus had invested too much money into Shepard, the Normandy, and EDI. Maybe, her final smart-ass remark was enough to convince the Illusive Man to put a control chip in her brain.

Or a bullet.

Changing her mind, Shepard hit the button to have the elevator go down a floor instead of up.

Miranda was in her office, dealing with the pile of wires and circuits that used to be a computer. Her hair was up in a messy ponytail and the skintight cat suit had been replaced with a pair of baggy khakis and a bright pink t-shirt with DILEMMA! printed vertically down one side. It was a good, if rather unexpected look for her.

"I like the new uniform." Shepard grinned, plopping down in one of the overstuffed chairs opposite the desk, "How are you feeling?"

"I'm fine." Miranda answered quickly, but winced slightly as she turned to face Shepard.

After a short mental debate about engaging in some small talk, Shepard decided to just ask the major question, "Do you think Cerberus is going to come after us?"

"Yes." Miranda answered bluntly, "If we focus on fighting the Reapers, The Illusive Man may back off for a while, but he isn't one to take insubordination lightly."

"What if we took the preemptive?"

"We would just be chasing ghosts. The Illusive Man, he isn't scared of you, just aware of what you're capable of doing. By now he's probably already moving operations."

Shepard sighed and blew a stray strand of hair out of her eyes, "I hate not knowing what to do. That was a good thing about the Alliance; someone was always telling you where to go."

"Focus on getting the ship fixed. I've come up with a list of a few possible work-arounds that should help, and prioritized what we should repair first." Miranda had proved to be the most efficient second-in-command that Shepard had ever worked with.

In mock surprise, Shepard raised an eyebrow and suggested, "You need a hobby."

"You're one to talk, Commander." Miranda activated her omni-tool, "Our main focus should be getting the engines and exterior paneling fixed. Our shields and guns are still in good shape, minor repairs to get them fully functional. The same goes for life support, the only system we lost there was refrigeration. We'll just have to survive on canned and freeze-dried food until that is fixed, but I still put it pretty low on the list."

"You'll change your mind after Gardener starts making his 'Peach' Surprise again."

"And someone keeps on hacking my report so it reads that installing a massage chair in the cockpit is top priority."

"I'll buy Joker a beaded seat cover." Shepard stretched her legs out, "And like everything else, it'll be a used one."

Miranda leaned forward, resting her elbows on the desk, "The crew is going to figure out that we're no longer being funded by Cerberus. I think it would be better if they hear it from you, instead of just going by conjecture."

"I've been trying to gauge how they'll react. Some of them are almost fanatical in their support."

"It was you, Commander, who saved them from the Collectors. Cerberus wanted to risk everything by recovering the base."

Shepard made a non-committal noise in the back of her throat. Miranda was right about telling the crew, but Shepard wasn't sure how valid her argument was. For the last nine months she had listen to so many of them blindly praise the terrorist organization. How Cerberus was the only ones who "truly" cared about humanity. The sappy stories about the great lengths they would go to protect and help their own.

At times, Shepard was convinced that she was in a cult.

"I'll make the announcement before we dock. This way anyone who wants to leave can do so before we start repairs."

"Do you think that is wise?"

"Better then letting them stay on the ship where they could really cause trouble." The good mood that had briefly settled was now gone. Only a few months ago, she would have been willing to thrown every damn Cerberus loyalist out the airlock, including Miranda and Jacob. But over time she had softened, become compliant, familiar. Shepard had been bombarded with countless pictures of Rolston's daughter, teased Matthews about his appointment with the Consort, and speculated endless in the mess hall over who exactly brought scale-itch onto the ship. These were good people, who had just been lured in by the promise of a better future. For the shit she had put them through, the least Shepard could do was make sure that they found a shuttle back home.

There was still one "crew member" that Shepard really wanted to talk to Miranda about, but not here. No, that conversation would have to take place far away from the ship, with Legion and Tali for some further insight.

"Was there anything else you wanted to discuss?" Miranda asked sensing the switch in Shepard's temperament.

"Not right now, unless you have some other sagely advice."

"Only that I'm working on a few ideas to make some extra money that doesn't involve surveying remote planets for resources."

Shepard clasped her hands together and mouthed, "Thank you" before standing up and leaving the office. As she crossed through the crew deck every nod, wave, salute made her wonder who would stay, who would go, was she going to have to worry about moles?

By the time the elevator reached the loft, she had already even started making mental bets on who would fit into which categories.

Like the rest of the ship, the Loft was a mess. Shepard had taken the time to clear off her bed and fix a crack in the fish tank, but little else. As she picked her way through the piles of books and broken glass, she frowned at the now visible and deactivated, security bug above her desk. It wasn't surprising that ship was bugged, but it was disconcerting knowing that there were cameras in her private quarters.

At least she had never done anything in here to give anyone much of a show. Just slept, worked on reports, and drank heavily.

As she sat down in the uncomfortable office chair, Shepard reached over and activated the holo of Kaidan. The picture had been there from the moment she boarded the new ship. While a poor substitute for the actual man, it had proved be a comforting reminder of what the future could hold. A future where she wasn't just The Commander Shepard, but something simpler and somehow so much more satisfying.

Shepard kissed her fingers and pressed them against Kaidan's picture for luck. Then accessed the console on the desk, opening a shipway communication channel, "This is Commander Shepard speaking, there have been a lot of rumors flying around lately, and I think it is time you know the truth."

I don't know where you are/ or how you sleep at night/if you can sleep at all/ under this quiet sky/we've only a few moments/ before the world will end/ and no one seems to notice/ no one seems to notice/ and when I think of you I still have regrets/ the things we never said/ the things we never did/ If I could change the past then the things I said/ I'd have said them more/ I would have said it more/ I love you