Shepard...

That name constantly repeated through her head. Darkness all around and closing in. So alone...so cold.

You will not survive this final confrontation. You will fail. All you have done has only served to postpone the inevitable.

Flaring red fires raged around her. She felt heat burning across her face and blinding white filled her vision. The images of the Normandy and her crew came into her mind. The faces of those she cared about...and loved. As she walked through the corridors she saw them standing there as if they had gone about their business and were suddenly frozen in place. Shepard moved with caution. This did not feel right.

You will submit. It is your destiny.

She found herself on the bridge. Faces of her crew stared off aimlessly, eyes blank and void of life. She moved her way through the bridge toward the cockpit where she found Joker sitting in his pilot's seat.

"Joker...what is our heading?" She asked and got no answer. She expected as much.

You continued to fight us but you will ultimately fail.

"Joker, what is wrong with everyone?" She reached for the chair to turn it. The chair turned easily without much effort as it automatically rotated all on its own. She looked down upon the face of her pilot, expecting to see the same empty look she had seen on all the others but what she saw had her reeling back in shock. Joker's eyes glowed with an eerie blue that was all too familiar. His skin darkened by creeping tendrils of black. The husk-like qualities of his appearance were not expected.

"Joker?!" The husk Joker sprung from his chair with unusual speed, especially for Joker, lunging for Shepard and grabbing for her. Shepard was just fast enough to avoid the first attack and draw her pistol. She raised the gun and took aim, ready to pull the trigger but her finger wouldn't budge. Husk Joker was already turning to attack her again but she couldn't bring herself to shoot him.

Shepard turned and began to run. Something had triggered the rest of the crew and they were awakening as she passed but they were not returning as their normal selves, instead they too were turning into husks.

A husk donning the Alliance uniform of one of her crew tried to tackle her as she passed but she slipped by and managed to knock back a second with the butt of her pistol. She raced through the bridge, slipping through the fingers of others that were moving to intercept her.

As she neared the elevator she came face-to-face with Samantha, now also a husk. "I'm sorry about this, Traynor..." She said as she grabbed the husk and tossed her out of the way then punched the elevator call button. The doors opened as she continued to fend off the husks of her crew and she turned to head inside. She halted in her pah as a familiar face came stepping out of the elevator into her before her.

"No..." Shepard quickly backed away, raising her pistol but she had no will to pull the trigger. An indoctrinated Garrus approached, rifle in hand and taking aim at her. The eerie glow of his eyes and the darkened touch of Reaper influence made him seem warped. The rifle's scope trained upon her and she could see the tension in his hand as his grip began to tighten on the trigger.

"Garrus—please don't make me do this." She raised the pistol, her resolve wavering. Killing Reapers was one thing but these were husks of her crew. Her friends and family...her lover. She fought terrors untold but could she really bring herself to kill the people she cared about? Even if they were indoctrinated?

Shepard...

She raised her pistol, finger trembling on the trigger as she took aim Garrus. Her heart felt like a block of lead within her chest.

He was pulling the trigger. She heard a click.

SHEPARD!

The thunder of a gun blast filled her ears and she saw a brilliant flash of white.

"Shepard! Wake up!"

White filled her vision but there was no pain from the bullet. Someone was gripping her by her shoulders instead and shaking her desperately. She opened her eyes with a start and found herself sitting upright in her own bed. She gave one last desperate look around the room and found it was dark, all save for a desk lap on a nearby table. The tangle of sheets had been pushed back off the bed and were spilling onto the floor. Her heart still raced and her breathing was sharp and came in ragged gasps. Her body shook as the shock of the nightmare finally began to fade.

"Shepard?" Garrus's voice was as smooth as ever but filled with concern. Shepard turned her head to look at him. He still gripped her shoulders and was now keeping her from falling over. "What happened? Are you feeling alright? You were having a nightmare."

She still shook but she finally gained some motor control. Her hands raised to the side of his head, palms resting upon his mandibles as she sat up to look into his eyes. No signs of glowing or traces of the dark touch of indoctrination. She let out a ragged sigh and with it a wave of tension came off her body.

"I'm fine...now." She breathed then and a smile weakly curled at one corner of her lips. Garrus continued to sit, not fighting off her touch but still looking very worried.

"Alright. If you say so. But if you want to talk about it...you know." He'd finally let her go when it seemed she was capable of sitting up on her own, his hand raised to take one of her own and his fingers curled around her own. "You had me worried there for a minute."

"You? Worried?" Shepard's eyes blinked open and she could see the genuine concern in his face. Nightmares had been a fairly common occurrence for her ever since the Reaper war had ended nearly a year ago. She'd spoken with Alliance councilors and seen therapists since then but most wrote it off as PTSD. She was one of many soldiers affected by the war and in more ways than just nightmares.

But this nightmare was different. That voice she had heard sounded almost familiar. A part of her didn't want to recognize it but she continued to ponder on it. It almost sounded like...Harbinger. He'd been destroyed during the war when the Crucible fired. At least...that's what the reports had claimed.

"Are you sure you're okay?" His voice was calm but she could hear the effort he took not to sound too worried. She looked at him again, fingers momentarily brushing across the scarred skin along his neck before she rose to get out of bed.

"I'm fine. Really. It was just a nightmare." She didn't want him to worry. She'd put him through enough worrying. Her near death during the war had put enough stress on him. She still had a hard time forgiving herself for forcing him to leave on the Normandy during the final push. She just couldn't stand to see him lost. She'd lost so many others. If she lost him too...

"I need to take a shower and get dressed. I have an early morning briefing to get to." She said as she began to cross the room, heading toward the bathroom. She looked back at him and it was easy to spot the unconvinced look in his eyes. He knew her too well. In all the years they'd known each other and been together they had gotten too good at reading one another.

"Try not to look so serious. That brooding look doesn't suit you." Shepard teased as she opened the bathroom door. She saw one of his eye ridges raise and the hints of a "smirk" as his mandibles twitched. "That's more like it."

Earth had suffered terrible collateral damage during the war. Even after a year there were still a number of repairs that needed to be done. The most used buildings were the first to be rebuilt once the main sections of the cities had been cleared of debris. The central command building in Vancouver was where Shepard had been stationed in the meantime.

It was the same place she had been held during her investigation when the Reapers first landed. That was nearly two years ago now but the way time had passed it felt much longer. She was surprised by how much the building had recovered since then. And yet, she still thought she heard the growl of Reaper forces as they pressed in like before. There was a tickling at the back of her mind that bothered her. It was like an itch she couldn't reach. She'd had this feeling many times since her recovery. That eerie feeling like she might see a great black shapes descending through the clouds once more and begin to lay waste to the city, just as they had on that day.

She paused in front of the building to look up at the newly finished memorial. It's swooping, arching design was a work of honor but it was frivolous considering how many other buildings needed repair. There were names of those who had died etched into the stone and a beacon light that sent an eternal beam off into the heavens to honor their sacrifice. It didn't take Shepard long to spot Anderson's name written in its surface, she looked for it every time she passed.

"I hope you're resting well, Anderson." She said to herself as she made her way toward the building.

She was nearly to the front doors when a voice called out to her. "Captain!"

Shepard paused in her tracks and turned to see Ashley approaching. "Commander Williams. A pleasant surprise." She said with smile. "I thought they had you off on your own ship patrolling the outer systems."

"They did. We're back for maintenance and repairs." She stepped in alongside Shepard and began to follow her inside. "How have you been doing? Still laid up on medical leave?"

"No, I've been put back on duty as of a month ago but confined to desk duty. I won't see any real action until my therapists say I'm clear." If they ever did. Every session was filled with asking questions to seek answers she didn't seem to know. Being grounded her had her feeling restless. Shepard felt perfectly fit and mentally well...mostly.

"They can't keep you grounded forever. I'm surprised you haven't stormed the Normandy and taken it by force." Ashley teased as they made their way past the security checkpoint.

"No, Commander, I'm afraid those days are behind me." Shepard said as she flashed her ID badge at a security officer.

"Yeah, until another giant monster from dark space flies in here and threatens to take over." Ash said with a smirk.

"Let's not push our luck, Ash." Shepard said with a shake of her head and a quiet smile. They made their way to the briefing office. Shepard was rather surprised when Ash followed along to the same office she had been called to.

"I guess we're here for the same briefing then." Shepard said as they settled into the room. "What were you called here for, Williams?"

"Honestly, I have no idea." Ash said as she sat herself down at the meeting table. "I had figured with my ship dry docked they'd want to keep me busy doing paperwork."

"Yeah...paperwork." Shepard had grown tired of the slow, monotonous work. It paled in comparison to flying around trying to save the galaxy. But this was the price of peace. Most of the exciting work was keeping pirates and raiders at bay as they ran rampant through the system, preying on the weakened colonies or ships passing into unprotected zones. Others were put in place watching the outer rim of the galaxy...just in case there were any Reapers waiting in dark space that had been spared by the Crucible. So far the Reapers were all presumed defeated. There remains were still scattered but those that had been found were dismantled and their parts pushed into nearby stars to be destroyed.

"No paperwork. Not for you, anyway." An unfamiliar soldier entered the room carrying a stack of datapads. His hair was a mess and his glasses looked as though they were about to fall off his nose. The man barely made it to the table with his datapads when they began to slip. He managed to set down half on the table and the rest spilled over on the floor.

"Dammit! Sorry...did I keep you waiting long?" The man pushed his glasses up his nose and for a moment Shepard could only stare. It was surprising they were being briefed by someone so disorganized. She bent down to gather what had fallen within her reach and placed them on the table.

"No, we've only been here for a few minutes." Shepard said as the man continued to collect his work.

"Uh huh..." Ash said and exchanged a fleeting look with Shepard. Shepard just shrugged and looked at the man.

"So are you the one briefing us, Lieutenant...?" Shepard stretched that last part out and waited for the man to fill in the blanks for her. His collar stripes marked him as a Lieutenant.

"Lieutenant Benjamin Hopper!" The man straightened up and saluted them both." ...Ma'am. Captain Shepard—er, sorry. It's an honor to meet you." The man seemed to fidget as he stood there. Shepard was used to this kind of reaction to meeting her by now. Many people seemed to have a nervous reaction when they first met her.

"At ease, Lieutenant." Shepard said with a laugh. "I'm just curious what you called us here for. If Commander Williams was assigned to this then it must be important."

Hopper seemed a little more at ease once Shepard joked and he began shuffling through his materials. "Yes! Well, it is important. And only suitable for the amazing Captain Shepard-" He looked at Ashley after pausing for a moment. "-and Commander Williams...of course."

"Just tell us why we're here." Ash said shortly. She was beginning to grow impatient with this man.

"Oh! Sorry! Let me just...ah, yes! Here it is." He pulled out one datapad in particular and began searching through it. When he found what he was looking for he raised his arm and used his omni-tool to do the rest. A chart appeared before them.

"Over the last year there have been a number of strange...occurrences. Mainly a strange phenomenon that has been happening with stars. There's several incidents of stars aging rapidly and without an apparent catalyst to cause the sudden aging." Ben's omni-tool changed several times as he spoke, showing what he spoke of in images and numbers, most of which Shepard couldn't comprehend.

"I've encountered this before. It happened on a mission when I was working...with Cerberus." She'd almost said "for Cerberus" but corrected herself at the last moment. She noticed a tug at the corners of Ash's lips, this was still a sore topic for the both of them.

"I already know. The Dholen System in the Far Rim. That's one of the target stars I've been studying. The Quarian scientists were kind enough to send me all available data they collected on the star. I've been comparing it with other data I've been studying. All of them seem to share some patterns. In systems that have occupants present on nearby planets there have been records of people experiencing odd symptoms."

"Symptoms? What kind of symptoms?" Shepard was curious.

"Most seem pretty common at first. Loss of sleep, listlessness, sudden loss of appetite, hallucinations. But then after a while they begin to act out of character. They have sudden emotional outbursts, unexplained crippling pain...several have even been driven to take their own lives. And all only seem to happen within the vicinity of the star being affected."

"Did any of them report...ah...nightmares?" Shepard asked, trying her best to sound nonchalant.

Ben just shook his head. "No, but if they did they didn't share it. It is possible there are other symptoms that weren't reported but these are the main ones that have been recorded. They don't affect all citizens either but enough to be noticeable."

"When your population suddenly starts to act crazy its kind of hard not to notice." Ash said in a wry tone of voice.

"That's not even the strangest part." Ben said, carrying on with his explanation. "They all seem to have the same experiences, no matter the individuals. Human, asari, salarian, turian...they all talk about a strange darkness and seeing images of people they know being taken over or loved ones who have died. It might be due to recent stress because of the war but...we can't really say for certain."

"So what are we here for?" Ash was straight to business. She didn't seem as interested in all this information, not as much as Shepard was.

"Oh...right. Well, I need a ship to take me to a recently affected star for study. I figured since Captain Shepard and the Normandy crew has experience with this situation then it would be prudent to have them take me." Ben closed his omni-tool.

"Well...there's a few things wrong with that." Shepard started. "I haven't been cleared yet by my doctors."

"I know, that is why Commander Williams has been asked along. She has command experience and is a previous member of your crew. My superiors said as long as she was along then the mission was cleared to go." Ben explained to them both.

"I was starting to wonder why I was asked along to this." Ash sat up, looking over to Shepard. "I'm game so long as you are fine with it, Captain."

Shepard sat up too. She was feeling excited to have the chance to be out flying on the Normandy again. "If it gets me away from paperwork and back into space then I'll take you anywhere you want, Ash."

"Great!" Ben said loudly and quickly looked embarrassed at his outburst. "Sorry! So...uh, that is all for now. I have some materials I'll need brought to the Normandy. I...should start on that. It was great meeting you Captain Shepard...and Commander Williams." Ben was quick to gather his materials and hurry out, dropping a couple of datapads as he hastily left.

Shepard chuckled as she stood and collected the fallen datapads as Ash followed. "Ben seems like the type of guy who could use a lesson in slowing down. I'll just give these to him later."

"I think he could use a few lessons in organization while he's at it. I'm surprised he made it to Lieutenant." Ash said with a shake of her head.

"Don't be so harsh, Ash. I remember a young Lieutenant I met once who was willing to throw her life on the line. He's just...spirited."

"If you say so." Ash breathed a sigh and they made their way out into the lobby of the building. The crowds had grown in number as people came and went from lunch.

"Garrus is going to meet me here for lunch. You want to tag along?" Shepard began to say to Ash as they made their way through the lobby. "We were thinking about going to-" Shepard's train of thought was lost as she looked across the lobby and spotted a familiar figure. Even through the moving crowd she recognized the person. Without warning she started off toward them.

Shepard moved with a purpose through the crowd; turning and ducking past them when she could and even going so far as to shove by them to clear herself a path. She was slowly drawing closer to the figure but she could only see them from behind. It was unmistakable, she knew this person!

"Anderson!" She called out his name as she neared, ready to reach out and grab his shoulder but at the last minute a person passed in between them and in an instant Anderson vanished. Shepard came to an immediate stop, hand still raised and standing there dumbfounded as she looked around. She swore it was Anderson she saw but-

"Shepard!" Ash's voice came from behind her and she heard Ash approaching where she stood. "What are you doing?!"

Shepard suddenly realizing how many people were staring at her. She lowered her hand and turned to face Ash.

"I thought I saw-" Shepard paused. Telling Ash she saw Anderson would make her sound crazy. Anderson was dead. "-someone I knew. But it wasn't."

"No kidding. There's no one there." Ash's gaze was locked onto Shepard, trying to determine if she was okay. "Shepard, are you feeling alri-"

Ash's question was cut short as a sudden scream cut the air. "What now?!" Ash asked with a huff as the two quickly began to hurry toward the commotion. They were nearing the front doors where the security checkpoint was and came upon a crowd that was standing back in a width berth around something. All of them seemed to be frozen in place.

"What is it?!" Shepard demanded of the nearest officer.

The young woman she addressed didn't move but looked at Shepard from the corner of her eye and spoke in a hushed voice. "Some crazy man with a gun. He has a woman hostage."

"What?!" Shepard had to move to try to see over the crowd but she couldn't see much from her vantage point. She reached down to her hip where her pistol normally would have been. She'd been forced to leave it at home due to security restrictions.

"Dammit!" She cursed under her breath then began to try and make her way through the crowd.

"Sir, put the gun down." She could hear a guard trying to talk the man down as she came in closer. "If you go peacefully then no one has to get hurt."

"I don't give a shit if anyone gets hurt! I want her here, now!" The man's voice sounded crazed, his voice cracked as he spoke. Shepard caught a glimpse of the man as she drew closer. The man looked wild and unkempt, his eyes were wide and pupils constricted. Lines of stress were etched upon his face but he didn't appear all that old.

"Sir, just put the gun down." The guard urged again, keeping his assault rifle raised but not aiming it directly at the man or hostage. The woman the man had in his grip looked fearful and tears were running down her cheeks as she whimpered.

"Get me Shepard!" The man demanded, his pistol pressing harder into the side of the woman's head. "Now or I blow a hole in this bitch's head!"

"I'm right here!" Shepard said, pushing past the crowd who readily made way for her to get past. She stepped into the open and stood where the man could see her. "I'll do what you want...but you have to let her go."

The man's wild gaze turned to Shepard, his eyes seemed to whirl even more with madness as he looked upon her. "Shepard..." His voice was nothing but a hiss and his grip loosened on the woman.

"Yes, it's me. Shepard. Now, please, just let the woman go."

The man did as he was asked and shoved the woman down. The panicked woman fell and scrambled out of the way. The guards seemed ready to fire but he swung the pistol around...and trained it upon Shepard. Shepard froze in her steps, hands raised but making no other motion.

"What do you want from me?!" Shepard demanded, her gaze still focused upon the madman. She could see him even better now. He appeared to be in his early twenties, his face unshaven and his uncared for. He could have passed as a homeless man but his clothing didn't seem in poor repair, other than being wrinkled.

"You broke the silence, Shepard! The depths of madness have only begun to awaken!" The man rambled on, his voice almost gleeful as he spoke. "You are savior and destroyer. A threat to us all. Your continued existence will only become a burden." His eyes seemed to narrow as he watched her.

Shepard felt strange then, like a pressure was being exerted upon her. A cold chill ran down her spine and she felt a sudden pain through her body. It took all her control not to falter or show any pain.

"I don't know what you are trying to say." She said to the man with strain audible in her voice.

"Don't act as if you do not know! The viewers will see! You are a danger! You were never meant to survive!" The man's finger tightened on the trigger. "This is your end!"

Shepard didn't wait for the man to react, she lunged at him. The madman squeezed the trigger and a shot rang out through the air.

Ribbons of red spread through the air and showered across the ground. Blood rained down over Shepard as the madman fell dead to the ground with a bullet in his head.

"Goddamnit Shepard!" An angered voice rang out through the silenced crowd. Garrus was making his way through, shouldering past people, a borrowed assault rifle in hand. "What did I tell you about charging people with gun aimed at you?!"

It took Shepard a moment to compose herself, she starred upon the fallen man with a puddle of crimson growing around him. The voices around her were all just noise. The smell of blood was thick in the air. She'd seen plenty of people dead before but...this was different somehow. She still felt the cold and pressure pressing down upon her, now even more so.

"Shepard?!" She felt a hand grip her shoulder and forced her to turn. She locked eyes with Garrus as he turned her to face him. He still seemed angry but that anger changed to concern when he saw she wasn't quite there mentally at that moment. "Shepard...I-"

"Don't." She said firmly but the tension quickly melted. "I'm fine. I just...need a minute." The crowd was beginning to move now as people went about their business and the guards made sure to steer onlookers away. The cry of sirens outside made it clear that the authorities had arrived.

"We're going have to take a rain check on that lunch, Ash."