Departure

by Your Favourite Author

Blowing up the Alpha Relay may have slowed down the Reapers, but now Shepard has to deal with flipside of that decision: the Batarians want his head, the Reapers want his body, the Alliance wants his ship and his crew wants to know where they're going from here. Fills in the space between the Arrival DLC and Shepard's imprisonment.

"I don't like this."

Jacob looked up – or, rather, sidewards and down a little – from his meal to look at Jack, who was sitting on the floor next to the crew table, scowl on face. Apparently she still wasn't comfortable enough with the crew to sit next to them, even if she'd looked kinda relieved they hadn't been turned into paste when the squad had found their pods on the Collector ship.

Now that was a fate worse than death. At least they'd blown up the base. He could only hope that with the baby Reaper-thing being turned into space dust, those colonists were now at peace.

Seeing as no-one had responded to her yet, Jacob figured he might as well ask what was bugging Jack, though he was pretty sure he knew the answer already.

"Don't like what?"

"Him," she responded, throwing a thumb over her shoulder, towards the med bay. Through the window, Jacob could only see the commander, but he was talking with someone else in there, and it wasn't the doc, because she was at the table with him.

"Shepard?" Jacob asked. It was a dumb question, but he wanted to get her talking. She was still getting used to opening up to the squad, even though she was at ease with Shepard, but who knew how long that would last, what with him blowing up a mass relay and all. Never a dull moment.

Jacob got a scowl for his trouble. "No, dumbass. The beard guy, Admiral...something."

"Hackett? What about him?"

"He looks like he's gonna put Shep in cuffs!" Jack whined. "You know what he's like, all 'yes sir, whatever you say sir.' Hackett's gonna put him in cuffs and march him out of here and Shepard won't put up a fight, and we'll be stranded with Cerberus chasing us and the Reapers coming! Freakin' boy scout."

Truth be told, Jacob had similar reservations. It made sense that the Alliance wouldn't be able to ignore what had happened, and he'd realised that as soon as the Commander had come back aboard and explained to everyone what was going on. Shepard had told his squad very little about the mission beforehand, and the crew even less. Some hadn't even known he'd left. But once he was back aboard, he gave everyone a full explanation.

The story went like this: Admiral Hackett had sent him on a covert mission to rescue a scientist who was studying the Reapers and was imprisoned by the Batarians for planning to send an asteroid into a mass relay. He'd rescued the scientist and escaped to an Alliance research base, where a Reaper artefact had been left in the open and indoctrinated everyone aboard. After the whole station turned on him, he'd fought wave after wave of Alliance troops before succumbing to their forces, whereupon they left him alive, so he could watch the arrival of the Reapers. He woke up two days later, less than an hour from the Reapers arriving in the system, and proceeded to fight his way out of the base while sending the asteroid that he was still on towards the mass relay, as planned. He was rescued by the Normandy with minutes to spare and had a chat with Harbinger himself – again – and the ship left Bahak just before organic life in the system was destroyed.

And now, having been forced to sacrifice a star system to stop the Reapers, he was facing the man who sent him on that mission on the first place.

Dr Chakwas interrupted his thoughts. "I wouldn't worry too much about Admiral Hackett, Jack," she reassured the convict, "He and Shepard go a long way back, almost as long as Shepard and Councillor Anderson. Why, on the original Normandy the two were in almost constant contact. They trust each other a great deal, which is a rare thing in high-level politics."

Jacob could appreciate that. From what he'd heard about the Admiral, he was a pretty stand-up guy. Always honest, willing to tell you where you stood. Probably would've been promoted to the absolute top leadership if he was a bit more pliable, but he was undoubtedly considered to be the number one Alliance brass by the military. When it came to Shepard though, he was still responsible to those above him on the ladder, especially as he had sent Shepard out there in the first place.

Put simply: it was a mess.

"Pfft. Politics is stupid. They're gonna lock Shepard up, and he's gonna let them, and then the Reapers will come and we'll all be turned into a big squid. Damn him. Shoulda turned pirate when he had the chance." Jack muttered.

"Yeah, I hear ya Doc," Jacob added, "about the Admiral. Everything I've heard about him – in the Corsairs, in Cerberus, everywhere – tells me he's a good guy. And he believed Shepard about the Reapers. Suppose that was 'cos he led the Fifth Fleet when they took down Sovereign." Jack rolled her eyes and turned away, but he carried on. "But I gotta agree with Jack. No way the Alliance doesn't try to come down hard on Shepard after that. The Batarians are gonna be pushing for war if they don't, and even if only some of the Alliance brass believes in the Reapers, they can't afford to be fighting the Batarians when the whole galaxy is about to come under attack. Hackett ain't here to give him a pat on the back – you don't send your top admiral to another ship, especially not to one that isn't Alliance, for some feel-good moments."

"Yes, I suppose you're right, Jacob," Chakwas sighed. "It's hard to ignore the destruction of a mass relay, especially when the galaxy still doesn't believe in the thing you were blowing up the relay to stop."

Jack had turned back to him at this point, and was giving him a good stare. "Then why the hell aren't we figuring out how to stop him from getting locked up?" she demanded.

"We haven't got anything stop him, Jack," He replied. "You said it yourself, if they want to take Shepard away, he'll let them. You'd have to stop Shepard and the Alliance, and the Normandy crew isn't exactly gonna be received with open arms by the Alliance. Most of these guys are ex-Alliance, and are still officially working for a terrorist organisation, even though we all quit when we blew up the Collectors. That's enough to get them shipped off with the Commander."

"Ha! I'd like to see 'em try and lock me up again. They wouldn't even touch me."

"Well, I wasn't even talking about the squad yet, but most of us would be in an even worse place than the crew. After all, we were Shepard's ground team, so if they wanted to charge Shepard with anything for any reason since he came back, we'd be the ones they'd 'ask'. And some of the squad – like you – would have a whole string of other issues that might come up from that."

A low growl was all he got in response, and as he finished, he heard the med bay doors open. Out strode the admiral, who looked in his direction. In response, Jacob (and a couple of the other nearby crew) stood and saluted, earning a nod – and maybe even a small smile (though that may have been wishful thinking on his part) – in response. As Hackett moved off, Jacob sat back down.

"Wow," Jack snorted, "you and Shepard should have a boy scout competition."

"Once Alliance, always Alliance." Jacob grinned and leaned back in his seat. "Can't give up a chance to salute the guy that took down a Reaper."

Now that Hackett had left, Shepard was all alone. Looking around and seeing an opportune moment, Jack leapt up from the floor – frightening a couple of crew members in the process – and stalked off to the med bay. Jacob could see Shepard standing inside, staring at nothing.

Times like this, Jacob was glad to be a grunt.

"They'd better not mess up my medbay!" Chakwas exclaimed, to which Jacob raised an eyebrow.

"You could just head back in there."

"No, I'd rather give the Commander his privacy. I trust him to be reasonable."

Jacob looked to the medbay once more, as Jack started waving her arms around and pacing back and forth, while Shepard just watched. There was a lot at stake for the crew and the squad if Shepard did end up being taken into custody, but there was no-one that was more true for than Jack. He had put more time, effort, care and love into her than into anyone else she had ever come across, and more than anyone else on the ship had gotten from him. Not even Garrus or Tali, who had been with him from the beginning, had received as much attention.

And now, just it was all starting to come together, there was a real danger that the loneliest girl in the universe would become just that, all over again.

He was worried about them.

"Don't worry about them," said a new voice, "they'll be fine."

Jacob turned towards the other side of the room, where Miranda Lawson had appeared opposite him.

Miranda Lawson. She and Jacob had known each other for years by now – and more besides – and he knew he was her closest confidante on the ship. Even Shepard, who got to know everyone pretty well whether they liked it or not, wasn't quite on that level.

And yet, despite all they'd been through together, and despite the absolute trust they had for one another, there was still something missing. Even now, he wasn't entirely sure where he stood with her. Miranda, for a number of reasons, struggled to have a genuine relationship with anyone. It was partly her natural personality, partly her upbringing, partly her line of work, partly her lack of experience in such things, but all the reasons in the world couldn't change the simple fact that she would shut people out when she desperately needed to let them in. Even the most independent people need relationships. Even the most perfect humans need someone to pick them up when they eventually fall down.

No matter how 'perfect' they are, they're still human.

He was pretty sure he was the first person to show Miranda that, and she'd responded by starting a romantic relationship with him. Truth be told, there was no way they would ever make for a good pair, but she'd been so overwhelmed by Jacob's simple affection that she assumed it was borne out of something different to what it was. He should've known better, been willing to explain that intimacy wasn't always romantic, that it was something close friends and family had too. But he'd just gone along with her, like always, trusting that she was right.

Sometimes he wondered if her 'genetic perfection' had actually swayed him, but he tried not to dwell on it too much.

She'd nearly made the same mistake with Shepard, especially when the Commander had dropped everything to save Oriana. That little episode showed him Miranda's humanity, and had finally broken her out of her shell. In fact, the only thing that stopped her from jumping into a romantic entanglement with the humanity's hero was Jack, because the convict had gotten there first. The fact that Jack had responded to Shepard's unconditional love in the same way Miranda had responded to Jacob's was part of the reason he was worried about the future of the Commander and the Convict. Having said that, Shepard was a better man than he, and he didn't really know the full details of how those two had ended up together – no-one did, really, other than EDI – so there was a chance Shepard had done what Jacob hadn't, and explained relationships in all their forms.

Still, he wondered what Miranda made of Shepard's choice, 'cause the Miranda he (once) knew? She would've been pretty torn up over it, even if she tried to hide it. Jacob hadn't really had time to have a good, long chat with Miranda since the mission started. If nothing else, he needed to know where they were at, and looking at her current state, he thought he'd better do so sooner, rather than later.

Despite the confidence in her voice, she looked more exhausted than he had ever seen her, including directly after the Collector base. After getting back from the Omega-4 relay, she'd been mildly dishevelled and a bit dirty. Right now, though, she looked...well...human. Hair all over the place (!), bags under the eyes (!), crooked posture (!). It was like all the stress of the last year had piled on her at once.

Well, that chat could wait a little longer. For now, a bit of levity wouldn't hurt.

"Did you wait for Jack to leave before joining us? C'mon Miri." She turned her attention to him.

"Jacob Taylor," she said sternly. "What have I said about public use of nicknames?" Despite her tone, her eyes sparkled with just a little bit of mirth. Mission success!

"What can I say? I'm a sucker for punishment." He grinned. "Jack reckons I should have a boy scout competition with Shepard."

"So I heard." She smiled, and returned to observing the couple. So she had been waiting for Jack to leave.

"Anyway, what makes you think they'll be fine?" Jacob asked.

"There's no alternative," Miranda replied, taking a seat. "The fate of the universe will depend on him, and he needs to be focused." Shepard, noticing that outside eyes were peeking in, took a moment to close the shutters. Miranda turned her attention back to Jacob. "Remember how the Commander was after Horizon?" Jacob nodded. Shepard had been a mess, and it wasn't something he wanted to see again. "All of us tried to get him going again, but you know who pulled it off?" She pointed to the bay again. "She did. I don't even know if she realises it, but she brings out the best in him." She leant her head on her hands. "I think it's because he likes rescuing people, and he's incredibly good at it."

"Uh huh."

"Anyway, that's why we need to make sure they'll be fine. Jack can ground his thoughts, help him realise what he's fighting for."

"Right, and how are you gonna do that, Miranda? You don't know the first thing about relationships." Jacob's eyes widened as he realised what he'd said. "Sorry, that came out wrong."

"No, you're right. I'm not perfect, and my relationships with others show that. I wouldn't know how to keep a normal relationship together, let alone..." she trailed off. "That's why I said that we need to do what we can for them. No-one know them as well as the squad, along with Joker and Chakwas. We need to plan out what happens next. Cerberus is going to be after Jack, and...we can't afford to lose her."

"Didn't think I'd hear you say something like a few months ago."

"Yes, well...Shepard has a way of changing people's minds. Mine included."

Jacob heard the med-bay doors open once more, and turned towards them to see Jack stomping out, followed by Shepard, who didn't seem eager to catch her. Before he could say anything, EDI chimed at their position.

"Officers Lawson and Taylor, Commander Shepard requests your presence in the meeting room."

"Thanks EDI, we'll head on up. But like I keep saying, you can call me Jacob."

"I am aware, Jacob. Logging you out."

"You two make sure he doesn't do anything too reckless, alright?" Chakwas told them as they got up, taking their rubbish (and Jack's from the floor) with them. "He's done enough already."

"We'll try, but no promises, Doc. That man doesn't know when to stop."

"Indeed. Not even death could hold him down."

The two ex-Cerberus operatives binned the packaging and made their way to the elevator – Miranda insisted it was called a 'lift' – which opened to reveal three of the four occupants of the lower level.

"Come to join us?" Zaeed queried. "You better hurry. Don't think we'll fit the others in here."

"Uh, sure." Jacob said, making to squeeze in next to Grunt, though he didn't see how both he and Miranda would fit. After one step, though, he found his path blocked by something invisible.

"Oops, sorry Jacob," came a husky, disembodied voice in front of him. "I already called dibs. You'll have to wait for the next one!"

"Right, sure, no worries."

"Cheer up!" Kasumi smiled impishly, decloaking. "At least you won't have to fight a krogan for space in here."

"Tiny human..." came the rumble next to her.

"Oh, don't take that the wrong way Grunt. It just means you're very strong and manly!" Grunt seemed appeased by this. "Anyway, we'll see you two up there. Well, I'll see you – you won't be seeing me." Naturally, Kasumi cloaked herself again.

"Uh, yeah. Hey, before you go, did Jack head down below?"

"Did she?" Zaeed scoffed. "You could hear her from the Perseus Veil. Seemed ready to tear a hole in the ship, didn't have her biotics going though. Guess she didn't feel like getting spaced. What did Shepard do?"

"We don't know for certain," Miranda replied, "but it probably involves him handing himself over to the Alliance."

"What?!" Tali exclaimed. "How could even think about that?"

"I'm sure he has his reasons," Jacob assured her, "but we'll see what he has to say in a minute. We'll see you up there."

"That's Alliance types for you." Zaeed whacked the elevator button. "Let's get to it."

The door closed, and the whirring of the machine drifted up away from them. As the two of them stood there, contemplating, Garrus Vakarian came around the corner.

It was telling, Jacob thought, that even though he'd known Miranda for years and Garrus for only a few months, he still felt like he knew where he stood with the turian more than he did with her. Sure, Garrus wasn't the most chatty guy, but neither was Jacob, and the turian had made no real effort to push Shepard away from the Cerberus crew (unlike Tali). Anyone with Shepard's seal of approval had Vakarian's as well, and it wasn't even a limited time offer – since coming back from the Collector Base, Garrus had been hanging out with the rest of the squad instead of calibrating the main gun all the time, and Jacob had gotten to know him to a degree he'd never really been able to early on, definitely not until after the Sidonis affair was sorted out.

From this, Jacob had come to see more than a little of himself in the turian. Like Jacob, he was ex-military, fed up with something not being done about the Reapers and was determined to do something about it. He had a lot of respect for honesty and loyalty, which drew them to Shepard.

But there were differences too. Important differences, beyond Jacob's inability to use a sniper rifle well. For one, Jacob didn't have the independent streak Garrus had. He didn't like going rogue in the same way the turian did, like when he told the story of quitting C-Sec to follow Shepard. Jacob hadn't felt any excitement about leaving the Alliance, wasn't worried about 'red tape' or anything like that. He just wanted to get the job done.

But that independent streak had another side to it: it meant he was a capable leader. Jacob? He was just a grunt, a natural soldier, willing to follow orders. Garrus had once told him that they'd been born on the wrong planets: Jacob would've made a great turian, while Garrus would've been an even greater human than Shepard.

Garrus had been nursing a drink or two for a while when he'd said this.

But, as far as Jacob could tell, Garrus was Shepard's younger brother. Everything Garrus knew about being a leader, about relating to a squad under his command, he'd learnt from the Commander. When Sidonis had betrayed him, it had ended his belief in his own leadership ability, until Shepard came back and pieced it back together with him. And now? Now it looked like the turian was ready for his own command. He'd kept his head when Shepard disappeared for a few days, even as some of the others went into a panic. Every successful battle had him walking just a little bit taller, head just a little bit higher, eyes just a little bit more determined, and right now he looked like a man on a mission.

"So," Garrus began, eyeing off the two humans in front of him, "Shepard's finally come out of his hiding place? Not that I'm one to talk, but I wasn't sure he was ever going to move out of the med bay."

"Yeah, he's out, but Jack went back to hers," Jacob informed him. Garrus' mandibles twitched in response (and Jacob idly noted that he'd never bothered to learn turian facial expressions. That was Miranda's thing). "Hackett came by – head of the Alliance military, meeting Shepard face-to-face? Don't know about you, but whatever's going on, I don't think it's going to be good."

"Yeah, I heard a fair bit of Hackett on the first Normandy, always asking Shepard to go here and there...never got to see him in person though. I always wondered why Shepard would just drop whatever he was doing for an Alliance admiral, being a Spectre and all, but he's a good judge of character. Guess they both are." Garrus looked him in the eye. "You know, if humans structured their government like us turians, Hackett would probably be primarch, and the galaxy would be ready for the Reapers."

"If Hackett survived long enough to get to that point," Jacob replied pointedly. "We're pretty good at keeping our best away from places that they'll die...well, other than Shepard, but dangerous situations have a habit of finding him."

"Touché. So, if Hackett's left without Shepard, how's he going to hand himself in to the Alliance? Taking the crew with him doesn't seem like the best idea."

"We don't know." Miranda replied. "if Shepard's calling us all together this quickly, he either doesn't know, or he has a plan that isn't very good."

Jacob concurred. "His head's gonna be all over the place."

"So then it's up to us to make sure he gets out of this in one piece, ready to take it to the Reapers. Not just him, but everyone on this ship." Garrus turned to Miranda. "You got anything in mind?"

Technically, Jacob mused, Miranda was the Normandy's second-in-command, but it'd become pretty clear over the course of the mission that Garrus was Shepard's real XO. The problem was, Miranda was either unaware of this, or trying to ignore it. She'd twice offered to lead the distraction team on the Collector Base, and was twice overlooked in favour of the turian. Even after quitting Cerberus, she'd carried on ordering the crew around, along with some of the squad.

These were the same people who would head to the main battery when they wanted a problem fixed, rather than Miranda's office.

Jacob knew that the turian suited the role better, and that it wasn't just his military bias kicking in. Vakarian fit the position in a way Miranda would never be able to. Case in point, it was currently Garrus asking Miranda a question, in a way you would expect from a commanding officer.

Miranda, though, wasn't going to take on the role of subordinate. "A few ideas, but nothing major yet. I'll explain once we're in the meeting room."

"Right." Despite his inability to read turian facial expressions, Jacob had been around the sniper long enough to know that he found Miranda's response unsatisfying, but that he was going to overlook it – for now. Which also meant that it was time to bring out his patented 'polite talk' - guaranteed to smooth things over. Looking around for focus their attention on, he saw two figures walking their way – the best kind of distraction.

"You know," he interjected while being silently thankful for small mercies, "we could probably do with a bit of wisdom from other sources when thinking this through. You know, like the two most philosophical members of the squad?" He nodded towards the starboard observation deck. "Speaking of which, here they come now."

His companions turned to see Samara and Thane make their way towards their position. "Greetings," Samara stated. Thane nodded next to her.

"How are you feeling today, Thane?" Garrus asked. The drell's condition had worsened of late, and he was no longer in a position to be joining the ground team. Instead, he had been regularly joining Samara in her meditations, when not spending his time in life support. His intention was to learn how to spend time alone without reliving his life over again, but it was hard even for the Justicar to tell how much effect her lessons were having on him.

Occasionally, Jack would join them – they were, after all, two fellow biotics, and while even Samara may not have matched her raw power, she made up for it in her incredible precision – and the success of the lessons on her were easier to spot. Jack wasn't a fan of sitting still, but had learnt to appreciate her asari mentor in the many different exercises Samara had put her through, even though their personalities were not exactly in tune with one another. The fact that Jack had been able to hold the biotic shield together in the Collector base was proof of that, and her tactics and precision had grown exponentially under the tutelage of one forty times her age.

It would be a cliché to say that their relationship was like mother and daughter, but Jacob figured clichés existed for a reason, and it was about as close as a Justicar who had spent four centuries chasing down her daughter to kill her and a young woman who was ripped from her family as a baby and experimented on throughout her childhood would ever get to having a parent/child relationship.

Thane, meanwhile, was learning how to be a father again, and the meditation sessions with Jack seemed to help him in that regard – the drell had told him once that watching his two companions have an argument while he watched gave him a sense of what he had missed by leaving Irikah and Kolyat alone. Coming in to mediate the argument had the feeling of doing something he was meant for, even if Jack was not his child and Samara was not his wife.

Now, it seemed, those meditation sessions would be no more, and once more Samara, Thane and Jack would be left to their own devices. Hell, everyone on the ship would be left to their own devices. Those three weren't the only ones with family issues that were sorted out on the Normandy. Not only that, but Shepard had somehow turned a ragtag group of super soldiers with issues into a family that would have each other's backs, no matter what.

He never thought he'd be willing to entrust his life to a merc, an assassin, a krogan or a geth, yet on the Normandy, he'd done it over and over again.

"Today has been better, Garrus." Thane replied. "My meditation calmed my soul. But this interruption suggests our time has come."

"Yeah. We're pretty sure Shepard will be handing himself into the Alliance, which means there's going to be a lot of people here with nowhere to go."

"My path is clear." Samara stated, the image of serenity. After a pause, she continued, "but I suspect that is not true for the crew, nor for…at least some of the squad. I will do what I can to help."

"Probably gonna need that help pretty soon," Jacob commented as the elevator returned, "chances are Shepard got a plan beyond handing himself in, so we're gonna need to come up with something." The ground squeezed in, and headed up.

On arriving at the CIC, Jacob took a quick look around. The crew seemed...subdued. They had since they came back from the Collector base. Not surprising, given what they'd been through, but it felt wrong. Chambers had the worst of it; she was trying to be the 'same old Kelly', but she was frequently lost in thought, and seemed like she needed to be on the receiving end of a shrink, rather than giving advice. Jacob did what he could, but he wasn't exactly psych material.

The group made their way through the armoury – Mordin hated people going through the lab – and arrived in the meeting room. The rest of the squad was there, minus Jack. Shepard was leaning on the table, face down and not paying attention. He looked up on hearing the doors opening, and his face shifted into what Jacob called 'Commander Mode', a face he had undoubtedly pulled hundreds of time before.

He gave the squad a moment to find some free space in the room. As he began, Jacob noticed that Garrus and Miranda had placed themselves either side of him.

"Alright, you're all here-"

"Your girlfriend ain't here!" Zaeed called out, unhelpfully. Shepard glared at him. "Yeah yeah."

"As I was saying, you're all here, and I've already told you about what happened on the asteroid. Now, it's time to talk about what's going to happen as a result. As you probably know, Admiral Hackett came by to discuss the Alpha Relay incident. The gist of it is this: there were 300,000 Batarians in that system, and the Hegemony wants my head. The Alliance needs to bring me in to prevent a war with the Batarians. Hackett knows that I did what I had to, and he believes the Reaper threat is real. He's doing what he can to prepare the Alliance for the invasion, but he can only do so much. He's also doing what he can to get the Alliance off my back, but his hands are tied by the fact that he ordered me on the mission in the first place." Shepard took a deep breath. "So, as soon as is feasible, I'm handing myself into the Alliance."

He was met with complete silence. Jacob looked around at the squad he'd come to know and respect, who'd followed the Commander in the very centre of the galaxy, on a mission no-one was sure they'd survive. The squad who had made the Normandy had come to feel like home, and now...now it was going to be taken away from them, with no time to digest it.

After a silence that seemed to stretch on forever, Tali was the first to speak up.

"Is...that a wise idea, Shepard?" she queried, "I mean, the Alliance hasn't been very helpful. I know you respect Hackett and Anderson, but beyond them...can you really trust them?"

"I can trust those two, and that's good enough for me. The Shadow Broker informed me a little while back that Hackett stopped the Alliance from pursuing me once I'd been spotted on Omega. Their plan was to spend 'five to seven months' interrogating me, and Hackett said no. I almost guarantee that they'll be cashing that cheque now, with Anderson on the Council and Hackett having to recuse himself from this case."

"...what's a cheque?"

"Don't worry about it. Basically, they're going to take the opportunity to do now what they couldn't do then, while we were stopping the Collectors."

"And you still trust them."

"Yes."

"You're crazy."

"Damn right!" Zaeed confirmed. "Don't get me wrong, that's mostly that's been a good thing. No sane man would lead a squad like this," he gestured around the room, "through the Omega 4 Relay, and get us all out the other side after blowing up the base of some 50,000 year old bugs. Normally, with stuff like that, I'm the only one who gets out alive. But this time, Shepard? Can't say I like you getting locked up when the squids are on their way. Who the hell else is gonna get the galaxy to work together?"

"Well, why can't you guys?" Shepard countered. "Pretty much every race in the galaxy is on this ship, and those that aren't have a connected to someone who is. The only ones without any connection at all are the Batarians, and I doubt they're going to be very interested in galactic co-operation right now."

"Appreciate compliment, Shepard," Mordin conceded. "Squad followed you to end of Earth, so to speak, but did so because of combat ability and willingness to follow leader, not diplomatic ability. Unlikely to be in positions of influence come Reaper invasion."

"This is the best, most talented group I've ever come across, Professor. Pretty hard to believe that you guys couldn't be seriously influential." Before Mordin could expound upon the many reasons Shepard was incorrect, the Commander continued, "but I'll humour you for the time being. Is there anyone here that you think will be in a position of real influence, soon?"

"Suspect Tali will become Admiral on return to Migrant Fleet."

"What?!" Tali exclaimed.

"But influence limited by youth. Other admirals served with father, possibly pre-occupied."

"I'm not sure what to make of that. I don't really want to be an Admiral..."

"I can't think of anyone better suited to the job, Tali."

"Thanks, Shepard." Tali's eyes suddenly narrowed. "Hey, you're getting off topic! We're talking about how crazy you are for wanting to be imprisioned!"

"Carry on, Mordin." Shepard grinned.

"Legion probably in best position to influence species, but rest of galaxy do not trust geth."

"Acknowledged."

Mordin didn't continue.

"...That's it?" Shepard asked, perplexed as to how his squad could be so...unimportant to the rest of the galaxy. Jacob supposed this was the other side of being a commander of a tight-knit crew: you overestimate those around you.

Mordin listed off the squadmates one-by-one. "Garrus respected, but too low in hierarchy."

"Wouldn't want to be any higher!"

"Grunt also respected, but too young, and unknown outside Clan Urdnot. Will probably be used as muscle of clan head."

"Heh heh heh. I like it."

"Jacob quit Alliance to join Cerberus. Bad news. Will have to find way to avoid joining Shepard in prison." Jacob nodded – his thoughts were along those lines.

"Miranda known Cerberus operative, but close to Illusive Man. Alliance may be more willing to look other way, but would restrict activities."

"Yes, and I have no intention of losing my freedom."

"Zaeed, mercenary."

"Couldn't spare me more than that, Solus?"

"No."

"Bah."

Mordin smiled, and continued. "Samara revered as justicar, but not influential."

"It is as you say."

"Thane, assassin. Also, ill."

"Quite. I will be retiring to the Citadel with Kolyat."

"Jack, convicted criminal. However, similar to Miranda-"

"DON'T YOU DARE COMPARE ME WITH THE CHEERLEADER!" shouted a disembodied voice that was neither Kasumi nor EDI. Shepard began chuckling to himself while everyone else looked around in surprise – apparently what was going on in this room was also being piped through to the sub-deck.

"Like I said Zaeed, we're all here. Even if we're not all physically present." The mercenary just shook his head.

"Hey Shepard. If you know what's good for you, shut up."

Mordin continued, unabated. "As I was saying, similar to Miranda to the Alliance – may be willing to look other way in exchange for service. Skilled biotics still rarity among humans."

"I'm not gonna play soldier!"

"Never stated you would, may not be best use of talent. Will have to look into."

"Alright, I get your point, Mordin. Still, sur-"

"Ahem." Another voice piped up from somewhere in the room. Jacob couldn't shake the feeling that the thief was somewhere close to him…"You don't say anything about me, Prof!"

"Ah, yes, was relying on sight instead of memory to sort through squad. Apologies, Kasumi."

"...so? What about me? I'm kinda curious."

"Kasumi, unconvicted criminal-"

"Hey!"

"-in worse position than Jack. Alliance would undoubtedly seek to interrogate over missing goods. Also, being chased by Spectre. Jondam Bau, good man, hope Shepard meets him some day. Will probably do so if he continues pursuit of Kasumi., Commander has habit of crossing paths with others. Strange phenomena, should probably investigate."

"Right. What about yourself, Mordin? You're ex-STG."

"Correct. Ex-STG. Still have some access, but little influence. Also, no marriage, no political connections."

"Okay, okay. Let's say, hypothetically, you all stayed on board as I went to the Alliance. What would happen?"

"Two possibilites. Possibility one, Normandy impounded. Crew taken into custody as former Alliance members, interrogated, questioned about Cerberus. Squad taken into custody for criminal pasts, knowledge of other species' governments. Hackett, Anderson helpless to stop."

"And the other?"

"Possibility two, Normandy not impounded. Many further possibilities from here: aimless wandering until Reapers hit; dispersal of crew and squad over time until no-one is left but Joker, in which case ship returns to Alliance; Jack may decide to turn pirate and crash ship into moon."

"Hell yeah!"

"All eventualities end with casualties."

Shepard was silent for a moment before responding. "That's not really what I wanted to hear, Mordin."

"Apologies Shepard, did not mean to cause distress, but hope you understand complexity of situation. With Shepard, first Normandy become melting pot of species, puts together excellent squad to defeat rogue Spectre and geth! Without Shepard, crew drifts apart. With Shepard, second Normandy become like the first! Without Shepard, crew drifts apart." Mordin breathed in. "Inevitable."

"Like it or not, Shepard, you're the glue that holds us together," Jacob affirmed. "If you're not here, the rest of us are going to need a way out so we can focus on stopping the Reapers."

"Shepard, you're either going to have to change your mind and go rogue," stated Miranda, "or you can come up with a plan that allows us to prepare for the Reapers, separately, off the ship. We've spent too long floating around space already, and without you we don't have a cha-"

"No!" Some of the squad looked taken aback by his sudden force. "I refuse to believe for a second that you would be incapable of achieving anything without me. Like I said, you are the most talented, capable squad I've ever had, and I've seen how well you work together. You don't need me there for that to be true!"

"Commander," Miranda replied, straightening her back and gritting her teeth, "no-one is saying that we aren't a great squad. That's not the point. The point is that we're sitting ducks without you, so if you're handing yourself in, we need a plan for the rest of us that allows us to do what we can to stop the Reapers. Staying on the Normandy will not allow us to do that."

"Look, you don't have to believe it if you don't want to, Shepard," Garrus said firmly, "but I do, for your sake. I saw what happened to the crew after you died, and believe me, the same thing will happen again if we're not prepared. There's simply no way for us to stay together as a squad for very long without you here. We were already getting insecty after a few days without you here, how do you think we would manage for six months?"

"I think you meant antsy." Miranda corrected.

"Isn't that what I said?"

Shepard silently looked at his friend, expressionless.

"Shepard, please, just let us handle it." Garrus pleaded. "We're not going to stop you from handing yourself in to the Alliance, but we aren't going to be running as a squad without you. Let us do this for you, before we all split up to save the galaxy. You don't have to deal with it. We can do it."

Shepard remain unmoved, and Jacob suddenly felt like an intruder on a private moment.

"Shepard." The turian took a step towards his friend. "Don't make me order you."

Shepard's eyes narrowed. "Order me? Pretty sure you don't have an official rank on this ship."

"No-one does. This is an independent ship, Shepard. We're all here voluntarily, without any chain of command outside the ship. And, to be honest, there isn't really one inside it either. We follow you because we want to, but that also means that if we want you to go and take a break, there's nothing you can do to stop us. Unless you want to fight us?"

"And for what it's worth Shepard, both Cerberus and Alliance protocols give us ample room to temporarily displace you in favour of myself or Lieutentant Moreau." Miranda added.

"Take a break, Shepard. Spirits, you deserve it."

Shepard look back and forth at the two of them, looking for a way out. Finding none, he gave up. "Fine," he sighed, head down and eyes closed, "I am hereby relieving myself of duty until the Alliance takes me into custody. Get the plan sorted. If you need anything, let me know." With one last, searching look at his squad, he left the room.

"Well, uh, that was easier than I expected." Garrus noted.

"Was that your plan all along?" Tali asked.

"Not exactly."

"I thought you were gonna kiss him near the end there." Zaeed commented.

"I believe Shepard's already taken. Unless there's something Jack wants to tell us?"

"I knew you had a thing for him Vakarian! You can keep him. I don't care."

"That's very kind of you, Jack. You'll get the chance to tell him that in about, oh, 30 seconds, I guess?"

"Wha-"

"The elevator's currently heading down to your level."

"..."

"You're welcome."

"VAKARIAN, YOU ARE A TOTAL F-"

"Do you wish for me to delay the elevator, Jack?" EDI interrupted.

"WHAT DO YOU THINK?"

"EDI, do we really need to hear your discussion with Jack? It's distracting." Miranda observed.

"Very well, Ms Lawson. Logging you out."

"Aren't you actually logging Jack out?" Kasumi queried from...somewhere.

"Technically, no-one on the ship is logged out of my observation. For example, I am continuing a discussion with Jack and with the rest of the squad simultaneously. It is simply a way for me to communicate that I have acknowledged the statement directed towards me."

"You know what? Never mind."

"Jack's use of vulgar language is currently reaching levels I have not observed before. It is a useful learning experience."

"Alright, you two successfully pissed off the Commander. What's the next step?" Jacob asked, trying to re-direct the discussion.

"Well, I propose that-"

"It's pretty clear that-"

The two speakers, human female and turian male, stopped and stared at each other in the centre of the room, covertly filling the space where Shepard had been.

Jacob just sighed. The Commander may have been a mess, but the one he'd just left behind would be even bigger.

And now he was stuck on clean-up duty.

Times like this, he wished he wasn't a grunt.