Inspired by 'Shepard's Cunning Plan' by Galactic Alien regarding Shepard clones. There really should be more of these but I guess since Mass Effect ended, the drive for fiction for it must have dried up. Anyway, I do not own Mass Effect. I claim my story, OCs etc so I hope you enjoy.

(CITADEL/APARTMENT)

"So, Shepard," Garrus greeted as he strode into the apartment, "Do you think we'll ever have a normal day without someone crazy trying to kill us?"

The commander smiled as they walked to the kitchen, "Who knows Garrus, maybe next time it'll be Conrad Verner."

A chuckle emerged from the turian as he leaned against the bench, "How are you holding up Shepard?"

His friend lowered his gaze slightly, "I've been better."

"Your clone made his choice. You tried to help him, he chose not to accept."

Shepard turned and opened the fridge, "We're out of milk. I'll have to pick some up later."

"Shepard…"

"Better get some dextro-cheese for Tali while I'm at it."

"John," Garrus gripped the human's shoulder, "Talk to me."

Shepard turned, shrugging off the claw, "What do you want me to say Garrus? I tried to save someone who only existed to be body parts then spent their life as nothing but a shadow of me. What can I possibly say about that?"

"I don't know," the turian frowned, "But you need to talk about it."

The doorbell chimed and a minute later Tali and Liara along with Ashley and Wrex arrived.

"Hey Commander," the female Spectre smiled, "You guys got through the good stuff yet?"

"Haven't started." Garrus replied, "Trying to resolve an internal conflict in our leader."

"Which one?" Tali asked as she sat beside Liara at the table while Wrex stood by the sink and Ashley lifted a beer from the fridge.

"The clone."

Shepard received looks of sympathy from his friends, though Wrex merely grunted and said, "It's not like he was like you Shepard. I mean he got the whole 'I should go' thing totally wrong."

"I am responsible for this. Cerberus needed me alive so they created him."

Liara moved over to wrap an arm around her bond-mate's shoulders, "It's not your fault Shepard. You did not create the clone and nor are you responsible for the path he chose. He had a choice to make and he made it, not you."

"Thanks Liara." He kissed her on the cheek.

"My pleasure."

Just as everyone started to relax and strike up conversation EDI contacted them.

"Commander, Alliance and C-Sec officials are requesting your presence at the holding facility. Brooks wishes to negotiate a deal."

Shepard stiffened, "On my way. Have a cab ready by the time I leave the building."

"Yes Commander."

(CITADEL/C-SEC HOLDING CELLS)

During the Cerberus invasion the holding facilities had been left alone. Likely the invaders didn't want criminals running around a station they hoped to gain control of.

Bailey and a C-Sec turian guard escorted Shepard through the lower levels to the more secured cells, "Are you sure about this Shepard?"

"If she can give us information we can use I should at least hear her out."

The C-Sec commander didn't look reassured but he opened the door anyway, "We'll be watching, knock when you're done."

Shepard nodded and stepped into the cell. The door clanged shut behind him.

"Commander Shepard." Brooks sat up on her bunk with the devious smirk he loathed plastered all over her face.

"What information do you have?" He asked bluntly.

Her smirk didn't fade, "What? No greetings? No inquiry about my health?"

"Frankly I couldn't care less." He shrugged, "Either spill the beans or I'm gone."

That wiped the smugness from her face, "I can give you the location of a Cerberus space station along with the security codes. In exchange I want a full pardon and financial compensation."

"You expect me to trust you?" Shepard raised an eyebrow in disbelief, "Are you serious?"

"Deadly. I don't expect anything I offer to be accepted but since my freedom is at stake I have no reason to lie."

Shepard considered her words, "Give us the co-ordinates and codes. Once we check it out and return unharmed, we can arrange your release."

Brooks chewed her lip as she thought it over, "I give you the location. When you get there you authorise the credit transfer. Then I give you the security codes, when security goes down you set me free."

"Give us the codes and location. When we get there you get the money, when we get back safely then you will be pardoned."

"Deal." She extended a hand.

Shepard stared at the hand before turning and knocking on the door, "I'm done."

"Come back soon Commander." Brooks called behind him, "For both our sakes."

(CITADEL/APARTMENT)

"Are you sure we can trust her?" Liara asked.

They were seated in the living room. Shepard had just filled everyone in on Brook's offer.

"We know we can't trust her." Tali folded her arms, "She wants revenge. Big time."

"But look at it this way," James pointed out, "If we get killed on this trip she stays locked up. I reckon she'll wait until she's free before coming back for another round."

"Javik?" Shepard turned to the prothean, "What do you think?"

He lifted his head from staring at the floor, "The female needs you to be free. I do not believe she would risk your death in this deal."

"Ashley?"

I don't like it skipper, but if there is a Cerberus station it might have information we can use."

Shepard nodded, "Alright then. Everyone back on the Normandy, I'll call Joker and EDI. Let's go."

(DEEP SPACE/NORMANDY/BRIDGE)

"Find anything?" the Commander asked as he approached the cockpit.

"Yeah I found a piece of armour that belonged to that Cat-6 pilot." Joker waved a fragment of metal in the air.

Shepard folded his arms, "Joker…"

"There's nothing here Commander." The pilot sighed in frustration as he gestured out the window, "I mean there is nothing t all."

EDI perked up, "I have accessed the docking protocols and opened the hanger doors."

A small red blip appeared on the screen and Joker went back to the controls, "Must've been cloaked."

"We'll deploy in the shuttle." Shepard turned and strode for the elevator, "Keep an open channel in case of surprises."

EDI rose from her seat, "I should accompany them. My technological abilities will be beneficial against Cerberus encryption."

"Are you sure? I mean what if there is a Cerberus program that'll affect you?" Joker looked at her in concern.

EDI bent down and gently kissed his forehead, "I will be fine Jeff, this is an old station and its system is not as advanced as I am."

"Okay, be careful." He watched her walking away before turning back to his controls.

(CERBERUS STATION/HANGER BAY)

Shepard, Garrus and EDI moved across the empty hanger and the AI started hacking the internal doors. The entire station lightning was offline but the power was still being supplied from generators and diverted to a large system in the station's core, a life support of some kind.

"Reminds me of the old days." Garrus muttered as the door opened, "Remember that crazy biotic woman?"

"Julia." Shepard replied, "The man she loved kept on life support because she couldn't accept his death and killed the entire crew."

"Well, let's hope our days of looking for crazy biotic woman on ships in space are done." They advanced along the corridor, "Jack is more than enough."

Upon arriving at what appeared to be a reception area EDI activated one of the computers and uploaded the security codes Brooks had provided.

"Be ready." Shepard lifted his Avenger assault rifle to firing stance, "If things go crazy fall back to the shuttle."

Instead an elevator came online and the doors opened.

"Well I suppose once we get inside it might plummet to the bottom and we die in a horrible crash." Garrus offered, "The again it could be a false elevator and eject us into space."

"Actually I believe once we are inside the electronic system will overload your armour and organic matter leaving you as lifeless fried corpses." EDI added.

There was an awkward silence.

"That was a joke." She offered.

Shepard let out a sigh and Garrus chuckled nervously, "There's a time and a place EDI." The human reprimanded.

"I thought a joke might calm your nerves. Clearly in these situations it does not."

The three of them entered the rather spacious elevator and it started to descend at an acceptable speed.

"Any ideas what's down here?" Shepard asked.

EDI activated her omnitool and conjured a hologram of the station, "The console supplied information that the lower levels were reserved for 'experimental testing'. It is possible this was a Cerberus special weapons production facility."

"I just hope they've got something I can install for the Normandy." Garrus's eyes had that glint he got whenever he thought about weapon modification, "Or maybe a new sniper rifle…"

Shepard smiled to himself, but it vanished as the doors opened and the three of them emerged swiftly, weapons sweeping the area in a co-ordination search pattern for hostiles.

"Commander," EDI directed their attention to a lone console with a lit screen while the entire area was in shadows despite the three torches.

Cautiously they made their way over to the console where it was asking them if they wanted the lights on. Shepard clicked to activate.

Row after row of overhead lights clicked on, revealing around thirty different stasis tanks like the one Grunt had been created in. Most of them were filled with organs or limbs but three had fully grown clones as their labelled content. One of them was missing, likely Brook's helper, the second had no life-signs something had went wrong and the clone died. The third was detailed as 'incorrect but useable for combat purposes.'

"Let's check it out." The commander led the way past the other tanks all with body parts floating inside them.

"What do you think it meant?" Garrus asked as they arrived at the tank, "Maybe wrong hair or eyes or… or…" he trailed off as his eyes widened.

Shepard holstered his rifle and stared at the creature in the tank, "This is unexpected."

"You do look beautiful." EDI complimented, "Specialist Traynor may be interested."

The human didn't even say anything as he stared at the woman slumbering inside the stasis tank. Slowly he reached out with a hand and placed it against the glass.

"Commander," Garrus coughed, "What do you want to do?"

Shepard activated the controls and opened the tank.

EDI and Garrus stepped back, weapons at the ready, as the liquid was vented from the tank and the door opened with a hiss. A naked woman fell out of it and landed on all fours as she spewed a mouthful of the liquid before taking deep lungful's of air and getting to her feet.

"Who are you?" she blinked several times, "Where am I?"

"My name is Commander John Shepard." He extended a hand, "Alliance military and Council Spectre."

The woman shook his hand with the force of a krogan, "Beth, oh hang on till I get this imprinted data sorted." She massaged her temples, "Ah there we go. Yeah I'm a clone of you, made by Cerberus; it's all coming back now." She placed her hands on her hips and looked at him critically, "Well, they really screwed up huh?"

That was rather accurate. While they both were fair skinned he had short brown hair as opposed to her shoulder length red. He had brown eyes while hers were a piercing blue, and a rather odd touch was that her lips were deep purple, almost black.

Aside from the few cosmetic adjustments and her impressive bust the toned muscled figure was the same and she flexed her arms experimentally, ignoring Garrus's accelerated blinking rate.

"Perhaps we should find you some clothes." John caught his turian friend's expression, "Let's get back to the Normandy. EDI have the crew on notice to avoid the elevator and that I will be going straight to my cabin on return."

"On it."

John turned back to Beth, "We'll get you kitted up and then we'll talk more."

She nodded, "Not like there's much else I can do."

"Cortez we're on our way back to the shuttle." John informed the pilot as the group strode back to the lift, "Have we got any extra clothes?"

"We've got a spare set of thermal shorts and undershirt. Why?"

"Have them lifted out by the time we get there." John told him as the lift started to ascend, "We've got a new friend with us."

(TEN MINUTES LATER/ NORMANDY/ SHEPARD'S CABIN)

Kitted out in Traynor's spare uniform Beth sat down on the edge of the bed while John paced back and forth in thought.

"Hey," she reached out and caught his wrist, "Can you stop that? You're making me feel like I'm being interrogated here."

He paused and turned to his clone, "I'm still trying to get my head around this."

"You and me both." She stretched, "I mean I woke up to find I'd been cloned from a legendary war hero who saved the galaxy on a daily basis. I still reckon I could kick your ass."

He raised an eyebrow, "Excuse me?"

She winked, "Don't worry about it, I'm kidding. Well, I probably could beat you in a fight but I have no reason to resent you. Heck you got me out of that place and haven't tried to stick needles or implants in me so I guess you're not such a bad guy."

"I try my best to be fair." He admitted, "It helps having friends rather than enemies."

"Yeah," she got to her feet, "But that's your problem. Nobody is scared of you. Sure you might be a powerhouse on the front lines but in the world of politics and backstabbing you've got no chance. Me on the other hand," she raised a hand coated in biotic energy, "I'm more of a shoot first type of gal."

John put his head in his hands as he sunk onto the couch, "You remind me of Jack."

"Oh yeah, Subject Zero." Beth snapped her fingers, "I guess I might've got part of her personality in me along with your combat skills. Huh, wonder if I got a krogan head butt…"

There was a knock at the door and John stood up, "Come in."

It opened to reveal Traynor standing there with a datapad and a look of curiosity.

"Specialist." John inclined his head, "What do you have?"

She walked into the room and handed him the datapad, though her eyes kept flicking to Beth, "EDI has finalised everything from the station. Apparently all weapon research and anything else of use was wiped before the station was abandoned. The clone pods were left online due to the considerable cost to create them. In short, apart from," her eyes again slid to Beth, "Our new guest, the station is worthless."

"Chill babe." Beth winked, "It'll have to be your cabin 'cause I haven't got one yet."

Traynor blushed and John glanced at his clone, "Did you just flirt with my communications officer?"

"What?" Beth shrugged indignantly, "She's fit and I'm looking to get some action. Or are you telling me I can't get it on with a member of your crew?"

He inhaled deeply through his nose, "Until we decide what your status is that's a no."

Beth folded her arms in a huff, "You get to screw that asari but I'm not allowed to do the same to a human? Where's the logic in that?"

"I've known Liara for years."

"You knew her for a few months, got killed for two years then spent six months in an Alliance station for killing batarians. I hardly call that knowing her for years."

"You've just been born and you just met Samantha."

"I said she's fit, she doesn't have a problem with it, do you babe?"

Traynor had been watching the exchange as one might a tennis match with her head swivelling between the two Shepards, "I uh, well it's ah, oh I should get back to the um, the uh, the..." She rambled.

"You're dismissed Traynor." John told her.

"Thank you sir." She turned and walked swiftly from the rom.

"See you later." Beth called as the door started to close.

John cleared his throat, "EDI, can you get in contact with Admiral Hackett and forward it to the comm room. I'm heading there now."

"Of course Commander."

John beckoned to his clone and they left his cabin, "Let's see what he decides."

(NORMANDY/COMMUNICATIONS ROOM)

Hackett stared blankly as John finished his report, "A female clone of you?"

"Yes sir." John indicated Beth, she snapped to attention and saluted smartly, "Technically she has no rank in the Alliance so I need confirmation from you about what to do."

Hackett turned to the woman, "What do you intend?"

"With your permission, sir, I'd like to join my brother here on the Normandy." She lowered her arm, "I am just as capable at fighting as John though not as diplomatic. Give me this chance to serve the Alliance and I won't let you down." Her steely eyes gleamed with a fierce devotion.

The admiral pondered her request, "I'll work out the official procedures but consider yourself a member of the Alliance military. You will serve under the Commander until further notice. You are not a Spectre so you are not exempt from Council law. Understood?"

Beth saluted, "Sir, yes sir!"

"Alright then, I'll let you get her orientated. Hackett out."

The hologram faded and John turned to her, "Brother?"

"Well Miranda has Orianna, you've got me. I'm your sis you're my bro, now where do I get some grub on this thing?"

John stifled a groan as he followed her. Things were going to be very interesting with her around.

Maraxus: That will do for now. Just a little intro before we start into the main story. Currently the time line is just after making peace between the geth and quarians hence why Tali is with them.

Beth: I think they'd guessed that.

Maraxus: Ah hello Beth and welcome to the chapter's little recap.

Beth: Not much happened, Brooks gave up my location, I got birthed, and now I'm working alongside my bro to save the galaxy and get laid with aliens. I mean what does he see in T'Soni?

Maraxus: She's intelligent, powerful, beautiful, loyal and she's the Shadow Broker.

Beth: Apart from that, now Ashley on the other hand is a much better girl for him. Both Alliance military, both humans, both long time friends.

Maraxus: John likes Liara. Deal with it.

Beth: Fine, anyway, please review readers and we'll see you next time.