Disclaimer: All of the locations, characters, planets etc. are property of BioWare and are used here exclusively for fan fiction purposes. (aka they are not owned by me ;) )

This is a continuation of Mass Effect: Shadows (.net/s/4726350/1/) - I'd recommend reading that before just so there is a frame on the character… Enjoy.

Also, this has a lot of Original Events between first and second games with the OC that I developed in the previous story.

Prologue

The faint red light on the ceiling flickered on and off. Even on the Citadel there were places like this one, run down and almost abandoned. After the attack from Sovereign there was very little time to rebuild, and everyone worked hard. The Presidium took priority and most areas in the Wards remained unattended. Slums like these were most likely at the end of the list, and it would take a long time for these places to be rebuilt, let alone be policed properly.

The news report flashed on the wall, the small terminal connected through one of the electrical outlets in the room. The reports didn't stop, and they all said the same thing. The death of Commander Shepard was on every single news channel, after weeks of search the Alliance finally gave up and gave up hope. The reports spoke only that.

The door slid open and Josh walked back in. He threw a pistol onto his bed and followed soon after. He stretched towards the terminal, turning it off. He was tired of hearing about Shepard and the rest of the crew. From the reports he received, most survived, some even tried to contact him, but he was away, or so he wanted them to think. Stephanie Shepard was one of the few members who died, as the reports stated 'heroically.'

The communicator rang, and Josh reached for it. The name on the scanner came up as 'unknown,' but he got used to that. Tali really did a good job coding the channel.

"Hello," his voice was coarse from few days of hard work.

"Josh?" Tali's sounded the same after a few months of not hearing her. "Is that really you? I didn't think anyone maintained this channel after so much time. I didn't even know the Normandy was down until today."

"Really?" Josh's voice got a little better.

"The flotilla is often locked away from outside world," Tali explained. "We do not get to learn any news until we come around a populated planet for trading. Everyone else is shut away though, you're the first I could reach."

"Everyone is off the grid?" Josh asked.

"Yes," Tali answered, "what the hell is going on?!"

"I don't know," Josh answered. "You're talking to the wrong man. No one else is panicking. There is simply a memorial service, nothing else."

"Was it the Reapers?" Tali pressed on.

"I don't know Tali," Josh said, sadness in his voice. "Shepard is dead, that's all. No one knows what to say… I have another call Tali, I'll let you know if I learn anything."

"Please do Josh," Tali answered and hung up as Josh switched to a different channel.

"Hello?" Josh answered for the second time.

"Welcome back to reality," a familiar Australian accent was on the other side. "You watched any news?"

"Shepard is dead…" Josh stated casually.

"Upset?"

"It was coming to that once she went missing," Josh reasoned. "No one gets spaced and survives. What do you need?"

"I got what you asked for," Miranda responded. "A number of profiles, dossiers and other information. Josh, I got a job for you."

"I need the profiles first," Josh pressed.

"Fair enough," Miranda agreed, before adding with slightly flirtatious undertones, "the usual meeting place."

With that she broke the communication. Josh sat in silence staring at the wall. In the background a female news reporter was once again repeating that Stephanie Shepard is officially declared dead by the Alliance. Things couldn't get much worse at the moment.