Missing Moments: The Argument

Shepard took down the last Cerberus soldier in the hall and grimly looked around. They were almost to the archives. Hopefully, Dr. Core hadn't finished what she came here to do. The Alliance needed that Prothean data. If it had plans for any weapon that could take down the reapers, it would be the key to ending this war and taking back Earth. She wondered though, why the Illusive Man would send Cerberus here. If he really was concerned with saving humanity, wouldn't he be helping them? What was he up to? Liara panted slightly as she reached Shepard. A worried look crept across her face.

"How many soldiers do you think Cerberus sent?" Liara asked. They had fought through a couple dozen since meeting up with her. It was possible she didn't know Cerberus had already started to set up a perimeter around the base before Shepard's team landed.

"About a platoon," Kaidan replied behind her. He shot a gurgling soldier before catching up to Shepard and Liara. "We figured with someone on the inside, that's about how many men Cerberus would need to secure the base."

"Then, maybe the Illusive Man wasn't counting on reinforcements. It is a good thing you arrived when you did, Shepard."

Shepard popped the heat sink from her gun, reloaded, and started around the corner. It was a good thing Hackett sent us, she thought. How long had she been out of the loop? Six months under house arrest, it seemed like forever and yet hardly any time at all. She couldn't even send out communications to her team to find out if they were alright. Shepard had no idea where any of them were or what they were doing, aside from Garrus. But all she knew of him was that he went back to Palaven. Kaidan had been promoted, and here Liara was working on trying to find something they could use to fight off the reapers. She wondered if any of her other squad members were doing something similar. Shepard hoped they were.

Kaidan shook his head. "I still can't believe Cereberus would turn all their soldiers into husks. What are they thinking?"

"The Illusive Man will stop at nothing to get what he wants. Remember those experiments he was running with the thorian creepers? It's the same thing, only now he's using reaper tech." She wasn't sure if one was worse than the other though. Aside from bringing her back to take down the Collectors and rebuilding the Normandy, the Illusive Man's activities were nothing short of monstrous.

"Yeah, I guess so. Makes me worry what he did to you exactly…" Kaidan glanced sideways at Shepard. After being questioned during the entire mission and after she thought they had reached at least something of an understanding back before the tram, he still didn't trust her. She wanted to explode.

"Is that all you can see in me now? After everything I've done? Everyone Kaidan, everyone else believed in me."

"I do believe in you, Shep-" He started softly.

"No, you didn't-"

"Now wait a minute-" Kaidan angrily tried to interject.

"-when I needed you Kaidan. While you were investigating my rumors, I was living it. I woke up on a surgery table in the middle of a mech battle! With only strangers to tell me what was going on. The first chance I got I headed straight for the Citadel to find you. Because I needed you!"

The heat from her words made her cheeks hot with anger. She never allowed herself to get emotional about these types of things, especially on a mission. Shepard almost regretted saying it out loud, but it was too late to take it all back now. Her composure had already been broken.

"I tried to get Anderson to talk to me, Shepard. He stonewalled me about-"

"Then what about Horizon, Kaidan? What then? Why-"

Kaidan blew up at that. "Hey! How the hell was I supposed to know if that was really you in there? You talk about how I should know you better, but I think maybe you should think about how you should know me better? Just because I'm careful I-"

"Will you two just stop it! I know you're both hurt and angry, and not just about this. Earth has just been invaded, and you're worried about the war front. So let's focus on getting this data. Shepard, you said it yourself, we need to focus on finding a way to stop the Reapers." Liara stood between them, her arms starting to create a barricade even though from the hurt look in both their eyes she probably wouldn't have needed one.

Liara looked at Kaidan. She couldn't tell if he was still angry. His brow creased and he frowned, but a second later his expression hardened to stoicism. Shepard was harder to read, but the signs were still there. Her muscles were tense, and her eyes seemed to focus on a distant goal. Sometimes, she hated that Shepard and Alenko were such efficient soldiers. Always sacrificing themselves for the mission, always thinking their personal feelings were a hindrance rather than an advantage. She sighed and Shepard turned away.

"Liara's right. We should go."