AN: This story is written as part as the Femshep community's Incarceration Challenge. You can get a link to the title page through my profile. My insane, wild and crazy thanks to StillDormant who helped me with editing and the title.
MASS EFFECT: Law and Order.
There was an old ticking clock in his office and the very sound of it was driving her mad.
Commander Riana Shepard leapt up, slamming her palm down on the table in front of her. Her red hair, longer than she liked, shifted in front of her eyes but she didn't bother wiping it away - her rage momentarily blinding her.
"This is NOT about Akuze!" She yelled even as a part of herself jerked in shock. Am I really that mad? "Or even Mindoir! Or the Citadel! This is about... about..." Her vision blackened and she had to brace herself, her balance shifting. She saw movement behind her but that man, that accursed man held up his hand briefly, signalling his men to stop.
"Commander, I urge you to restrain yourself," he said, his voice not shocked in the least by her display. "I merely mentioned Akuze because it seemed you had quite a hard time after that. If I understand this report correctly," he glanced at the datapad in front of him but it was more to break eye contact, "you wouldn't have been reinstated to duty if not for the recommendation of one Admiral David Edward Anderson."
Shepard stared at him for a long time, finding herself wishing that his men had restrained her and dragged her back to the cell that she had been kept in for the past two weeks. Was it two? She wondered, feeling drunk and disorientated. Time moved differently here. Like on Akuze. She almost giggled, but the very name made her want to cry.
"I was cleared for duty," she said, her thick tongue struggling around the words as she sat back down. She made to take a sip from the water he provided but something stopped her. "Akuze was a long time ago. I've moved on."
The man made a vexingly considering sound in the back of his throat. "But the destruction of the SSV Normandy wasn't," he pointed out. "What exactly happened there Commander? What do you remember?"
And we're back to this.
Shepard took a steadying breath and tried to gather what was left of her wits. What was it with this man that he played her so? Was it the way he spoke to her? The way he looked at her? A memory of Mindoir crossed her mind and was gone, leaving her feeling cold and vulnerable in her military issue slacks. They weren't decent clothes, just the kind that you could eat, sleep and exercise in with equal comfort. She felt more like a hospital patient than a prisoner.
"Dr. Porter," she said, trying to keep her voice steady. "I don't understand what this has to do with that." Her voice sounded grated none the less. "If I am to understand the purpose of all... this correctly, it's that you clear me for... trial." She said the word slowly and shivered despite herself.
The military psychiatrist smiled, though it didn't touch his eyes. "Among other things," he said. "Commander you've been with us for three weeks and so far you've showed no cooperation in the slightest. These sessions aren't just to establish whether you're fit to stand trial but also to determine your state of mind. You know this. We've spoken about it many times."
She stared at him, not immediately grasping what he was saying. Three? She thought. Where had the time slipped to? She shivered and hugged herself, but found a reasonable thought ready for the taking.
"If this is about more than the trial," she pointed out coldly. "Then why isn't my representation present in these sessions as well? As far as I can understand, this is supposed to be done by a panel. Not one man." The contempt in her voice was unmistakable and he latched onto it.
"Tell me Commander," he asked with a sly grin. "How much do you blame the batarians for what happened on Mindoir?"
"And, what is the Council's opinion of her supposed resurrection?" Diana Allers heavily accentuated sentence put a woman calling herself Marie Dixon's teeth on edge as she stared at Donald Udina's ever calm features. His beady little eyes looked at the camera calmly and when he spoke it felt as if he was addressing her personally.
"I have not come to speak on that matter," he said dismissively. "I'm merely here to represent the galactic council in this trial. As you know, Shepard is a Spectre and if found guilty of this crime then she'll be extradited for further trial under council law. And, as to her supposed resurrection..." Again those words. Supposed? Marie had to stop herself from snorting. She missed Udina's last comment but she could see that something he had said made Diana smile slyly.
"I hear what you're saying Councilman," she said respectfully. "Though I have it from a very reliable source that it's been found that Commander Shepard has been subjected to severe physical modifications."
Udina's eyes narrowed like a hawk's. "That information is classified..."
Marie, losing interest, sighed and saw that most people were starting to head towards the court doors. The troubling thing was that there were quite a number of aliens present and, although the news said that the Alliance were screening a lot of the batarians, there was still a troublesome number of them present.
This can get very ugly, very fast, she thought with a knot in her stomach and moved inside. Unconsciously she scanned the crowd for familiar faces and sure enough, she thought she saw Kelly Chambers duck her head in underneath a krogan, fighting her way to the front of the line for a better seat. Shepard's trial was going to be very public; bordering on a spectacle in Marie's opinion. Why the Alliance allowed it to be open was anybody's guess.
She thought that it was a mistake.
She avoided the direction that Kelly had gone, and chose a bench that would allow her full view of Shepard's council. The atmosphere in the spacious room was electric and terrifying. So many bodies pressed together with so many emotions... She could imagine what the batarians were feeling, their need for retribution but they did not see the bigger picture.
Shepard did what she had to do. She always did.
Closing her eyes, Marie could imagine that every single one of Shepard's old crew was here and everybody else who had ever served with or under her. She kept her eyes closed until she felt a change in the crowd and realised that the judge, jury and all the lawyers had made their entrance. And, then – as the murmur started up in the crowd - Shepard appeared.
The commander made for an impressive sight, dressed in full military uniform, her dark red hair combed back neatly where it hung below her ears. Her uniform was decorated with medals that she had received after the battle for the Citadel and those before, each of them baring testament to her valour. She was escorted by two military police but Marie knew that they weren't necessary.
Yet...
She paused suddenly and frowned, leaning forward so that she could get a clearer view of Shepard, trying to pinpoint the emotion on the Commander's stoic features. She'd imagine that Shepard would be tense but calm. Shepard was always calm.
Yet this woman...
Marie shuddered suddenly and hugged herself, desperately hoping that she was mistaken even though she knew that that almost never happened. And, she could tell. In a lot of ways she knew Shepard better now than she knew herself and she knew, she could tell that something was very, very wrong.
Admiral Stephen Hackett and Admiral Anderson were sitting together, very close to the front where they had a good view of the proceedings. Both men sat very quiet as they listened; both of them silently fuming.
"This was supposed to have been a private," Anderson had told Hackett the night before. "Who ever heard of a military trial being televised like some courtroom drama? The situation is too volatile. It's a political shit storm waiting to happen."
Hackett had agreed, but there was nothing either them could do to stop it. They had petitioned, used all of their contacts and had repeatedly been met by dead ends. "This is in the matter of Intergalactic Security," their superiors had said. "The whole universe is watching us, watching humanity. This isn't just about our laws but theirs. They all have the right to know how we deal with war criminals."
They sounded all too much like Udina for Anderson's liking.
The trial was a spectacle and all through it, Shepard just sat there, staring off into space. Anderson's gut twisted and he glanced at Hackett who was also studying the Commander intently. He must've found it strange too. They were reaching a critical point, Shepard's cross examination, and if the woman wasn't up to it her representation should ask for a time out. Anderson had tried to talk to Shepard before the trial but she had been in solitary confinement. He hadn't been able to see her in three weeks.
Anderson didn't like the murmur that sprung up as Shepard got up slowly and walked to the witness box. Her dark dress uniform made her features seem paler and she touched her brow before she sat down, giving Anderson the impression that she had a headache. She answered the examiner's questions easily enough, stating her rank, name and giving her service history in a soft, whispered tone. What worried Anderson was the way Riana flinched when she mentioned Akuze or how her voice went up a pitch. He hadn't heard her express so much emotion over the event in years. Yes, it had been tough on her and they nearly lost her to the horrors of that accursed planet but she had bounced back. She had grown to be so much more than just a sole survivor. Whatever nightmares that planet still gave her, she had them behind closed doors when nobody was watching.
And, then there was the way she was being cross examined, as if the man was taking great pains to remind the audience of those horrors. He certainly didn't miss his opportunity to point out that it had been batarian slavers that attacked Mindoir. This show was more for the media, if this was private, they would've gotten straight to the point.
Why did you destroy the Bahak Mass Relay?
The question was echoed by the lawyer and Anderson couldn't help but feel that it was asked too early. Surely after all that show he couldn't just leap to that question. He watched Shepard closely, studying her. She blinked at the examiner for a full minute then looked up at the gathered crowd. Her hand twitched and went to her brow but she didn't answer.
"They... killed..." She started to say but then shook her head. "No..." Her words trailed off and she stared at the lawyer.
"What's that Commander?" he said patiently. "Who did they kill?"
An angry murmur rose up from the crowd.
"They..." Shepard started again, then shook her head violently. "The Reapers," she whispered, then said louder. "The Reapers are coming!" She shouted the last, her words causing an outcry in the audience. Next to him, Hackett was on his feet, his pale blue eyes locked on the spectacle in front of him.
"What in God's name..."
"The Reapers are coming!" Shepard yelled again and this time she stood up her movements jerky but clear. She was going to run. "The Reapers are coming! They are coming!" The MPs ran towards her ready to restrain her but her eyes went wide with panic. When he reached her she grabbed him before he could get a hold of her and threw him clear over the bench. She bolted right into his back up but ducked low, while the crowd roared.
"Murderer!" Anderson heard a batarian shout behind him. "Destroyer of worlds!"
Meanwhile, Shepard had managed to subdue the second soldier. There was a feral look in her eyes now, one Anderson had not seen in many years. It was the same one he had seen on Akuze when she fought to get the men picking her up to go back for the unit she had lost. Then she was wild with madness, infection and fear. Anderson tried to shake himself to action, tried to lift his voice above that of the crowd.
"Shepard!" he yelled. "Shepard, stand down! Shepard!" She didn't hear him but this time three soldiers came at her and finally managed to subdue her. The crowd was insane, people crying in anger, surprise and hate, that absolute hatred that can only be born from the loss of loved ones. They moved forward but there were soldiers now, hundreds of them pushing into the hall and keeping the crowd back. And above all the noise, the frantic shouts of a woman gone mad.
"The Reapers are coming!" Shepard's voice was hysterical. "The Reapers are coming!"
He was allowed to see her, but it didn't do him any good. Shepard lay before him on a bed, her hands and feet strapped down. She was thinner than he remembered and it felt strange because he had only seen her three weeks before.
What happened between then and now? Anderson thought as he stretched out his leathered brown hand to touch hers. Even sedated she jerked at his touch, her body pulling taunt against the restraints and her hands clenching and unclenching like claws. There was movement behind her eyes, but she didn't open them.
"I'm afraid I saw it coming," Dr. Adrian Porter said beside him, his hands steady on his datapad. "She's had a nervous breakdown, the signs have been there for some days. Although, I thought that she would be able to hold out today. She appeared quite calm this morning..." He trailed off when Anderson turned to him, angry.
"Nervous breakdown?" He spat. "Shepard won't have a nervous breakdown. Have you met her? Have you looked at her service record? If the world goes to shit this is the one woman I know I can count on to keep her head together!"
The doctor didn't look put off by his anger, but merely stood there. "It's perfectly reasonable for you to assume that," he said. "But she's been spiralling downwards ever since she came here. Recalling the death of her family, the horrors of Akuze. She'd go back there, over and over again. I can show you some of the logs if you want."
Anderson stared at him too angry and confused to say otherwise.
There was nothing that he could say to the doctor so with one last look in his old XO's direction, he grimaced and left the room. There were a lot of soldiers outside and, when he passed a window, he could see the media gathered outside the compound's gates. From one of the offices he passed he heard that wretched woman, Diana Allers' nasal tone:
"News teams are still waiting for an official statement from the Alliance," she was saying. "But it's safe to assume that Commander Shepard isn't going to be fit to stand trial anytime soon." Her voice trailed off and was replaced by Shepard's, shouting hysterically. "The Reapers, the Reapers are coming..."
But they are.
He shut his ears to her recorded cries and went down to the private basement where he had been allowed to park his car. Being high up in the military had its perks and...
He could've heard the sound yards from him, that slight hiss of air that told him a pistol was preparing to fire. But now the noise was close. Too close. His hands shot up immediately, his keys dangling from his fingers. He didn't move, there was no point.
When the shot didn't come, he relaxed a little.
"I don't have any money son," he said, his voice calm and level. "But you can have the car."
"I don't want your car," a woman answered, her tones short and clipped. "I need you. Turn around. Slowly." Her accent was neutral, not a trace to tell him where she came from.
Anderson did so slowly and saw a shadow against the wall closest to him. He could not make out any details and wondered whether the person was cloaked.
"Why?" His voice was still level as he calculated the distance. How fast would she be able to pull the trigger?
The shadow moved but didn't become more distinct. "To get to Shepard," the woman said, not mincing words. "You can get me to her."
He snorted and shook his head. "I won't help you assassinate her."
The assailant hissed and this time the shadows materialised into the shape of a woman. A very decent shape of a woman. "I don't want to kill her," she snapped. "I want to help her. Your people did something to her. I have never seen her act like that." In her anger, her neutral accent shifted into something more familiar and Anderson immediately recognized it.
"Miranda Lawson."
She stepped out of the shadows then and didn't look at all like he remembered. Blond hair, dark eyes, glasses. She wore a black leather jacket and a pair of tight jeans and the pistol in her hand could blow a hole through two walls.
"Marie Dixon if you please," she said. "You never know who is listening."
They argued briefly but both of them were people of few words. It was clear that something was wrong with Shepard. Miranda suspected a faction within the Alliance lay at the heart of it. That suspicion was only strengthened once she found out that Anderson had not been allowed near Sheaprd for almost three weeks. If someone wanted to discredit the Commander and all her talks of the Reapers, that would be the best way to do it.
Make it appear as if she'd gone insane.
Anderson argued at first, but eventually conceded to the one thing that they could agree on. Shepard was clearly very ill and the doctor that she had wasn't doing anything about it.
"What do you need?" he said as they sat in his car, making use of its soundproof environment. "You can't just waltz in there Ms. Lawson, you're a wanted criminal. I'm breaking multiple laws by not having you arrested."
She didn't bite but shrugged. "Marie Dixon isn't," she said. "And frankly I don't want to waltz, I want access to her medical records, her latest blood work. I'd like to talk to her, but you say that she's sedated?"
Anderson nodded, clearly fuming, though not at her. She could almost hear him questioning himself, wondering who was responsible. Her money was on Donald Undina, but she'd leave him to make that conclusion for himself. It was clear that he didn't trust her. But, they were bound together. Bound by the loyalty that they had towards one woman.
"I'll get you what you need," he said finally. "Stay right here."
She gave the file one look and declared that she was going to have to see Shepard and have access to a lab. Anderson anticipated her request and told her that they were going to have to wait until the evening while he got her the right clearance. She declined the offer to stay at his home, arranging to meet him in the parking lot at their predetermined time. And, that was it. He didn't see her again until he pulled his car back into the lot several hours later. At first he thought that one of the hospital's doctors had come down there for their own car, until the woman made eye contact.
Smart girl, he thought and wordlessly gave Lawson everything that she needed after which she went into the hospital. To avoid suspicion, he only followed some time later. He had other matters to pursue regardless, such as who exactly had been in charge of Shepard's incarceration to date. He came to Shepard's room just in time to see Lawson sit down next to her and gently wipe her arm with an antiseptic pad. Shepard stirred and opened her eyes, their wild green depths latching onto her old crew member without so much as a spark of recognition.
"No more," she whispered and tried to twist away from her. "I've had enough."
Miranda appeared to ignore Shepard, drawing two phails of blood. Once those had been slipped into her pocket, she took hold of the commander's face, much to Anderson's surprise. Shepard squirmed and twisted in her grip but something in Miranda's gaze seemed to quiet her.
"So have I Shepard," Miranda said softly. "I'll fix this. I promise."
Shepard blinked at her in the dim light and let out a slow breath.
"You have before," she whispered and closed her eyes.
"It's a virus," Miranda said sometime later, her voice hushed despite the fact that they were the only two people in the lab. "Partly organic, partly synthetic." Her mouth thinned and she hugged herself, glancing down at the microscope again. "This was engineered to do her harm by someone who knows exactly what's going on in her body."
Anderson frowned at her and felt his temper rise. "Cerberus?" he accused and was amazed when she nodded wordlessly, her features unreadable.
"They got to her somehow," she said. "My guess is that they have someone on the inside. This was introduced weeks ago. I think that if you combine the virus with repetitive sessions of mental stress it can bring on hallucinations or at least very strong memories. Like fever dreams." She turned away from him. "I got the impression that the opposition was leading her on somehow, as if he had been told what to say and how to get a response. This is deep Anderson. This was orchestrated by someone very high up."
He didn't like that news one bit but made sure not to show any emotion. "Can you fix it?"
"Yes," she said, though she didn't sound happy. "But this isn't just about fixing it Admiral. It's about doing damage control. You saw what I saw, what the whole galaxy saw. If we just fix Shepard people will still think she's mad. You'll have to bring in other doctors. Have them come to the same conclusion I have. And they might miss it, I don't think any of you understand how complex Shepard's body is. Then, you'll have to convince your superiors, the very people who kept you from her, that there has been foul play."
He hadn't thought that far, Anderson had always been a man of action. When he saw a problem he wanted to fix it immediately.
"How much time do you need to manufacture a cure?" He queried instead. "We can worry about the other details later."
Miranda let out a slow breath. "A day," she said. "Maybe two." Her dark eyes met his. "Use that time to try and find a solution to your side of the problem."
In the end, the solution was surprisingly simple.
Use Dr. Karin Chakwas.
Whether the woman was under house arrest or not, she had been Shepard's physician in the time before the Normandy's destruction and after. It took some doing and cashing in on a lot of personal favours but Anderson managed to get the doctor clearance to look at Shepard. She didn't even need to diagnose the problem; she could just read Miranda's notes and run the tests. She would never tell - her loyalty towards Shepard long since outweighing her obligations to the military.
Proving foul play on the military's side was going to be harder and he would need more than a day for that so he took a dirty short cut. He called the press.
Within in an hour the news headlines were screaming foul play. Despite recent events, Shepard was still humanity's hero and had a lot of support. Everybody wanted to understand why someone like herself would do the things they accused her of and what had made her loose it in the court. Whether it was to prove her a monster or an innocent, everybody demanded closer examination. Anderson couldn't hide his glee when Udina himself stormed into the hospital where he had been waiting, a datapad with orders in hand.
"The council is sending one of their physicians to look at Shepard and the data Karin has collected," he said with an undertone of dismay in his voice. "We've lost control Anderson."
Strange, Anderson thought as he looked at Udina, that we've always seen matters so differently. "I don't think so Councilman," he said. "I think we've just regained it. Someone was pulling the strings here, someone that wasn't on our side."
"Impossible," the councilman barked. "This is the Alliance. Nobody has a foothold here. Nobody."
Anderson shrugged and glanced into the room where Karin was administering Miranda's cure. She had managed to produce it in twelve hours. He wondered whether the ex-Cerberus officer slept at all.
"That's for internal affairs to decide," he said. "For now, Shepard's my responsibility. She should've been from the beginning."
Udina muttered something but said no more on the matter. After a very long and awkward pause he added. "Will she be alright? They didn't... damage her?"
"Only time will tell," he said softly and hoped for the best.
She woke up with a jerk and tried to sit up as quickly as she could. Her torso came up easily enough, but her hand pulled and when she opened her eyes she realized that she was restrained to the bed.
No, Shepard thought suddenly and relaxed a little. Not restrained completely, just cuffed.
She let out a relieved sigh and sat back again, feeling as if the morning sunshine had banished a fog from her mind. She allowed her gaze to travel to the woman with her, who was looking at her monitors and file. Their gazes met and Shepard knew. Despite the dark eyes and the blond hair and the ridiculously thick rimmed glasses, Shepard knew who was standing in front of her.
"Miranda," she whispered and smiled.
Her XO smiled slightly and allowed her file to slip back to its place.
"I was afraid you were going to leap up and karate chop me there for a second," she pointed out. "Welcome back."
Shepard grinned and raised her cuffed hand. "Handicapped," she said. "I wouldn't have stood a chance."
Miranda smiled again, but her face became serious. "I can't stay long," she said. "Despite this..." She raised her hand to her face. "People are already starting to talk. I just wanted to see if you're alright."
Shepard watched her face and nodded. "I am now," she said. "I wasn't before. What happened?"
Miranda closed her eyes and shook her head. "I don't have time to go into the details," she said. "But someone tried to drive you mad. When they found the real footage with your so called sessions with Dr. Porter it became clear that the man was trying to... manipulate you. By my guess he was working with the opposition to try and make it appear as if you destroyed the Bahak Relay out of vengeance not for defense. There's no telling where the trial's going to go now, the council's furious with the Alliance for allowing someone to get at you."
Shepard said nothing to this, but watched her, not sure what she was waiting for. Miranda in turn remained silent, but stared at her until a pained expression crossed her features.
"Riana I have to go."
The commander nodded, but opened her hand, inviting Miranda to take it. She was surprised when she did and the woman held onto her tightly, her fingers telling her everything her face didn't. Miranda Lawson had been very scared.
"Thank you Miranda," Shepard said softly. "Again, you've brought me back. Had my back. How will I ever repay you?"
The woman snorted and shook her head. "You don't need to," she said. "I owe you Shepard." She didn't say for what, she didn't need to. Looking at each other, Miranda leaned forward suddenly and put her one hand behind Shepard's head, digging her fingers into her hair in a painful way. She pulled her head closer and kissed her forehead. There was no love in the gesture, nothing that would make Liara jealous anyway, but it said more than Miranda ever could. When she was done, she rested her forehead against Shepard's for a moment before she simply straightened up and left the room.
Shepard, feeling happier than she had in weeks, sat back and simply enjoyed the sunshine that was coming through her hospital window.
"You should put out an alert, there's only one person that would've been able to pinpoint that virus so quickly. Miranda Lawson is in Vancouver."
Donald Udina stared at the man before him and nodded tightly. "You told me that Porter would be able to do the deal," he said. "I got him into the system. He failed. Shepard's still in the picture and with all of this there might well be a mistrial!"
The Illusive Man grunted and shook his head, though he didn't seem concerned. "That's a shame," he said. "I don't need Shepard as a problem in the times to come..."
FIN