"Our time is approaching. You are sure our forces are ready?"

"Our lord has been planning this for many cycles. When our time comes, nothing can stop us."

"If they possess the power to destroy the old ones, surely they possess some threat to us, master."

"As I said, our lord has been planning this for many cycles. His power has been building for some time. He has power beyond even the old ones. Do not worry. Everything that has happened is part of the Great Design."

"Whose design?"

"The Dark One's.

Great armies of darkness shall rise and lay waste to all who stand in their way. By the gods, ships shall be built to carry warriors out amongst the stars and we shall cover the galaxy in shadows. The power of the Dark One shall be known by all. And, all shall bow before his power or be made unto dust."

"Hail The Dark One."

"All Hail The Dark One."

Have you ever been punished for doing the right thing?

This was what Shepard was wondering as he stared out the window as the Normandy approached the Citadel. The destruction of the Alpha Relay had cost the lives of countless batarians. Shepard knew that it was for a good cause, if that relay was not destroyed then the reapers would have returned, but he also knew the Council would not believe it. They have already called him to the Citadel to explain his actions.

Shepard felt the docking clamps latch onto his ship, giving the Normandy a gentle jolt.

"We're here, Shepard," Joker said solemnly. Shepard gave a tired nod. It was time. He straightened his back and walked to the door. His crew stared, wondering what will happen to their commander.

Shepard walked up to the door and gave a sigh. He felt a gentle hand on his shoulder. Miranda was behind him with the rest of his team.

"Don't lose hope, Shepard," she said. It wasn't much, but it meant a lot to him. It felt good to know they never lost hope in him.

Shepard stared at the door, almost dreading to go through it. People didn't in the reapers. They won't believe that he destroyed the relay to stop them from coming. He could barely imagine what people were thinking.

"Here goes nothing," Shepard muttered as he stepped through the door. Shepard was almost grateful for the decontamination process; it would give him more time before he goes to face the crowd.

For years Shepard as faced everything thrown at him and stayed strong. The Council didn't believe his story about Saren but he refused to back down. The Council didn't believe his story about the reapers, but he refuses to back down. People thought he was a traitor for working with Cerberus, but he stayed strong. Now…he has to stay strong to face what he has done.

The door hissed and slid open. Shepard strolled out of the ship and paused. All around him, people had stopped and stared. They watched Shepard like a jury that had already deemed him guilty.

Shepard continued walking. He could hear them whispering about him. This must be what Tali felt like when she was on trial.

"MURDERER!" someone from the crowd yelled. Shepard ignored that comment, continuing to walk forwards. He could practically feel their gaze boring through him.

Shepard knew he shouldn't care. It shouldn't matter what they thought of him. He did everything he could to save as many lives as possible. That should be all that mattered. Their opinion of him shouldn't mean anything…but it did.

He was glad to leave the hangar, Shepard was glad to be out of the crowd. Fewer people were wandering around the halls; most of them ignored Shepard as he walked by. He knew he would have to check in with C-Sec before he did anything. Shepard passed through the security terminal, his face as stiff as stone. He couldn't show what he was feeling. He didn't become the famous John Shepard by showing everyone what he felt.

A pair of C-Sec officers was waiting for Shepard, their weapons raised as if he was going to draw his gun and go on a massacre. Shepard was only glad there were not batarian officers.

He let himself be escorted through the halls of the Citadel. Before, the citizens didn't recognize Shepard so they walked by without staring. Now, with the two C-Sec officers escorting him, everyone almost immediately knew who it was.

Shepard kept thinking about the alpha relay. Was there some other way he could have done it? He had to destroy the relay, and that meant destroying that entire system. Could there have been another way to warn the batarians? Maybe he could've saved the lives of everyone in that system. Maybe if he did, the Council would actually listen to what he had to say. Instead the batarians died and he has to answer to the Council what he's done.

"That's far enough," a familiar voice said, flinging Shepard back to reality. Bailey walked up to them, his sidearm holstered. "I'll take it from here," he said flatly. The two C-Sec officers exchanged uncertain glances. They weren't willing to let Shepard out of their sight. But, Bailey refused to back down. After a moment, the two officers left, grumbling angrily.

"Sorry you had to go through that," Bailey said as he began to escort Shepard.

"You don't hate me like everyone else?" Shepard asked in surprise. He didn't expect Bailey to believe in him.

"They don't hate you," Bailey said.

"Well, they certainly have me fooled," Shepard replied sarcastically.

"They just don't know what to think. You need to see it from their point of view." Bailey trusted Shepard, but he also understood how everyone else felt. As far as they know, Shepard blew up the relay to kill batarians.

"I did that for the good of the galaxy!" Shepard argued, rage burning through his blood. He had risked his life and cost the lives of thousands to save trillions and the galaxy wants to condemn him for it.

"I know that, Shepard!" Bailey snapped. "I know you would've only blown up that relay for a good reason, but this is a bad spot you're. You can't blame people for jumping to conclusions! I'm on your side, but I can't help you. Williams has already done everything she could to-"

"Williams?" Shepard repeated. "Ashley?" Bailey nodded.

"She's been trying to convince the Council of the reapers," he explained. "Not much luck though."

Shepard simply nodded.

He could only imagine Ashley still being unsure what to think about him. She was already stunned he was working with Cerberus. He couldn't imagine how she reacted when she heard that he destroyed and entire system.

Shepard was about to turn the corner when he froze. Something didn't feel right. He looked at the crowd behind him, not sure what he was looking for. People were going about their business as usual. He didn't see anything out of the ordinary. Yet…something was bothering him.

Who was that figure? Who is that shadowy person staring at him?

"You all right?" Bailey asked when he noticed the grim look on Shepard's face.

"Yeah," Shepard lied, still staring at the crowd. He shrugged off the feeling and walked away. But, if had just stayed there a few seconds longer, he would have seen it.

The crowd almost seemed to part, revealing a shadowy hooded figure, his face covered by a grotesque black mask. The figure's black trench coat swayed like living darkness.

"Shepard," the figure breathed, his cold snake-like voice pierced the air like nails scratching across a chalkboard.

The crowd seemed to engulf him…and he was gone.

The presidium was brighter and more beautiful the ever. The rays of light made it seem like earth on a spring day. Dozens of people happily moved about, talking.

The balconies had a great view of the presidium. Too bad it was not under better circumstances.

The elevator door opened and Shepard and Bailey walked out. The holograms of the three councilors waited at the edge of the balcony.

"That will be all Captain Bailey," the asari councilor said. Bailey gave a nod.

"Good luck, Shepard," Bailey said before turning and heading back into the elevator. Shepard faced the council, ready to deal with whatever political bull he has to put up with.

"Well, Shepard," the turnian councilor remarked as Bailey vanished into the elevator. "It seems Cerberus has been rubbing off on you." Shepard had to keep his temper in check. He knew no matter what he said, he would never be able to persuade the turian councilor of anything.

"How does it feel to commit mass genocide?" the turian mocked. "Was it Cerberus's initiation?"

"Enough!" the asari councilor snapped, stepping in. "We are here to discuss Shepard's actions and the consequences for them. We're not here to berate him." Shepard knew the he had a better chance of convincing the asari councilor of what he had to say. She has always seemed to be open minded to him in the past. But, Shepard didn't know what to say this time.

She believed the Shepard believes in the reapers but she doesn't believe in them herself. This would make Shepard look crazy, destroying a relay and killing thousands over something that doesn't exist.

"Let me guess," the turian said. "He blew up the relay to stop the reapers. That seems to be his excuse for everything now."

"Where's Councilor Anderson?" Shepard asked, finally speaking up. The turian and asari councilors finally stopped arguing and looked at Shepard.

"Anderson is currently attending a meeting regarding classified matters," the salarian said. Shepard didn't know what to think about the salarian. He wasn't as open to him as the asari councilor, but he definitely wasn't as stubborn as the turian councilor.

Classified? That word echoed in Shepard's brain. He had enough to deal with already. The last thing he needs is a conspiracy.

"We must keep this meeting brief," the asari said. "We too might be called to assist with the issue."

Shepard gave sigh. Usually, Anderson or someone on his crew was by his side. Not this time. He was on his own on this one.

"When we reinstated your spectre status, our agreement was for you to keep your actions restricted to the Terminus Systems," the salarian councilor said. "What were you doing in the Bahak System?"

"I was called there," Shepard explained. He hesitated before speaking again. If he said too much he might accidentally incriminate Admiral Hackett. But, the Council needs to know. They have to listen or they will lose everything they know and love. "Amanda Kenson had found evidence of the reapers."

"Really?" the turian asked sarcastically. "And, where is this evidence?" Shepard gave an annoyed grumble. His fist clenched in frustration.

"It was destroyed with the rest of the Bahak System," Shepard said grimly.

"How convenient the only evidence of the reapers is destroyed," the turian hissed.

"That does not explain why you had to destroy the system's mass relay," the salarian said. Shepard was hoping to avoid answering this question.

"Was it because of the reapers?" the turian sneered. Shepard gave a stiff nod.

"It was," he said. "They were going to return through that relay. I HAD TO destroy it!" The turian scoffed. Shepard noticed the salarian's grim expression, unsure what to think. If Shepard can kill thousands of people to fight a delusion what else can he do?

Shepard turned to the asari councilor, hoping to have her support. But, even she was looking grim on this situation.

"Shepard, we appreciate what you did at the Battle of the Citadel, but…" the asari councilor said, speechless by what happened.

"Shepard is obviously a loose cannon," the turian councilor said. "He cannot be trusted. He'll be gunning down civilians the Citadel to "fight the reapers"!"

"I wish I could convince you," Shepard said solemnly. "The galaxy will burn because of you."

"I don't think so, Shepard," the turian leered.

"You don't get it, do you?" Shepard shouted. "It doesn't matter if you believe me or not! The reapers are coming and we can either stand together to face them or we'll all be destroyed." The turian councilor was not listening.

"I suggest we revoke Shepard's spectre status and-"

"It is not up to use to decide what happens to Shepard," the asari councilor broke in. Shepard looked at her in surprise and the turian councilor looked as if Christmas had been canceled.

Before any more could be said, all three councilors all turned as if someone was talking to them.

"This meeting's going to have to be cut short," the salarian councilor said. Shepard looked at them in surprise. He watched as the Councilors' expression changed from grim, to surprised, to worried.

"Shepard, you are confined to the Citadel until further noticed," the turian added.

"This meeting is adjourned," the asari councilor finished before the three holograms faded away. Shepard growled angrily. That went better than he had hoped but they still won't believe him.

Back on the Normandy, Garrus was in the mess with Grunt, each one gorging down a ice cream from the icebox beside the table they were sitting at. They both looked up from their dessert as Joker came hobbling down, careful not to snap his legs.

"Ice cream?" Joker asked, eyeing the cup Garrus was holding.

"We're probably not going on any more mission for a while," Garrus said, taking another spoonful. "Might as well."

Joker sat down beside Grunt, taking a fork from the counter. He looked over at Grunt's cup of ice cream. The krogan had nearly eaten it all but there was still a little left. Joker stared at the creamy, chocolate chip ice cream. He could just taste the fudge rolling across his tongue with a wave of sweet perfection.

Joker reached over with his fork. Seeing Joker make a move on his ice cream, Grunt tore his cup back, giving the pilot the familiar 'get your own' look. His eyes still locked on Joker, with his ice cream in one hand, Grunt reached back, opened the icebox, grabbed a new cup of ice cream, and put his in Joker's hands.

Joker shrugged, not wanting to upset the giant krogan, and opened his cup of ice cream.

"Well, this is new," Joker said, not sure what to say at all. He dug his fork into his ice cream and took a bite, the creamy vanilla flowing across his tongue.

"Not really," Garrus answered, taking another bite of his Oreo ice cream. Grunt began scraping his now empty cup of ice cream clean of any left. "Shepard had to face the Council about his decisions on our first mission. Remember?" Joker gave a scoff and a shrug.

"Yeah, but back then I could cut them off with the press of a button," he snickered. Joker has always wanted to cut the Council off in the middle of one of their speeches.

Joker was about to get another scoop of ice cream when he saw Grunt reach and place his ice cream in Joker's hands, taking the pilot's ice cream for himself. Joker stared at Grunt's empty cup of ice cream as Grunt began to gorge down on a new cup.

Joker glared at Grunt with his 'What the crap?' look.

"He's back!" someone yelled. Shepard's crew rushed out the door, eager to greet their commander and find out what happened.

Joker slowly got up and began limping forwards. He had to wait for the crowd to exit first. He couldn't move as fast as everyone else and he'd probably break his leg if he tried.

As the last of the crew left the ship, Joker slowly followed with Garrus and Grunt right behind him.

The crew gathered around Shepard as he marched in. Dock workers watched with the crew.

"How'd it go, Commander?" Joker asked, breaking through the crowd.

"Well it wasn't easy," Shepard said. "Then again, if it was easy, it'd be not fun," he added jokingly.

"I could go for easy," Joker said with a shrug. Shepard noticed a quarian making her way through the crowd.

Tali went up to Shepard and looked into his eyes. Being on trial before, she knew what Shepard was going through. But, this was different. Shepard knew exactly how to help Tali. He went through the trial as if he knew exactly what to do. This time, she didn't know how to help Shepard.

Almost as if he knew what was going through Tali's mind, Shepard put his hand on her cheek and said, "Thanks."

Shepard looked at his crew. No matter what he was facing, he was still their commander.

"We're confined to the Citadel," he announced. "But, that does not mean this is over. I will try to convince the Council. What happens is my problem. Take these next few days for some R&R." The crew nodded happily. No matter what everyone else thought of Shepard, they considered him a hero. Not to mention, rest and recreation wasn't a bad idea either.

"How about a drink?" Shepard offered Tali, putting an arm around her. "Oh, wait," Shepard said when he remembered something: Tali's wearing a helmet, she can't drink anything.

Tali burst out laughing.

"I could go for that," she said with a smile. Shepard's and Tali's relationship was well known among the crew.

"Disgusting!" Grunt muttered as he walked off.

"They're so cute," Kasumi said to Garrus from the corner where they watched. Kasumi has always liked Tali and was glad she finally got the person she wanted.

"I miss the days when Shepard didn't have a girlfriend," Garrus commented.

"Garrus, Kasumi," came a hoarse whisper. The two of them turned around and noticed Thane behind them. "We're being watched," the drell said.

"Where?" Garrus asked. Garrus felt the adrenaline rush through his body. He looked around, searching for the person Thane was talking about.

"The balcony," Thane whispered. Kasumi and Garrus peered up at the balcony that almost seemed to hang over the docks. Thane was right. In the balcony, wearing a black trench coat, was a shadowy hooded figure whose face was covered by a black grotesque mask. The person was just barely visible in the shadows that covered the balcony.

"Hostile?" Garrus asked.

"I cannot tell," Thane answered.

"Then why are we worried about him?" Kasumi asked with a shrug. She didn't think that a person watching them was something to be worried about.

"He might not be hostile," Thane admitted.

"But, if he was," Garrus quickly added. "That would be the perfect place to snipe someone." Garrus remembered his training. The hooded figure had a clear shot on Shepard from the balcony. And, with the shadows, he could quickly disappear and no one would know where the shot came from.

"I'll keep an eye on him," Garrus said. "Kasumi, you cloak and sneak up on him, find out what he's doing."

"Got it one-shot," Kasumi said cheerfully before cloaking and disappearing from sight.

"One-shot?" Thane asked. Garrus grumbled in annoyance.

"It's her nickname for me," he explained. "A sniper's motto is 'one shot, one kill'."

Garrus turned and eyed the dark figure. The figure blended so well into the shadows it was almost impossible to tell what it was doing. He squinted at the darkness. The figure was moving… reaching into his coat. From his coat came…what was that…came a Collector particle beam!

"SNIPER!" Garrus yelled. Sudden silence fell upon the crowd like a heavy rain as everyone turned to look at what Garrus was panicked about. And, as quickly as it had quieted, chaos fell upon the crowd. People screamed and stampeded out. Shepard grabbed Tali and threw himself over her.

Thane ran for the stairs that led to the balcony, hoping he could get to the assassin. Garrus immediately took aim and fired his sniper rifle. The flash from his gun lit up the corner, revealing the black silhouette that unleashed a beam of energy that tore through the floor where Shepard was standing mere moments ago.

The assassin aimed his rifle at Shepard, who was trying to get Tali to safety. With no one to interfere, this shot will be the one to kill him. The assassin was just about to pull the trigger when he was suddenly thrown backwards.

Garrus watched as the assassin disappeared from his scope and into the darkness. He had no shot.

"Who is this guy, an angry batarian?" Garrus wondered out loud.

"I don't know," Shepard growled. "But I'm going to find out."

The assassin snarled furiously as he looked for his attacker, but there was no one to be seen.

The assassin grunted in pain as he felt the air knocked right out of him from a kick to his chest and a punch to his face. It was then he knew: his attacker was cloaked.

A red omni-tool formed around the assassin's arm as he began to quickly type into it. He could hear the footsteps of his attacker, who he knew was Kasumi. He didn't have much time. Kasumi charged again, ready to deliver another kick, when the assassin suddenly unleashed an electrical shockwave. Kasumi was thrown back, her cloak immediately deactivated. Her head was spinning when she hit the ground. It felt like someone had cracked her over the head with a cinder block.

Kasumi was about to jump back to her feet when she realized the barrel of a collector particle beam was right in her face.

"Don't move," the assassin hissed. Kasumi stared down the barrel of the particle beam. The assassin was so determined to kill Shepard yet she was now at his mercy and he hasn't killed her. Why?

It didn't matter.

Thane came up behind the assassin, his biotics crackling over his skin like blue fire. The assassin was thrown into the wall, his particle beam falling to the ground.

Thane pulled out his pistol but the assassin lunged forwards and knocked it out of the drell's hands. Thane gave a grunt as the assassin kicked him in the chest, throwing the drell backward.

The assassin was about to lunge at Thane when he noticed Shepard. The commander had come up himself with his assault rifle in hand. Instinctively, Shepard pulled the trigger and sprayed a quick burst of bullets at his target. The assassin jumped backwards in an attempt to dodge the bullets, but one grazed him across the face.

There was a clink as the mask flew off his face. The assassin fell to the ground in a heap, growing angrily as he looked up at Shepard. Shepard looked at his enemy, interested in seeing who was so determined to kill him. As the figure turned his head light poured onto his face, revealing the identity of the attacker

"What?" Kasumi gasped when she saw the face of the assassin.

"How is that possible?" Thane growled. The same question ran through Shepard's mind. How was this possible? Staring at them under the shadow cast by its hood, through its four glowing eyes, was a collector.

Realizing his mask had fallen off, the collector immediately grabbed it and put it back on his face. Shepard walked up the collector aimed his rifle at it, a thousand questions running through his brain. Shepard was not going to let the collector escape. If it runs, he will pull the trigger and riddle it with bullets.

"Not bad, Shepard," the collector chuckled, his snake-like voice sending chills down Shepard's spine. "Not bad at all."

In a single motion, the collector swung his leg, kicking the rifle out of his way. Shepard pulled the trigger but the bullets sprayed into the wall. As the collector jumped back to his feet as Shepard aimed his gun again. With another kick, Shepard felt his gun knocked away. He stumbled back as the assassin gave another kick to his stomach.

Shepard looked back up but the assassin was gone. He had cloaked and run off.

This is probably going to be a short story, probably a couple of chapters. Please review. Tell me what you guys think. What did I do good at? What should I improve? I'm hoping this story is going to go in a different direction with the reaper plot. So, thanks for reading.