Chapter 2

Commander Jane Shepard smiled at the memory of the last time she'd been on the Citadel. The only other time, really. Of course she had never been to the Presidium before. She just hoped that this visit wouldn't be as life changing for her as the last one. Naturally that meant that all signs pointed to it being even more so but she could still hope.

"Come on guys. We'd better head up to the tower." Shepard hated to interrupt their conversation but she didn't want to keep the council waiting. She smiled to herself as she realised how much she had changed since her last trip here. Shy little Jane had been left behind with her glasses and Shepard had been born. She'd always loved acting and had always been good at it so she'd taken on the character of 'Shepard' when she had to. It had been what allowed her to be seen as normal by her fellow squad mates and what had allowed her to take charge during the Blitz. Jane may have known what she was talking about but nobody would ever pay attention. People took notice of Shepard. Of course, she couldn't stay in character all of the time so she limited her interaction with others but since the Blitz people hadn't made as much of an issue out of it. They already had an impression of her before she met them and, as long as she faked confidence when she had to speak, she was pretty sure those impressions wouldn't change. She was still alone as she had ever been but she was now fairly certain that most of the whispers about her were positive. It didn't really matter; people always liked her it was just a matter of how long it took them. She figured, looking at the two human soldiers following her, that Ashley might take awhile to warm up to her but it seemed Kaidan already had. Possibly too much. He was nice, sure, but it was a little weird for her. Friendly banter she had learnt to cope with. Sincere flirting? Not so much.

She smiled as her two squadmates chattered behind her in the elevator, thankful that they didn't try to draw her into their conversation. Finally they reached the top of the tower and Shepard let her eyes wander around the huge room, her eyes finally stopping on two arguing turians in front of her.

"Saren's hiding something! Give me more time. Stall them." A familiar voice echoed throughout the room and Shepard's gaze came to rest on a young turian, around her age, with blue facial markings and a blue visor. It had been so long ago, she was sure it wouldn't be the same person so when his attention turned to her she regarded him like she would anyone else.

"Commander Shepard? Garrus Vakarian. I was the officer in charge of the C-Sec investigation into Saren." She wasn't sure how common the name 'Garrus' was but the second his eyes locked with hers she knew it was the same guy who'd sat by her in the clinic all those years ago. Of course, he had shown no indication of recognising her and now was not the time for reunions.

"Sounds like you really want to bring him down." She observed, falling into her 'Commander Shepard' persona.

"I don't trust him. Something about him rubs me the wrong way. But he's a Spectre, everything he does is classified. I can't find any hard evidence." Shepard tried to hold back a smile as he folded his arms, just as he had when she'd refused to tell him her name.

"I think the Council's ready for us, Commander." Shepard tried not to groan at this. If social interaction was difficult for her then politics was hell. It never made any sense to her and obvious solutions were often completely ignored for no apparent reason.

"Good luck, Shepard. Maybe they'll listen to you."

She gave him a doubtful look, allowing her mask to slip a little. "Yeah. See you around Garrus." She hoped that his time it was more than just a figure of speech.


The hearing had gone as well as expected. She couldn't blame the Council, really. Their logic was sound but it was infuriating to know the truth and not be able to back it up. She was pulled back into the conversation with Udina and Anderson by the sound of Kaidan's voice.

"What about Garrus, that C-Sec investigator? We saw him arguing with the executor."

"That's right. He was asking for more time to finish his report. Seems like he was close to finding something on Saren." Ashley chimed in and Shepard tried her hardest to bite back a smile. It seemed that fate was listening to her for once.

"Any idea where we can find him?" Shepard tried to keep her voice neutral as she fought to not raise her hand and mess with her hair. Keeping herself in 'Commander Shepard' mode was already getting tiring and she had a feeling that the day had only just begun.


"Let her go." Shepard glared at the thug holding Doctor Michel. This was the time when 'Commander Shepard' ceased to be an act; when someone else was in danger. She felt her biotics surge around her as she drew her shotgun, running through all of the possible scenarios in her head. Then, out of nowhere, the thug collapsed to the ground with a gunshot wound between the eyes and Garrus walked out from around the corner. Shepard quickly charged into the group of remaining thugs, her biotics knocking them down so that her shotgun could rip through each of them in a matter of seconds. Then she turned to Garrus, biotics still flaring.

"Perfect timing Shepard, gave me a clear shot at that bastard." Shepard's anger refused to dissipate as she ran through the odds of him hitting Doctor Michel instead of the thug. They weren't good.

"What were you thinking? You could have hit the hostage." Her biotics continued to flare around her.

"There wasn't time to think! I just reacted. I didn't mean to- Doctor Michel? Are you hurt?" Shepard's anger died down as she saw the flustered young man who had carried her to safety and stuck around to see if she was okay. Her biotics stopped flaring and she had to stop herself from smiling as she went over what had happened with the doctor. She was just about ready to say 'see you around' to Garrus one last time when he interrupted.

"This is your show, Shepard. But I want to bring Saren down as much as you do. I'm coming with you!"

Shepard actually did smile at that point. "You really hate this guy, huh?"

"I couldn't find the proof I needed in my investigation. But I knew what was really going on. Saren's a traitor to the Council, and a disgrace to my people!"

Shepard's smile widened. Finally, she thought to herself, someone who actually makes sense. "Welcome aboard." She said before they decided to find the krogan at C-Sec.

"Kaidan, head back to the Normandy. Garrus and Ashley with me." Kaidan looked a little dejected at that but left regardless. Ashley walked with him to the door of the clinic as Shepard found herself looking at her reflection in the counter. She almost laughed out loud as she realised that this was the same clinic as the one she'd ended up in all those years ago. Funny how thing work out...

AN: So, I don't plan on repeating a lot of game dialogue (mostly because I always want to get it spot on and that takes a while) but it was kind of vital here. Hope you enjoyed!