"We are reaching Illium in two hours." Shepard awoke to EDI's voice overhead. Liara stirred, her naked body resting partially on top his.

"Thanks EDI." Shepard responded as he pulled the covers off to get up. Liara however, had others ideas.

"You don't need to go just yet." She pushed down on his chest to keep him from rising. "We have two hours, stay with me a little longer."

Shepard did not protest and turned on his side to face his bondmate. They cuddled for a short time. It was an almost perfect moment.

Suddenly Shepard felt a sharp pain in his head, giving him the feeling that it would explode. Shiala began to cry and Shepard held his head trying to fight the pain. He peeled away from their embrace as he curled into a ball. Soon the pain began to dull, and after a few minutes it went away fully.

"We need to get you help." Liara ran a hand through his hair with a concerned look on her face. "They look so painful."

"How do we even know that we can cure it?" Shepard answered. Now fully awake, he left the bed and picked up the whimpering baby to calm her down. Holding her in his arms, Shepard felt as if he were holding a part of him. He could feel her breathing in his arms, but also could feel the feeling of breathing within her. From the bed, Liara could see the intense connection that the spores in their bloodstream gave them.

"We will find one Shepard." She spoke, but it fell on deaf ears. She had the feeling that maybe he didn't want to be cured; the headaches were just a price to pay to being extremely close to his daughter. The daughter that wasn't hers.

Soon Shiala began to squeal as Shepard played with her, his attention fully into the child. Realizing that he was lost to the baby, Liara got out of bed and got changed, and threw Shepard's clothes on the bed for him to use later. She headed downstairs to eat, ignoring Shepard's invitations to play with Shiala.

But she could not evade the duo for long. Shepard and the baby soon came down to the mess hall as Liara was in the middle of her breakfast. The moment the baby entered the room, the 'aunts' squealed and pulled the baby from his arms.

Shepard then sat right next to his bondmate. He intertwined his hand in hers and gave her a peck on the cheek. But Liara didn't want that right now. She let her hand go limp and did not return the kiss.

"Are you ok?" Shepard asked, a little tease in his voice.

"I'm fine Shepard." She answered, taking another bite of her breakfast.

Shepard inspected her from his seat, as if he was trying to read her mind. "I know there's something up Liara."

Behind them the baby began to laugh as someone began to tickle her. Shepard immediately spun around in the chair to see the act in progress, a smile on his face.

Liara sighed and stood up. "I'll leave you to the baby." She stated, trying to sound neutral. Immediately she regretted how she said it however, as it revealed her frustration with the baby. She fled the room, leaving her half eaten breakfast behind.

"Liara!" Shepard called behind her. "Talk to me, what's the matter?"

Liara didn't want it however. She needed some time alone to sort out her feelings. Quickly she slipped into the elevator and closed the doors behind her. She sank to the ground with tears welling up in her eyes, blaming the baby for ruining everything. With the reapers gone, Liara wanted to merely spend all her time with Shepard.

"Liara! What's up?" Shepard spoke through the elevator doors. "EDI, open the doors... please."

Liara pushed into a far corner as the doors opened. Shepard stood just outside. He took a step in and then hit the button to close the doors. He plopped down next to his love, who was trying in vain to phase through the walls away from him. She just didn't want to talk to him.

Shepard let out a sigh. "It's about the baby isn't it?" He began.

"Go away."

"No I'm not. We are going to sort this out right now."

He wiped a tear that was flowing down her face. "Liara, I'm sorry about everything that happened with the reaper synthetics. I'm sorry about what I did with the old Shiala. But what's done is done. The baby is my chance to make things right. I want her to grow up in a normal family. I don't want to punish her for her parent's mistake. And she's a part of me Liara. Literally."

"But you forget about me in the process... We were all so busy fighting the reapers we never got to spend any time together. And then your reaper synthetics happened, and now the baby. I just want to be with you… and just you."

Shepard tried to comfort Liara by wrapping his arms around her. "I promise to be better to you Liara."

"You've been saying that and you never change." She snapped back. "All you do is promise, promise, promise, and then expect me to change. You are not my commanding officer, Shepard. We are bondmates. It's different."

"Well I can't be the only one that changes." Shepard withdrew his arms. "You need to accept the fact that Shiala is my daughter and I need to take care of her! We are literally connected!"

"But what about me? I'm your bondmate! We are connected too!"

"I love you Liara, but I don't think I have to prove it to you anymore after all we have been through together. This baby needs more attention than you."

Liara flared up in a biotic aura. "You went crazy and slept with other women, you hurt me, said terrible things, and yet I stayed with you. I worked hard to get you back. I believed that there was a Shepard worth saving. I went through so much trouble to finally get you back to me. I proved my love to you, and all you have to show to me is your daughter that you had with another asari!"

"Liara, I..."

"I don't want to hear it. You don't spend any time with me anymore!"

"Liara just listen to me!"

"No! Leave the elevator right now Shepard. I told you I don't want to talk."

Shepard looked at his bondmate in surprise. Her face told him that she meant it. Quietly and in defeat he got up and left the elevator. He waited for the doors to shut before he slammed his fist into a wall, leaving a sizable dent.

"Smooth talking Shepard." He told himself. He wandered around for a while, eventually coming to rest in the starboard observation room. It was quiet and empty there at the moment, so Shepard made full use of it. He sat on one of the couches and just stared out into space. He was angry at Liara for not understanding or hearing him out, but he was also angry at himself for everything that he had done before. But he didn't want to think about it. To distract him from it, he connected the dots that were stars into his own constellations.

Soon the door opened behind him and he heard someone enter, but Shepard kept to his constellation making.

"Hey Shepard, I was just wondering if you needed someone to talk to."

Shepard looked behind him to see Garrus standing at the door. He sighed. "I don't know Garrus. But I don't think it will do any harm if that's what you're asking."

"Well I just wanted to see how you were doing. We were able to hear a lot of yelling in the elevator when we were at the breakfast table."

Shepard sighed and buried his red face into his hands. "Oh… That's a good thought. How much did you make out?"

"Well, it was bad enough that all the girls went to console Liara, so I thought I should come to talk to you."

"Well thanks for thinking about me." Shepard put on a smile, even though he wasn't feeling like he could smile. "They're all probably giving advice to help Liara deal with her terriblebondmate." Shepard got up from the couch and began to pace around the room. "She brought up the whole renegade situation again. I got we had gotten past that."

"Shepard, that was a big thing for all of us."

"But it's over now! I'm better! Isn't that what matters?"

"But how can we know for sure Shepard? You said and did some horrible things. Remember that I shot you… and I didn't have that much hesitation."

"But you shot to save me. And here I am, saved."

"Shepard, I shot to put you out of your misery." Garrus avoided Shepard's surprised stare. "You had done so much damage to us all. Then you killed the council. You were trying to bring hell down on us. You made Aria of all people commit suicide. You can't just calmly walk away from something like that!"

"Then what do I do Garrus? I'm obviously not acting like I was back then anymore!"

"But you have some catching up to do. Talk with us Shepard. Convince us that you are not still secretly evil."

"But I'm not!" Shepard sat back down and looked at his feet. He sat silently for a minute or two as he thought about it more. He sighed. "I guess you're right. I really was acting terrible."

Garrus sat next to him on the couch and looked out to the stars. He sighed. "None of us asked for this Shepard. But after what happened, we got to… rebuild our relationships."

"I guess I got you to help me with that though. Right?" Shepard playfully punched Garrus' shoulder.

Garrus went silent. "Well, I don't really know if I could help with that. I'm terrible with relationships."

"What do you mean? I think you are good with relationships! What about you and Tali? You had it going good there!"

"Well Tali and I... we broke up."

Shepard looked to his friend in surprise. "I'm really sorry to hear that. What happened?"

"Nothing happened Shepard, but that's the point. There really was nothing between us." Again he sighed. "We just… drifted apart from each other, mostly when we were trying to find you."

"So then it's my fault. I'm sorry."

"It's not your fault Shepard. Just after that night with her before we hit Cronos station, we knew it would be hard but we were stupid and thought that we could make it work. I guess we were wrong." Garrus shifted in his seat. "And she's not turian anyway; our physiology just didn't work …"

"But you could find a way; just trust me on that one."

"Shepard, she wanted a baby. I could not give her that."

"Oh." Shepard looked away awkwardly. "I'm sure you will find the right person eventually then. But it's not all about babies."

As if to save both from the awkward moment, EDI's voice intruded in on their conversation. "Commander, Joker needs to speak with you in the cockpit. It is urgent."

"I guess you have work to do Shepard." Garrus got up from the couch.

"Thanks for the talk Garrus. I guess I've been lying to myself that everything is ok." Shepard got up and exited the room. But upon seeing the elevator, he doubled back.

"I'm not going in that elevator unless I have some backup. Think you could accompany me?" Shepard asked. "It will help get your mind off Tali for a little bit." He added.

"I guess you're right. Let's go."

Both headed for the elevator. To their relief, the elevator was empty and their trip to the cockpit was uneventful.

"Hey Commander, sorry to tear you away from the elevator…" Joker greeted him from the pilot's seat. "But we got something for you."

"Just tell me the news Joker."

"We have arrived at Illium!"

"And?"

"Well why don't you take a look for yourself?"

Shepard took a look out the window. "I see Illium, what am I supposed to be looking for?"

"Is there anything else you can see?"

"Unless you count space and the stars, I don't see anything."

"Well that's the point. There's no relief force there. No one came to help Illium."

Shepard got excited but was cautious this time. "How do you know that? They could have left the area already!"

"They would have small left dark matter disturbances from the FTL jump if they did. There's nothing."

"What about on the ground?" Shepard asked, praying that things were at least going well for the survivors.

"We were able to intercept some small range ground communication, and it seems that the survivors on the planet have gotten back together into their assorted gangs and have proceeded to make war."

"Can we help them?"

"Giving any sort of relief is inadvisable. One gang would ultimately get the advantage from any relief and destroy the other survivors." EDI advised from her co-pilot seat.

"So Illium is tearing itself apart, and we can't do anything about it?" Garrus gathered. "I knew that place was bad, but I never expected this."

"We need to get answers from the council." Shepard stated angrily. His excitement turned to anger after he heard what was happening to the survivors. He could not believe how terrible things were going.

With clenched fists and at a brisk pace, Shepard made for the shadow lair's comm station.

"We are sorry Commander Shepard, but the council will not be seeing anyone today."

"But it's an urgent matter; I've talked with the human councilor about this already! I made this council; they should at least hear what I have to say." Shepard fumed at the council receptionist. His frustration was already at a high; he had called three times already, the two previous calls he had been unable to connect. This was his first time talking to an actual person.

"The council is discussing important matters and has no time to-"

"Listen, they can't be discussing much if they aren't doing their job. I need to talk with them."

"I'm sorry sir; but as I said they are unavailable at this time."

"Then make them available!" He yelled.

"Sir I will be forced to cut you off if you continue this behavior."

"Well then I will call again."

The blue outline of the receptionist immediately disappeared from the station. Shepard cursed his luck and tried again.

An automated voice answered the comm request. "I'm sorry, but this number has been blocked by council security for 24 earth-hours. Please call again after that timeframe and we will be happy to accommodate you.

Shepard hit the console in frustration. "Joker, set a course for Earth. We are going to have to talk to the council in person."

"Just don't kill the council when you get there again."

"Shut up Joker."

"What? I thought everyone liked nostalgia trips."

Calling defeat, he muddled into the Shadow Lair proper. He had nothing better to do and walked around the room. Seeing all the high tech equipment, Shepard wondered if he could dig up some dirt on the council with it. Maybe he could find an explanation or a clue as to why they skipped Illium. Shepard approached Liara's main terminal.

The console was already logged in, so Shepard had no trouble accessing her files. He searched around through the file trees, but unfortunately he could not find anything useful on the council. He began to poke through the rest of the files due to curiousity, eventually finding interest in Liara's video logs. He selected one at random and played it.

Liara's bust appeared above the console, a recording of what she was doing when she made the video log.

"Video log 283. I lost Shepard at the bar, but we picked up another complication. Shiala was there, and she's pregnant."

"What is Shepard doing? What is wrong with him? How could he so easily lose control to his renegade thoughts? Is he fighting them at all?"

Liara sniffed and rubbed her eyes. "Will I ever get him back at all?" Then she lost it. Tears began to flow down her face and her crying showed how much grief she was in.

"I knew that there was a huge possibility of him dying when we fought the reapers, but I never expected this." She took a deep breath in a vain attempt to regain control over herself. "This is so much worse than him dying. We were going to have a family together… and now he's making babies with everyone else." The crying turned into sobbing and she struggled to regain herself. "Goddess, Shepard why do you do this to me? Why does your renegade self hate me so much?" She took another deep breath in another desperate attempt to regain herself. "If this is just a suppressed side of you, have you always felt this way about m-"

Shepard shut off the log before she could finish that sentence. Silently he left the terminal and sat on the nearby stairs. His heart was torn apart and his body was shaky; He now had a taste of how badly he hurt his bondmate, the love of his life.

Shepard began to chastise himself. He didn't like to think back to those days, and as a result he had conveniently 'forgotten' everything that he had done. He had killed the council. He had wanted everyone on the Normandy, everyone who loved or cared for him, to suffer as he made them flee from his wrath. He made Liara think that he hated her. He was disgusted with himself. Only now Shepard realized what Liara was getting at before when they had fought. He had a lot of making up to do, who knew what Liara was thinking about him presently.

And he couldn't run faster enough to make it all right.

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Didn't expect it on the bottom now did you?

Well, some people were complaining that everyone accepted Shepard immediately after he killed the council in From the Ashes. Trust me, that was not the case, he's got a lot of relationship fixing to do. And it seems that the council has got some 'splainin' to do.

As for Tali and Garrus' breakup, I have other ships I support now, so more on that later!

It has come to my attention that these chapters that I am putting out are too short. What do you guys think about that? I made this one longer, like FtA and A Little Ship... again what are your thoughts on the length?

Also, a little quality check, how do you guys think I'm doing? Is my writing good? Are the chapters at least mildly engaging?

I would like to give a shout out to the first reviewer of this story who referred to themselves as 'a fan'. You are awesome! I am flattered that you think my writing is one of the better ones here. Grammar is my bane, so I'm glad you are not a grammar nazi xD. I will be going back and fixing up my stories to the best of my ability soon. So it will get better! Thanks so much for the review!