-o-O-o-

Chapter Nine

Joker paced the CIC, wringing his cap because it gave his usually-busy fingers something to do. Traynor stood at her station, but with her back to it, arms wrapped around herself as she watched him walk by her, but she said nothing. Neither did the rest of the crew who had congregated here awaiting their captain.

Except she wasn't here, and according to a stunned Altair who had woken Joker up with an early call, late last night Mikhailovich had left the ship she was piloting in order to take command of Normandy. Joker's endeavour to discover what was going on had been unsuccessful; Shepard's omnitool wasn't connecting, and Kaidan wasn't answering his.

"Do you think she's alright?" murmured Traynor, as he passed her again, and this time Joker halted.

"No. No, I don't!" The cap got crushed with his vehement statement, and despite everyone's focus on him, he continued. "You saw what they're saying about her on those newsvids yesterday, right? The Council's ditched her, and she's not here. She's never not here when she says she's going to be! And I can't get hold of her, or Kaidan. Something's very, very wrong." Joker looked over the crew, their faces as confused as he felt.

All except one. Chakwas was staring at her feet, apparently in deep thought, and Joker nudged his way over to her as he realised that if any of what they were saying about Shepard's mental decline was true, then Chakwas would have been Shepard's first port of call.

The doctor saw his approach and immediately raised her hand in a silent order to stop. "Don't ask, Jeff. You know I can't tell you anything pertaining to Shepard's medical status."

"So there is one," he pushed, and Chakwas sighed in place of the denial he was hoping for. "Shit…." Joker was completely knocked off balance by it all. But there'd been no warning signs, and even with Chakwas' non-denial, he couldn't imagine Shepard losing it. "Not Shepard. She's screwed up tighter than anyone I know."

Of course, Chakwas maintained her professional silence.

"Explain to me why she isn't here," he demanded from the doctor, like she had all the answers.

"I honestly don't know. Maybe she had an unexpected call from Command…." Her voice trailed off as she, like the rest of them, realised what that could mean.

"That's it," decided Joker. "I'm going to call Hackett. He's got to know something." He hadn't taken more than a couple of steps towards his bridge before he faltered at the sight of the admiral entering the ship. Around him the crew were standing at attention and saluting as the man approached.

"Have you forgotten protocol, Commander?" snapped Mikhailovich when he got level to Joker.

Everything within the pilot reacted negatively to the presence of this man, and it wormed its way into his tone. "Something you need, Sir? Directions back to your ship?"

The man's eyes squinted at the petulance. "Admiral Mikhailovich. I'm taking charge of Normandy, effective immediately. She and her crew will be placed at the head of my fleet. Shore-leave's over."

"Why? Where's Shepard?" Joker didn't care that Mikhailovich's jaw visibly tightened. The admiral was irritated, but Joker was angry and scared.

"Admiral Shepard is on medical leave until further no-"

"But where is she? Why hasn't she said goodbye?"

Instead of answering him, Mikhailovich pressed his lips together, obviously peeved that Joker had interrupted him. "I've heard plenty about you, Commander Moreau, and let me make it clear to you now that I won't stand for any of your nonsense. You will show respect due to your commanding officer, or I will have you replaced. Understand?"

Joker breathed through his nose, keeping his mouth firmly shut to prevent his resentment from escaping further. He just wanted some damn answers. Where the hell was Shepard? She'd have busted a gut to get here before this asshole.

"Good," said Mikhailovich, mistaking Joker's silence for subservience. Then he turned to address Clay. "You there. As an Alliance vessel, there's no place for a quarian when we have our own engineers to place. You have leave to re-join your people."

The crew's murmured disapproval rippled through the CIC.

"Admiral," disputed Adams. "Clay'Gerrel has a lot to offer us. He provides a unique knowledge-"

"Are you saying we don't have talented people, Engineer Adams?"

Joker shook his head bitterly. The admiral had clearly had time to commit their names and files to memory.

"No, Sir, but-"

"My decision is final." Ignoring Adams as the engineer went to Clay, who looked a little lost at the sudden displacement, Mikhailovich spoke to the whole crew. "I want full reports on all ship systems by the end of shift. We'll be departing to join my fleet in an hour."

Edi instantly stepped forward. "Done. I will transfer the information to a datapad for your perusal."

Mikhailovich gave her a suspicious look that pissed Joker off even more. "Not necessary. It's a task I set for the crew."

"Hey, she is part of the crew, just like Clay," argued Joker, the rest of the crew nodding in agreement. "Not to mention that it would be totally inefficient to dismiss her report when it will take us hours just to tell you the same damn things."

An accusing finger was raised towards Joker. "You had your warning, Moreau. You're out. Flight Commander Cortez, you've got the helm."

"No, Sir."

Mikhailovich was so shocked by Steve's refusal, Joker was sure the admiral's eyeballs were about to pop out. "It's okay, Cortez," assured Joker. The last thing he wanted was his friend to get in trouble on his behalf, even if the thought of losing the ship was difficult to swallow.

"It's not okay," stated Cortez, moving to stand beside him. "Admiral, you're making a mistake. There's no better pilot than Joker."

"He's one of many, Commander, and you will fall in line or-"

"Or be removed. I get it."

Those eyes squinted again. "Seems respect is not a trait Admiral Shepard demands from her personnel."

"Respect is earned here," Joker grumbled.

"My rank tells you I have earned it," retorted Mikhailovich, his affront evident. "Get of my ship."

That rankled Joker beyond measure. "Normandy will never be your ship. But while you're working that out, I'll be glad to go." He started out, Clay following dejectedly, and nausea rose at how bad things had gotten in such a short amount of time. He could still feel the remnants of that anticipation he'd felt on their maiden voyage, just a couple of days ago. How the hell had it come to this?

The walk up the corridor to the airlock was excruciating; his beloved cockpit getting tantalisingly nearer with each step. But it may as well have been an illusion, because his path would only take him further away.

With one last look at the seat he should be in, Joker then turned to face the exit.

"Where do you think you're all going? Get to your stations!" Mikhailovich's angry voice drew Joker's attention, and he was surprised to see Cortez heading the rest of the crew as they walked up the corridor towards him.

"See how well Normandy flies for you without its engineers," called out a scowling Adams over his shoulder.

"Or without her advanced sensors," said Edi.

"Or a pilot," added Cortez, grinning back at Joker.

"I will see to it each and every one of you will be facing a court-marshal for this!" railed the admiral. "This is desertion!"

Only Chakwas stopped to turn to Mikhailovich. "This is a crew standing up for what is right, and standing together. That is what Admiral Shepard would demand from us."

Joker was impressed by the doc. "Actually, she'll probably be completely mortified by what we're doing."

"Walk out, Jeff."

By the time they were all standing in the docking bay, looking at Normandy from the outside, there was a solemn atmosphere.

"Anyone else feel like they've just cut off their noses to spite their face?" Joker grimaced.

"Stand strong, Jeff," said Chakwas, her hand gripping his shoulder as they looked out. "Have faith in Shepard. We'll call Hackett, find out what's going on with our captain, and get this sorted out."

With a nod, Joker gave one last look at his ship. Without Shepard it was just an empty vessel, and he took heart in the thought of Mikhailovich all alone in there. Then the lights went out on the ship and Joker chuckled over at Edi, adjusting the image – all alone, in the dark.

-o-O-o-

Detective Riker Tavitus had the potential to go far. After Garrus had been allowed to call his father - who had promised to get there as soon as he could get a flight to the Citadel - the detective had promptly announced he was retiring for the night, leaving Garrus in a cell, unable to sleep as he stewed over who could have framed him, with no information to form a viable conclusion from.

In the early morning, a refreshed Tavitus had transferred Garrus to the interrogation room to begin his questioning.

A table between him and Tavitus, and with his wrists still cuffed behind him and attached to his chair, Garrus been sat here for five hours now, and was tired and pissed as hell.

It was obvious why the turian had excelled so quickly; few could withstand such an incessant barrage for long. Not that Garrus was intimidated by it, and that meant the young detective was equally as annoyed by the unyielding stare Garrus sent him back. Yet still Tavitus had that dogged look – a look Garrus recognised well from his battles with his father, and he was sure some would say in his own face, too.

"Look, Tavitus," Garrus sighed, reclining casually in his seat. "We can do this all day, but nothing's going to change. I won't admit to something I didn't do."

"The evidence-"

"Is bogus." Garrus leaned forward again, bringing his face closer to Tavitus'. "Someone's setting me up. You need to look closer at the 'evidence'."

"It says you opened that account – an account that received the credits missing from C-Sec raids."

"I said: look closer," asserted Garrus. "Someone's gone to a lot of trouble. Get a tech team to take that data apart."

It was Tavitus' turn to lean back with a sigh. "Because someone's setting you up." He tilted his head as he studied Garrus. "I get why you could be a target, Vakarian," he conceded. "But the problem is, you're not the only one caught red-handed. We have Armando Bailey and Kolyat Krios in custody, too."

"Bailey and Krios!?" Garrus' words came out on the wave of an incredulous laugh. "That's absurd!"

"Is it? There are quite a few notations in Bailey's file that suggest he's not averse to breaking a few rules."

"To get things done, but he isn't a man who puts himself above the law," disputed Garrus, wondering how Bailey and Krios could fit into all this.

"And Krios somehow managed to avoid an attempted murder charge several years back. Instead, he became part of C-Sec."

When it was put like that, Garrus could understand the detective's suspicions, and he ran a hand over the plates of his forehead. They were all in deep shit.

"I think you agree, that doesn't sound like someone who'd be too concerned with the morality of pilfering credits seized during raids," continued Tavitus.

"Krios may have had a bad introduction to C-Sec, but joining our ranks set him on a path he hasn't strayed from. He's a good kid," Garrus insisted.

"With a family. A family who live in a nice apartment in a more affluent part of the wards. Wish I could afford that on my salary…but I can't." Tavitus folded his arms across his chest, almost smugly.

"It's paid for by his inheritance from his deceased father," countered Garrus, seeing where Tavitus was trying to take it.

"His father… Thane Krios. Which means that inheritance was funded by crime. Not to mention that when Kolyat was arrested back then, that notorious assassin walked right into a cell to talk to his son and was allowed to walk right back out again - all while under Bailey's watch, I understand."

"Thane Krios was working with Shepard."

"That's the trouble with Spectres: laws don't concern them," sniffed Tavitus, and Garrus shook his head at the young turian who sounded too much like Garrus' own father once had – before he'd been enlightened by the reality of Shepard.

"Thane Krios redeemed himself by saving the Council," argued Garrus, choosing not to be drawn into a debate over Shepard with this ignorant little up-start. "He died doing it, in fact. But that's besides the point. Kolyat is not the same man as his father."

Tavitus rose, circling the table and Garrus with his hands clasped behind his back. "And then there's you. Like Bailey, you have quite the addendum added to your file. You butted heads with the previous Executor often over your methods, and then you left, followed by the incident that ended with Bailey killing him. Now you're back in C-Sec and sitting in the Executors chair. It's all very cosy."

Garrus could only laugh dryly at that, not bothering to try to keep eyes on the man as he circled; he knew the trick to disorient the prisoner, and he sure as hell wasn't falling for it. Instead, he picked a spot on the table to stare at, reclined again, and crossed his arms. "Oh, so now we all colluded to get me placed as Executor? Wow, Tavitus. That is some conspiracy theory you've devised there, I'll give you that. You know, it stuns me that you can come up with all that crap, and yet you struggle to conceive the concept that someone's setting us up." Now he zeroed in on Tavitus, ready to read his reaction. "Now that either means you're a part of all this, or you've gotten this far in life through pure dumb luck, because it sure isn't down to your brains."

Tavitus stopped, clearly insulted, and Garrus nodded to himself. A guilty man would have remained unaffected, perhaps an air of superiority coming through in the returned gaze. Garrus didn't take kindly to those willing to bury their comrades for their own gain. Sidonis had paid the ultimate price for his betrayal, and Garrus would have made sure Tavitus knew he'd crossed a line that Garrus Vakarian didn't tolerate. But Tavitus was being played, and that was a relief to Garrus; there were enough vipers out there without having them permeating C-Sec.

"Look at the evidence again," he muttered, low and commanding.

The problem was, Tavitus was a young and successful turian, and with that came what humans called a 'God complex': nothing bad could happen to them and being wrong was inconceivable, because they were in their prime and therefore they reasoned their reactions were faster, thoughts were sharper - they were unbeatable. It's why so many died or rotted away in prisons for being used as tools for those far less scrupulous, older and wiser. So when Tavitus straightened and sat slowly back down, Garrus knew the boy was believing all the hype that had accompanied him to the Citadel. A dangerous notion to think you were among the best – not when you'd barely lived. The rest of the galaxy was nothing like Parnack, and so Tavitus had an awakening coming. Garrus preferred it happen sooner rather than later.

"What would anyone gain from setting the three of you up?"

"Now that is an excellent question." Garrus considered the possible answers, but it was impossible without more information.

"Something the three of you have in common? Asides from your work?"

Despite the fact Garrus knew Tavitus was merely indulging him, the comment dug in. There was only one link that pulled himself, Bailey and Kolyat together asides from C-Sec. "Shepard." His insides clenched, and he stared at Tavitus in a way that had the young detective tensing. "You arrested me before I got to her apartment…."

"And? Unless Bailey and Krios were on their way there too, I don't see the connection. How do their arrests affect anything?"

A nagging worm crawled in Garrus' gut, his pulse thumping a little harder. "You think Bailey wouldn't be the first to know when you arrested me? He'd have been in here straight away, and we'd have got to this same conclusion within five minutes of me being in that cell. He and Krios would be the only ones in C-sec to stand up and question all this bullshit, and they would have been out that door in an instant. You've got to go check Shepard's alright. Now!" Even as he said it, Garrus had a horrible feeling it was too late.

Tavitus rose, but it wasn't hurried, and there was a ghost of a smirk. "You want me to go and bother Admiral Shepard, who'll ask why I'm there, and then send Spectre Alenko to get you out of here. No way, Vakarian. You nearly had me there. Just realised you should have used your one call to contact a Spectre instead of your father?"

Garrus was feeling really agitated now. "Damn it, listen to me! Something's wrong here! Someone wanted you to take me out of the picture. Alenko was out last night. Shepard would have been alone. Send someone to her apartment! Or call Alenko! Check he's there!" He strained against the cuffs, willing Tavitus to see into him; to see only the truth was written in his face. But it wasn't registering. Inexperience was staring back at him, naïve and arrogant.

"I'm getting some lunch. You should try getting some shut-eye, Vakarian. You look beat. We'll be picking this up again when I'm done."

"Tavitus! You have to send someone to check on Shepard! Please!" Garrus didn't care that he was reduced to pleading, only that Tavitus was still walking away. "Ask yourself how you got onto our supposed crimes! I'm betting you got some anonymous tip-off. Right?" The turian's hesitation in the doorway was the affirmation. "Shepard could need help! Don't let your pride put her at risk!"

Tavitus didn't even turn. "She's a former Spectre. You can't tell me she couldn't handle anyone at her door, because I'm not buying it."

Then the door was closing, leaving Garrus alone in the room, frantic and absolutely damned useless. Yes, Shepard could look after herself better than most, but there were always times when even the best needs someone to watch their backs. She'd had her weapon removed; she had her son to protect; and that apartment – how many times had he thought how indefensible it would be? Maybe he was wrong and Shepard was absolutely fine. Spirits, he hoped so. But after the last few years, he'd learned to act on the safe side rather than have regrets later.

Growling with an intense fear and frustration, Garrus could feel a fury erupting from within him at the impotence imposed upon him. The table was the target, not that his enraged kicks did much harm to the reinforced metal that was secured to the ground. But it was his outlet, and when he was spent, he rested his forehead on the cool surface, his fast breath heating the surface.

His only hope was that his father would get here soon.

-o-O-o-

Hackett strode purposefully through the halls of Arcturus, acknowledging no-one as he passed by them on his way to his office.

He'd just come from a meeting with Command where they'd delivered the news that in the early hours eight asari space stations had been decimated, and with them their newest fleets. Evidence collected by the asari pointed to the detonation of bombs. It was a surprising and crippling attack against allies that had no known enemies, except perhaps the batarians, but they were so few since the Reapers tore through them it was hard to contemplate them being able to make a move like that – and Hackett had said so to Command. Except then they'd added that the asari had been quick to assess the data streams that were automatically and continuously transmitted back to the home-world; data that suggested before each and every one of the explosions, Alliance ships had docked and left.

That had left Hackett stunned.

Understandably, the asari were now asking serious questions, and Alliance Command were scrambling for a defence. They worried about a rogue element within their ranks, and as the Admiral in charge of those ships, Hackett was expected to provide answers, and quickly.

As soon as he'd seen the ship names, he knew instantly what linked them.

Saying nothing to the men and women sitting in their pristine uniforms behind the long, polished desk, with their thoughts only on swiftly smoothing relations with their allies, Hackett had assured them he'd investigate and get back to them forthwith.

Entering his private work space, Hackett sealed the doors, dropped the datapad with its damning contents onto his desk and opened his omnitool. He'd missed several calls from Karin Chakwas but he didn't have time to call her back now. Something big was going down.

-o-O-o-

Kaidan groaned as consciousness delivered him a hammering head. Light streamed in through a gap in the shades, and he winced as it near-blinded him. Then, as the fog of sleep cleared from his mind, confusion replaced it. There were no windows in his bedroom. Nothing smelled or felt familiar either, and he jerked up, ignoring his protesting head.

He was in a hotel room, and he tried to think back on the night's events – to work out how the hell he came to be here. The last disjointed memory he had was of stumbling through the wards with Rissa on the way to her…hotel room.

An unsettled feeling formed in his stomach as he looked down at his naked form, only a thin sheet covering him from the waist down. Around the bed his clothes were discarded without care on the floor. Onlyhis, he noted with relief.

He looked slowly to the space beside him. Empty but dishevelled. Kaidan's insides squirmed as he reached out to a datapad left on the pillow, and when it was in his grasp he hesitated, his muscles tensing as he activated it.

Kaidan,

Had some errands to run, and I didn't want to wake you. You look so good sleeping there.

Not sure you'll be hanging around, so I'll say thank you now for a wonderfully unforgettable and extremely satisfying night – one I'd long ago given up hope of having with you. You were completely worth the wait.

I'd very much like to hook up with you again. I'm here for another two days, so call me if you can get away. If not, then I'll look you up next time I'm on the Citadel.

Rissa x

Dropping the datapad like it was radioactive, Kaidan launched himself out of the bed, and started shoving on his clothes, his skin crawling at what those words had screamed at him.

He'd cheated on Terra….

Kaidan got as far as belting up before his stomach warned him that he needed to get to the bathroom.

There was little for his body to purge, and after the initial bout he was reduced to dry-heaving into the toilet bowl. When his body had stopped reacting to his own infidelity, Kaidan stumbled upright, and rinsed his mouth out with water, unable to look at himself in the mirror.

He had to get out of here. Quickly returning to the bedroom, Kaidan focused only on the floor. Grabbing up his t-shirt, he paled as he saw it had been ripped from neck to hem. He was about to discard it, but the thought of leaving anything of his here... Screwing it up, Kaidan shoved it into his pocket before reaching for his jacket, while he planted his feet in his boots, and his fingers shook as they fastened everything.

He had to get home. To his wife. Guilt jabbed its elbow hard into his stomach. He'd broken the trust of the only woman that mattered to him. Being out of his head and unable to remember any of it was no excuse, and he couldn't see how Terra could ever forgive him this. Damn it! She didn't need this on top of everything else! But he wouldn't lie to her….

Emerging out onto the ward, Kaidan halted. Everything was unexpectedly bright and noisy for what he'd assumed was morning, and it seemed to press down on him. The thrum of people made Kaidan realise he had no idea what time it actually was.

Checking his omnitool, Kaidan was appalled to see it was midday. Terra would have gone to bed last night assuming he'd crawl in at some point, and would have certainly expected to wake with him beside her this morning. She'd be worried about him, searching for him, and he didn't deserve her thoughts or her energy. Kaidan noticed there werea lot of notifications of missed calls on his omnitool, but they were nearly all from Joker, the others from media groups. There was nothing from Terra at all, and he found that very troubling.

Kaidan swiftly but self-consciously merged into the flow of pedestrians. It felt like everyone he passed was staring at him, accusingly, and he kept his head and eyes lowered as he hustled through the wards, feeling like scum. At the first opportunity, he ditched the torn t-shirt into a garbage bin, eager to be rid of it.

His omnitool's vibration had Kaidan staring at it in fear. He found no relief that it was Terra's father, but he picked a quiet spot to stop, needing to swallow back the bile before he could answer it.

"Kaidan. You've got a problem."

'Problem' didn't begin to describe it, but then it wasn't what Hackett was referring to.

"Overnight, eight asari space stations were destroyed by acts of terrorism, and Alliance ships were at each location just beforehand; ships I can't make contact with. Needless to say, the asari are looking at the obvious answer."

"Damn…." Kaidan struggled to switch focus from his collapsing personal life to the apparent crumbling of the galaxy. He shook his sore head, cursing the sluggish way his thoughts were forming. "Then we're being framed somehow. Someone's making it look like the Alliance are trying to undermine our allies."

"Give us an internal battle to fight, yes. But I think whoever's behind it is also looking to frame you, specifically."

"What?"

"There's no reason for our ships to have been at those stations. I believe they've been taken out of their crews' hands. For that to happen without so much as a single mayday that they were under attack, it would have to have been an inside job. Taken unawares a crew could probably be brought down by a small group."

It was a shocking thought, but Kaidan knew it was right. "Take control of the bridge first and you can cut communications. Do it quietly, and no-one would know what's happening on board until they were at the receiving end of a bullet."

"Exactly." Hackett paused, and Kaidan worried what was coming next. "Kaidan, every single one of those ships were carrying your Biotic Ops Squads."

Hackett may as well have kicked Kaidan in the stomach. "No. No, that's not possible. I know those men and women. They're good people." Then he sighed. It was a stupid response borne from shock; you could never know what goes on in other people's heads. "Even if there were a few bad eggs, there's no way they could allbe in on something like that!"

"You're preaching to the choir, Kaidan. Suddenly, those strange attacks on our colonies make a lot more sense."

Kaidan inhaled sharply. He'd forgotten all about his squads last assignments, and as he thought about it, a new sorrow took shape to accompany the one that had formed upon his waking. "You think my squads didn't make it back, after all."

"No, I don't. I think they were ambushed, and whoever is behind it onlywanted your squads. We'll know for certain when we go back and look for any bodies."

Eight squads of talented, brave young people, dead. Kaidan sat heavily down on a nearby bench, his forehead resting in his palms, elbows digging into the flesh above his knees. How the hell had this happened? The reports he'd received were sent by his squads' murderers, and he'd accepted it without question because he'd been too distracted.

"So far, Command have no idea about your link to this, but I can't withhold it for long. When they see this, they're going to say the same thing you did: that eight squads aren't likely to allgo rogue."

The shit-storm headed his way suddenly came into view, and Kaidan leaned back wearily, looking out at normal people going about their normal lives. It wasn't the first time he envied them. "Unless they were acting on orders from their superior," he said on a sigh.

"Yes. Whether they'll truly believe it or not, Command will offer up any scapegoat they can get to keep in good with our allies, and are certain to bring it to the Council's attention. Considering how they chose to deal with Terra, I'm guessing they'll be just as quick to cut you loose. Once that happens there's nothing to stop you being interrogated by Internal Affairs for God knows how long, and we can't risk that. With Terra out of the game, we need you out there, preferably on the Normandy, and only a Spectre will have the authority to take it out of Mikhailovich's hands."

Another bombshell. Terra's ship and crew had been given to another captain. If there were anything that could have exemplified just how fucked up things were right now, it was the Normandy without Terra. He could only imagine how she was taking it, and he hated himself even more for not being with her.

Standing up, Kaidan resumed a fast pace through the throngs.

"We need to give them proof someone else is involved with this, and fast. How, I don't know just yet, but I'm thinking it might be a good time to bring in Dr T'Soni."

"Yeah." The weight of it all was crushing him, and Kaidan fought to keep putting one foot in front of the other. "And we need to reclaim the bodies of my men and women. Get them officially identified and cleared of wrong-doing."

Mistakenly, Kaidan thought things couldn't get worse, but his ears caught the words from a newscast screen he was passing by, and he came to a stand-still.

"these images caught by a member of the public last night of the Spectre, General Alenko, in an alleyway with an unknown female. So far, neither General Alenko, nor Admiral Shepard, have been available for comment."

In horror, Kaidan moved to stare at the recording that was played. It was cast in dark shadow, but there was no disputing it was him, pressing Rissa into the wall of an alleyway, and…. Kaidan almost broke down at the sight of himself kissing her almost savagely, her shirt open and exposing her chest, his hand down her unbuttoned pants. Then she seemed to notice the attention from the person filming them, and dragged them both out of view.

Kaidan braced himself against the sturdiness of the wall. He'd never despised himself more than in that moment, and he battled not to heave again.

"Kaidan?"

Hackett's voice cut through the haze of self-loathing, making Kaidan right himself with a start. A new fear ratcheted up his heartbeat to a painfully fast thudding. Was this why Terra hadn't attempted to call him? Did she already know!? "I- I have to go. I'll get back to you." Then Kaidan was running, pushing himself until he could feel the strain on his chest as his lungs begged for fresh air to replace what he'd been holding all the way to the cabs. Shoving someone rudely out of the way as they attempted to get into the sky-car, Kaidan jumped in, ignoring the protest, and gunned it to its limit through restricted areas, breaking laws he didn't give a shit about.

When he got to the apartment, he didn't brake until the last second, causing those waiting for a cab to scatter aside in case it ran into them. Flinging himself out and onto the Strip, Kaidan rushed up to their apartment, wondering what the hell he could possibly say to her. The thought of her actually seeing the newscast…. He shuddered. When he got to the door he had to stop to catch his breath. As soon as he stepped through this door, everything was going to change for the worse.

Hitting the door release, Kaidan was stunned to see three C-Sec officers standing in his apartment – an asari and two turians - one of whom was holding Nate.

"General. Officer Kildari," introduced the asari officer.

"What's going on?" Kaidan immediately crossed to take his son out of this stranger's hands, cradling him close as Nate smiled at him through red-rimmed eyes that revealed he'd been crying.

"Sir, we were called here after we received an alert from a concerned member of the public over a possible case of child abandonment."

"What!? That's ridiculous! Where's Shepard?" Kaidan's visual search confirmed she wasn't in the vicinity.

"She's not here, Sir. Nor was she when we arrived."

Kaidan's mouth fell open as he stared back them all. Three sets of eyes reflected their judgement of Terra. "She wouldn't willingly leave our son. Ever."

"With respect, Sir, we understand Admiral Shepard has had some…private issues recently."

"She would never leave him alone," Kaidan bit back, his jaw achingly tense.

The asari officer traded a subtle look with her colleagues and took a deep breath before indicating towards the rear lounge. "And then there's this."

She led the way and gestured towards the large screen. Beyond the smashed veneer where something had been thrown hard at it, was the frozen, shameful image from the newscast which had mortified Kaidan earlier. His face blazed with heat, a burning bile rising into his throat. He felt the officers eyes boring into the back of his skull, but their opinions didn't matter to him. Terra had seen this.

"It's clear she was very upset by it, Sir."

Kaidan shook his head, his stomach roiling. He would never believe she could leave Nate alone. "Something's wrong. Get me your Executor."

They all looked at each other again, but before the asari officer could respond, all three of them touched their ear-pieces and turned away to listen. Kaidan took the opportunity to check Nate over. He was freshly changed, and from his contentedness, he didn't appear at all hungry. Where the hell was Terra?

"Sir." The asari officer regained his attention with the urgency in her tone, and she walked past him towards the screen. "We've had an alert out for your wife but it seems the media have found her first." She changed the screen, thankfully removing that awful image of Kaidan with Rissa, only to play the latest news streaming live.

There was Terra, locked in angry exchange with none other than Rissa. She suddenly shoved Rissa hard enough to slam her into a wall, leaving her dazed. While the reporter was smirking through her commentary like it was some kind of televised match, Terra grabbed Rissa's collar and hauled her into a corridor out of sight.

"Well, there you go, folks. Don't get on the wrong side of a former-Spectre," laughed the reporter.

Suddenly a shot rang out, and the reporter's smirk was replaced with a wide-eyed look. Kaidan watched it all in shock. That couldn't be Terra – she didn't have a gun. C-Sec officers were running, guns drawn, into the corridor, and Kaidan could hear their shouts for someone to get down on the ground.

Hardly daring to breathe, Kaidan waited along with the reporter and everyone else who had been rubber-necking at the scene.

The first officer emerged, and behind him was Terra, cuffed and covered in blood, surrounded by two other officers. That's when Kaidan almost forgot how to breathe. Her eyes were empty of life.

She couldn't have…. Then medics were running into the corridor, and Kaidan was rooted to that spot, waiting. When they wheeled out Rissa on the stretcher, she was completely covered in a sheet, the blood seeping through the pristine white fabric right where her forehead was.

Terra had killed her…. Had he not seen it with his own eyes, Kaidan would have refuted the possibility until his dying breath, and he hugged Nate in shock. Even under the circumstances, he never imagined Terra could abandon their son to go hunt Rissa down.

The camera zoomed back to Terra as she was led away.

For a moment, his beautiful wife was looking back at him through the screen… but she was like a stranger to him.

-o-O-o-