Kaidan strode towards the starboard observation deck, datapad in hand and the flash drive tucked carefully away in a pocket, but a glimpse of Shepard through the med bay windows brought him to a halt. He hung back by the elevator, watching her and hoping no one would notice him. She was slipping her shirt back on, but not before Kaidan glimpsed two large raw scars, one in the center of her chest over her sternum, the other on her lower right abdomen parallel to her rib cage. Dr. Chakwas seemed to be lecturing her, as Shepard hung her head slightly while the older woman gesticulated emphatically. Chakwas put a hand on Shepard's shoulder, but the commander gently shrugged it off and got up to leave. Wanting to give her some more time to cool off, Kaidan hurried down the hall and into the deserted observation deck.

He lowered himself onto one of the ridiculously decadent couches and pulled out the drive. After a moment's hesitation, he inserted the drive and opened the first file. "Commander Shepard has bee recovered," Miranda's voice blared out at him. "The Lazarus Project will proceed as planned." Her remarks served as a voice over for some of the most gruesome footage Kaidan had ever seen. Several robotic arms were cutting armor off an incredibly mangled body. The helmet, the chest piece, and one of the suit's gauntlets were completely gone, but the red and white stripe down the right arm belonged to N7 armor. When the suit had been removed completely, the robotic arms disappeared, making room for some scanners. Exposure burns, jagged cuts, and deep bruises covered most of her body. Some of her limbs lay at odd angles, and there were strange lumps all over her body from where bones weren't quite sitting right. Her hair was matted with dried blood, and her face was so flat that it was hardly recognizable, but it was still Shepard. Her delicate feet had somehow remained unscathed, and her toenails were still painted the soft pink he had admired the night before Ilos.

That feed ended, and Kaidan quickly opened file after file. There were copies of anatomical scans, journal entries, and more videos.

A before and after x-ray of her entire skeleton. Some of the bones were so shattered that he was amazed they managed to get them all back together, even with the brackets that appeared in the after scans.

An entry by someone named Wilson: "The cost of this project is astronomical—over four billion credits so far. I don't know where the boss gets all his money. Maybe it's better not to know. I just wish he'd kick a little more in my direction every once in a while."

A video of more surgery, this time to remove some shrapnel and repair tears in her organs.

An entry by Miranda accompanied by some monitor read-outs. "Progress is slow, but subject shows signs of recovery. Major organs are again functional, and there are signs of rudimentary neurological activity. If we alter her identity in any way, if she's somehow not the woman she used to be, the Lazarus Project will have failed. I refuse to let that happen."

Another entry from Wilson, this time as a voice over for some footage of Cerberus personnel performing what looked like physical therapy on the comatose Shepard. "Log update: the Lazarus Project is about to enter the final phase. This is the most amazing medical achievement in recorded history. It's taken nearly two years, but we did it! Commander Shepard is alive."

"Turns out Wilson was working for the Shadow Broker. Well, the previous Shadow Broker, anyway." Kaidan nearly jumped out of his skin as Shepard spoke from almost directly behind him. He had been so stricken by what he was seeing that he had completely missed her entrance. He stood facing her, his heart pounding and at a complete loss for words. "He was the one who attacked the station, in the end. My body would've fetched a pretty penny even before the Lazarus Project. I can't imagine how much he would have gotten for handing me over alive.

Kaidan's throat contracted several times, but no sound came out. She stepped closer and wiped away a line of tears from his cheeks that he hadn't even noticed. He caught her hand before she could pull away and held it to his cheek. "I'm sorry, Shepard," he whispered. "I'm so sorry, I—"

"I was asking you to believe something damn near impossible based on nothing more than my word, which couldn't count for much when I was working with known terrorists—working with. Never working for. They brought me back, gave me a ship with a great crew, and provided some really good and difficult to obtain intel." The corners of her mouth turned down, making her carefully blank face look grim. "Good intel most of the time, anyway. Still, it was asking a lot." She carefully traced one of the thin glowing red lines on her cheek. "Especially with these inhuman scars." She paused and looked away, then added quietly, "I'm surprised you didn't think I was some kind of absurd golem-like approximation of me. I'm not myself anymore."

Kaidan put a finger under her chin, making her look up at him. "You still look the same to me."

"Do I? I'm surprised." She held up a hand and flexed her fingers in series. It was as if she were seeing her own digits for the first time. "Between all the plates and screws, the skin grafts, and the cybernetic skin, bone, and muscle weaves holding me together, I'm surprised I look anything at all like I did." She looked at him, her icy mask dropping for a moment. She had the same expression now as when the council had grounded her before Ilos, when she had felt utterly helpless to stop the impending doom. But it only lasted a moment, and, before Kaidan could do anything, her mask was back on, her real feelings shoved aside. "Anyway, that's not why I was brought back," she said as she pulled away. Kaidan was reluctant to let her go, but she was firm in her withdrawal. "There's a war to fight, and it's not going to be won by me moping about lost time."

Kaidan wasn't about to let it go that easily. "Shepard," he began, "don't—"

"We're fifteen minutes from Hagalaz, Commander," Joker said suddenly over the intercom. Kaidan punched the couch in frustration. 'Why is Joker always interrupting?' he wondered.

"Thank you, Joker," she replied. They stared at each other a moment. "I have to go suit up," she said as she turned to go. "You should, too, if you're planning on coming planet side."


It was strange how natural it felt to follow Shepard again. Kaidan had gotten used to command since her death, and yet falling in at her right flank seemed as natural as breathing. He glanced over at Garrus on Shepard's other side, and the turian nodded to him briefly, perhaps sharing the same sense of apprehension that was making shivers dance up and down Kaidan's spine.

The ship they had boarded was eerily quiet except for the occasional crack of lightening outside. Kaidan had been amazed that anything could survive in such a volatile atmosphere, but Shepard had just gave him a small smile when he said as much. "That's what makes it such a perfect place to hide."

The door slid open, and a VI drone suddenly popped up in front of them. "Welcome back, Shadow Broker."

Kaidan's jaw just about hit the floor, but Shepard just laughed. "Still haven't fixed this stupid thing Liara?" she called out, and the asari's head suddenly popped out from behind a display in the corner of the room. "Shepard!" she cried and rushed out into the middle of the room to throw her arms around the woman. "When I stopped hearing from my contacts on Earth…"

Liara pulled away, and Shepard put a hand on her shoulder. "The Reapers have invaded," she confirmed.

Liara nodded. "Then it is time," she replied as she moved to the central display on the other side of the room. Shepard followed, removing her omni-tool and handing it over. "Anderson snuck me some data just after the attack started. I think it's research notes on a Prothean artifact…or maybe a Reaper one? I couldn't quite understand…"

Kaidan edged towards Garrus while Shepard and Liara stuck their heads together, lost in conversation. "Uh, Garrus…are we…?"

"In the Shadow Broker's base? Yeah. Liara hade some unfinished business with the former Broker, Shepard never really explained what, and the Illusive Man managed to find the location of this base. Apparently, after they killed the former Broker, Liara kind of…fell into the role."

"Oh." Right. Liara just slipped into position as the galaxy's most notorious information broker. No big deal. 'Sure, and Shepard is a pretty pink ballerina, and the Reapers have been known to sing a killer show tune medley as they're destroying entire species, and—'

"Normandy to Shepard," Joker blared over their com system, startling Shepard into standing ramrod straight, her right hand moving to her ear. "What is it, Joker?"

"Commander, a large Cerberus vessel has entered the atmosphere and is headed directly towards the base. Shepard—" Joker paused as if he were unsure whether or not to continue. "Shepard, they have yet to hail us. I think they're hoping to be a surprise. And you know hoe lovely their surprises have been…"

Shepard went rigid for as the station alarms started to sound, the VI whizzing around the room shrieking, "Armed intruders have boarded the ship, Shadow Broker." After a moment of thought, she sprang into action, reclaiming her omni-tool and un-holstering her assault riffle. "EDI, I want you to transfer as much of the network onboard the Normandy as possible before we have to destroy it." She turned back to Liara. "I'm sorry, but we can't let them get their hands on it. I thought securing salvage on the other side of the Omega 4 Relay would keep him occupied longer…"

"Don't worry about it, Shepard," she responded without looking up from the keypad she was using to enter a complex series of commands. "It was not an unforeseeable eventuality. I have the essentials stashed in hidden data packets in several locations." Liara's smile was cold, calculating. "I'm just transferring some new information and then preparing a rather nasty surprise should any come poking around."

Liara hit enter for the final time just as a drell ran in from a door tucked back in the shadows behind the main console and tossed Liara a pistol. "They've deployed an entire platoon at several points in an effort to surround us. I suggest we leave. Quickly."


AN: Thank you, thank you, thank you everyone who has written a review (especially Aya001, txmn1016, and coffee-house-girl for the multiples).

If you haven't already, do check out the demo. Without spoiling it, there are a couple cute moments between Shepard and Kaidan in the first segment, which is, I believe, what will be the opening sequence of the game (just enough to be appropriately teased for us Shenko fans and not so much as to ruin the lore for people who chose a different relationship). It's about as long as the destruction of the Normandy sequence plus the first two rooms of the Lazarus Project labs in ME2. The other mission included really doesn't give a thing away and, I think it's really there for people who have never played a Mass Effect so they can get a feel for the combat style (I skipped this entirely because I watched my husband play it). 20 days and counting!