A/N: So two chapters for everyone today! Woot! Well I did finish chapters 11 and 12 tonight so I decided to give the treat of a second chapter today. No lemon here though, sorry if you were expecting it. It's still coming up. This chapter is longer and provides a little more intrigue so hopefully everyone will enjoy reading it! At least I'm not up that late tonight working on these things, it's only 1am after all, hahaha! Not late by my standards! That's sad...oh and on a side note, did anyone else think those Keepers on the last level of ME3 before you confront the Illusive Man were like creepy? I remember getting to that part and thinking, wow, that's creepy; a bunch of dead bodies and Keepers staring at me. Weird. Anyway...enjoy reading! I hope you like it!

Disclaimer: I own nothing; all characters belong to Bioware.


Nine: Rumor on the Wind

Shepard sat in a hard bottom swivel chair that overlooked a less destroyed portion of London. Outside there were people clearing an area that the monument of Anderson was supposed to go up. Apparently Earth was doing well enough to start putting resources for making monuments. While Shepard thought it was important to make a monument to Anderson she didn't necessarily think now was the time; not when there was still a lot to be done and not nearly enough supplies.

In front of her, with a desk separating them, sat Admiral Hackett. He looked the same as he had over a week ago when she'd spoken to him on her computer. It had been three days since Garrus had left her and in that time Hackett had arrived to finally start directing things on Earth in person. Shepard missed Garrus's company; missed seeing him in the morning when she awoke or when the two would go to bed together. Now she was alone and had to wait at least four more days before he would return to her.

"Have you heard from Garrus since he's been on Palaven? Or Liara on Thessia?" Hackett inquired while looking through some papers that were scattered across the scuffed desk he was currently using as his own.

Hackett had been assigned to work out of an office building that had been mostly spared damage during the Reaper fights. With the exception of the window that overlooked the soon to be Anderson monument that was cracked, the office was in fairly good repair. The desk was scuffed and old, but standing and in working order. While the chairs were uncomfortable, they still carried out their function. Shepard personally didn't care for the office since it reminded her of her school days as a child when she'd been forced to sit in hard, uncomfortable chairs and listen to boring teachers prattle on about subjects she never thought she'd master. Those memories made her think of her slaughtered parents on her old colony home, which were never good memories to begin with.

"He sent me a message as soon as he arrived on Palaven and told me that he was glad to be home but disturbed at the obvious devastation that Palaven's received. He's currently doing search and rescue assignments for the Primarch, but he'll be back in a few days," Shepard replied while still gazing out the window. Garrus's message had been short but clear; he was on Palaven and while search and rescue was his primary assignment he was intending to aide Palaven in any other way he could. Apparently the devastation was right on par with Earth's damage.

"And Liara, how's she doing? Heard that she took off around the same time as Vakarian…don't particularly blame her, I'd want to get back home if I were her too," Hacket asked eyeing Shepard closely. Shepard drew her attention from the window to Hackett. It was unusual of him to ask these kind of questions.

"As far as I know she's fine…I never received a message from her directly, just one from Fer—err an associate of hers. I was simply told that she had arrived on Thessia safely and would be staying there for an extended period of time," Shepard replied cautiously, conscious of her near slip in revealing Feron's name. It was probably better that Liara's contacts and potential relationship endeavors remain anonymous.

"That's good to hear," Hackett remarked cheerfully.

"Excuse me for asking Sir, but why are you asking me personal questions? You aren't one to question my personal life," Shepard asked hesitantly. She watched Hackett carefully for some kind of odd behavior.

When he'd sent her word that he was in fact on Earth and would like to see her she hadn't thought twice about it. The message seemed in context for Hackett and when she'd arrived she thought things seemed normal. However, as they had progressed into conversation she had noticed little things about him that made her wonder if he knew something she didn't or was planning something she wasn't going to like. His disposition had put her on edge.

"I'm just curious to see how you're coping, Shepard. I mean, if you hadn't noticed you're a bit of a celebrity now, well that's actually putting it mildly. People, everyone, the whole damn galaxy for that matter, knows who you are and what you did for them. I'm just curious to see how you are doing with that kind of attention," Hackett replied coolly. Shepard nodded, only partially believing him.

Shrugging her shoulders, Shepard said, "I'm coping fine. It isn't like random people I don't know walk up to me and ask for my autograph. My name may be known but my face isn't."

"Well it's not hard to match the face to the name. All it takes is one extranet search and face and name are one in the same. You may not be getting public recognition now, but I'm certain you will be later," Hackett explained with confidence.

"Fair enough…now what else would you like to talk about?" Shepard asked, changing the subject.

Hackett eyed Shepard carefully before responding. After a moment he spoke. "The Citadel is repairable; believe it or not, we've had a few teams up there working on putting things back to the way it was. Not going to be an easy job by any means, but it's one I think we need to do. I'd like to get your help and anyone you could recruit in joining some of my cleanup crews on the Citadel."

Shepard stared at Hackett for a few minutes not comprehending what he had just said. He wanted to restore the Citadel? Was he mad? As far as she was concerned the Citadel couldn't ever be restored. After what she had seen and been through up there she wasn't sure she wanted it to be salvaged. There had been bodies everywhere, not to mention the still alive Keepers adding the level of eeriness she had felt up there. Large portions had been ruined or destroyed when she'd had her battle with the former god child. Would the council even want to go back there? And did C-Sec even exist anymore or had everyone she'd known in C-Sec died with the Citadel being turned against them thanks to the Illusive Man?

"Are you sure that's a good idea Sir? The Citadel was in a bad way the last time I was up there, and I think it was in a worse way when I was rescued. Can you even salvage it? Can it ever be what it was?" Shepard asked, arching her eyebrows.

"I don't know if it'll ever be what it was, Shepard. All I know is that the Alliance and the Council has discussed this issue and we believe that we need to put in some kind of effort to restore it. Restoring the Citadel will be very difficult, yes, but if we manage it it'll take on the image of hope for the galaxy. The Reapers took the Citadel from us and used it against us, we've destroyed the Reapers and now just to right all their wrongs we can restore the Citadel back to what it was…that's the Alliance's feeling anyway. If we restore the Citadel it'll give hope to everyone in the galaxy as a symbol of a galaxy united rising from the ashes," Hackett explained. Although he explained himself with confidence, Shepard felt that he lacked belief in this argument. The idea of salvaging the Citadel to symbolize success or hope was silly in Shepard's opinion.

"Well if that is where the Alliance thinks I will do my best work then I will work on the Citadel. I'll try to put a crew together to help me," Shepard stated.

"That's good news. I know that it may be hard for you to go back there, but just remember you have friends and that we're here for you. Take your time when you're up there," Hackett said with a smile. While Shepard appreciated the gesture, she felt that it was a fairly pointless one. Hackett knew that no matter how much time she took it would still be difficult. Returning to the location you're almost murdered wouldn't be easy for anyone.

"Is that all Admiral?" Shepard asked casually, feeling eager to leave the office and the stiff chair.

"Actually it isn't…I've got some news that may be related to your would be assassin. I don't think you're going to like it," Hackett admitted, looking down. Now she knew why he'd been acting strangely—he had news that would potentially cause her great stress.

"Okay…what's the news?" Shepard asked slowly, prepping for anything. She leaned forward in her chair, making it squeak under her weight; she wanted to hear everything he had to tell her.

"After your assassination attempt I put in orders to have the body processed. It took a little while longer than I wanted, but that's expected with everything that we're going through right now, but I got a hit on the body. The body was that of a former Alliance soldier, a woman by the name of Kia Sulei," Hackett explained.

"An Alliance soldier? Was she still considered active or had she been declared dead ?" Shepard asked, confused.

"She was listed as MIA over a year ago. She'd been on a mission to investigate abductions on one of the mining colonies of the Nubian Expanse System. She was considered special ops, and was frequently in deep cover and therefore didn't update the Alliance for months at a time. It was sometime shortly after she was assigned to the mission that she went missing…where she was or what she was doing, I have no idea," Hackett said in a very concerned voice.

Shepard watched him carefully, while also trying to hide her own nervousness. This woman had been former Alliance and had gone missing and then mysteriously shown up over a year later to try to kill Shepard. Shepard didn't like the idea of a formerly missing woman turning up in her bedroom a year later attempting to murder her, especially if her last mission was investigating abductions. Investigating abductions never seemed to lead to anything good.

"Did the Alliance know anything more about her mission?" Shepard asked trying to keep her voice calm.

"When I accessed the file I was surprised to find very little there. I've sent the file to your private terminal on the Normandy. I suggest you take a look at it when you have time, although you won't find much there…I suppose you could find more using your Spectre status, but since the requisitions office is currently out of commission that's kind of out of the question," Hackett replied in a diminished voice. Obviously he had done some digging of his own only to come up with little or no results.

"Was an autopsy performed on the body?" Shepard asked believing in the likely hood that the woman, Kia Sulei, had had Reaper tech in her body.

"No; there was no need and not nearly enough supplies for one…but I did go out of my way to send one of my own operatives out to the Nubian Expanse System to investigate her trail. Apparently the Alliance never launched an investigation into her disappearance; I guess they had bigger fish to fry at the time," Hackett added leaning back in his chair.

"You sent an operative? Are you sure that's a good idea?" Shepard questioned feeling concerned for the Alliance operative.

Hackett waved his hand in the air. "I highly doubt my agent will find anything Shepard. The woman disappeared over a year ago and no one even knew which system it was exactly or what mining colony it was. I've been told there are dozens out there in that particular System. I guess it was her job to find out what nebula, which planet and which colony it was. My agent is a good soldier don't get me wrong, but the case is cold, I doubt she'll find anything."

Shepard slowly nodded, wondering if that was true. Apparently Kia Sulei's mission had been vague, but things sometimes got that way when an individual got into deep cover within the Alliance military.

"Was there any information on who was being abducted or the manner in which they were abducted?" Shepard asked. She was thinking that if she could find out those details she might be able to piece together who had grabbed Kia Sulei and eventually sent her Shepard's way.

"It's all in the file, but in regards to that question you just asked, no there wasn't much. Just a report from some local authority that had some validity within the Alliance, anyway I guess this authority figure said that several of the individuals from the mining colony had been abducted. It lists nothing about whom in particular or how they disappeared," Hackett stated with a sigh.

"Alright Sir…I'll check out the file. Thank you for letting me know and I'll try to get to the Citadel as soon as I can," Shepard responded and stood up, eager now to leave and access the file about Kia Sulei.

"Not a problem Shepard…oh and I have you scheduled to get up to the Citadel today. I know it's soon but I'd like you up there ASAP. I've gotten ahold of your old pilot Cortez to fly you on up," Hackett informed Shepard.

Although Shepard wasn't happy about being assigned to go to the Citadel, let alone today she nodded and exited. There was a terminal where one could access their personal messages outside of Hackett's office. Since the power had been restored on the Main Street Generator the terminal was likely running.

Shepard walked up to the terminal, entered an encryption code and then accessed her account. She found the message that Hackett had sent her with the file on Kia Sulei in it. There were four files in total on Sulei; Shepard opened up the first one labeled Request for Assistance.

Request for Assistance:

Chief Patrol Jariad Mari

Dear Vera Swahil, Alliance Correspondence Head :

I am writing to express my concern with abductions that have been occurring in the Nubian Expanse System. I have been informed that several colonists on one of the more prominent mining colonies have been going missing. The circumstances of their disappearances is unknown to me but I have on good authority that foul play is involved. I request the aid of the Alliance at the soonest convenience.

Thank you for your time.

Sincerely,

Jariad Mari

Shepard opened the next file titled, Alliance Subject Assignment.

Topic: Nubian Expanse investigation of colonist abduction

Subject: Kia Sulei, Special Operations Alliance Covert Affairs

Case Number: 0029-HEX78

Assignment: Investigate Nubian Expanse System and surrounding nebulas; locate mining colonies; determine mining colony experiencing abductions and investigate source; procure whereabouts of abductees; maintain cover. Any necessary authority or action sanctioned.

Shepard flipped open the third file, which was unlabeled.

Reached the Nubian Expanse System and beginning subsequent investigation of area and surrounding colonies. No intel as of yet. Will report back in with further information at a later date.

Shepard opened up the last file that was once again unlabeled.

Have located possible planet of interest; several mining colonies present. No interference in investigation so far. No new information to report and no signs of foul play.

Slowly Shepard logged out of the terminal and powered it down; she left Hackett's building. As she walked out into the sun she thought carefully over the information she'd just read through. Kia Sulei had been assigned to investigate disappearances on a mining colony somewhere in the Nubian Expanse System. She had been a skilled Alliance soldier and maintained cover for most of her operations and yet she had vanished on this mission. Her two entries to the Alliance had been sent three months apart and the last one had indicated she'd found a planet that was the possible location of the abductions. Shepard felt certain that whatever Kia Sulei had run into that made her disappear for over a year was on whatever planet she'd last been on. Sadly she hadn't identified which planet it was. The real question however, was how did Kia Sulei, a once diligent Alliance operative, turn into a would be assassin?

As Shepard continued walking away from Hackett's building she was lost in thought and therefore did not see that Javik had just spotted her and was heading in her direction. She was so caught up in her own thoughts that she ran right into him.

"Oh, I'm sorry—Javik!" Shepard exclaimed in surprise. The ancient prothean looked back at her suspiciously.

"Commander Shepard," he said in response.

"How have you been acclimatizing to everything?" Shepard asked casually, hoping that he'd answer and then be on his way. Not only did she want to think about the information she'd come across she wanted to hurry up and get to the Citadel to begin work on it.

"I have been working on burying the dead of your world. No one seems to want to do this, so I decided to take up this task," he answered, still eyeing her like a lion eyes prey.

"Oh…I'm glad you are…finding things to do. If you'll excuse me," Shepard said and tried to get out of Javik's way. However, Javik stepped in front of her, cutting her off.

"They aren't all dead. In your soul you know this to be true," Javik said cryptically.

Shepard frowned and looked up at him. "They are all dead. I killed the bastard who created them and that killed all of them."

"No," Javik began and leaned in close to Shepard's face, a clear violation of her space. "Most of them dead, yes, but all…no. The children of monsters come in many shapes and forms. You must have eyes for all of them. In the days to come you will need to remember that."

With narrowed eyes Shepard replied, "You weren't there. I killed them; I killed all of them. If there are any left I'll kill them too. I don't have to have special eyes to see them; I know one when I see it."

"Do you? You must remember that when you do see one again that you cannot wait to strike. The Reapers and their creations are like a disease; leave them alone for just a short time and they will make more and become an unstoppable threat. I ask that you remember that," Javik stated in a serious way. Shepard stepped away from him then and started walking away, not looking back at him; irritated that he could not accept the fact that the Reapers were truly dead.

"Remember what I say Shepard, for there may come a time when you face the children of monsters and it is you who has the ability to save them or destroy them; do not be seduced by their power; their power is a lie…destroy them," he called from behind her.

Continuing walking, Shepard called back to him, "Thank you Javik I'll keep that in mind." Her voice held an edge of sarcasm to it. She was sick of Javik's cryptic explanations or suggestions. He was the only living prothean in the galaxy and he was very much stuck in the past; stuck in his blood lust for the Reapers. She didn't think that he would ever get over that desire for revenge or the fact that they were truly dead.

Shepard arrived at the docking bay a short while later to see Cortez sitting outside of his little transport. He seemed to be watching for her because when she came into his line of sight he eagerly waved at her. Shepard waved back and kept heading in his general direction.

"Shepard! I've been wondering when I would get to see you again. I heard that you were doing pretty well. I can't tell you how glad I am that you are okay and that you do seem to be doing pretty well," Cortez said with a smile as Shepard walked up to him.

"Good to see you too Cortez," Shepard replied and gave him a pat on the shoulder.

"Well I suppose we shouldn't really waste time…the Citadel right?" Cortez asked a hint of nervousness in his voice.

"The Citadel," Shepard repeated forcing a smile on her face. She didn't want Cortez to feel any added anxiety from her; she already had enough of that on her own.

"This should be interesting," Cortez remarked and climbed aboard the transport.

Just as Shepard was going to board the transport she looked up at the sky. What had once been sunny and bright was now a dull gray; a looming storm overhead. Shepard frowned at the sky, not wanting to see storm clouds in her future; she had had enough rainclouds to last a lifetime.


F/N: I hope the part where Shepard opens files wasn't confusing; the formatting is weird on here, so it changed from how I had it in Word. Sorry about that.