Author's Note: In the reviews from last chapter, some concerns were raised that I feel I should address. First, regarding Damien's escape. I know that with the information I've provided so far about him, his physical abilities during the time of the escape can seem far-fetched. This was done on purpose, and was the plan from the start. However, based on my chapter outline, everything about Damien abilities will be revealed either next chapter or the one after. Second, about Cerberus' operative and resources. I assure you, every single character is this story is 100% killable. However, the special forces operatives in Ares Cell aren't the bumbling idiots we saw in ME3. These are the most highly trained, most experienced, and most deadly soldiers Cerberus has. They're all former N7 operatives, after all. And in ME canon, Cerberus' resources aren't really explained that well. Right now, Damien, Prager, and Clark and spending the money they 'inherited' from the old Cerberus. In the future, I will explain how they get additional resources when they acquire them. Hopefully this cleared everything up, if you have additional questions please feel free to PM me, as I'd be more than happy to answer them. Enjoy the new chapter!

11/30/2186
Kadmon'iyr, Rannoch

The adrenaline in Damien's veins began to subside, and the numbness in his body wore off. He dropped to a knee, putting a hand on the ground to steady himself. The heavy downpour started to wash away the heavy amount of blood caked around his nose and mouth, large droplets of it running off his face and falling to the ground. Despite having just survived a shuttle crash, Damien's injuries weren't too severe. It had helped that the crash had only been from a height of 30 yards or so, and he was able to brace for impact. That, and his extensive cybernetic implants had prevented injuries that non-augmented humans definitely would've suffered in that crash. Even so, his shoulder wound was putting him through absolute agony. Though Damien had just killed Yizh, she, in a way, was still causing him pain. His anger flared up at the thought of what she had subjected him to, and he fired eight more rounds into her lifeless body, screaming the entire time. Off in the distance, a bolt of lightning cracked and the roar of thunder could be heard soon after. Once Damien had calmed down, he realized he only had six rounds left in the thermal clip.

Goddammit… he thought.

Damien made a mental note to try to control his sudden outbursts in the future.

Getting back up on his feet, he shuffled into the burning wreckage of the front half of the shuttle. Damien searched for anything useful. Extra thermal clips, medi-gel, anything that could help him in his current situation. Finding nothing, he limped back out into the storm. Using the rainwater, Damien wiped his face, cleaning off blood. He tried to reach behind his head to rip off the biotic implant inhibitor, but couldn't do so while his hands were still omni-cuffed. Until Damien could find someone to take it off for him, he would only have around half of his biotic power at his disposal. Still, half of his power would rival the full power of any average biotic. His next objective was to get the omni-cuffs off. Damien trudged over to Yizh's body, and activated her omnitool, knowing the cuffs were linked to it. He could only stare in confusion at the interface, every single word was in Khelish. Knowing nothing about the language, Damien was stuck. He deactivated her omnitool, and removed the module from around her wrist.

I'll have to find another quarian to deactivate the cuffs, because I sure as hell can't read that shit. Damien mused.

He ripped off a large portion of Yizh's shawl, and draped the cloth over the omni-cuffs. Better to not be seen walking around looking like a prisoner, as it would draw too much attention. Damien retrieved the Predator pistol, and hid that too under the fabric. He knew he couldn't stay at the crash site much longer, either the quarians or the Alliance would soon be aware that the shuttle was missing. Every second he spent here was one less he had to get off this planet. Luckily for him, the city was still mostly deserted, and there didn't appear to be anyone around who could've witnessed the crash. Damien surveyed the area around him, looking for landmarks to help establish where in the city he was. He squinted as he looked around, and off in the distance could faintly make out ships landing and taking off. That must be the spaceport. Damien determined. He took off in that direction. As Damien limped down the abandoned streets of Kadmon'iyr, his confrontation with Yizh played over and over again repeatedly in his head.

Please, you don't have to do this. You can leave now, I promise I won't tell anyone where you went." she pleaded, spitting out blood from her mouth. "I'm sorry for what I did to you, I was just following orders. Please, just let me go back to my family, to my lifemate and my little girl."

Just like that word had when she had spoken it, memories came flooding back to Damien as he remembered the word 'family'. He tried to fight it, but the memories soon overtook him.

The two were lying together on their bed, facing each other. The early morning sunlight was just beginning to shine through the window. Damien ran his fingers through her soft, curly blonde hair. Her blue eyes, blue as the sky, looked lovingly back into his own. Sarah smiled at him, causing him to smile back at her. He was happy, as he always was when he was with her.

"I love you, Damien." she told him, leaning in for a kiss.

Damien kissed her back, showing her that the feeling was mutual.

"I love you too, Sarah." he replied.

After a few more minutes of lying together, the sounds of soft crying could be heard down the hall. Mia, their almost one and a half year old daughter, had just woken up.

"Well, someone's an early riser this morning." Damien observed with a grin.

Sarah smiled again, "Looks like it's time to get up. I'll get her."

Damien stopped her, gently placing a hand on Sarah's obviously pregnant belly.

"No no no, I'll get her. You already have one baby to handle, I'll take care of Mia." he assured her.

Damien leaned in and kissed her again, before getting up to tend to Mia.

He walked into her room, and scooped his daughter out of her crib. Damien held Mia close to his chest, gently swaying her from side to side.

"Shh, it's okay Mia. Daddy's here." he comforted.

She gradually stopped crying, and looked back at him with her blue eyes. He smiled at her, once again taken aback at the beauty of his daughter.

"You're going to cause Daddy a lot of trouble when you're old enough to start dating." Damien said to her jokingly.

He made a few funny faces at her, and she started giggling.

"Daddy!" she exclaimed.

He walked out with her to the kitchen, and set her down in her high chair. Damien grinned when he saw Sarah at the counter, preparing Mia's breakfast with one hand while supporting her back with the other.

"Mia, look, it's Mommy! Eight months pregnant and she's as beautiful as ever." he pretended to whisper to his daughter, making sure that Sarah heard him.

Even though it was her second pregnancy, it was still very hard on her. Sarah couldn't be happier that they were having another baby, but the effects of being pregnant sometimes got to her. With her belly as large as it was, her weight gain, and other unpleasant side effects of pregnancy, she sometimes worried about her appearance. Damien tried to tell her everyday how much he appreciated her, and remind her how beautiful she was. Sarah turned around to face him.

She rolled her eyes and smiled, "You're just saying that because my boobs are bigger."

Damien chuckled softly before walking over to her. He took both her hands in his, and rubbed them with his thumbs. Damien looked deep into her eyes and smiled warmly.

"I'm not gonna lie, the pregnancy boobs are a plus. But I'm serious, you're just as beautiful as you were on our wedding day." he stated honestly. "In fact, you're even more beautiful considering you're carrying our son. You're going to bring another life into the world, what's more beautiful than that?"

Sarah felt herself blushing, "You always know what to say, don't you?"

"How else would I have gotten a girl like you to marry me?" Damien asked jokingly.

Sarah laughed softly, and the two leaned in for a passionate kiss.

Damien finally managed to free himself from the prison his memories had trapped him in, and pressed onward towards the spaceport. Now was not the time to get lost in the past, and he buried those memories down deep. After about an hour of traveling, Damien heard the sound of shuttle engines above. He ducked into a nearby building, and peered out of a window. In the distance, Damien could see a shuttle cruising over the city. The shuttle didn't appear to be of military design, so he believed they weren't looking for him. As Damien continued to watch, he saw the shuttle changed course and fly towards the crash site.

Shit, no time to waste now. he thought.

Knowing that from that distance the shuttle couldn't see him, he began limping at a faster pace to the spaceport. The shuttle had no doubt alerted security forces, who would be at the crash site in no time. Once they figured out which shuttle had crashed, and discovered the lack of a human body, the search for him would start. Damien hoped to be off-planet by the time the manhunt began. Luckily for him, he wasn't far from the spaceport now. Having been abandoned for nearly 300 years, the spaceport was much more primitive than others in the galaxy. It resembled an old Earth airport, with concrete landing pads of various sizes scattered around the premises. A large main terminal building sat in the middle, with skycars ferrying passengers and cargo to and from the numerous ships around the spaceport.

As Damien approached the outskirts of the spaceport, he noticed quarian and geth patrols walking the grounds. Whether they were just part of normal security or were actively searching for him was unknown to him. He watched a few patrols pass by, noting the time in between each patrol. Using the heavy downpour as cover, Damien was able to time his entrance perfectly, slipping inside the spaceport without alerting any of the patrols. Once inside the compound, he hid behind a stack of crates. Damien scanned every landing pad, looking for his best option to get off world. He spotted a few frigates, freighters, and even an Alliance cruiser, the one that had been tasked with the prisoner transfer.

Damien smirked, Looks like they'll be leaving empty handed.

At one of the smaller pads, he noticed a small shuttle that appeared to have FTL capabilities. Waiting for another gap between patrols, Damien took off towards the shuttle. As he approached, he saw a lone quarian male placing some crates inside. He wore a standard black environmental suit, with a red shawl. The quarian spotted him, genuinely surprised to see a human in such a battered condition limping towards him.

"Please, you gotta help me!" Damien fake pleaded.

He continued to stumble towards the shuttle, playing up the severity of his injuries. The quarian ran over to help him, and tried to support his weight.

"Don't worry… it's gonna be okay. Come inside my shuttle, I'll call security." he replied, not exactly sure what to say at this moment.

When the two were just outside the shuttle, Damien forcefully shoved the quarian inside. The quarian fell into the wall, and slid down to the floor. Damien stepped inside and closed the door behind him. He removed Yizh's shawl fabric from his hands, revealing the Predator pistol and the omni-cuffs. Damien pointed the pistol right at the quarian's head, and the quarian raised up his hands to shield himself.

"You scream or call for help, and I'll fucking kill you right here. Understood?" Damien threatened.

The quarian nodded frantically, "Okay okay okay, j-just please don't hurt m-me."

By the sound of his voice, Damien could tell he was young. He guessed he was in his mid-twenties.

"What's your name?" Damien asked.

The quarian swallowed before answering nervously, "S-Sil. Sil'Fama v-vas Gupal."

Damien knelt down next to Sil, and pressed the barrel of the pistol to his black-tinted visor.

"Do you have a family, Sil? Anyone who cares about you?" Damien inquired. "Parents? Siblings? A wife or girlfriend?"

Sil had to do his best to not break down and start crying. He was scared out of his mind, considering a human that appeared to be almost eight inches taller than him and twice his weight holding a gun to his head.

Again, Sil nodded frantically, "Y-yes, my mother a-and father. And m-my inszel, you would c-call her my girlfriend, Mari."

Damien smiled sinisterly, Sil couldn't have been a better hostage. Young, obviously very frightened, and had a family and girlfriend to think about.

"Sil, listen to me very carefully. I don't want to kill you, but I will not hesitate to if you put me in a situation where I have to." Damien stated slowly and methodically. "If you do everything I tell you to, when and exactly how I tell you, I'll let you go free. You'll be able to see your parents again, have a future with Mari. Do you understand?"

Sil shakily took in a deep breath and released it. The revelation that Damien wasn't here to kill him calmed him down slightly. He decided to cooperate with Damien, then he would be able to see his parents and Mari again.

"Okay, I-I understand." Sil answered.

Damien smiled again, "Good. Now, put on this omnitool and release these omni-cuffs."

He tossed Sil Yizh's omnitool, who promptly put it on and opened it. Within seconds, the omni-cuffs around Damien's wrists fell away. Once he was free, he stretched out his arms for the first time in quite awhile.

"Perfect. You're one step closer to seeing Mari again, Sil." Damien said. "Now, let's head to the cockpit. We're going to take a little trip."

Sil immediately obeyed, going to the cockpit and sitting in the pilot's chair. Damien sat in the co-pilot's chair, facing Sil with his back against the wall, pistol always aimed at the quarian.

"Does this shuttle have FTL capabilities?" Damien asked.

Sil looked up from the control, "Y-yes, it was my pilgrimage g-gift to the Fleet. It's one of t-the only shuttles we have that can m-make FTL jumps."

"Great. Now, get me off this fucking planet." Damien ordered.

He heard the engines beginning to warm up, and Sil informed the spaceport that he was leaving. To his credit, he managed to sound calm, which couldn't have been easy with someone pointing a gun to his head. The shuttle lifted off the ground, and within no time was in space.

"Head towards the relay, and input these coordinates." Damien commanded, giving Sil the coordinates for Achilles Cell. I'm coming for you, Clark. You stupid son of a bitch.

12/04/2186
Nos Astra, Illium

Shepard and Tali walked hand in hand through the top floor of the central plaza in Nos Astra Manor. It was the last day of their week-long honeymoon, which they would both agree had been the best week of their lives. No work, no responsibilities, just the two of them enjoying each other's company as newlyweds. Since it was their last day, Shepard and Tali wanted to make it memorable, the best one of the honeymoon. To accomplish this, they had reservations at Bordeaux's, one of the fanciest restaurants Nos Astra Manor had to offer. Shepard found the name interesting, it was clearly French but apparently the owner was asari. The lifemates were dressed for the occasion, both wearing the same outfits they wore when they had gone to the Silver Coast Casino a few months back while on shore leave. Shepard had on his same black suit, while Tali's environmental suit was adorned with the same white shawl with black-outlined swirls. After dinner, Shepard had managed to secure tickets to the exclusive Illium premier of the movie Roommates, a comedy where a krogan and turian were accidentally placed into the same dorm room at their university. The top movie critics had given it great reviews, so the couple was excited to see it.

I never would've guessed there would be krogan actors. Shepard thought, laughing to himself.

As the lifemates approached Bordeaux's, they saw two humans running towards them, waving their arms. They appeared to be young men, dressed in Alliance uniforms.

"Hey, are you Commander Shepard? The Commander Shepard?" one of the men asked when they had closed the distance.

Shepard nodded, "Sure am."

"Oh my God, this is absolutely incredible! Do you think it's possible we could take a picture with you?" the other one inquired.

Shepard looked at Tali, "You caught me at a bad time, soldiers. I'm kinda on a date with my wife."

Tali gently squeezed his hand, and smiled as she looked up at him, "John, it's okay, you'll make these soldiers' night. Bordeaux's is right over there, I'll tell them we're here while you're with your fans."

Shepard smiled back, then turned back to the soldiers.

"You're in luck, fellas. The Mrs. said it was okay." he said.

The two soldiers were ecstatic.

"Thank you, Mrs. Shepard!" they both thanked.

Tali laughed softly, "You're very welcome, just don't keep him for too long."

She began to walk towards Bordeaux's, and could overhear the two soldiers saying how jealous their friends would be when they saw the pictures. Tali was glad that Shepard would be able to make their night, as the two were most likely veterans of the Reaper War.

A small price to pay to bring them some happiness. she mused.

When Tali entered Bordeaux's, she was taken aback at how luxurious the restaurant was. The owner, an asari, had gone to France to study the culinary arts right after the humans had been admitted into the galactic community. She had taken some of the French culture back with her to Illium, and Bordeaux's was the result of this. The floors and walls were made of a fine wood, with chandeliers hanging from the ceiling and drapes hanging around the windows. All the tables were covered in fancy tablecloths, with a vase full of flowers and a few candles on top of each table. It was as if a small portion of France had been placed on Illium. After Tali had thoroughly taken in the sights of the restaurant, she made her way to the host's area. The host, a turian male dressed in an expensive suit, stood behind a podium with a console on it. Instead of greeting her as she approached him, the turian opted to just stare at her. Tali found this slightly odd, but shook it off.

"Hi, I have a reservation for two. The name on the reservation is Shepard." she stated.

The turian turned away from her and went back to his console, seemingly ignoring her.

Tali took a step forward, "Um… excuse me? I said I have a…"

"I heard what you said, quarian. Do you honestly expect me to believe you have a reservation here?" the turian interrupted in a condescending tone. "We serve the upper echelon of Illium society, which I'm sure doesn't include you. Now, leave immediately or I'll have the police remove you."

Tali was utterly shocked at how the turian had spoken to her. Here she was, just trying to enjoy a nice meal on the last day of her honeymoon, and this host was preventing that.

Did this bosh'tet seriously just say that? Tali thought incredulously.

Before she could launch into a verbal tirade, Shepard came up next to her.

"Something wrong?" he asked.

The turian host spoke before Tali could, "Ah, Commander Shepard. This suit-rat here was trying to take your reservation, but don't worry…"

The host was interrupted by Shepard's hand reaching out and clutching the collar of his suit. He pulled the turian halfway over the podium, to where he was about an inch away from his face. The host's eyes widened in shock as they stared back into Shepard's.

"I'm sorry, I might be hearing things, but I could've sworn you just called my wife a suit-rat." he said quietly, though the malice in his voice was evident.

The turians eye's widened again, and Tali wasn't aware their eyes could open that far. The host's eyes darted back and forth between Shepard and Tali, who was standing with a hand on her hip, glaring disapprovingly at the turian.

Oh... spirits… the turian thought, as he realized the he had insulted the wife of the savior of the galaxy, to his face nonetheless. "Mr. and Mrs. Shepard, p-please forgive me for m-my foolishness. I-I-I sincerely apologize, I don't know what possessed m-me to say such a thing."

"Uh-huh…" Shepard replied, not accepting the apology.

He released and pushed the host back a bit.

Shepard turned to his wife, "Tali, I don't know about you, but I don't think I can in good conscience eat at a restaurant where the employees harbor such prejudices."

"I agree, perhaps we should find a place that is more accepting of all species." she agreed, still glaring at the turian.

"Please, don't go. I can assure you this restaurant values all members of the galactic community." the host begged. "To prove it, consider your meal on the house. Anything and everything you order will be free of charge."

Bordeaux's had some of the finest food in Nos Astra, and being able to order anything on the menu at no cost to them was too good an opportunity to pass up. Besides, this late in the day, Shepard and Tali wouldn't be able to get a table at any other restaurant. Tali turned to Shepard and winked, who winked back.

"I suppose that'll do." she said to the host.

"And if we aren't fully satisfied, you can believe the owner will hear about this little incident. Perhaps the media will as well." Shepard added.

The host audibly gulped, "Completely understandable, Mr. and Mrs. Shepard. Now, please follow me to your table."

Once the couple was seated and the host had left, Shepard leaned close to Tali.

"Tali, I'm sorry you had to deal with that asshole. We don't have to eat here if you don't want to." he suggested.

"It's okay, John, unfortunately I've kinda gotten used to it at this point. Plus, you and I both know we won't be able to find a table anywhere else this time of day." Tali replied. "But you stuck up for me, and that's all that matters. I thought the host's eyes we're going to pop out of his head."

Shepard laughed softly, "So did I. I bet he won't make that mistake again."

"I don't think he will either. But seriously, John, thanks for defending me." Tali thanked, smiling brightly. "For so long I had to face stuff like that alone, but I know you'll always be there for me. It truly means a lot, and it's one of the many, many things I love about you."

Shepard smiled back and reached out to take one of her hands in his.

"You can always count on me, saera." he promised.

"But be honest, you enjoyed causing that reaction from him, didn't you?" Tali asked, giggling.

Shepard chuckled, "Just a little bit."

Author's Note: If you haven't already, make sure to check out the Unbreakable Bond Trilogy Codex! I recently updated it to include the English translations and definitions of quarian Khelish phrases (with pronunciations), a timeline of important events thus far, and information on original places in the trilogy (along with name pronunciations for quarian places). Also, the OC character bios will be updated shortly with information for Sarah and Mia. Hopefully this codex will help you keep track of all the new information!