Anderson sat down at what was now his console in his Councillor Office. Udina still held the title of Ambassador, but he used the desk that had been Anderson's and was basically his assistant. It was a vengeful gratification to have Donnel under his thumb, though the man had his uses. Councillor Anderson's mind was still foggy from the liquid breakfast he drank before leaving his apartment. If he rumor's were true, and none of the sources he had at his disposal could prove they weren't, then he wanted to see her. He needed to see her. To get answers if she had any. He used an N7 encryption code and embedded a password to access the message that only she would be able to answer.

Commander Shepard,

Rumor has it that you're alive. As you can imagine, this brings up many questions. The Council requests you report to the Citadel as soon as possible for debriefing.

We have much to discuss.

D. Anderson

He kept it simple and he kept it professional, just in case someone other than his Shepard managed to hack the message. He hit send and left without notifying Udina.

"Just where do you think you're going?" Udina called after him.

"Out." Anderson answered.

The doors hissed shut behind him. As a Councillor, it was no longer acceptable for him to go to a bar or even the lounge on the Presidium for drinks. So he went home. He couldn't help but wonder what he would do if he got a reply. Had she ever really died? Why hadn't she come back? If she had died, how was it that she was alive again after two years? What happened to the chi... He couldn't finish the thought and push it away with a violent rejection reserved for the most painful of his memories.

No reply came, at least not in the form of a message he could read on his console. The Normandy, SR-2, was requesting permission to dock. The excitement of the new Normandy's arrival was a buzz over every conversation he passed. Who ever was funding her operations certainly had a generous budget. He wasn't expecting his Shepard. He was expecting a clone. People can't be brought back from the dead. It just wasn't possible. He'd held hope that it could be true, but a clone was the only feasible explanation.

Councillor David Anderson waited in his office next to the hollo projectors that allowed the Council to take part in the meeting without having to physically be there. It had taken some convincing just to get them to agree to see 'Shepard' at all. They would not allow her to appear publicly in the tower, which was still under repair. He gazed, leaning on the railing of the balcony, at the clean lake as an elcor diplomat plodded along one of the newly reconstructed bridges. Nightmares of seeing the Presidium's destruction were rare, but the images were still there.

"This meeting would be more productive if Udina was to join us." the asari Councillor interjected into his thoughts.

"My advisor is unavailable." He told was, in fact, 'available'. He simply didn't want him there.

"As Councillor, I represent the voice of humanity and the Alliance." Anderson reminded them, stepping to face them squarely. "Shepard will be here any mo..."

The doors to the office hissed open. He hands clasped firmly behind his back, steeling himself against false hopes when he saw her replicated face. He thought he was prepared, but he was not. When her face rounded the corner, glowing where pieces of her face had been stitched back together with cybernetics, he began to doubt that she was a clone. Seeing her again, the recognition in her eyes and the emotions there... real emotions, not duplicated or remembered ones... his heart stopped beating. As strong as he looked in his formal dress blacks, he felt weak as if he might crumble on the floor at her feet. But he kept it together. He kept it professional. There was nothing to say that she wasn't a clone pieced together with experimental technology. Shepard was dead. This was just a clever copy... Wasn't she?

"Commander, we were just talking about you." He nodded.

"It's been a long time, Anderson. I hope the last couple of years have treated you right." She greeted him casually shaking his hand, but her eyes held volumes.

Her hand felt like hers. Looked like hers. Had her firm grim with a soft edge. But he wasn't convinced. Not yet.

"There've been some rough spots."

He searched her face for some clue to confirm his suspicions, but he found no superficial evidence to support one theory or another besides that she had gone through some major reconstructive procedures. Behind her he noticed a rather fetching woman in a very form fitting uniform, but she didn't hold a candle to Shepard in his mind. There was also a scared turian in battered armor. It was Garrus Vakarian! Wherever they had found each other, at least he seemed to be convinced she was the real deal. And Garrus was not one to easily trust. Garrus had been missing for nearly as long as Shepard. For him to come out of hiding with a patchwork Shepard leading the way was cause for David to doubt his own theory. He leaned in slightly and spoke in a quieter tone. If she was his Shepard, he needed her to know he was there for her.

"It's good to have you back."

"We've heard many rumors surrounding you're unexpected return." the salarian Councillor interjected with a frown. "Some of them are... unsettling."

"We've gathered for this meeting so you can explain your actions, Shepard." the asari stated. "We owe you that much. After all, you saved our lives in the battle against Saren and his geth."

He saw the slight narrowing of her eyes when they did not say Sovereign and his geth. If she was a clone, the memories and emotions with them had been perfectly duplicated.

"My actions? I was dead! Cerberus found my remains and put me back together to do the job you're not! Human colonies in the Terminus Systems are disappearing. They're being abducted by the Collectors, and they're working for the Reapers. Cerberus is the only one doing anything about it! Why don't you explain your lack of actions!"

Clearly her temper was in tact. Anderson was only a little shocked at her out burst. He would probably not been a vision of calm if he were in her shoes. In the beginning he was just as passionate for her cause, but the constant doubt of the Council and his own frustration and grief had quickly jaded him on the subject. He was also very impressed with Cerberus. If she was a clone, the memories, emotions, everything about Shepard had been perfectly duplicated. An exact clone on every level was unheard of. This strengthened his growing belief that she really was Shepard, his Shepard. Even if she was a clone, she was still herself... wasn't she? He had to wonder about the extent of the implants and success of reconstruction. He also wondered if Cerberus had found the embryo and if they had been able to save it, what had they done with it... The idea that they had and it was involved in one of their sick experiments made his blood run cold.

"The Terminus Systems are beyond our jurisdiction." the turian Councillor answered. "Your colonists knew this before they left Council Space."

"You're missing the important part, Councillor. The Reapers are involved." Anderson pointed out.

He had no doubts about the truth of what Shepard was saying. Clone or not, she wouldn't say something she didn't know to be true.

"We shouldn't be fighting. If we're going to stop the Reapers, we have to work together." Garrus agreed.

"Ah, yes! 'Reapers'. The immortal race of sentient star ships allegedly waiting in dark space." The turian Councillor responded rather sarcastically with single fingered air quotes. "We have dismissed that claim." He waved his talons at her as if she were a bothersome duct rat.

Anderson turned to Shepard. She was here, whoever she was, and she had Shepard's memories. So he spoke to her as if he believed she was the original.

"Shepard, no one else saw the hologram on Ilos that told you the truth about the Reapers. Only you and your crew ever spoke with Sovereign. I believe you. But without evidence from another source, the others think Saren was behind the geth attacks."

"Go back to Ilos." Shepard addressed the unbelievers. "Talk to Vigil. Or look at what's left of Sovereign. It's obvious the technology is more advanced than ours."

"The hologram on Ilos is no longer functional, and we have found nothing to suggest that Sovereign was not a geth creation." The salarian Councillor stated.

"The geth are capable of remarkable technological achievements." Said the asari Councillor. "This is probably why Saren recruited them."

"This Reaper theory proves just how fragile your mental state is." The turian said, pointing to his own head to animate his statement. "You are being manipulated by Cerberus, and before them by Saren.

"Saren was an organic. The geth would never accept him as their leader! They only followed him because he was Sovereign's agent!" Shepard replied, ignoring the turian's insults.

"Saren was a compelling and charismatic individual. He convinced the Reapers were real, just as he convinced you." The asari Councillor pointed a hand at her.

"It was part of his plan to attack the Citadel. The Reapers are just a myth, one you insist on perpetuating." The turian Councillor nearly spat at her.

"We believe that you believe it, but that doesn't make it true." Said the asari Councillor.

"I warned you against the attack and you didn't listen. I saved the Citadel and the galaxy from extinction, sacrificed human lives to save yours and you still refuse to see the truth! Will you wait until the Reapers are knocking down your doors before you will understand that I'm not being influenced by a fairy tale? I'm only here because of Cerberus! I trust them as much as you do, but they're fighting to save humanity. Spectre or not, Commander or not, I'm was born a human and I will do whatever is necessary to insure the survival of my people!"

"We are in a difficult position, Shepard. You are working with Cerberus; an avowed enemy of the Council. This is treason, a capitol offense."

The asari Councillor almost seemed to be threatening Shepard. This was not something he could abide. The insults of the turian Councillor had irked him, calmed by Shepard's dismissal of them. But the asari Councillor, the ballance between the testosterone on one side and the cold calculations on the other, was agreeing with the insults and threatening the charge of treason! It was too much and he wouldn't stand for it.

"That's too far!" Anderson raised his voice and took aggressive steps toward the hollo images of the Council with a scowl on his darker face. "Shepard is a hero! I'm on this Council too, and I won't let this white wash continue!"

"Maybe there is a compromise. Not a public acknowledgment, given your ties, but something that shows peripheral support." The asari Councillor conceded.

"Shepard, if you keep a low profile and restrict your operations to the Terminus Systems, the Council is willing to offer you reinstatement as a Spectre." Stated the turian Councillor with clasped talons.

He could almost see the thoughts in her mind. It wold be good to have the Council's resources at her disposal. If she found enough evidence to support her claim, she could rub it in their faces without returning triumphantly obnoxious, though they would deserve it. Shepard glanced at him. He could read the question in her eyes, dark like the storm that was brewing in her. 'Should I do it, daddy?', they seemed to say. God he'd missed her. He subtilely nodded his suggestion. She didn't have to like them to used their resources. She stepped forward with her hands clasped respectfully behind her back.

"Take your offer and cram it up your collective ass!"