"A toothbrush. Really? If you'd told me that this morning I'd have said you were crazy."

"I know the feeling Wrex, but I had to work with what I had."

She held up a hand asking for silence. If they could still take these fools by surprise it would work better in their favor. The space was so hard to maneuver in made Shepard curious if they'd built it for a Keeper rather than Humans and Aliens. Quickly glancing back allowed her to check on her two teammates. Both offered some form of assurance they were good to go. Before anything else was done Shepard quickly adjusted her gun.

A flash of red told her the incendiary bullets were ready to go.

"Alright get a patrol going. We need to find Shepard. The real one."

Carefully...slowly...just about there.

"Hey what'd she mean by 'slow her down'? Are we allowed to kill her? Because I thought she wanted to do that herself."

"She said that because we're nothing but cannon fodder in her eyes."

"Oh. Well...shit."

One started to walk in front of them. And all at once the attack began. No sooner had the hatch popped open did one poor fool have a bullet in his leg. When another turned he was quickly silenced by a shot to head from Javik. Vi rolled out of the way taking cover right away. As she busied herself with ending the man she'd shot Wrex came charging out from the depths of the passage.

Needless to say Vi cringed at the sound of whatever popped. The mercenary had at least died instantly. Well, she hoped. A drone exploding right next to her certainly got her attention. Reminded her to be distracted later. When she could afford a second to be.

"Get Shepard!"

"I got the bitch!"

A swift Pull from her and the one defense the man had was gone. He attempted to retreat. It wasn't fast enough. Her own fist crashed into his chest while pulsing with Biotic power. So much for him having her. When the bang went off she felt something hit her left arm.

Sniper. Damn it she hated them. And in such close quarters this was going to be difficult. Thankfully it'd only grazed her arm. She'd need to send the armor in for repairs but there wasn't any blood. Yet.

When they popped up a second time it was their end. Her Prothean friend made certain of that much. As Wrex harassed the last two or so living obstacles in her way Vi took a moment to over look everything. The ship was a disaster zone. Alright maybe not that bad but it was a huge mess. Not to mention...oh no!

Shepard hurried over to the glass cage. There was thankfully no damage to it. But the poor little hamster inside was terrified. Removing her glove Vi hushed her pet. His pink little nose poked out of the wooden home he had. Upon realizing it was her a tiny head peeked out.

"Hey little man. Mom's here. It's alright." She reassured while petting his head. "You're so brave. Just hold on a little longer."

At least the clone had done something right. Left the pellets next to the cage. Even if there wasn't time she still filled up his bowl. A Datapad captured her attention while he ran around her fingers looking for more pats. That bitch was going down. Messing with her hamster was unacceptable.

"Shepard we gonna take care of this?"

"Yeah. Sorry Wrex just taking care of Chip here."

"Chip?"

"His fur pattern looks like a chipmunk. It's an Earth animal." She shrugged and put the tank lid back on. "Never said I was good at naming pets."

Her hand tapped the elevator door. Time to head to to Cargo bay. And end this. Once the other two were on Vi tapped the proper button. A knot settled firmly in her stomach during the short ride down.

"Commander at times like this my people had an ancient saying. Kill her."

"Catchy. I like it."

Her father had a saying as well. And at the moment it felt right. As her trusty M-37 Falcon was leveled she heard the echo of her father's voice. He'd spoken it only once, moments before those damn slavers came for them. But she understood the meaning behind those words. And now she partly felt they echoed within her.

Beware the kind ones who cease having reason to be so.

The door slid open a split second after a ding. This time Vi stepped out carefully. Knowing the other was around here some place gave her reason to be weary. Two steps out and the other had not shown yet. It screamed trap to her. Sadly there was nothing else she could do ay this point in time. Not until her foe showed herself.

Which happened two more steps later. Stepping out from behind cover she now stood clad in blue N7 armor. The gun in her hands didn't spook Vi. This was her ship, her home, she would win here. And things would be perfect again. That was the vow Shepard made to herself.

"Disgusting." Vi remarked.

One well aimed shot from her Falcon made the clone fire right back at her. But not before she took cover behind some crates. James wasn't going to be happy. Looks like the clone had messed with those. He'd just gotten the weights how he liked them. According to when she'd last spoken to him.

"You want to stop shooting up my ship?"

"It's not yours. It will NEVER be yours."

"Once your dead it will be. After all I've taken everything else from you."

"That's where your wrong."

"What?"

"I have something you can't ever take from me. And the moment you even tried? Everyone would know you're a fake." Vi moved silently closer. "But you can't even hope to fool anyone. Not Hackett, not even Anderson!"

It came at no shock that the clone had moved. That was the smart thing. The stupid thing however came in the form of openly attacking her. From her peripheral vision Vi saw the attack coming. Rather than humor her with a contest to see who was stronger Vi sent a powerful burst of Biotic power into the clone's face. She had to abandon her foolish notion of attack in order to stay safe.

This clone was a stain on the universe. Vi was the superior one here. And she was going to prove it here. Like a switch had been flipped Shepard was suddenly a different woman. Something about her eyes gave it away but the Clone foolishly ignored the clear warning. It would be her last mistake.

"Hatchet squad to the-!"

"Wrex." She interjected.

He needed nothing more than that. Her Krogan friend rushed Brooks with no hesitation. Seems the order had gone through regardless. So it seemed more little toys came to play then. Giving a smirk to Javik and picking up a grenade or two she hoped he understood her devious plan. A silent nod was her answer.

Four seemed plentiful enough. All were opened extremely quick before tossed into the air. Javik stood and sent them flying into foes with precise pulsations of Biotic power. Enough to lodge them in the armor but not kill them. Needless to say the fools had a panic fest rather quickly. Shepard only found herself able to smirk when they exploded into tiny chunks.

How thoughtful of them. They'd managed to take out some others upon detonating. The few remaining could only look at her. Questioning if this happened to be worth while. An icy glare sent them scampering away. Good now she could settle this with an old fashion ass kicking.

"What the hell? Get back and fight!" The clone roared.

"Oh shut up. Let the children play while the adults talk." Vi chuckled. "Come now. Why don't you prove that you can be me. Put the gun down and let's settle this with fists."

"Shut up you stupid bitch. Like you'd ever really do that."

"I would. But then again if you're me then you'd know I'm a boxer." Both guns were plopped to the ground in favor of lifting up her fists. "Come now lone wolf. This shouldn't even be a challenge for you."

Easier than originally thought. After her gun was tossed to the ground the other woman charged her. Child's play. One swift round house kick to the side later Shepard advanced upon the clone. Such a sloppy punch. No form.

That was fine. Vi had more than enough form for them both. Leaning back gave her the edge needed. Countering was as simple as launching a right hook to the bitch's face. Hadn't broken anything yet. What a shame. It needed to change.

Clone never stood a chance. Not when there was so much pent up anger needing to be vented. Her boot hit dead center of the chest of her foe. They wobbled, reeled from the impact. It was followed up with an uppercut. Shockingly that missed only by chance.

The ship jerked violently enough that both fell down. Grumbling to herself Shepard cast her gaze to her friends. They were fine. Had Brooks and some cowering CAT6 members on the ropes. Good at least she could return focus back to her match with the faker. Wait the hell had she slunk off too?

"God damn it." Vi muttered while standing.

"Commander Normandy is prepping for a FTL jump."

"Alright thanks for the warning Cortez."

"Can you get to the cockpit like oh soon?"

"Joker bit busy in the shuttle bay right now."

"Rodger. Give her an ass kicking for touching my ship."

"With pleasure."

"Lola you there?"

"Give me some good news James."

"Was a bit rough but we cut disabled their tech. I hope it helps Shepard."

"It will. Thanks Tali – FUCK!"

"Lola! Hey you okay?!"

Using a weapon. What a stupid cowardice move that was. More so it had actually hit. That perhaps was the most aggravating part.

"I will be." Vi seethed.

A fist covered in Biotic power was the next thing she used. Cracking it against the skull of her foe Shepard's counter attack was relentless. Uppercut, dodge jab, weave out of the way, flurry, shift to the side...knock the bitch on her ass with a boot. It all felt so damn satisfying. There was no waiting for her to recover this time. Oh no Vi learned not to give her a moment.

A handful of red hair was yanked back. Whatever protests came from her mouth bounced off deafened ears. Rage fueled her every action. And the demand to state her blood lust pulsed heavily within her vanes. Yet despite feeling like an unstoppable fortress of fuck you Shepard could not ignore one thing. Pain.

It came on fast and heavy. The throbbing in her leg clawed at her brain demanding attention. Of which it got nearly instantly. Her limb quaked and gave out a second later. Had it already been a damn hour? Crap she'd forgotten to pay attention then.

With a quick glance she realized it was a bit more than that. Someone had gotten the very large balls to shoot her in the leg. Not near her hip thankfully. But on her thigh. Given how her burn nearly reached her knee well the bastard had incapacitated her. Damn she'd almost forgotten how much being shot hurt.

"You should have died at that damn sushi place!" Brooks yelled from her positioning half way across the room.

Her clone understood the reason for hesitation. Tables were turned far too quickly for Shepard's liking. But something always had to happen didn't it? One second she was being pressed against something by her clone's knee. And the next she was tumbling. Apparently so was her clone.

What'd happened? Right now she didn't want to think about it. What was important happened to be keeping the hands from around her throat. Well and stop falling. Open air blasted all around as the duo tangled with each other still. It wasn't until Shepard finally got the upper hand and pinned the other woman under her did things start to come together.

The Kodiak was no longer in side the ship. Which explained where they were right now. Seeing as how someone forgot to make sure the door closed behind it. One arm was used to keep her target still before a punch knocked at her face. Then a second. When the punch collided hard into her leg – the one screaming in pain – she relented a bit.

Gave an opening for the boot to her chest. Shepard felt a bit too close to the edge for comfort. Given how she could look ever so slightly to the side and see the Citadel below her? Oh yeah damn right she felt her heart stop. Had every right too. If she carefully scooted back everything would be fine.

Or hey, you know, the ship shake causing her to nearly fall. Either was alright she supposed. At least there was a bit of silver lining here so to speak. Her thieving clone was about to fall too. In panicked silence the two of them struggled to keep hold. All Shepard could do was beg the Gods that she come out of this alright.

Dying like this...it scared her.

"What makes you so damn special? I mean look at you. Why you and not me?!" the other woman spat.

"Hand on Shepard!" Wrex called out.

"Don't you dare let go Commander!" Javik ordered.

A smile crossed her lips. To see the two of them work together so selflessly. It made her nearly cry. Javik's hand was a welcoming. Made her feel safe and protected. Even if he could be the biggest jerk sometimes.

"We've got ya!" Wrex grunted as he began to pull them up.

Yes. They did.

Even with a throbbing leg. And blood pooling from the wound onto the metal platform she knew everything would be alright. Half expecting to see her clone up with her Vi glanced about. Where was Brooks? She wasn't here. Turning to face her helpless adversary Shepard extended her hand.

"Javik, Wrex! Make sure I don't fall!"

"Are you crazy? You're going to save her?"

"Do as I say!"

Neither dares speak against her again. A hand was pressed right up against those clinging for life at the end of metal. Encompassing her wrist with both hands Shepard began to pull the clone up.

"C'mon. Work with me! We'll get you out of this I promise."

"So I can live in your shadow? Fuck you."

The combat knife plunged right into her left hand. In that instant Shepard was forced to let go. And with her mind straight once more she really didn't want to. Not when she honestly held hope that she could have helped the misguided soul. Now there was nothing she could do. Failure it seemed had indeed been an option.

Not that she had to like it.

Damage was minimal. At least there was that. Other wise however they would need to do a bit of moving things around. Nothing more. The entire time she had been scolded into sitting down so they could take care of her wounds. She should have gotten use to being patched up by now oddly enough however she wasn't.

Vi always wanted to help out and get things done. With a bit of numbing gel she should have been fine. Thankfully the bullet hadn't gone very deep. Her armor had done it's job nicely. The stab on the other hand was a bit deeper. Not enough to hinder her but she did need some stitches.

"They overloaded the heat diffusion system firing at us. I know you were busy so I'll just tell you know shuttle guy did some crazy stunt flying to keep us alive. It was super awesome."

"Was nice to fly something a bit more maneuverable."

"EDI in control?"

"Fully. Thank you for asking Shepard."

"That's good. ...How about any survivors?"

"A crap pilot and her."

"I'm certain we can work something out. Perhaps some Intel on Cerberus?" Brooks smiled.

"Pardon me if I don't believe you."

"Admit it you'll miss me."

Her escape attempt had been rather mundane. Not to mention expected. What wasn't however happened to be who shot her. With no hesitation and quick aim Shepard put a bullet through the back of her head. A wave of uneasy silence settled in around them. Rather than speak about it however she simply stood up and left.

Stifling a yawn Kolyat shuffled into the kitchen. It was such a late hour he never imagined meeting another soul. So it came as a small shock to realize that Shepard was also awake. She looked a bit disheveled. With how she was hunched up on the sofa he slightly worried something might be wrong. At the same time if she desired to be alone he didn't want to intrude upon that.

"Um...Shepard? Or would you rather Vi?" Kolyat asked gently.

Her reaction was instant. Looking over at him so quickly gave him the impression that he'd spooked her. Which really had not been his plan.

"Kolyat." she pulled her hair back. "Oh Gods. I'm sorry, I didn't mean to wake you up."

"You didn't wake me I promise. Came to get some water."

There was a robotic nod from her. Gods above what had happened to her? When the crew had come home she had not been with them. All attempts to reach her on her comm was fruitless. Wasn't until his father used his Omni-tool to message her was there any answer. Seems that she desired time alone.

It had sat ill with his father. Having heard of what happened made him worried. They'd hardly been here two days and things like this were happening. Kolyat supposed it was only natural Thane grew concerned as the hours passed. The older Drell had wanted to be awake when his Siha returned. But sleep claimed him sometime in the early morning hours.

Speaking of which what time was it? Kolyat did a quick check. Yikes, she'd been out until nearly six am. Perhaps it was a good thing his father hadn't managed to keep awake. However did present him with some time with her. And there had been a question nagging in the back of his mind...

"Shepard can I ask you something?"

"Sure."

"It's about your relationship."

She seemed to react to that. Color touched her cheeks for a soft moment.

"Uh, what did you want to know?"

"What are your feelings towards my father?"

Out of everything he could have asked Kolyat managed to give her the curve ball. It should have been as easy as saying that she loved Thane. In truth however it went so far deeper than that. Being near him made her want to be a better person. And finally toss away the darkness which lived on in her heart. His words were echoes of words her father had spoken to her about power.

How making things right was important. And that her power should be used for helping rather than bulling. Such an idea was beautiful to her. Maybe that is what helped her fall for him so easily. His willingness to speak at lengths over such things. And to even teach her how to live as he did.

"Not pulling any punches are you kid?" she asked with a grin. "Wish I could just say something easy. Like I love him. And be done with it. But I can't. Because what I feel for your father goes so...so much deeper than that."

"It does?"

"Well I feel like that yeah. Thane is...an amazing man. When I came back from the dead I didn't want to be close to people. After seeing how angry Kaidan got at me I...just never wanted to see any of my old friends again." there was a sigh from her. "So I resigned myself to be a loner. My folks were dead, and I was all that was left. Frankly I'd resigned myself to die alone or at least with someone cursing my name."

"My father chanced that?"

"So very much. He was kind to me. Collected and calm when we spoke. Made me feel ashamed when ever I would loose my cool. I mean...he was dying. But still he managed to be polite."

"It sounds like you really fell hard."

"I did. And truthfully it scared me. He was...is technically my first anything really. When he had you back in his life I didn't want to complicate things so I tried my best to stay away. But in the end I just couldn't." A wave of color hit her face. "I didn't just fall in love with your father. I fell in love with his ideas, with his life style, hell I even grew to enjoy the thought of you being with us so we could do things as well a family. Selfish I know. But I wanted to be a part of his entire life if he'd give me the chance. Because being with your father gave me the courage to be a better person."

"Tu-fira..." Kolyat mused quietly.

"Anyways. To answer your question the short answer is...yes I love him with everything I am. And to see him like this kills me. Kolyat. I wish I could give him some of my life...just so he could be with me longer."

"Thank you for being honest with me Shepard. I didn't mean to pry."

"You didn't. I promise. But I think I'm going to get some sleep now. God knows I could use it."

"I think we both could. Later today Vi."

"Yeah. Sleep well."

Silently he watched her ascend the stairs. Oddly enough he couldn't hide the smile on his face.

"I will...mother." He whispered to himself.