Slowly and carefully, we excited.

Shepard B stepped out from cover dressed in my spare armor.

"That's unacceptably creepy." I was going to have to burn that armor.

We started shooting at each other at the same time both running for cover.

"You want to stop shooting up my ship?" They shouted at me.

"It's not your ship." And now I felt a little childish.

"It will be! I've taken your name, your Spectre rank, even your fingerprints!"

"And then you left me to die…only I didn't." Silently, I crept towards Shepard B's hiding spot. "You think fake fingerprints are going to fool the Council? Or Hackett? How's that big plan looking now?" I stepped around the barricade, my gun pointing at nothing.

Where was it?

I heard the running footsteps just in time to spin around and block Shepard B's omni-tool with my own. Gravity was on Shepard B's side since they'd attacked with a down ward slash, but I was the real Shepard. I twisted my body out of the way, dropping my omni-tool. This caused Shepard B, who'd been pushing down with all their strength, to stumble and become wide open. I recalled my omni-tool and was about to uppercut my clone.

Brooks rushed over first shooting. "Hatchet Squad to the shuttle bay!"

It was a good thing she had lousy aim like a Storm Trooper or I wouldn't have been shot before ducking behind Cortez's consul.

Cortez: Commander, the Normandy's prepping for a jump to FTL.

Joker: Can you get to the cockpit? Like soon?

"Negative." I lept over the consul shooting some poor merc. in the chest. "I'm occupied in the shuttle bay!" I slid into cover behind…some kind of large box. When did all this crap get into the shuttle bay?

Cortez: Roger that, Commander. We'll proceed with Plan B.

Plan B? Why did that not fill me with confidence?

Garrus: Shepard! Can you hear me?"

"Loud and clear." There was a weight lifted off my mind. "You cut through the jamming?"

Tali: Yes. It was rough, but we disabled their tech.

Watching EDI pistol whip a merc. almost made this whole mess worth it.

"We need back up!" I heard Brooks shout.

People were always underestimating my team and it rarely ended well for them. Ask the Collectors.

A blast of blue whooshed towards Mordin and me causing us both to jump to either side. "Did my clone just shoot biotics at us?"

Mordin nodded.

"How the hell does that work?"

Mordin opened his mouth to explain, probably something overly scientific and complicated, when EDI literally flopped down between us. It seems somebody didn't dodge the biotics in time.

Cortez: Moving in, Commander!

"Moving in?" I asked.

The Normandy jerked badly and I fell forward smacking my helmet into Vega's work bench. Something fell on the back of my head. A coffee cup landed by my hand. "There better not have been any coffee in that." I grumbled getting back to my feet.

"What the hell's going on up there?" Shepard B raged. "Get us out of the nebula and jump to FTL!"

I can't remember the time I had to have a fire fight on such shaky ground. I was having a hell of a time trying to stay upright and from the looks of it, so was everyone else.

"Then shoot it!"

I didn't have to hear the other side of the conversation to know what 'it' was.

Joker: You need to stay within 30 degrees of the nose to block course plotting!

Cortez: That makes us a perfect target!

Joker: No, that makes us the bait! You want me to drive?

Cortez: No

"What are you two doing?!" Did they not realize I could still hear them?

"Damn it! Launch the shuttle." My clone growled loudly barley missing EDI's shoulder. "And blow that thing out of the sky!"

The shuttle bay door opened and the shuttle roared out. Oh, Cortez wasn't going to like that.

"Guys! The shuttle's coming your way!" I warned.

EDI's voice came from some direction. "Be careful! The door is still unsecured!"

I was more concerned about dodging Vega's rolling weights. Why the hell did the guy need so many? Dodging bullets was trouble enough.

"You should have died at that damn sushi place!" Brooks popped out of her cover only to drop back down when Mordin shot at her.

"Then you shouldn't have pushed me out of the way of the sniper!" I snapped back lobbing a grenade at my clone.

At the rate all of us were going, there wouldn't be much of a Normandy left to save. I doubt I'd be getting a 3rd Normandy.

"Impressive, for a poor copy." Mordin's shot managed to be lucky and knocked the gun from my clone's hands.

My clone in turn used their biotics to knock my gun free. The cheating bastard.

I growled sprinting towards Shepard B. I was done screwing around. I tackled them and we fell back over the safety bars and rolled onto the shuttle bay opening. I punched them in the face a few times before getting a boot to the gut and thrown off. Without my armor, that would have knocked the wind out of me.

We clamored to our feet only to lose our balance and, I like to believe, we gracefully tumbled over the edge. I clung on probably looking like that cat from the ancient 'hang in there' poster.

"Look at you." Shepard B actually kicked at me. "What makes you so damned special? Why you and not me?"

"Because you're just a replica."

"Shepard!" Mordin and EDI shouted running towards me.

"We have you." Mordin kneeled and reached for my arm.

Despite my own predicament, I saw Brooks looking at us, meet Shepard B's gaze, then look away. She at least had the decency to look ashamed. I felt rage boiling in my chest. This was all Brooks' fault and she was just going to abandoned Shepard B.

With EDI's help, Mordin hefted me over the lip.

"Thanks." It really was a relief to not be dangling.

"The clone?" EDI asked.

"Could be interesting to study." Mordin suggested.

The three of us looked down at Shepard B.

It was tempting to stomp on their hands and send them to their deaths, but I couldn't. I wasn't heartless.

"Here." I knelt down and offered my hand. "Take my hand."

"And then what?"

"And then you live." I shouted. "Take my hand and live, Shepard."

"Shepard?" Mordin asked in the closest thing to astonishment a salarian could get.

I don't know why I wanted to save my clone. After everything its done. Yet, I was starting to feel sorry for it. Maybe things could have been different if I'd found it instead of Brooks.

Maybe I should stop referring to it as 'it'.

Shepard B gave me a defiant look. "For what?" And then, they let go.

I knelt there with my hand still extended. I'd seen so many things and yet watching my clone, myself, willingly let go and die. Willingly give up. I felt…I don't know. Why couldn't we both be 'Shepard'?

Mordin put his hand on my shoulder, held it there, then walked back to the shuttle bay with EDI.