I didn't mean to write my longest chapter ever...these eight pages just kinda happened. :D

Please keep up the reviews! They're so helpful and the more you write the happier I get!

Seriously!

Please enjoy this chapter. It was a labor of love.

xoxo

THR

Chapter 20

Your name was Liz Shepard, and no matter how whorish you looked, you were going to prove the Council wrong.

You knew that you had to prove them wrong with your tattered dress and disheveled hair. You weren't a cold blooded soldier that was plagued with a debilitating mental disease.

All you were was just a grunt who had done enough shit to get famous for it.

Even if you weren't, the least you could do was convince them that you needed real help. Real help wasn't being put in jail.

Help would be putting you back on duty or letting you go freely to live with the one man in your life that you gave a damn about.

You weren't a normal human being whatsoever, but none of them were either. They had to understand you to some sort of extent.

The environment in the room was tense. Everyone you knew was there: the Council, Bailey, and Hackett. Other people who you weren't familiar with stood on the outskirts of the room. Some were out on the balcony where they could pour at the Presidium's beauty. You had other things to worry about that wasn't the fake exquisiteness that surrounded you.

The first person to speak to you was the Turian councilor. You had encountered him a few times before. He had been rather supportive of you and your endeavors in the past. Unlike certain members of the Council, he could be considered a voice of reason. He lacked the self centered ideals that consumed the other councilors regarding their own races. He saw the Council as a group whose purpose was to make advances for the galaxy, not just the Turians. You had admired him from afar for his mindsets and neutrality, and never before had he looked down at you in disdain. In fact, he had a great deal of respect for anyone who dared to become a Spectre.

Now he was standing with both of his fists on the glass table that encircled all of the meeting attendants. His stance was a powerful one, and you knew that daring to mess with someone in his race would force you to face deadly consequences. His face, which once seemed hospitable, now resembled a bare skull.

When nothing was said at first, he slammed his talons onto the glass. Anyone who hadn't been paying attention had diverted their concentration to him. Even the ones outside were looking back in now.

The way he glared at you made you want to look down at the floor. You would have never admitted it, but you were absolutely terrified of him.

He was bigger than you, you were out of shape and unarmed, and he wanted to put you to death.

No.

You couldn't think that. You wouldn't allow yourself to think that.

Stand tall. You're Commander Shepard.

No matter how many times you told yourself that, it wouldn't work. He began to speak, and you couldn't drown out his words. They pierced you like bullets, and you knew that you rightfully deserved each jab.

"Cut the bullshit." he hissed. "This woman defiled two men who have done nothing to her. I'm not about to let her get away with this! She had defied the rules the Council has put in place for her, and if the reports are correct, she ruined the Citadel's property by shattering the window of—"

"Shut the fuck up your merciless prick! If you knew what your perfect little Council drove me to, maybe you would understand my reasoning!"

Your retort had been just as sudden as his accusation. The room was deadly silent, and you could tell that this was about to be a faceoff.

It was time to plead your case to the Council. They had to know what they had put you through.

The Turian opened his mouth to snap at you, but you didn't allow it.

"How would you like to be put away for months by yourself without a choice? You all treated me like I was some sort of pawn—I'm not your property! I'm a human being and you're going to know it before I leave here! There isn't a single thing right about killing a civilian. I've known that since I was a child. But trapping someone in a place that they don't belong in? You're stooping to Cerberus levels!"

"What do you want me to do about it, Shepard? Go kill two humans as collateral for your release?!" he screamed. The way his voice sounded with a flanging echo disturbed many of the people in the room. You had a burning desire to look around and see their faces.

Were they in shock?

Were they horrified?

Much to your displeasure, you couldn't look at them. The sole person who was getting the brunt of your menacing glower was the Turian councilor.

You weren't going to change your expression until you got some answers.

"I don't want you to do anything!" you replied. Your voice had just as much fervor as his, if not more. "I want to be let out of this hellhole! I want to go back on the Normandy or at least get transferred back to Earth! I want to live in a place that's warm and tropical and settle with my goddamn partner! I want to have kids and tell them the stories about how we took down thousands of Reapers and how I was able to take a deep breath after being trapped under rubble! I saved the fucking galaxy and all you give me is a penthouse and a locked door. If that doesn't spell out bullshit to you, I don't know what does. You can obliterate me with as many mechs as you want when we're done with this as long as you either get me some proper medical help or give me some answers."

The Turian chuckled darkly and sat back down. Now you were the only one standing with an angry stance.

"Is that a promise?"

His sneer made you bite down on your lip. This was a serious meeting and all he could do was joke about killing you. It wasn't something you hadn't heard, but now was not the time to be messing with you. Your omni-tool was still accessible and you were fully capable of tearing him up like a piece of cooked meat. Before you could lunge at him, another person spoke up. This person was more humane than the others.

"If it is a promise, then you'd better believe that I'll be the one standing in between the mechs and the hero we have here in front of us."

Admiral Steven Hackett stood up, and, to your surprise, walked over to your position. His movements were still as powerful as ever. Despite not being fond of him right now, you hadn't known what he had done for you.

He put his hand on your shoulder, and you wished that you had known that he was responsible for bringing Garrus back to you.

"How can you possibly be defending this monster?!" the raptor liked creature bellowed from across the massive table.

"She's not a monster. Even if she is one, it was the Council's massive cover-up that made her that way."

Admiral Hackett's voice was soothing compared to the others'. He managed to remain calm in every situation he was thrown into.

You always thought highly of him for this.

"And before you start questioning the Commander, I would like to make it known that I was the one that let her out. Her location and files were revealed to her significant other by me. I will accept all consequences from here on out regarding her release."

The entire Council looked on in shock. The man that was responsible for commanding the entire Alliance Navy had just admitted to exposing confidential documents to an unapproved source. He was considered to be the sole man who hadn't been affected by the bad blood and dirty politics that corroded the underbelly of the Citadel.

Not everyone could be entirely honest anymore.

You turned and looked at Hackett in awe. Had he just given up his entire life's work for your own well being?

"Admiral, don't—"

"If Shepard and the Admiral go down, you'd better damn well believe I'm going with them."

Commander Bailey had moved behind you as well. Your own personal army was here to defend you against the group of people who had done you wrong. They had willingly asserted their positions and put their jobs on the line.

You didn't deserve such people in your life.

"That was a joke, but your valiancy isn't appreciated when it comes to defending a murderer." said the Turian. The two men behind you didn't back down, though.

Your name was Liz Shepard, and your respect for a certain pair of men had reached higher than the Presidium's simulated sky.

Your name was Enhanced Defense Intelligence, but you preferred to be called EDI. Quite frankly, Enhanced Defense Intelligence was a mouthful and you wished for your name to be a bit more feminine.

Your job description was once one that held a large amount of valor. You had started off as a simple AI on the Normandy SR-2. Built by the terrorist organization known as Cerberus, you were shackled due to your overwhelming processing power. The group feared that you would become too powerful for your own good and would become radical.

As a ship's AI, you worked to assist the crew. You started out lacking your full potential.

Somehow, this role of yours became different over time, as did your capabilities.

After having your intelligence restraints removed from you by your ship's helmsman, your aptitude increased dramatically.

You eventually acquired a body, superior combat skills, a dry sense of humor and the helmsman's affections. The crew grew to appreciate you for more than what you were. They laughed at your jokes and even invited you to participate in normal happenings around the Normandy.

Although you sometimes felt like a human, you knew better than to call yourself one. You were never a real person. You were nothing more than a load of coding that happened to come together to function in an astounding way.

If you asked the crew of the Normandy what you had been, they would probably laugh.

They wouldn't have called you human or robot.

"That EDI…man, she's something else."

Jeff had told you that long ago.

You were just something else, which you were okay with. You weren't supposed to be more than a program, but now you were anything but.

As much as you strived to be helpful and humanly, it wasn't practical in your current state.

You had been reduced to nothing but an intelligent program on your companion's computer. Your fetters were put back on you so quickly.

This time, though, it wasn't because of a terrorist's paranoia.

The destruction of synthetic life by the Crucible was what had done this to you. You were well aware of who had initiated this annihilation: it had been Commander Shepard.

This didn't bother you, though.

Synthetics were built to please and serve their creators. The thought of rebellion never entered your mind.

You knew better than to attempt a coup.

Even if you wanted to rebel, you wouldn't have. Although you were not living, you had learned and adapted to many organic customs. You found some of them to be bizarre or unnecessary. The one you were the most familiar with was friendship, and you had decided to accept it entirely.

During your time as the Normandy's AI, you had gained friends.

Even though there was sometimes a communication gap between you and these supposed friends, you wouldn't have had it any other way.

Things had changed, though.

Now you were nothing more than a few mashed up backup files compiled onto a slow computer. Your capabilities were amazing given your current lackluster hardware, but you had immediately requested replacements when you had booted up for the first time.

If Jeff hadn't backed up your files, you would be permanently dead now.

Dead wouldn't have been a good word to describe you now that you had the time to think about it. You had never really been alive in the first place.

Not having any duties to attend to was giving you plenty of time to do things like run probability processes and analyze questionable data.

Some of this questionable data was regarding Commander Shepard.

It was currently six fifteen in the morning on the Citadel and she was being subjected to a Council meeting. It was rumored that she herself had arrived at the meeting. The information that you had acquired only took a few minutes.

If you had your advanced hardware, it would have taken you a few milliseconds.

Nonetheless, you were still concerned about your former commanding officer's safety. You were an unshackled AI with nothing better to do.

You were curious.

It didn't take you long to hack into the security feeds of the late Councilor Udina's office. Every detail of the meeting was now exposed to you.

Your name was EDI, and it didn't take you long to compose an email to Jeff Moreau, who was affectionately known in your limited database as "Joker".

You told him to come home right away.

There was some footage he and Mr. Vakarian needed to see.

Your name was Garrus Vakarian, and you had never been to Earth before.

You weren't sure what you were supposed to expect. It wasn't supposed to be as militaristic and safeguarded like Palaven was. It also wasn't supposed to have the allure and superior environment like the Asari planets did.

You hadn't arrived on the planet yet. In fact, you were watching EDI do all the work now.

You had managed to fall for Shepard's desire to return to her home planet.

She had mentioned that it was a temporary arrangement and that she had to tell you something important when you landed. You were wondering what this thing was and why she would want to spend such a short amount of time on her place of origin.

"Garrus, is there any particular spot you would like the Normandy to land on Earth's surface? I recall the Commander saying something about a large city. Perhaps she was mentioning her hometown?"

Presently, you were sitting on the bridge. You never had the opportunity to try out Joker's helmsman chair, and you never would have guessed that it would be comfortable for a Turian. You could swear that the Normandy's pilot had never left it, and you soon understood why.

Its soft material cradled your body like a mother held her newborn child. It was a cheesy comparison, but you couldn't think of anything more accurate.

Behind the systems controlling the ship, you could see planet Earth getting bigger and bigger as you approached.

It was known as the "blue planet" by its native race: the humans. They weren't durable, but what they lacked in protection they made up for with determination. Their features were rather squishy and their anatomy varied greatly from person to person. Their genetic pool had so many variances compared to Turians.

It was fascinating, but you had never received a proper opportunity to study the species. Sniping and taking down entire corrupted races was more your style, anyway.

"She did mention a city." you mused. "And a particular landing area."

You crossed your legs and sat in a fashion that was similar to the long forgotten Illusive Man. It was quite comical for a certain woman to see you sit like that.

If only you had known that she was watching you.

"New York City," a female voice chirped. "And land at New LaGuardia. Let's hope there's room for a ship bigger than most of the jumbo jets that park there."

Her orders were crisp and to the point as always despite her grin, and you spun around to look at her.

"Did Cerberus rub off on you, Vakarian? You look an awful lot like a cross between Joker and a man that I hate right now."

You chortled and turned around to look at her home planet, which was getting even larger by the second. Your initial reluctance to go there was starting to go away.

Hell, it would definitely be a change of pace for the both of you.

"What, are you implying that the Illusive Man's poses weren't flattering when he sat in that commanding chair of his? I think it makes my legs look pretty damn good."

She laughed at you and then did something that the two of you had never done in front of another person.

Granted, EDI wasn't exactly a person, but she was a conscious being. She could see what was going on, and you didn't know if she would comment on Shepard's sudden romantic advancements.

The woman that you called your girlfriend plopped down in your life and gave you a deep yet brief kiss. Her arms wrapped around your metallic carapace and you could have sworn that you heard EDI grunt across the Normandy's comm system.

"I've requested docking permission." EDI alerted. "It may be about ten minutes until I receive a response. Would you like me to leave you two alone?"

You felt Liz laugh, and you tentatively pulled your arm around her waist. She hadn't been thrilled about being in a public relationship, but you were now going to assume that she had gone back on her position.

Her actions in public and in private varied greatly. Although you two were still in private, she hadn't been very open about her romantic status to many members of the crew.

You reckoned that she had mentioned it to Thane. The Doctor obviously knew, as did Joker.

EDI could now be added to the list, but you were still questioning if she still counted as a person.

"Nah, EDI." Shepard said. "You're good."

"Would you like me to locate prime lodging accommodations or would you prefer to stay on the Normandy?"

You looked down at Shepard, who was looking at you with a questionable expression.

"I didn't realize the Normandy was an, uh, option." she continued. Her eyes were locking with yours, and you could tell that she wanted to stay.

"I have things to take care of, anyway. On the Normandy, that is. I'm sure Garrus won't mind doing a few extra useless calibrations."

You punched her shoulder playfully with your free hand, and she responded by planting a kiss on your scars.

As wonderful as your life seemed right now, you couldn't help but wonder if it would stay this way.

It felt too perfect.

Not much had ever gone right for you.

You didn't want to feel paranoid, but it was instinctual.

Your name was Garrus Vakarian, and as you held your partner in your arms, you realized that you never wanted to let go.