sorry for the long wait folks work sort of moved to central stage.

I will try to up date more often but I can't promise anything.

thank you all for reading this.

Sincerely Gods-own.

Chapter 20: The long goodbye.

The darkness was quiet and constant; a numbing color that hung over the surrounding scenery, it would be rather pleasant if it didn't contain a hundred and one different ways to die screaming (I had to hate my subconscious right about now for reminding me of that).

"I've got movement across the board." muttered Alenko as we inched our way down a narrow corridor. "Two hundred meters and closing."

"Bugs?" enquired Vakarian as he brought his weapon up to bear.

"Not unless they started wearing combat boots." I snarled as the unmistakable sound of stampeding feet calmly indicated, unfortunately they didn't just stay echo's for long as slender outlines came into view.

"Commandos!" roared the turian as he throw himself behind cover and not a moment too soon as the surrounding air seemed to ignite all around use as I felt a telltale thud of a large caliber round slamming into me, my shields flaring as it stopped the round.

"Shepard!" screamed Tali as she caught site of me being sent tumbling backwards under the force of the impact.

"I'm fine" I hastily barked as I rolled franticly behind a nearby cooling duct. "Worry about yourselves!" it was good advice as a ball of blinding biotic energy slammed into the back of the teenager's shrouded head sending the unfortunate girl slamming into the waiting floor.

"Tali!" at the back of my mind I felt the all a tingle of fear as the lifeless form was unceremoniously dragged to safety by her concerned crewmates. "Is she still alive?" I asked between the cracks of gunfire.

"I think so." replied Liara hesitantly as she ran her omni-tool over the prone figure. "She's out cold at the moment but her vital signs look stable." It was good enough for me as I turned my attention back towards the waiting opponents huddling at one end of the passageway; it didn't bode well for them as I felt the anger welling up from somewhere deep inside as if egged on by the combat stimulants; it took everyone else by surprise I'll tell you that much as one moment I was blaring away with my hand cannon at the entrenched assailants, the next I was flinging myself out from cover and rushing head long towards the enemy position.

"This ends now!" I snarled loudly as the first few asari rose to meet me, they really shouldn't have bothered as the nearest attacker painfully realised as I brought a blade around in a vicious downward slice that cut cleanly through helmet brain and bone with sickening results, it didn't seem to have much of an impact on the twitching corpse's comrades however as one of them attempted to smash me in the face with the butt of her rifle, it didn't go the way the commando had intended as I countered the blow before planting my right arm blade up to the hilt in her abdominal cavity. "God you stink." I spat as moments later someone planted a brutal kick to the side of my head, which rather understandably broke my train of thought as well as giving me a rather withering headache. "Just die already!" but the fiery woman seemed to have other ideas as she followed up her beat down with a well-placed biotic hook that nipped in under my guard and re-broke a few of my ribs for me.

"You first." hissed the asari as she pulled a nasty looking combat knife from an armpit sheath. "I'm going to gut you like a dying varren." the commando grinned "Any last words?"

"Yeah, you talk too much" but the comment was lost on her as Garrus's round hit home, sending bloody bits splattering all over the surrounding landscape.

"Not bad if I do say so myself." crowed the C-sec officer from behind his hidey-hole.

"Not the time Vakarian." I tersely replied as I decapitated a would-be attacker who had rushed me from behind. "I'm a bit busy." but no one seemed to mind as one of the attackers desperately throw a biotic punch at my throat, which only resulted in me stabbing her in the face for her trouble, it wasn't a pleasant death, they never were but this one was particularly unpleasant as the poor soul's body thrashed around uncontrollably until I did the decent thing and pulled the gore slick blade from the dead woman's ruined features.

"That's rather disturbing Commander." whispered Doctor T'soni as she court site of my arms, painted purple up to the elbow.

"Murder isn't supposed to be pleasant Doctor." I indicated the floored alien. "How is she?" the doctor let out a small grin as an all too familiar voice echoed up from the floor below.

"Like I've been sat on by an overweight krogan you bosh'tet" muttered the teenager as I helped her to her feet. "But thanks for asking." it was at that point however that the friendly banter end sharply as I court the girl's sharp intake of breath as I turned to walk away.

"Keelah Shepard your head!" I gave her a questioning look.

"What is it?" but the question went unanswered as the young quarian hurriedly pushed something that looked like cotton wool to the side of my head.

"I need medi-gel, I need right now!"

"I'm fine, what are you going on about?" I muttered as I went to bat her hand away, a move that was stubbornly resisted by the unhappy figure in front of me.

"You're not fine!" snapped the woman as she hurriedly showed me the improvised bandage, now soaked a wet crimson. "Would you call this fine?"

"I've had worse." not the smartest comment I'd ever made and one I was rapidly regretting judging by the blazing scowl that was emanating out from behind the tinted mask.

"Shut up and sit down." ordered Tali as she jabbed a finger at a nearby crate. "Right now!" I didn't dare disobey. "Liara can you hold on to this while I take a look?" the instruction was unquestioningly carried out and with within a short amount of time I quickly found myself being unceremoniously examined by the young engineer.

"I keep telling you I'm fi- ow son of a bitch." but the sentence went unfinished as a stabbing pain throbbed throughout my skull.

"Keep still, you'll only make it worse." demanded the teenager as she hastily wiped her hands clean. "It's a real mess so I'm going to have to suture it if we want to stop the bleeding any time soon"

"Then get to it." I grumbled as I glanced over towards the rest of my team. "Alenko you have medic training right?"

"Only what they taught us back at the academy sir, I haven't used it in quite some time" I jabbed a thumb at my weeping wound as I counter the comment.

"Just get to it already, we don't have all day." the man wasn't kidding about his lack of practice as more than once I found myself cursing out loud at the rough treatment dealt out to me.

"Oh stop being such a big baby" stated Tali as she finished up on what I'd hoped were the last few stitches. "I've seen you get stabbed and not make so much as a squeak; don't tell me you're going soft Commander?"

"Watch your tone Miss Zorah." I coldly snarled as my pride made a renewed reappearance. "If it were anyone else I'd have snapped their neck by now" the girl just let out a snorting laugh as I surged back to my feet.

"Good thing I'm me then." came the sarcastic reply as the young woman stepped to one side to let me pass. "It would be boring around here if I weren't."

"I'll second that." chuckled Garrus as one by one the rest of the ground team fell in behind me as we made our way past the dripping carnage and deeper into the frozen facility.

"You do not know the privilege of being a mother Commander, there is power in creation, to shape a life, to turn it towards happiness or despair." the matriarch's voice coldly stated over the cavernous space as we hurriedly darted into position. "Her children where to be ours, raised to hunt and slay Saren's enemies." the "Her" in the statement wasn't hard to spot as the lumbering form that dominated the room clearly pointed out.

"I take that's the thing pumping out all the bugs?" Muttered Vakarian as he moved his attention from the matriarch to the rachni sitting in the glass containment cage.

"Probably" my eyes stayed fixed on the lone figure in front of me as I continued talking. "Think you can get a shot at it from here?" the turian shook his head in response.

"Not from this angle. Besides that glass is rated to withstand anything but an orbital strike from a cruiser." but our conversation was cut short as the elder asari spoke once more.

"I won't be moved by sympathy, no matter who you bring into this confrontation Shepard." I felt something die inside as she said my name and for the first time in a long time I lost control.

"Are you even listening to what your say anymore Bez?" I roared as I came storming out of cover. "No one wants be here, not your daughter and especially not me!" the woman raised an eyebrow in that oh so elegant way of hers before turning her attention towards the good doctor who was now standing, trembling ever so slightly, beside me.

"Indeed?" mused the woman as she fixed her kin with a scornful steer. "What have you told him about me Liara?"

"What could I say mother?" demanded the distraught daughter as she casted a hand around the empty space, tears, hot and heavy pouring down her face. "That you're insane, evil, should I have explain how to kill you; what could I say?" but the pleading question went unanswered as the matriarch turned her attention towards me.

"Have you ever faced an asari commando unit before?" she allowed a small smirk to spread across her features. "Few humans have." my temper flared at her tone.

"You know full well that I have!" I snapped as I took a step towards the looming figure in front of me. "We fought them together on Thessia Bez, for gods sake can't you remember even that?" the words hit home, I could see something, something fighting behind those beautiful steel blue eyes of hers, but almost as soon as it had appeared it was gone once more.

"Your insolence is a poor mask for your fear Commander." snarled the asari as I felt the unmistakable aura of biotic energy building all around us.

"Please don't make me do this." I quietly pleaded, but the request fell on deaf ears as the uncaring soul in front of me let out a disgusted snort in response.

"Whatever feelings I once had for you died for the sake of Saren's cause" Her biotics flared a bright blue as she said this. "As will you!"

"Commander!" Alenko's frantic cry dragged me forcefully out of my recollection as he came crashing down beside me into cover. "Sir!"

"What?" I angrily snapped as a second detonation rocked our little bolt hole.

"I've be shouting at you for the last half a minute, what's wrong?"

"Nothing's wrong, I was just trying to think." I muttered as I mentally cursed myself for my own weakness, it wasn't the time nor the place to get lost in memories of the past.

"A little less thinking and a bit more doing would be really nice right about now." shouted Garrus as he fired his assault rifle.

"Do I look like I'm in the mood for your wise cracks Vakarian?" I coldly snapped as my attention quickly drawn towards second group of assailants who were already sprinting into the narrow network of catwalks and storage platforms.

"You're never in the mood for his humor as far as I can tell." stated Tali as she butted in on the conversation.

"Not the time Tali." I remember Alenko muttering on the edge of my hearing as I plastered the brains of one unfortunate commando all over the face of another.

"I would have to agree." commented Liara in a critical tone. "I don't think it's really the time for jokes." everyone fell silent after that with only the roar of our weapons and the cries of the dying to fill the air; but this couldn't last as with every passing moment I could tell the doctor T'soni was becoming more and more concerned with the unfolding situation in front of us and to tell you the truth so was I.

"Damn it, this is taking too long" I glanced over towards Benezia just in time to see her hurl yet another glowing projectile our way. "Incoming!" the warning came not a moment too soon as the blue ball tore through the heavy duty crates as if they were made of tissue paper.

"Spirits that was to close." growled the turian as he blew apart a geth darting in-between fire points. "We've got to do something about this bitch before she turns us all into bloody puddles on the floor."

"That's my mother you're talking about!" snarled Liara venomously as she rounded on her teammate.

"Well excuse me for feeling just a bit hostile at the asari whose sending waves of commandos and geth at us." retorted the C-sec officer coldly as he lent away from incoming fire.

"I'll remind you of that when it's your mother on the other end of the gun Vakarian." I countered evenly, understandably the remark didn't go down to well with the turian member of my crew considering he fired a shot at me that grazed my ear, but I continued on none the less with the flow of the conversation. "But at the same time doctor, Garrus has a point; we'll have to deal with Benezia soon." I fixed the young woman with as hard an expression as I could manage under the given circumstance. "The mission comes first."

"I know that Commander, it's just..."

"That she's your mother" I added evenly "She's my friend to you know, don't you think I wanted this to work out differently?" something was brewing inside me as I continued the conversion, towards a dark and depressing conclusion. "But sometimes doing what is necessary for the sake of the mission means sacrificing things we care about for the common good." the words hung there like lead in my mouth, a numbing weight that I was unable to move. "And that's a decision that I'll have to live with til I go to my grave." I quietly turned to look up at the distant figure enveloped in a blue haze. "But I'll make that decision none the less, when the time comes"

"I understand Shepard" softly replied Liara. "It's something that I'll have to live with as well" the depressing atmosphere was cautiously cut through by the polite little cough that echoed out from over my right shoulder.

"What is it Lieutenant?" The man behind me shifted uneasily on his feet as I brought my full attention to bear upon him. "What do you want?"

"I believe I've spotted a weakness in the matriarch defenses." stuttered the man as he felt my gaze drilling holes in through to the back of his head.

"You have ten seconds." I barked as I caught sight of fresh reinforcements funneling into the room. "It better be good" the alliance officer was sweating buckets by now as he kept turning to look up at the target above them.

"The matriarch is throwing out biotic attacks left and right. I know she's a matriarch but even an asari has to get worn out sometime. I think if we wait her out until she's exhausted we could rush her and end this." I raised an eyebrow in questioning response.

"It's a hell of a risk Lieutenant, are you sure that she'll go down?" Kaidan nodded fervently as he continued his explanation.

"I'm certain that if you can get in close, you'll be able to take her out." we all ducked as a barrage of gunfire came hurtling downrange into our opposition. "You just have to look at the matriarch to tell that she's struggling." I would never admit it but the lieutenant was right, with every passing attack Benezia's normally controlled features were becoming more and more strained.

"It's worth a shot" I muttered, glancing towards the rest of my ground team, who were already waiting for instructions. "Garrus, Tali keep the reinforcements pinned for as long as you can" I turned to look at the other members of my squad. "Liara, Alenko, I'm going to need biotic support straight off the bat otherwise I'm going to end up dead, so don't mess up!" the last few words were delivered with such force that I could hear the pair's spines stand straighter if that was at all possible. "Do you understand me?" it wasn't a question.

"We understand sir!" barked the assembled subordinates as they fell into their allotted roles.

"Ready whenever you are Commander." stated Kaidan as he let an impressive amount of biotic energy built up around him.

"As am I" added Liara, a note of determination clearly visible behind her emotional tone.

"On my mark" I calmly instructed as the tech experts in my team began laying down a withering suppression on the encroaching enemy. "Mark!" the air around me ignited into a blinding blue haze as the specialists' brought up their biotic shields at the same time, I was going to need it as the distant figure turned glare at me from across the cavernous space.

"You will die here Shepard, I swear it in Saren's name!" snarled Benezia as she caught sight of me barreling towards her.

"Then give it your best shot T'soni!" I countered as I watch my shields being ripped away with every meter of ground I gained. "Because you won't get a second chance" it probably wasn't the smartest decision to taunt the enraged biotic and it was quickly proved to be correct as a massive pulse came smashing towards me, the force of the impact almost ripped me from my feet and it took all my enhanced strength just to stay up right.

"Whatever you're going to do Commander, do it fast!" shouted Garrus's voice over the com link. "We can't hold forever."

"I know" I snapped forcefully as I stormed towards my intended target. But my admittedly badass assault was brought to a crashing halt as I threw myself bodily into hand-to-hand with the breathless matriarch; the world slurred as the potent combat cocktail worked its way into my system, it didn't help one bit unfortunately, as I took a withering blow to the side of my head that sent me reeling backwards, blood gushing in crimson streams from my head.

"What's wrong Shepard?" Sneered the elder asari as she threw a vicious biotic punch straight towards my unguarded face. "Is this all you have?" the strike was barely avoided as I lashed out with a weak counter that barely tagged the woman's right cheek, but it was enough to break her much-needed concentration, so that the only thing that hit home was a clenched fist, it hurt, a lot, but it hurt a lot less than having your head turned to pulp by biotic power.

"I don't remember your punches being this weak Bez." I said evenly as I ducked under a roundhouse kick. "What's wrong, getting sluggish in your old age?" I hated taunting her, it tore me up inside, but with every passing attack I was becoming more determined to end the fight a quickly as possible.

"I will never be beaten by the likes of you!" Growled Benezia heatedly as she darted in under my guard, before landing a punishing body blow into my mid-section that ripped the air from my lungs; fortunately for me at any rate the enraged the asari's assault was brought to a shuddering halt as a well-placed sniper round nipped in under the radar sending the matriarch stumbling backwards in shocked surprise, giving me time to catch my breath and regain my footing.

"You're not looking so good Bez do you want to take a break, maybe get a glass of water?" it wasn't even a taunt any more, I was becoming genuinely concerned about my old friend's condition as with every passing minute Benezia's normally beautiful curved features was becoming more and more strained, as fatigue set in.

"I'll will destroy you!" spat the woman as she let fly with yet another biotic punch, but this time I was expecting it and countered by stepping in to deliver a brutal attack into her unguarded side; I picked up the tell-tale sound of cracking ribs as my knee bite home and swiftly took advance of this as I planted a full on head butt into the asari's pain etched features which were quickly drenched lilac as the woman's nose gave way under the force of the blow, quickly soaking the lower half of the matriarchs face in blood.

"Please Bez" I quietly muttered as I rapped a metal hand around my friend's slender neck.

"Please just stop." it wasn't pleasant, it wasn't nice, it was slow and painful as I deliberately strangled the life out of the struggle figure, all the while withstanding the hail of blows being rained down upon me.

"You will not beat me Shepard!" weakly wheezed the voice as I squeezed what little breath remand out of her. "You won't!" but it was hopeless and like a mid-winters morning unconsciousness came rolling in deep, darkening waves until the only thing left was the solitary sound of the my heart breaking under the silent strain.

"Commander, Commander are you alright?" Alenko's voice came hammering down as I wearily dragged myself upright once more.

"Shepard?" the voice this time was different; a soft concerned tone that forced me from myself imposed purgatory.

"I'm fine Tali, just catching my breath." it was a lie, but no one dared question it as I glanced back down at the unfortunate individual beneath me.

"She's still alive Commander." stated Kaidan evenly as he ran his omni-tool over the unconscious asari.

"She better be" I responded as I wiped blood from my eyes. "I want to know what Saren is planning and more importantly what this "Conduit" is"

"I've been wondering that myself" muttered Garrus as he glanced over towards me. "Why is Saren going to all the trouble to find this thing, it might not even work, forty odd thousand years is a long time for something just to be left lying around in storage."

"Do we know if it's even a weapon?" Added Alenko. "We're just assuming that it is."

"We'll find out soon enough." replied Vakarian as I caught sight of Liara kneeling down next to her mother.

"She's fine Liara, we won't hurt her as long as she tells us what we need to know" the comment wasn't reassuring, never for her or me, but my silent contemplation was brought crashing down as the newly acquired prisoner let out a weak moan as she dragged herself back into the waking world.

"This is not over, Saren is unstoppable, and my mind is filled with his light; everything is clear."

"And she's still indoctrinated, that just great." muttered the C-sec officer sarcastically as we all carefully watched the matriarch stagger to her feet. "Now what do we do?"

"We could take her back to the Normandy, maybe Doctor Chakwas can help her."

"I think that would be for the best." hastily agreed T'soni as snap off worried looks at her much beloved parent.

"It's too much of a risk to bring her on board" Alenko countered. "We don't know how this indoctrination is transmitted and I for one could do without being murdered in my sleep by brain washed crewmates."

"For once Alenko, we agree." I muttered as I glanced towards Benezia. "But we might have to take that risk." our eyes meet and for the briefest of moments I could have sworn that I was steering at my old friend once more, but it was go replaced by that twisted pale scowl that seem to dominated the woman's face.

"I will not betray him, you will... you" but with every passing word waves of confused delirium seemed to wash over the elder asari as she toppled forwards towards me, it was only by the grace of god that I was able to catch her in time.

"I got you Bez, I got you." it took me half a second to notice just how scrawny my friend had become, she had always been slender but now I could definitely feel the lack of muscle around the bone.

"What took you so long?" whispered the faltering figure weakly.

"Heh, well I was never one for punctuality." came my sad reply as I cradled the woman in my arms, but the moment couldn't last as I sure the look of desperation dart across her features.

"You must listen" pleaded the matriarch as her daughter quickly made a bee line towards her. "Saren still whispers in my mind, I can fight his compulsions briefly, but the indoctrination is strong" I couldn't help but chuckle as I heard this.

"You were always a stubborn bitch Bez, nice to see that part of you hasn't changed" I was rewarded with a wry smile that spread across her face as she heard this.

"I thought you knew me better than that Todd." sarcastically commented the woman as for the briefest of seconds it was like stepping back in time to those hectic days we spent together on Thessia, but it couldn't last and we both knew it.

"What are you doing here on Noveria Benezia, it can't just be about the rachni, what's going on?" she looked at me sadly for a long moment as if severing then emotional contact as if it were going to be her last.

"Saren sent me here to find the location of the Mu Relay, the exact position was lost thousands of years ago."

"Do you have any knowledge about this Mu Relay Liara?" the doctor to her credit relied magnificently to the task at hand as she hastily jogged the vast depths of her memory.

"It was supposed to be lost at the end of the Krogan rebellion, I don't know what Saren could possibly want with it"

"I'll take a wild guess and say it'll lead us to the Conduit." stated Garrus irritably as he checked a wound from a round that had pierced a plate on his armor.

"That's what I was thinking" replied Liara as she turned back towards her mother. "But Knowing the relays coordinates is not enough, do you know where he planned to go from there mother?" Benezia shook her head in regret.

"Saren wouldn't tell me his destination, but you must find out quickly, I transmitted the coordinates to him before you arrived" she fixed me with a sad smile. "Sorry"

"It's alright Bez, there's nothing you need to be sorry about" the matriarch hastily pulled an OSD out from a hidden pocked with a shake hand as I was saying this.

"I transcribed the information onto this storage device, please take it" I accepted it with a knowing nodded.

"Thanks Bez, but I think the rest of the debriefing can wait until we get you back to the Normandy, I want..." but the last of the sentence was cut short as the look of unimaginable pain tore through the woman in front of me, forcing her to grasp desperately to my shoulder for strength.

"Mother what's wrong?" spluttered Liara nervously as she took a step towards the two of us.

"Stay exactly where you are Matriarch" I snapped as I caught site of the distant expression that was overcome my friends features. "Garrus keep her back." the turian obeyed instinctively as he placed himself in-between us and her.

"You have to stop...me" suddenly stammered the faltering asari as she clung desperately to me. "I can't... his teeth are at my ear, fingers on my spine." I could see the beads of sweat peeling of her face with the strain. "You should, you should" but another wave of pain washed over her and she grumbled into a whimpering heap in my arms.

"Mother please don't leave, fight him!" pleaded the young woman franticly as she watched the person she cared the most about in the hole of creation slip away one second at a time.

"You've always made me proud little wing." whispered Benezia as she smiled one last time at her daughter. "Never forget that" and all of a sudden it was just us, no lab, no noise, no wailing offspring, no uncertain subordinates, just the two of us as it was always meant to be. "Please don't let him get me Todd." I looked into those beautiful blue eyes that were now pleadingly with me to do the unthinkable.

"Please" I weakly whispered as she ran a hand reassuringly down one side of my face "Please don't." but this time I got the feeling that I wasn't going to be able to talk my way out of this as the woman grinned sadly at the prospect.

"Please Todd, please." it was hopeless and with a sinking certainly I gave into her soul shattering request.

"Okay." I weakly whispered as I carefully adjusted my hand hold around her waist. "Just give me a moment" she gave me a reassuring smile as I slowly let one of my arm blades slip out.

"It'll be alright Todd, it'll be alright." she whispered as she continued to gently stroke my pain wrecked face with a free hand.

"Close your eyes Bez, you won't feel a thing." but ever the stubborn soul the woman refused to brake eye contact with me.

"No matter what happens" stated Benezia firmly as I slowly planted a tender kiss on my lips. "I have and will always love you my watchful fox."

"You stole the words right out of my mouth." I weakly whispered as I looked into the face of the only woman that I would probably ever truly love. "Just like always." she didn't even feel the blade slipped in-between her third and fourth rib; I felt her go limp in my arms as the thrust bit home.

"No light, they always said there would be a..." but she never got to finish the sentence as time quickly drifted away until the only thing left to show of the woman that I'd loved was my blood soaked hands and the lifeless form held tightly in an final embrace; that's how it should have been, but causality was never that kind.

"Commander, Commander are you alright?"

"Shepard?" I turned around slowly to see Tali along with everyone else looking at me, masks of genuine concern plastered across their faces. "What..." but the question faded away as I gently lowered the gore soaked body down onto unfeeling ground.

"Were any of you hurt?" My enquiry was met with a hasty denial from the subordinates as I cast a calculating glance over them. "Tali, Liara you alright?"

"We're fine Shepard." enquired the female quarian as she slowly moved next to me. "What about you?"

"Ask me after I'm drunk, should have an answer by then." I muttered as I detected movement from somewhere behind me. "Right now I've got other things to think about" fortunately it seemed that the problem had already been taken care of as clearly indicated by the gushing hole in the commando's chest.

"I'm pretty sure I shot her just now." stated the turian uneasily as he aimed his weapon at the woman's unmoving face. "But I get the feeling that isn't really the issue here."

"You know something Garrus, for once I think you're right" Vakarian grinned.

"Can't be wrong every time Commander." but the humor quickly abated as some voice, old as stone and not entirely human voice came echoing out of the corpse's blood filled mouth.

"This one serves as our voice, we cannot sing; not in these low spaces, your music is colorless." I gave Liara a questioning look but she could only give me a bemused expression in response.

"Who am I speaking to exactly?" the thing in front of us staggered to one side just in time for me to see the looming form of what I assumed was the rachni queen turn to fixed the group with an uncomfortable stare.

"Ok, is it just me or is that just a little bit creepy." whispered Alenko as he took a step back away from the shambling cadaver.

"Tell me about it" retorted the C-sec office as he shifted unease from one booted foot to another.

"We are the mother; we sing for those left behind, children you thought silenced." I let out a tired sigh of frustrated.

"Make your point, I'm not in the mood to talk to bugs." the life form paused for have a second as if choosing its next few words carefully.

"The children we birthed were stolen from us, before they could learn to sing; they are lost to silence." the creature pulled itself up right. "End their suffering, they can't be saved; they will only cause harm as they are."

"Fine, that's all I ever seemed to do nowadays anyway, cleaning up other peoples shit." I ran a cold hand over my face in silent contemplation "Was there anything else?" it seemed like a long time before the queen spoke again

"Before you deal with the children, we stand before you; what will you sing, will you release us or are we to fade away once more?" I remembered hearing the question, feeling the weight of it pressing down, I can even remember the angry debate that it ignited amongst my subordinates; but the thing, the thing that stuck with me the most was a quiet voice, a voice from long ago that whispered in my ear as I glanced down at my bloodied hands.

"I'm not going to kill you." I whispered. "I've shed my quota of blood today." I turned to look down at the body of my dear friend. "I don't intend to add to it."

"I don't think the council is going to like that Commander." stammered Alenko as he nervously butted into the conversation.

"I don't give a damn what the council thinks lieutenant, I've just killed one of my closet friends all for the sake of the mission, I'm not going to insult her memory by committing genocide!" I glared burning hot coals at the man. "Do I make myself clear?"

"Crystal Sir!" barked the marine as he snapped to attention in front of me.

"Tali" my voice slipped back in to a silent tone. "I'm leaving you in charge of letting the queen out." I turned to the rest of the team. "The rest of you, I want this whole facility rigged to blow in five minutes." the order caused a ripple of uncertainty that was pretty hard to ignore"

"But Commander what about the civilians-" but I cut him off before he could complete the sentence.

"They made their beds Alenko, now let them burn with it, do you understand!"

"I understand Commander." Alenko said with a sigh.

"Good then get to work" I didn't bother wait for the reply, I had a something far more important to take care of; Liara was still there, still standing watch over her mother, it was a sight I knew that would haunt me for the rest of my days.

"What now Shepard?" whispered the young asari as she turn to steer at me with tear stained eyes.

"We take her home."

Thank you all for reading this work, please leave a comment or review.

Sincerely Gods-own.