"Hey, Shepard, you're back," Grunt greeted her on the CIC. The reaper was burning up in a star and she was typing up a flowery report to the Alliance, giving them a million and one of the vaguest reasons possible to explain why she'd went into a reaper and came back out for no apparent reason. As far as she was concerned, her superiors didn't need to know about her collector plans – hell, most of her crew still only thought this mission was about salvaging tech from the enemy. When the time came, she'd tell them, she'd give everyone a chance to stay behind. A suicide mission was still a suicide mission, advance knowledge be damned.

Shepard quirked an eyebrow at the krogan. "I am indeed."

In true Grunt fashion that she was so fond of, he needed no further prompting. "Did you know Mordin's doing genophage research?"

No. "Yes," she replied. "Did he need something from you?"

"Blood. Samples. I don't know. I couldn't follow what he was doing."

"He wants to help," she promised, leaning against a console. "It's alright."

"I know," Grunt agreed easily. "You trust him, so I trust him. And Wrex does too," he added as an afterthought. "He's sending stuff back to Okeer, on Tuchanka. Wrex let the guy back in, on probation, y'know."

"Huh," Shepard replied, surprised. "They collaborating?"

He shrugged. "Sorta. Don't think Mordin trusts him to handle live subjects. So he's using me. Okeer's probably happy he gets to monitor my vitals."

She considered him carefully. "I'll talk to him later. If you don't want to do it, you don't hav-"

"I do," he assured quickly. "I don't mind. As long as I'm around, I might as well."

Shepard clapped a hand on his arm. "Good man. Wrex will be proud of you. I'm proud of you. So, where's the rest of the insane posse?"

It hadn't taken long for Shepard to realize there was an emptier ambiance about her ship than usual, for some reason. Grunt latched onto her detective tracking efforts, mostly out of boredom, and she ended up at the new observation deck due to a well-informed instinct.

The door beeped open, and Shepard came across the strangest gathering she'd seen since she'd last taken a headcount of her crew.

"Shepa-a-ard," Tali greeted, voice dragging but not quite slurring in a familiar way. "Nice of you to join us."

"You know, I was a little busy launching a reaper into a star."

"You're just always busy doing something."

"She is drunk," Nihlus explained shortly. He was leaning against the bar with his arms crossed, eyeing the alcohol like he wanted to partake in the depravity. "And has been for a while now."

"Happens on occasion. You'll get used to it," Shepard said helpfully.

Grunt grunted cheerfully, sitting by the quarian's side. "And I'm joining her."

"Grunt, no," Shepard exclaimed hurriedly, taking the bottle from his hands. "That's turian brandy. It's dextro," she elaborated when he still looked a bit confused.

"Oh, right. Turians and quarians have that weird DNA," he remembered. "Glad I didn't drink any yet."

"You have weird DNA," Tali muttered. "Thank keelah mom was here." Shepard chose to ignore that.

Thane, who looked appropriately entertained by the proceedings, cleared his throat. "I believe Tali is distraught by something."

"Who, me? I'm peachy, I'm great, I- how would you say it, Shepard? You've mastered this lie," Tali commended. "I'm fi-i-i-i-ne."

Eye twitching, Shepard sat on Tali's other side, reaching for alcohol fit for humans. She poured herself a glass and then handed Grunt the bottle. "So, what's wrong, Tali'Zorah vas Normandy?"

Tali's head dropped to the table with a groan, her forehead making a satisfying and reverberating sound at the contact. "I've been contacted by the flotilla. More specifically, the admiralty board."

"Oh, boy," Shepard mumbled, gulping down her drink.

"I've been such an asset to the fleet, and I'm such an expert on the geth. Since my father was deposed due to my courageous and laudable initiative, they need a butt on that empty seat, and wouldn't I like to fill it?" Tali ranted, speech twice as long as it needed to be due to her drunken latency and her drunken hiccups.

"They're promoting you to admiral?" Nihlus asked, impressed. He eyed the quarian with some new-found respect. "That's-"

"Some real bullshit," was Tali's take. Shepard snorted.

"The appointment makes you unhappy?" Thane said, frowning. "Why?"

"Where's Garrus when you need him?" Grunt muttered, and Shepard privately agreed.

"I haven't told Garrus, because Garrus will force me to be sensible about this," Tali complained distastefully. "I want to bitch first."

"Your mouth gets dirtier the more alcohol you ingest," Shepard noted. Then she forced everyone back on track. "Did you accept the position?"

Tali sighed. "Not up to me yet. They vote and stuff. I was just – informed. Of being a candidate. Out of courtesy."

"And are there any other candidates?" Nihlus immediately said.

"No."

Shepard stole the bottle from Grunt to refill her glass, instantly feeling guilty when he protested pitifully. "I'm here to be supportive and let you bit- complain, Tali," she decided, returning the alcohol to the krogan, who was thankfully oblivious at her near slip. "For once, I'm gonna let someone else be helpful and pragmatic. By which I mean Vakarian."

Tali looked extremely grateful, clinking her glass against Shepard's. Unfortunately, no one else in the room seemed to be on board with this plan. They exchanged looks before opening their mouths.

"Doing things that leave you – ah – between a rock and a hard place, it's an important part of life," Thane advised.

Tali groaned. "Don't give me wisdom. And don't use human idioms. I'm drunk."

"What's that even supposed to mean?" Shepard wondered, but none of the aliens surrounding her seemed prone to answering.

"Being an admiral is a great honor," Nihlus opined. "It's also an impressive title and not much else, in some cases. Maybe it's a good thing, if you can get more out of it."

Grunt agreed. "Always better when the boss is good for a fight. Keeps you sharp, keeps your perspective sharp."

Tali glared at everyone. Shepard felt she should have been left out of the quarian's targeting, but what did she know? "What are all of you doing here, anyway?" she demanded.

"Nihlus and I were having a very nice, quiet conversation," Thane reported dutifully. Shepard wondered when the two of them had become friends. "Then, you stumbled in and began inhaling alcohol."

"I'm drinking," Grunt offered for his part.

"Where's everyone else?" was what Shepard wanted to know.

"Emasculating each other," Tali said succinctly, hiccupping. "For once, Vega was just cheering them on."

"Cheering who on?"

The quarian sighed, the alcohol clearly having a far stronger effect than Shepard should technically allow while they were on duty. "Garrus was saying something about Jack, and trading, and- and a master's degree? I don't know, he wasn't making any sense," Tali groaned.

"I believe he was attempting to get a rise out of Williams, but rather poorly," Thane elaborated. "Classifying his sniper proficiency as superior because he is solely devoted to it while she extensively trains will all weapon types. 'Jack of all trades, master of none'?"

"What is it with all of you and abusing human language?" Shepard complained, taking a large gulp. "And if anyone starts shooting guns inside the Normandy just to prove a point, I'm going to get mad."

"Maybe you should stay sober, then," Nihlus suggested, smirking.

"You don't think I can get mad while drunk?"

"I think you'd be far more destructive if you get mad while drunk," the turian corrected.

"Yeah, you might have a point," she acquiesced, and knocked back the rest of her drink, before refilling the glass.

"Cheers," Tali toasted enthusiastically.

Thane and Nihlus exchanged a look, and shook their heads in sync. "We'll be going somewhere quieter. You just keep celebrating Tali's upcoming promotion."

Tali genuinely hissed at his back as they walked out of the room, which only seemed to amuse Nihlus further. The quarian had once told Shepard not to heed the turian's provocations, but clearly that didn't apply to Tali herself. "I love all these assholes," Shepard declared as convincingly as she could, for her own benefit as well as Tali's.

Grunt snorted. "You're drunk." Tali was in vehement agreement.

"Oh, for sure."

Shepard paid for her actions the next day. As time went on, she was becoming more and more prone to reckless and untimely bouts of drinking during her off hours, and she wasn't sure if that was due to nihilism or justifiable trauma. Thankfully, coffee.

Liara found her in the familiar act of producing a full mug, yet another datapad in her hand and a busy frown on her face. "Shepard, I believe this is currently the best timing for us to head for Eden Prime. Miranda alerted me that the Alliance has conducted a successful excavation where Cerberus located the pod."

Shepard was suddenly very glad for the proximity of caffeine, holding up a finger in her friend's direction. "One minute, then. I'm going to need two extra cups for today."

She could have sworn Liara's sympathetic grin had begun life as a smirk. "I'll make sure Joker knows."

Ashley was disinclined to revisit the planet, though she made it clear she'd be awaiting their return eagerly in Nihlus' company, who was just as ready to leave, incidentally. Mordin, who Shepard had only briefed very concisely, was miraculously distracted from his genophage work by Tali commenting on who exactly they were bringing aboard. As far as Thane knew, Shepard was assisting the Alliance in a mission unrelated to the reapers, though the behavior of the rest of the squad seemed to give him pause.

Liara showed up at Shepard's side fully geared up without discussion, as soon as they were caught in Eden Prime's gravitational field. Garrus took one for the team and accompanied them, adjusting his sniper rifle while Joker brought them in gently. The dock was functional at this point, which was genuinely a first for Shepard.

The colony was struggling along just as she remembered it, the same beacon of hope for humanity that everyone always knew. Without the threat of the reapers and Cerberus, they even met optimistic colonists milling about, mingling with the relaxed Alliance forces posted on what was currently a peaceful planet.

"You know, something about this place is special," Liara murmured, as they approached the welcoming party awaiting them on the ground. "There is a remarkable resilience here, it's inspiring."

"It was supposed to be," Shepard told her.

"It is."

"You're- right. Hard to argue otherwise."

She fell silent when they came within earshot of the soldiers. "Ma'am," one of them saluted, gaze flickering over Liara and Garrus. "We're here to take you to the site, head of the project is there."

"The- device, the one the report said was unearthed, has it been breached?" Liara asked softly before Shepard could. The man started, but replied negatively after a moment.

"Near as I can tell, she's got it worked out in theory. But orders came down from way above my paygrade we were supposed to wait on you."

"We're being cautious, Chief," Shepard explained quickly. "I brought one of the foremost experts on prothean technology so we could make sure there won't be an issue."

He went red. "Course, Commander. I wasn't questioning – didn't mean to sound impertinent."

"You didn't, relax," she dismissed. "You've done a stellar job here."

"Ah – thank you. I think you should save that for the science team, though. Shall we?"

Liara pressed ahead when the marines set off, leading them through a familiar enough set-up, only this time, the logos stamped on all the tech wasn't Cerberus'. They earned themselves curious looks from a crowd of people near the dig site, who Shepard had a horrible suspicion she'd once met as corpses littering an abandoned battlefield.

The scientists had very different interests in mind, however. Not being dumb, something that should have been foreseen, they'd figured out they were dealing with far more than some random piece of prothean technological remains. The stasis pod was sitting in the place of honor, surrounded by consoles and sensors and feeds of things Shepard didn't think she needed to understand.

Lab coats were fluttering around, speaking to each other rapidly and paying very little attention to anything that wasn't directly linked to the pod. There was one human woman in particular who seemed to be the root of this network, answering three different people at once. She was typing away at a console right in front of the pod, a cup of coffee to her left. Shepard felt an immediate sense of kinship.

"Is all this scientific curiosity? I thought their job was done," Garrus muttered under his breath.

Liara eyed him judgmentally. "You know what they found. You're surprised?"

"So we won't be able to get them to budge?"

"You know, this is how conspiracy theories on shady government practices start," Shepard hissed at them both, gesturing ahead to the marines, who were glancing back uneasily. "Can you not make it seem we're some sort of omniscient underground agents? Shh."

They quieted, just in time for the woman nursing her coffee to notice their approach. "Commander Shepard!" Her voice was high-pitched, which could be excitement, coffee, or genetics. "You're here! Finally! I mean- I mean, I hope you had a good trip."

That's about when Shepard decided Liara was going to handle this entire thing. "Yeah, thanks. What should I call you, doc?"

The scientist cringed immediately. "Oh, sorry, I just – it's been a long, incredible day. I'm Dr. Gayle, it's an honor to meet you," she said politely, extending a hand that Shepard accepted easily. "I could- would you like me to bring you up to speed now?"

Shepard glanced at Liara's impatient expression before replying. "You might have better luck with Dr. T'Soni here."

Eyes widening instantly, Dr. Gayle tore her gaze toward the asari. "Dr. T'Soni, oh-my-god, of course, I didn't know- Please look over here, if you will," she said abruptly, clearly coming to the conclusion she should get to the point as quickly as possible. The terminal behind her was brought to life under her fingers. "After we got the intel from-" She stuttered into silence, so Shepard came to the rescue.

"A formerly terrorist organization sharing information as a gesture of goodwill," she provided.

"I knew it! It did come from Cerberus! Uh – were you supposed to tell me that?"

Shepard shrugged, entertained. "Probably not. So, you were saying?"

Gayle shook her head as though to clear it. "It took weeks to design an extraction mechanism. The protheans built their bunkers to last, and the architecture is-"

"They had different skeleton frame standards," Liara explained, glancing at Shepard. "They regularly used one in particular that can only be described as a star schema structure, it's really-"

Dr. Gayle was in perfect agreement. "Oh, that one is my favorite, the external support points are so elegant-"

"Yes! Looking at the full picture makes it almost arcane in nature-"

Shepard interrupted, putting a stop to it before they completely forgot about the actual prothean in stasis in favor of discussing his culture. "Really? Not now, Liara."

They shut up abruptly. "Of course, Commander, I apologize," Gayle said quickly. "Like I was saying, we were able to get it out, owing to the work of our engineers."

While she rattled off technological jargon to explain things Shepard and Liara were already well-read in, the asari leaned in behind her back.

"I've heard of Dr. Gayle," she revealed in a whisper. "It's been a long time since I've written a proper article on the protheans- well, it's been a long time since I've published one," she corrected. "But Dr. Gayle began getting recognition for hers some time after you rescued me, back on Therum. I've read them all. Her work is impressive. She- perhaps it is that she isn't asari, and so was free to look at it without asari eyes. But where I so foolishly saw benevolent scholars, she was the first one to cast doubt on that idea, to see aggressive undertones in their leftover footprints, and the cold, calculating analysis of their- lesser races." She said it distastefully, wrinkled nose and all. "I dismissed it at first, there are always those who come up with fringe theories. It keeps everyone honest. And then, we met Javik." There was nothing to add to that.

Shepard mulled it over. "She's clearly inspired by you."

"Hmm," the asari replied noncommittally. "I may have studied the prothean civilization extensively, but she drew the correct conclusions."

"I'm willing to bet she used a lot of your work."

Liara didn't say anything to that, which Shepard took as confirmation.

"So, because the EM readings are so consistent, I'm confident in my findings. This can't just be another piece of prothean tech," Gayle was concluding. There was a dramatic pause while she took a deep breath. "I think there's a prothean inside."

The silence stretched over an appropriate amount of time as Shepard glanced around at all the eager faces. "Well," she reasoned slowly, "there's one way to find out. How do we crack it open?"

Dr. Gayle gasped loudly. "Now? Just – we can just do it?"

Shepard shrugged, hiding her amusement. "Why not? If you know how. Do you?"

Predictably, Gayle instantly scrambled to bring up the relevant data on a nearby datapad. "Well, I've done some digging, and- I've been toying with some ideas, on my spare time, I mean. I figure we can open it safely. There are security measures in place, rather severe, and of course, it needs to be physically opened without damage. I believe the system requires some kind of signal to safely switch modes, a root command of some sort," she posited, throwing Liara a nervous glance. "It's- it's only my opinion, from previous experience with similar technology. But I'm convinced that's how we terminate the stasis."

"It seems likely," Liara agreed, smiling reassuringly. "And I believe I have just the thing. Did you hear of the Mars excavation?"

Gayle's eyes widened. "Yes. You found records of the command signal there?"

"I think so. As well as relevant design data, on these pods. We can open it."

"I-! That's-! What a coincidence! How fortunate," she exclaimed, and Shepard could tell she was quickly becoming overwhelmed.

Liara cleared her throat. "Commander Shepard, could you-?"

"Right. Can you all give me some breathing room? I don't know how- we don't know what we'll be dealing with."

Instantly, murmurs erupted across the entire group of Alliance scientists, but they complied without hesitation. Liara and Garrus exchanged a look before he gave the two women a wide berth too, holding position between the pod and the science team. Gayle watched attentively from the sidelines as the asari input a signal Shepard had stealthily passed her, just for show, and then stepped back to wait for the system to process it.

Her back turned to the scientists, Shepard pretended her focus was solely on the tech in front of her, awaiting her turn to pull the metal plating apart. She wasn't sure how she was going to hide Javik's more distinct traits from her audience, or how to keep him from saying something they shouldn't hear. As though to prove her point, they began voicing suspicions.

"I don't get it, why is some military hot-shot in charge of this? Are we really supposed to believe she has any idea what she's doing?" she overheard one of them grumbling.

"That's Commander Shepard!" Gayle hissed back.

"So? She's still a marine, what background does she have for this?"

"I heard she's an engineer."

"Even if that's true, which I doubt, since you always seem to be living in another galaxy, how does that give her insight on anything prothean?"

"Dr. T'Soni is with her. Are you doubting her credentials as well?"

There was some petulant sputtering. "An archeologist. An asari archeologist. Where's the biology background? And that's an incredibly complex stasis pod, tech that is delicate by nature."

"Look. The engineer and the archeologist just managed to switch the stasis mode off."

Hiding a grin, Shepard ran a hand over the metal, searching for a protuberance for her fingers to catch on. A screen popped up before her, and she fiddled with the controls until the pod came apart.

"There he is," Garrus said, and several gasps came from the huddled mass of people behind him. The prothean was lying just as they'd found him the first time around, still and all eyes firmly shut. The sight of him drew immediate and predictable attention, and there was some jostling as the team attempted to get closer.

"Please, Dr. Gayle, keep your people back," Liara requested gently. "Remember we have no idea how he'll react to-"

Javik's eyes flew open. Liara and Garrus managed to keep the civilians behind them when the familiar biotic glow lit him up. Shepard tensed, almost prepared to feel the hit, but then she met his gaze. It took him a second to power down and get to his feet unsteadily. She held out a hand to keep him upright, feeling the familiar connective shock that came with physically touching a prothean.

He stared at her for several seconds. "There is an unfortunate sense of déjà vu to my current situation."

"I- We can understand him?!" was Gayle's first high-pitched remark, at the same time as someone else beside her made an indistinct squeaking noise. "How can we understand him?!"

Javik then turned his stare to them instead. "I believe he is in shock," Liara stated forcefully before he could say anything else, stepping directly into her line of sight. "It would be best to bring him to an isolated environment. I'll be sure too keep you in the loop."

The good doctor clearly didn't believe her asari friend. Before a confrontation arose, Shepard intervened. "Tell you what, the Normandy's gonna be grounded for at least five hours. Meet us there in a few, after the on-board physician does her thing," she said, gesturing vaguely toward Javik. He scowled at her, probably out of habit. "You can ask him all the questions you want."

"Am I a test specimen, Commander?" Javik questioned snidely.

"Play along for a bit, would you?" she replied under her breath.

Liara pressed a heavy hand to her forehead, already looking exhausted. "So, is that acceptable, Dr. Gayle?"

The woman nodded mutely, wide-eyed, and ushered the entire science team away before any of them could utter a peep in protest. Javik turned to the asari then, somehow impressively expressive in the brutal silence.

"What is going on." It wasn't even a question. Somehow, it sounded like a threat. Liara matched it with a warning glare.

"So, here's the plan: I'm going to take charge of this situation before it escalates," Garrus intervened pointedly. "Everyone play nice or I'll be forced to take away your pistols."

"Have you turned peacemaker while I wasn't looking?" Javik wondered.

"Who said anything about peace?"

"How about we speak on the Normandy?" Shepard suggested before the prothean could answer that.

Javik proverbially dug his heels in. "No. I am not going anywhere until you explain to me what this is. The last thing I remember is landing on Earth to join the clearing efforts."

Shepard blinked. "I thought the Normandy was stranded?"

Garrus glanced over at her with a funny look on his face. "It was. It was days before whatever happened to you- it took a while before the rest of us ended up back here, is what I mean."

"Days?"

"Kaidan didn't tell yo-? Oh. Never mind."

"What?"

"Hey!" Javik snapped. "Only one of us gets to be confused at once, and I am first."

Shepard stared between all of them and decided to concede. Liara was avoiding her eyes. "It's – we're no longer in 2186," she said quietly. "A bit earlier."

Javik took a deep breath and nodded jerkily. "Of course. Of course we are. Why would we not be? Let us head for the Normandy, shall we?"

"Really? That's it?"

He wasted no time in getting a move on. Their little group set off in a brisk pace back toward the docks, the same small Alliance squad following hesitatingly at a distance. The marines recurrently stole awed glances at the prothean, but they said nothing and Javik ignored them.

"What else would you like me to say?"

Shepard didn't really have an answer to that. They left the shelter of the colony's buildings and lab setup, and Eden Prime's beautiful hills and waterbeds were revealed. Javik came to an abrupt stop then, glancing back at the settlement with renewed attention. The colonists were piling over each other, in order to properly engage in his staring contest.

"Correct me if I'm wrong," Javik said, multiple keen eyes running over the landscape, "but I remember a much more decrepit place, the last time I was here."

"The last time you were here, the invasion was in full swing."

"And now it is not, I take it. This planet is important to your species, is it not?"

"Symbolic."

"I see. A fair and fitting analogy can be made to your efforts, all things considered. It stands, despite everything."

"And everything is a surprising amount, in this case. Hell, I hear they just dug up an intact prothean stasis pod."

"And, no less impressive, there was a living prothean inside," Garrus added condescendingly, and Shepard wondered why exactly he wanted to get a rise out of the man.

Javik was unimpressed and chose to ignore him. "These civilians, the ones that made it through it all. In my cycle, we would have recruited them for our front lines. They are clearly far more capable than most of the men you have presented me with."

A couple of marines that were obtrusively overhearing things they shouldn't, and had been cluelessly staring the whole time, scowled deeply at that. Even if they didn't understand anything else, that was plenty clear. Javik was already making his signature impression without even trying.

"Our soldiers are phenomenal," Shepard replied thinly, deciding for the diplomatic route. "And these people are exceptional at defending their home. It's commendable, but we're not throwing civilians at the reapers."

"Yet," Javik noted pointedly. Shepard groaned and pulled him away from normal people.

It took Javik less than one second after the airlock hatch locked behind them to turn to Shepard overbearingly.

"So."

Garrus and Liara took turns concisely explaining their situation in her stead, which Shepard genuinely appreciated. The prothean needed even further context, because he hadn't been awake to experience most of the events pre-invasion, the first time around. He was really displeased at just how early in the war it was, and directed that displeasure toward Shepard.

"What you are saying, then, is that you've woken me to a galaxy in somehow greater disarray than before, since your pre-invasion work is incomplete."

"I'm handling it. Your beacons went much further than before."

"So I see. You've awoken me to assist you with even more diplomatic efforts?"

Well, when he put it that way, it was hard to argue. "Would you prefer to go back to the pod instead?"

Something she couldn't quite call an eyebrow twitched on Javik's forehead. "Let me get clarification. You have left me in stasis far longer than you needed to after being dumped in the past, but not long enough to have dealt with the collectors or long enough that the reapers have invaded."

"I-"

"The collectors, that pale, gutting shadow born of the reapers' infuriating final insult to my species."

Now she actually felt a little contrite. "I'm sor-"

"The reapers, fighting whom was my sole reason for being. An enemy that is now reborn, like we never defeated it in the first place."

"Hey," Shepard protested, now frowning. "I thought we'd worked through that already. There's more to your life than that. You were gonna help Liara with her book."

Liara made a noise of surprise. "You were?"

Javik spared her what Shepard knew better than to call an embarrassed glance. "Someone would have had to keep your dismal assessment of my species in check. I had nothing better to do."

"You didn't say."

"There were other things going on," he pointed out, tone dry at the understatement.

Liara's self-satisfied grin told Shepard she was really happy she'd finally one-upped the prothean on something, which wasn't going to improve his mood any.

He chose to change the subject. "I still do not understand why you took so long."

"Well, I couldn't very well just excavate the entire planet. How was I supposed to know where your pod was? Our best bet was waiting for Cerberus to come across that information like they had last time."

"I see. And they would simply just give it to you, then."

"Nope. I took it. Employed violence. You hear that? I took down Cerberus for you."

"You took down Cerberus to avoid them hindering your war efforts," he corrected drily. "A tactic that will not work, I should note. Others will rise to the challenge."

"Maybe I won't give them the chance," Shepard muttered in response.

"Suffice it to say I am less than pleased. We will discuss it later." She grimaced, not doubting that for a second.

"You mean you've ever been pleased?" Garrus gawked. "With anything?!"

Liara glanced around while Javik glowered some more. "Are we just going to keep standing on the bridge?"

That had been Shepard's plan, mostly because of the welcoming party she knew they would find in the CIC. Damage control for that one meant trying to improve the prothean's mood as much as she could, a goal she had certainly failed.

Javik himself led the way and forged ahead, and the only thing to give him pause was coming face to face with Kaidan, Ashley and Nihlus, the latter two of whom jumped to their feet on sight. The look on their faces was as apprehensive as it could be while they were also gapping in amazement.

No one found anything to say, so Kaidan took the initiative. "Javik," he greeted warily, already awaiting a comment.

Javik tore his eyes away from the two new faces to reply. "Kaidan Alenko. Your guilt over being alive due to someone else's death is even more pointless now that she clearly didn't even die in the first place."

"Remind me, why did we go get him again?" Kaidan asked casually, glaring at the prothean's self-satisfied expression.

"Interesting," Nihlus commented, grinning a little. He was unfortunately recovering nicely from the shock and awe. "It seems everyone will find a reason to poke at you, Lieutenant."

"No, it's usually just bitter, irritating alien super-soldiers," Kaidan retorted. Javik stared at Nihlus approvingly at this description.

"Well, I can already tell this guy's gonna be interesting," Ash muttered.

"I am a living prothean. It took you this long to reach this conclusion?"

Her eyes narrowed, rose-colored expectations visibly shattered. "It'll take me half as long as that to physically shove your head up your butt."

Javik laughed. "In my cycle, you human primitives did not yet consider that a threat, but a greeting." Kaidan exhaled loudly and pinched the bridge of his nose.

"Oh, Skipper, tell me you gave Liara a hug when you unearthed this one," Ashley groaned, backing down. Liara looked gratified at the thought.

"I would have, but she was too busy trying to fight him. And I was too busy trying to stop her."

"To this day, I'm not quite sure why," Liara commented. "Why you stopped me, I mean." Javik didn't seem bothered by this.

Ashley sighed. "That- actually makes me feel better, somehow."

"I'm just warning you, Javik," Garrus began kindly. "You don't want those two banding together against you. I don't think it'll work out in your favor."

Javik didn't heed him. "So that is the deceased female human." He said it rather callously. "I do not recognize the turian. He was never aboard the Normandy, I can tell that much."

"The SR-2," Shepard clarified, for the benefit of the aforementioned people. "Neither of you ever met her."

"Why does that matter?"

"Prothean physiology has some interesting caveats," Liara explained. "He learns a lot from touch."

Ashley took a half-step back at that, looking uneasy. Javik seemed to consider that an achievement. "How come he knew me on sight, then?"

"Liara T'Soni, the turian, and the quarian. Some of the rest of the less relevant crew as well. Not to mention the Commander and the human soldier. They all knew you. To varying degrees. It was not hard to extrapolate, in particular from the latter two's obsessive guilt." Shepard and Kaidan looked away from everyone at that, and Ash glowered at the prothean.

Nihlus was unfazed, clearly adapted to the new reality already. "Does he always refer to us by race?"

"Sometimes he uses 'primitive' too," Garrus offered generously.

Ashley side-eyed him. "You said that."

"You primitives have a tendency to repeat yourselves. I always assumed it was due to short attention spans."

"I repeated it because I really meant it," Garrus told Ashley pleasantly.

"Do you have to be an asshole?" she pragmatically demanded of the prothean, in her usual direct manner.

"Do you?"

"No. Comes easy, though. Which is why I make an effort."

The retort gave Javik genuine pause. "Obscenely candid. How refreshing."

Kaidan nudged Ash's side before she could open her mouth and reply. "C'mon, let's leave Shepard to do her thing. I can't really tell, but he seems a little angrier than usual."

With a wary yet amused look at the woman in question, Ashley accepted that. Garrus, Nihlus and Liara followed without a second thought, and Shepard turned to Javik in trepidation. He was crossing his arms at her, most of his eyes squinting tersely. There was a screen behind him, glowing faintly green and somehow making the alienness of his features more pronounced than ever. There was nothing friendly about his expression.

"Synthesis."

"Yes."

"You must have expected I would have questions."

She expected a lot more than that. "Yeah, sure. Well, that, and opinions. Mostly opinions."

"An accurate assessment," he assented mildly, but then his face hardened. "Give me one good reason why destroying the reapers was the lesser alternative."

"What makes you think it was an alternative at all?"

"The turian said so."

She nodded. "I know. I meant, what makes you think I'd pick it?"

He glowered. "Do not employ your diversionary tactics. I tire of your smoke and mirrors."

Warily, she gave in. "Fine. I wasn't going to wipe the geth out of the galaxy. And I wasn't going to put killing the reapers over EDI."

"That's it? Misguided affection for machines?"

"Are you really that surprised? Don't you know me well enough at this point?"

He groaned, and turned his back to her, leaning over some terminal. "If- If," he began, and his voice sounded strained, "you think you did what was best… Then I have nothing more to say."

She gaped at him. "That's it?"

"You are my commander," he said stiffly. "I do not question you."

"That's not what I want from you, Javik," she replied immediately, surprised that she felt a little hurt. "Following orders is one thing. Doing it for a reason is another entirely."

His fingers tightened on the edge of a console. "I do not have to agree with you on everything, Commander. In fact, I remember I very rarely did."

"That was different. You were looking at the bigger picture then. There's no ultimate goal here. It's just- one last choice, with some mixed results. The war ends either way."

Javik sighed tiredly and turned to her, crossing his arms. "Then listen to this, and listen closely, as I will only say it once: I am aboard this ship, Normandy, serving under you,by willing choice. That should be proof enough I believe in your methods, if not in your- reasoning."

She accepted that, relaxing against a nearby wall. "About that. Everyone else tells me firing the Crucible messed with their heads. Your opinions, though, they haven't budged."

He turned his back on her again. "Maybe they have, maybe they haven't. There is an argument to be made that you were doing the reapers' bidding by brainwashing every organic in the galaxy." She couldn't really argue the objective truth in that, so she let him keep going. "But it is important to look at the outcome. We saw peace, however short the time it lasted was. In my cycle, we wouldn't have thought twice at such mild coercion methods if the results were so favorable."

"You'd still have me destroy synthetics, though."

He hesitated, back hunched and tense. "Perhaps there is merit to the idea that ending this war on such terms would only plant the seeds for the next similar conflict. It matters little. I doubt the choice will be mine, in the end."

She gave in, knowing she wasn't getting an answer out of him via subterfuge. "Javik. I want to know what you really think."

He straightened and spun around, pinning her with a piercing stare that was far too old for this setting. "What I think, Commander, is messy and complicated and tangled in a war of feelings - recent, personal ones I shouldn't have, and the right ones, which I was bred with, and bred for. For now, it is enough that I am here, and that I believe in your cause. Everything else must come- with time."

There was very little to be said beyond that. Shepard hesitated briefly, but the staring contest ended with her capitulation, the look on his face irreducible. She left him to it, expecting Liara and Mordin to handle his den setup, not to mention Dr. Gayle, who was probably due to arrive any moment.

"Commander," he called, just before she could turn the corner, "do not misinterpret me. You need not be concerned about my doubts, or wonder where my loyalties lie. I saw you achieve victory once. I will be there to make sure you do so again."