The TARDIS Library...
Susan sat waiting in one of the chairs on the second level of the TARDIS's massive library. For some reason, the Doctor told her to wait there for him. Curious, Susan obliged.
Susan waited for about five minutes, before her grandfather entered, clad in the ornate robes many Time Lords also wore. "Grandfather?"
The Doctor cleared his throat, and started speaking, with an unusually formal tone. "Arkyitor of Lungbarrow House, the time has come for you to be administered the Final Test. I trust you've been keeping caught up with your studies?"
"Of course, Grandfather."
"Then let's not delay." The Doctor said, walking over to a storage compartment on the wall. The compartment's door was usually locked, but this time, it slid open effortlessly, allowing the Doctor to pull out a large book(well, more of a tome, really). He opened the book, and started reading from it. "Being a Time Lord is no small task. It falls to us to uphold the Laws of Time, and serve as guardians of the timeline, do you understand?"
"Yes."
"Then you will answer every question this presents to you." The Doctor said, putting the book down in front of Susan. "You must answer to the best of your ability. Understood?"
"Yes."
"Then you may begin." The Doctor responded, moving to exit the library. He walked through the maze-like corridors of the TARDIS, and back into the console room. He tuned one of the monitors to show a live security feed of the library, and began to observe as Susan took her test.
Susan was doing quite well, in all honesty. Most of the questions on the test were designed to confuse and deceive, to weed out the students that were sure to become renegades, from those that would likely be model Time Lords. The rest of the questions were design to test the knowledge of temporal mechanics, and the Laws of Time.
It was a few hours later when Susan sighed in relief, and closed the book. The book then disappeared as it was reclaimed by the TARDIS, and Susan's test results were displayed for the Doctor.
After reading over the results from the test, a grin split the Doctor's face. He pulled a small box out of a secret compartment in the floor, and ran off to the library.
"Susan," The Doctor began, approaching the young Gallifreyan, "Congratulations. You just made Time Lord."
"Yes!" Susan excitedly shouted.
"Now, considering that we can't get you a TARDIS, I've settled for this." The Doctor said, holding out the box, with Susan's name transcribed on the top. "Think of it as a congratulatory present."
Susan slid the top of the box off, and looked in. "It's a Sonic Screwdriver..." Susan commented. She reached in, and pulled the device out. It was a tiny thing, practically dwarfed by the Screwdriver the Doctor owned. Its casing was taken from one of the spare screwdrivers the Tenth Doctor had abandoned, and it had a black grip, as well as a green emitter.
"Yup!" The Doctor said. "Not a very original design, mind you, but the TARDIS was itching to get rid of some of the spare parts in the storerooms. Now then, what do you say to a trip? Take the new Sonic out for a test drive, so to speak?"
"Can we go to the future this time, Grandfather?" Susan asked, as they walked through the corridors of the TARDIS.
"I don't see why not." The Doctor said, walking up to the console. "The real question is- Oh, hello..." He said, as something on the console started beeping. Almost as soon as it did, the engines engaged, and the TARDIS took off of her own free will.
"Grandfather, what's happening!?" Susan asked holding onto the railings.
"Apparently, the TARDIS thinks we're supposed to be somewhere." The Doctor stated, looking at one of the console readouts. "I don't think I like where this is going..."
"Grandfather...?"
"Right -er- how do they say it? Ah, yes, I've got it. Brace for impact!" As soon as the Doctor said that, the TARDIS's engines gave a loud thud, and they were thrown to the floor. "Ohh, that's going to hurt tomorrow." The Doctor groaned, as he got up. "Susan?"
"I'm okay, Grandfather." Susan responded. "Any idea where we've landed?"
"I don't know... let's find out!" He said, rushing over to the door. He popped his head out, and stepped out slowly. "This looks like the Citadel Archives, but I don't recognize the area..."
"Wait, you've been here before?" Susan asked.
"Hmm? Oh, yeah. I decided to go on a little TARDIS trip while you and the rest of the Normandy crew were sleeping. Wanted to see if they had any more data on the Reapers. Origins, a weakness, things like that."
"Okay, I suppose that narrows it down. But when are we?"
In response, the Doctor stuck a finger in his mouth, pulled it out, and held it in the air. His eyebrows raised slightly. "Twenty-one-eighty-six. Not too far ahead than when we left. Only about six months."
"Well, at least I get to go to the future."
"That's the spirit! But why would the TARDIS bring us here, of all places?" The Doctor wondered. Then, his head turned as he heard something. "You hear that? It sounds like Shepard. Come on, but be quiet." The Doctor said, as he and Susan sneaked through the hallway. As they closed in on one of the vaults, they could hear talking.
"...short answer is no. They're not." Shepard said, to somebody else. A few shots echoed throughout the room, but all in all, everything seemed calm. "The long answer involves your friends being trapped in iridium vaults and being forgotten for... well, forever."
"Others know about this, about you." Shepard said in response, causing Susan and the Doctor to look at each other in confusion. "The Alliance will stop you."
"What do you think, Staff Analyst Brooks? Will the Alliance stop us?"
"I wouldn't know." Another woman said. It seemed the conversation was about to take a turn for... Well, the Doctor didn't actually know. "I don't actually work for them."
The mood was getting tense, but nevertheless, the Doctor poked his head around the corner. "Oh..." He breathed, looking at the scene in front of him.
There were two Shepards. One, in strange armor, standing in front of a blue force field. The other, in the correct armor, tapped behind that field. As far as the Doctor could tell, there weren't any time-traveling shenanigans (beyond his own) going on, which meant that the other Shepard... was a clone.
"What was the point of it all?" Proper Shepard inquired, anger making itself apparent in her voice.
"All we really wanted was your Spectre code." Brooks answered. "But then you survived the hit, and insisted on bringing your damned Asari into it. So I had to tie up loose ends."
"The arms dealer..." Shepard said, seemingly realizing something.
"But then your sex bot," 'Sex bot?' "just had to go and recover the data. So here we are. Forced to... contain the situation."
"Who the hell are you anyway?" Shepard asked. "And what makes you think I won't track you down?"
"My name doesn't matter." 'Brooks' answered. "I don't keep the same one for more than a few days. And if the Illusive Man hasn't found me yet, well... You never will."
"You're Cerberus?" Rage was now slowly creeping back into Shepard's voice.
"Was." Brooks answered. "Mr Illusive and I didn't see eye to eye. He's indoctrinated, whereas I prefer the whispers in my head to be my own."
"Well then why not come to me? We could've worked together."
"We did. In a way. I was the one who put together all those dossiers on your 'Suicide Mission.'"
"The Collector Base?"
"There was the Salarian Doctor, the Asari Justicar, the Quarian... Nice to have finally met you, Tali."
"Charmed." Tali sarcastically replied.
"They were all mistakes. We were a pro-human group who started looking to aliens for help. So I bided my time, and when I found another you who agreed..." Oh, how little this Brooks and the Clone knew. "...I woke her up."
"Fair warning; no one who's ever betrayed us had ever survived." Shepard threatened.
"And yet they keep trying." A krogan (Wrex, if the Doctor remembered from his reading up on the original Normandy correctly) to the left of Shepard added.
"You two may think you're clever. And yeah, you were-just a bit-but clever can't beat a bullet. And yeah, maybe I'm trapped in here, but don't get comfortable. Because that bull's-eye on your back is getting bigger by the second." Shepard spat.
"That sounds very dramatic. And if someone like, say, Commander Shepard made the threat, I'd be worried." Brooks condescended. "But you're not Commander Shepard. Not anymore."
"You had Miranda, I have her." The Clone said. "Mine has more bite."
"It was fun while it lasted." Brooks said, with a mock-sad tone of voice., as the Clone walked over to a computer terminal.
"What are you doing?" Shepard demanded.
"Setting things right." The Clone responded. "Remember this?"
"You are the first human Spectre, Commander." A holorecording of the Asari Councilor said. "This is a tremendous accomplishment for you, and your entire species."
"Except somewhere along the way, you forgot about your species." The Clone spat as the recording disappeared. "You've saved more alien lives than you have human."
"All species matter, not just humans." Shepard retorted. Then, she fired off a rueful smile. "Besides, I'm sure you'll be thinking that way once you find out what's really going on inside you."
The Clone just gave a humorless chuckle. "You know what they can't duplicate? Our handprint. Life gives it its shape, not DNA... which is a problem. Computer:" The Clone prompted. "Update Council records. Subject: Shepard, human Spectre."
"Accessing record." The Computer responded. "Please input new data." The Clone placed her hand on the Computer's scanners. "Biometric identification updated. Good day, Commander Shepard."
The Clone and Brooks then began walking away from Shepard's team. "Now if you'll excuse me, the Normandy needs its captain. So..." She turned to the real Shepard. "I should go."
"Farewell, Commander." Brooks sneered. "I guess this is where 'legends' go to die." She said, leaving the room, as the vault slid shut, sealing the real Shepard and her crew inside.
The Clone and Brooks, meanwhile, walked straight past the TARDIS, paying it no attention, and not noticing the Doctor and Susan. Once they had left, the Doctor and Susan popped out from their hiding spot, and walked into the room the other two had previously been in. The Doctor walked over to the control panel, and opened the vault back up.
"Doctor? How did you get here?" Shepard asked,
"TARDIS, of course, but that's not important right now."
"Right, evil clone." Shepard nodded. "Come on, we can use the TARDIS to get ahead of them."
The Doctor nodded, and they all stepped into the timeship. "Right, sorry, I'm still very lost. Since when do you have an evil clone?"
"Apparently they grew her for spare parts." Shepard remembered. "When Cerberus brought me back, they weren't entirely sure how many of my organs were still salvageable. Turns out they didn't need her, though."
"Ah. Right, I'm assuming the big hole outside was made by you guys?"
"That's right."
The Doctor simply nodded, and set the TARDIS into motion. Seconds later, it rematerialized, and they all stepped out.
"What?" Wrex said, looking over Shepard's squad, who were most definitely not outside last they checked. "How'd you all get ahead of us?"
"Oh..." The Doctor's face fell once he had realized what happened. "I knew I was forgetting to check the helmic regulator when we were doing maintenance the other day."
"Well, not much we can do about it now." Shepard said. "What have you all been doing."
"We're waiting for Joker." Garrus answered. He looked to the artificial sky to see a skycar take a dive, and come in for a landing. "There he is."
"I've got room for Shepard plus two." Joker stated once the car landed. "And make it snappy because the other Shepard is stealing my ship!"
"No need for that. Quick, everyone, into the TARDIS!" Shepard ordered, and she ushered her squad in (including Joker, who seemed to be moving oddly fast for someone with glass bones syndrome), to the Doctor's protest.
"Hold on!" The Doctor shouted. "The Helmic Regu-"
"Look, do you want the Normandy to be stolen or not!?" Joker snapped.
"Er, well, no."
"Then shut up, and get us to bay D-24!"
"Right, D-24." The Doctor mumbled. "It's not like you all just barged your way in, and made yourselves at home. Susan! Hold that lever down. Without the Helmic working properly, that's the next best thing we have." He ordered, setting the TARDIS into motion. Again. "So, why don't you all fill me in really quick, eh?"
"Well, after you, River, and Susan went on your own little vacation, I got a message on my private terminal in my apartment."
"You own an apartment?"
"Anderson gave it to me." Shepard shrugged. "Anyway, the message was from Joker, or I thought it was, at least. So I go to the sushi place that was mentioned in the message, and Joker tells me that I invited him, not the other way around. So then Brooks runs up, tells me someone's trying to kill me, and then we all get ambushed by mercs. Long story short, we made it back to safety, and get a lead to a casino owner who can trace the gun. The owner was dead, but we managed to figure out that we needed to go to the archives. Then, we met the clone, she filled us in, and we fought our way through only to be trapped in a vault at the end of it."
The Doctor sighed "Why can't anything ever be-" A blinking light on the console caught his attention. He looked at one of the console monitors, and said: "Uh oh. It looks like the fake Shepard's already sent out the departure request."
Shepard turned to Joker. "Can you try to get Citadel Control to deny it?"
"Tried" Joker shook his head. "All the comm lines in the area are jammed... probably to make it easier for them to steal my ship!"
"We'll stop them." Shepard vowed.
"Shepard!" A woman with EDI's voice began, sounding alarmed. "You clone has entered the ship, and is attempting to-" Her body began beeping and whirring wildly, and the holographic visor around her eye shut down, as EDI slumped over, seemingly sleeping.
"EDI?" Liara looked the gynoid shell over.
"Is she supposed to do that?" Wrex asked.
"Well... this is awkward." Tali stepped back from EDI's shell body.
EDI's eyes snapped open, and she looked back up, standing upright. "I'm okay!" She proclaimed, even as her eyes were looking around in different directions. She straightened her eyes out, and smiled.
"Really?" Joker deadpanned.
"The clone has disabled my control of the Normandy, as well as all sensory input." EDI reported. "I cannot lock her out, or counteract her commands."
"Are you still in fighting shape?"
"I am experiencing a significant feedback loop in my head, and an increased desire to kill your clone."
"Get in line."
"Right, here we are!" The Doctor said. "The Norm-"
The TARDIS seemed to collide against something, and the console sparked as the console room violently shook, while the engines struggled to maintain flight. The Doctor pulled the emergency-stop lever, and the TARDIS calmed. "What the hell was that!?" The Doctor yelled, as he righted himself.
"Oh... that's probably the anti-TARDIS shield." Garrus admitted. "The Clone must have turned it on."
"Anti-TARDIS!? Why would you have an- you know what, never mind. I'm sure I'll find it out eventually."
"Come on, you guys!" Shepard ordered, throwing the TARDIS door open. "Well, at least we're on the Normandy." Shepard said, looking around the airlock.
"Wait, what!?" One of the Normandy's crewmembers (who was in the process of leaving the ship) asked, turning around. "You were just on the Normandy. You... you fired me! Dishonorable discharge for conduct unbecoming! You kicked me off the ship with barely enough time to grab my toothbrush."
"Traynor," Shepard sighed, "I can't just fire you. I need to give a disciplinary hearing first. And really, the first thing you grabbed was your toothbrush?"
"It's a-"
"Ciscion ProMark 4." Shepard interrupted. "It uses tiny mass effect fields." She droned. "I know that because I'm the real Shepard."
"Wait... If that wasn't you, then-"
"Evil Clone, sort of a long story." Garrus said, as he and Liara worked on getting the inner airlock door opened. The door control flashed an angry red, and then vanished. "Damn. Locked tight."
Shepard turned to Traynor. "Is there anyone still on board that can help us?"
"No." Traynor shook her head. "I was only here because I was part of the retrofits back on Earth. Everyone else is on shore leave."
"Then you're the only one who knows of a way inside the ship." Shepard assumed. "Can you get me inside?"
Traynor walked over to the middle of the airlock, and started looking for something on the floor. "There's an emergency exit hatch for evacuations. It should be right... here!" Traynor pulled up one of the floor grates, revealing a metal trapdoor set into the floor.
Shepard started to look for a way to open the hatch, but there was nothing. "Manual lock, and it's only meant to be opened from the other side. Any ideas?"
"Oh, I've got it!" The Doctor said, reaching into his robes. His face fell once he realized he was still wearing them. "Oh.. I must've left it in my other jacket. I knew it was a bad idea to wear this thing."
"Yeah, I wasn't going to comment on it." Shepard snarked. "But any day now."
"Susan." The Doctor turned to his granddaughter. "You're up." He pointed to the hatch."
Susan nodded, crouched down to get closer to the hatch, and pulled out her own sonic screwdriver. She pressed down the activator, it buzzed, and she ran it along the line where the two small doors met. The hatch's locking mechanisms clicked, and the hatch opened up.
"Good job!" The Doctor patted Susan on the back.
"Okay, Traynor, you're probably going to want to go ahead and get out of here." Shepard suggested.
"Right, good idea." Traynor nodded. "Oh, and good luck." She wished, before running from the airlock.
"Alright, everyone in, one at a time." Shepard ordered, taking point and hopping into the small crawlspace. "Doctor, you and Susan stay at the back."
The Doctor nodded, and he and Susan stayed back while the others hopped down first. Once they were sure to be the last ones, they hopped down, and the hatch sealed behind them.
As they crawled along, one of Shepard's crew sneezed.
"Vega!" Shepard whisper-shouted.
"Sorry." The marine whispered back. "It's dusty as shit in here."
"You'd never find this much dust on a Quarian ship." Tali remarked.
"Shh!" Shepard ordered, as they came to the end of the tunnel.
"...Hey, what'd she mean 'slow her down?' We're allowed to kill Shepard if we have to, right?" One of the mercs said, conversing with his partner.
"She said 'slow her down' because she thinks we're cannon fodder." The other merc responded.
"Oh. Well... shit."
It was at that moment, Shepard took the opportunity presented to her. She hit a button, and the hatch (really just the stairs used to step up into the corridor leading to the bridge) flipped up, and they all started firing.
"Watch it!" Shepard yelled, as she and the team spread out, firing on the mercs. "I don't want to be fixing the bullet holes when we're done!"
"Fuck it, the maintenance crews will have to do it anyway!" Vega shouted.
"Good point, fuck it!"
"Oh yeah, one of my favorite places to fight!" Garrus shouted in earnest, as he put a bulled right through a small hole in the large shield a merc was using, and through the merc's head.
"The CIC of a warship?" Tali asked in response, setting loose her combat drone on the mercs.
"Right there above the gardens, and below the electronics shops!"
"And antique shops, as I recall!" Shepard butted in.
"But only if they're classy!" Garrus responded.
The team members with guns quickly took care of the intruding mercenaries, and the CIC calmed, though it was still full of spent thermal clips and dead bodies.
"Right, that's the last of them." Kaidan stated, after doing one last sweep of the room.
Shepard simply nodded her acknowledgement. "Then let's go finish this. Kaidan, James, you two stay behind and take care of the pilot." She ordered, stepping into the elevator. She looked at the controls, and pressed the button to take them to the shuttle bay. The elevator shuddered, and it set into motion, proceeding down the small shaft that it occupied.
The elevator hit the bottom of the shaft, and stopped. The doors opened, opening up into the shuttle bay. Various crates were haphazardly stacked on top of each other, and tools from the repairs were left scattered in various places.
The team stepped out of the elevator, and spread out, looking left and right for any sign of the Clone. They didn't need to look for long, though.
The Clone stepped out from behind a stack of crates, wearing a set of Shepard's N7 armor, only this one was repainted silver and blue, as opposed to the black and red Shepard wore.
"Well, that's creepy." The Commander remarked, as she turned her weapon on the duplicate.
The Clone immediately started firing, and ducked into cover. Shepard promptly returned fire, and ducked into cover herself.
"You want to stop shooting up my ship?" The Clone yelled.
"It's not your ship!" Shepard responded, with all the fury she could take making its way into her voice.
The Clone laughed, an especially eerie sound. "It will be. I've taken your name, your Spectre rank, even your fingerprints!"
"And what're those going to get you when you're dead, huh? It's seven against one, here! Face it; you've lost!" Shepard retorted.
The Clone just laughed again. "You're underestimating my strength. You see, I've got something you don't."
"And what is that?"
"This." The Clone popped out of cover, and glowed blue with biotic energy. The energy surrounded her like a ball, and she charged forward like a gunshot, on a course to collide with Shepard herself. The Clone hit the Commander, throwing her to the ground. The Clone then moved away from the squad, firing on them as she did so.
"Commander, we got problems up here!" Kaidan reported, radioing in.
"What now!?" Shepard yelled, as she got back up. She proceeded to fire at the Clone, but damn, that bitch was tough.
"We tried making it into the cockpit, but the pilot sealed himself inside."
"Look, I don't care if you have to blow that door open! Just get inside and stop him!" Shepard yelled, dodging more gunfire.
"Commander, this is Cortez."
"Shit, I knew we were forgetting someone back at the archives."
"Don't sweat it, ma'am. Listen, I'm going to try and keep the Normandy from going into FTL. I'll do what I can, but I don't think I'll be able to do it forever."
"So, finish what I'm doing down here, fast. Got it." Shepard responded. Then, the deck beneath her shook, and became unsteady as the Normandy leaned from left to right.
"What the hell's going on up there!?" The Clone barked into her comm. "Get us into the nebula and into FTL!"
"We can't, a skycar keeps blocking our path!" The merc pilot responded.
"Then shoot it!" The Clone ordered.
The sound of the Normandy's main cannon firing filled the shuttle bay, as the shots caused the ship to shake ever-so-slightly.
"Damn it!" The Clone cursed, after she noticed that every attempt to shoot down Cortez had failed. "Launch the shuttle, and blow that thing out of the sky!"
In response, the door of the shuttle bay opened up, and the shuttle shot out, chasing after Cortez's skycar.
But that did nothing to stop the fighting in the shuttle bay. The gunfire continued to ring out, and bullets scattered, as biotic blasts flew through the air.
"Susan, I think that it may have been a good idea for us to just stay in the TARDIS." The Doctor told his granddaughter, as they hid behind cover.
"You think!?"
"She's out of medigel!" Shepard yelled.
The Clone still had the layers of armor protecting her, but that didn't stop Shepard from landing a hit that kicked the gun out of the Clone's hands. The Clone retaliated, and performed a biotic pull that pulled the gun out of Shepard's hands.
Now, the two could only fight with their fists. Shepard broke into a sprint, and charged at the Clone, tackling her to the floor, and causing them both to roll down the shuttlebay ramp. The two stopped rolling, and the real Shepard came out on top, pummeling the Clone with all her might.
The Clone channeled the last bit of strength that she had, and pushed Shepard off. The Clone then began to right herself, but the Normandy swayed again, and both Shepards slipped off the ramp. The Clone and the proper Shepard grabbed onto the edge of the ramp, and hung on for dear life.
"Look at you." The Clone grunted, as she tried to pull herself up. But there was nothing to grab onto, only the smooth metal of the ramp. "What makes you so damned special? Why you, and not me?"
"Shepard!" Tali yelled, running down the ramp, and grabbing onto the Commander's hand.
"We've got you!" Wrex said, as he helped Tali to pull Shepard up.
The Clone, however, had no one. All she did was look at Brooks, a silent plead for help, but all the fake Alliance officer did was turn away, and leave.
"Thanks." Shepard said to her team mates, as she steadied herself. She turned to the Clone, and in that moment, decided what to do with her. "Grab my hand." She ordered, holding her hand out.
"And then?" The Clone responded.
"And then you'll live!" Shepard stressed.
"Why?" The Clone shrugged. She closed her eyes, relaxed her grip, and slipped from the ramp...
Only for someone else to grab her arm.
"I don't think so." The Doctor said, keeping hold of the Clone's arms with both of his hands. "Now, can one of you help me over here? I think my foothold's going."
Shepard grabbed onto the Clone's other arm, and pulled her up, after that, the three got a steady foothold. They all walked back up the ramp, and into the shuttlebay as the situation settled, and everything was as calm as still water.
But at that moment the Clone grabbed a pistol from Shepard's holster, and used it to shoot herself in the heart.
"No!" The Doctor shouted, grabbing the Clone as she fell to the floor. The Doctor shook his head, and gently set the Clone down on the floor.
"Fortunately, they weren't here long enough to do much real damage." Cortez stated, as he and the others did a sweep of the Normandy's shuttle bay. In the middle of the large room, the Clone lay dead on the floor, with a small tarp covering her body. "Although I may need some help from James cleaning up the mess they made down here."
"Plus they overloaded the head diffusion system firing at him." Joker said, referring to Cortez. "Not sure if you noticed, but shuttle guy over here did some crazy flying to keep himself in one piece.
"It's nice to fly something a bit more maneuverable than the Kodiak." Cortez responded, going back to his station.
"What about EDI?" Shepard inquired. "Is she back online?"
"I am once again in control of the Normandy." The AI informed. "Thank you for asking."
"What about the mercs?" Shepard asked. "Any survivors?"
"Just one crappy-ass pilot and her." Joker pointed to Brooks, who walked into view, in handcuffs. "Alliance is taking her to a high-security facility. Maybe she can give 'em dirt on Cerberus."
"I'll be more than happy to cooperate with the authorities." Brooks snidely smiled.
"Maya," Shepard shook her head, "I know that voice."
"Do you really?" Brooks responded.
"You're getting a chance to redeem yourself." Shepard crossed her arms. "Don't waste it."
"So serious. Admit it. Part of you liked having me around, looking up to the legend." She taunted. In response, Shepard shook her head, and turned away. "We had some laughs. And who knows? Maybe we'll have more someday."
"No, we won't." Shepard responded. "Because you are going to stay in your cell and do your time."
"Afraid I'll escape?" Brooks taunted further. "Come back for revenge? Is the great Commander Shepard pleading for her life?"
"I'm pleading for yours." Shepard finished.
"So thoughtful." Brooks sighed. "Well then, I suppose I'm off to lockup... You know, she wouldn't have let me live."
"You can't clone everything." Shepard reflected. With that, Brooks was ushered out of the shuttle bay.
"What about the body?" Garrus asked, looking over at the dead clone.
"...We'll give her a proper burial." Shepard stated, after a moment of thought. "She may have been a total bitch, but everybody deserves one."
The Doctor's eyes widened, as he stared at the clone's dead form. "You know... I think that might not be necessary..."
"What do you mean?" Shepard frowned in confusion.
The Doctor, however, just smiled. "Pull the sheet off her." The Time Lord ordered.
Shepard thought about it for a moment, and then decided to humor him. "Doctor, what are you- What the hell!?" Shepard shouted in surprise, looking down at the clone.
The clone's skin was literally glowing, as golden particles streamed from the clone's skin.
"She's regenerating." The Doctor smiled, looking down. The Doctor then took a step back. "I'd stand back, if I were you." He told Shepard, causing her to take a step back herself.
Then, the light seemed to explode, and more of the golden energy came streaming out of the Clone's skin like fire. The light from the regeneration filled the shuttle bay, illuminating the room like a sun.
After a moment, the Clone's face seemed to morph, the light died down, and the regeneration energy stopped, revealing a different woman in the armor. This woman was ever-so-slightly taller, and had a mass of brown curls on her head.
Everyone who had met this woman before did a double-take.
"River!?" The Doctor and Shepard shouted out in surprise at the same time.
"Oh great, is she stealing other people's faces now?" Tali remarked.
"Shepard," The Doctor began, "I need you to tell me what happened when you met River the second time."
"Well, you brought her back to the Normandy after a trip in the TARDIS, told me she was freshly regenerated, and- ...oh."
"Yeah... 'oh.'"
"So this is the River that I know, just..."
"At the very beginning." The Doctor elaborated. "This is... awkward."
"Considering what was going on just a few minutes ago, yeah." Shepard responded. "So... what are you going to do with her?"
"I'm going to do what time says I do." The Doctor answered. "Besides, she deserves a second chance. The chance to be her own person, not just a clone of Commander Shepard. And this is the perfect way to give it to her." The Doctor crouched down, picked up the sleeping Clone/River, and began carrying her bridal-style. "Come along, Susan." The Doctor told his granddaughter. Susan followed along, and the two stepped into the elevator, taking it back up to the CIC deck.
They then proceeded through the CIC up the stairs, and into the airlock, where the TARDIS was waiting. The Doctor unlocked the doors, pushed them open, and stepped inside.
He gently sat the Clone/River down in one of the chairs in the console room, and set the controls. He pulled the space-time throttle, and the TARDIS dematerialized, taking them back to their proper time.
I had originally planned for the River being Shepard's clone 'discovery' to be in the sequel to this story (which will deal with the events in ME3), but then I decided that since I wanted to maintain continuity with Doctor Who, Susan would have to be left behind, so she'd need somebody to keep an eye on her, that someone being River.
I could've just done the metacrisis Doctor, but since I wanted River to be a main character in the next one, this chapter seemed like the best course of action.