AN: Final chapter time!

Holy crap... I actually did it. It's all done. I'm going to upload the epilogue later today, when I next get a break.

Thanks to everyone who reads, with special thanks to everyone who follows/favs. Extra special thanks go out to Elisa M, Pendragon22 and Barleyguy for the awesome reviews. ^^

And super special thanks to 2kinds from DA for betaing for me!

Hope you guys enjoy!

Chapter Thirty Seven - The End Run

The Normandy

2225 - 29 Years After the End of the Reaper War

"Sarah, this is insanity!" her bondmate protested as she strode into the shuttle bay.

"No, what's insanity is me not seeing this through to the end. This is it, Tiberius. I refuse to sit idly by. Not when it's the final fight."

Shepard sighed at the argument going on before her, smiling just a little. "Ah, I remember this fight well."

"As do I," Garrus added, seemingly not so amused. "I also remember you almost getting yourself killed while trying to take back Omega."

"See?" Tiberius said, fixing Sarah with a knowing look.

"Well, that's because my biotics were unstable," Shepard reasoned.

"Which mine are not," Sarah told them, allowing blue light to ripple over her arm in demonstration.

"Sarah-" Tiberius started once more but her bondmate cut her off with a shake of her head.

"Red, of all of the fights we've been through together, this is just one more. And then it will truly be over. I promise."

Tiberius was stunned a little by that. She had refused to promise that before and, yet, she was doing it now. So long as she saw this one battle through.

"I've altered your armour," her mother told her. "I figured you would end up needing it at some point or another before you were due. I've completely reworked the abdominal plating and shielding. Nothing short of a nuke is getting through there. Think of it as localised, super heavy armour."

Sarah nodded before turning back to her bondmate, her subharmonics trilling with reassurance. "See? We can take every precaution."

"Blue…" Tiberius started but trailed off, sighing a little as he moved one hand up to stroke gently across the colony marks on her cheek. "You're dead set on this, aren't you?"

"Just once more and then we're done forever."

Tiberius nodded before pressing his browplates to hers. "You know that I only worry because I love you, right?"

"Of course. Look, I'd be lying if I said that this wasn't a difficult decision for me but… I have to see this through." She leaned closer to press her lips to his mouth plates, prompting her bondmate to place his free hand on the small of her back and draw her close to him. "And I love you too," she said as she finally pulled away.

"Hey, don't leave without us!"

Sarah raised her head to see Philip and Tia heading towards them.

"You guys are coming with?" she asked, not entirely sure why she was so surprised.

"Of course we are," Philip figured. "I mean, we were there when this all started. We should be there when it's finished."

Shepard interjected at that. "I think you kids will find that none of you were there when this started. Well, apart from Sarah. Sort of."

"Which is why I'm going to finish it. Once and for all," Sarah told them firmly as she finished putting on her armour. "Now, come on. Before they realise we're here."

The shuttle docked with the Cerberus station with a soft thud. Still, there was no indication that they had alerted their enemies to their presence.

"Why did that feel too easy?" Garrus asked his bondmate. It wasn't usual that they spoke aloud to each other like this, so the rest knew that it was a comment for all of them.

Shepard shrugged. "There's no way they don't know we're here, stealth systems or no."

"Do we ever have the upper hand?" Sarah asked, her subharmonics growling a little with a mixture of anticipation and dread.

"No," her mother answered simply. "It's knowing that fact that's important. Now, come on. We don't want to give them any more time to prepare than necessary…"

They filed out of the shuttle and found themselves in an empty corridor. It was eerie, how deserted it was. The only sound was that of the life support systems whirring in the background. Despite that, the air felt stale. As if no one living had breathed it in years. The place felt as if no one living had visited in a long while, right down to how the lights flickered.

"Anybody home?" Shepard called, but received no reply.

"I don't like this," Tiberius voiced and everyone murmured in agreement.

"Which way to the main systems?" Sarah asked.

Shepard replied. "This way." Her bondmate followed close behind, with the others following in a loose group.

The first sign that they weren't alone was when they reached the junction between corridors and the emergency doors slammed down behind Garrus, separating him and Shepard from the rest of the group.

They both immediately whirled around and Shepard banged at the door with her biotics as Garrus looked for a control panel.

"Sarah?!" she called through but received no response.

"There's no sound getting through that," Garrus told her as she brought up her omnitool, only to find nothing but static on the comms.

"Fracking, piece of shtako, smeg filled comm unit!"

Garrus moved to place his hand on his beloved's shoulder but she jerked away from his touch as she raked her hand over her hair, returning a few loose hairs back to the rest.

She hadn't pulled away from him in years.

"I'm sorry," she said quickly as she started back off toward the main systems. "Come on. They'll try to find a way there so it's our best bet for regrouping."

Her stride was halted, however, by the sound of a familiar voice over the station's speakers.

"How cold of you, Shepard."

She froze at the voice. "I… How are… It can't be him. You're just using his voice."

"Oh, I can assure you that I am very much the Illusive Man."

"You could be anyone with a voice synthesiser," she reasoned, moving once more.

"I could be. But I am not. However, I am not so heartless as to not forgive a worried mother for lashing out."

Shepard's implants allowed her to growl at him as she continued down the corridor. "I'm going to enjoy killing you. You kind of took away the opportunity last time."

"How do you propose to do that when you can't even protect your own daughter?"

"Sarah's fine."

"Oh really? Just as she was fine back then?"

A hologram started up in front of them, showing Sarah surrounded by several humans, all shouting insults over the top of each other. Sarah's subharmonics trilled with pain as she tried to back away.

"Stop it!" Shepard cried as she hurried her pace away. The hologram simply followed her.

Hologram-Sarah lashed out, hitting one of them in the groin with her knee while she caught another across the jaw with her elbow. However, her defiance was met with blows from the others, causing her to stumble.

Why doesn't she activate her biotics? Shepard thought desperately, but she knew the answer. She was paralysed by fear. That one attack she managed had been all that she had.

She's not a soldier! Shepard desperately wanted to cry out. This was never what she wanted!

The hologram abruptly came to an end and, once again, she felt her husband's comforting hand. Only this time, it wasn't a physical touch, it was a mental one, through their bond.

"Why stop now?" Garrus asked. "You don't want us to see that Sarah's true strength was always her friends."

Shepard took a deep breath as they continued on, reminding herself that Sarah survived that ordeal. She would survive this one.

They received no reply.

"Mum?! Dad?!" Sarah cried as the door shut, separating them from her parents.

"I can't get through," Tia informed her, after several moments of messing with her omnitool.

"Then we have to find another way to the control room," Tiberius said.

Sarah shook her head. "We can't just leave them."

"Sarah, they'll press on anyway. Finding another way through is our best bet."

"Fine," she agreed, before turning back to Tia. "So, where's the next best route?"

"This way," Tia informed them, pointing down the left corridor. "I would advise that we stay close to each other. If the plan is for them to separate us, we should not give them the opportunity."

"Agreed," Sarah told her as the four of them moved so that they were in a close formation.

"Don't you find it odd that we've come across no resistance other than the doors?" Philip asked.

"I think someone's playing with us," Tia replied coldly. "I don't like this."

"Wait… Did anyone else hear that?" Sarah asked. They all paused.

"I don't-" Philip started but Tiberius cut him off.

"Over there," Tiberius told them, just barely picking up the low rumble of something activating. "Get down!"

The four of them rolled out of the way, just in time to escape a blast of fire from one of the turrets in the wall.

"Fuck!" Philip coughed as Tia was thrown into him by the force of the blast, knocking the wind out of him.

"Sorry," she told him as she got up, righting herself. She turned back to see if Tiberius and Sarah were okay, only to see that another door had slammed shut between them. "Crap…"

"So much for sticking together… We really can't get through?"

Tia shook her head. "This place might be old but it's well built."

"Do you think they're okay?"

Tia remained silent, giving him his answer.

"They'll be fine," Philip assured her, though she was sure that he was also trying to convince himself.

"Because everyone is always 'fine'..." a voice over the speaker system said, surprising the two of them.

"Who the hell…?" Philip started, looking around for the voice.

A hologram started up in front of them. Philip recognised the scene well enough after years of working at C-Sec. It was a mugging. He took a moment to note the fact that he no longer even flinched as he watched the asari being gunned down. He was really was becoming jaded, he figured, more than a little confused as to why they were even being shown this.

He turned to Tia, about to get her opinion on what was happening, only to see that she had turned away.

Of course, he thought, realising what they were being shown. He moved over to her as the hologram shut off, placing his hands on her shoulders. "It's over now," he told her.

She shook her head. "I very much doubt that."

"Oh, she is a smart one. But then, she would have to be. The ruthless gang leader… Tell me, Tiala, how many orphans have you left behind?"

Suddenly they were bombarded by holographic images. More security camera footage from the looks of it. Only this time the culprit behind the gun was always Tia, shooting first and without remorse.

"More than I could ever possibly count," Tia said simply. "Or atone for."

"The past doesn't matter," Philip argued, taking Tia's hands in his, just wishing that she would look at him. "It's behind you."

"Well, I suppose you would say that. Wouldn't you, Jones?"

The hologram started up once more. This was footage Philip had seen before. He had no interest in watching his father's assassination for a second time, but neither did he want to show weakness by looking away. So, he watched as the assassin killed his father. She even had the audacity to smirk at the camera. They had been surprised that Cerberus would sacrifice one of their few human agents for the job, but in the end it confirmed just how serious the message was. The assassin had even killed herself, rather than be captured.

"The boy who killed his own father."

"Oh, was that me in that footage? I didn't recognise myself, what with the Cerberus armour and the breasts and everything…"

"He was only assassinated because you put him in that cell."

"And because you ordered the assassination. I'm not here to argue semantics."

"Do you ever wonder how low your intelligence must be, to blindly parrot the words taught to you by C-Sec?"

"I don't need to be smart to tell right from wrong."

"Come on," Tia told him, heading back along the route to the main control room. "No use arguing with empty air."

"Agreed."

The voice over the speaker remained silent after that.

Sarah felt nothing but panic as she checked herself over for wounds, though she calmed when she found none. She had, in fact, been shielded from the blast for the most part.

Shielded by Tiberius, who was now groaning with pain.

"Let me see," Sarah said, her stomach clenching with guilt. She found that the back of his armour had taken the brunt of the blast, leaving it damaged.

"Oh, Ani…" she started but he silenced her by cupping her cheek in his hand.

"Hey, I'm okay. My armour protected me for the most part. It's only my legs that got a little injured but the medigel has taken care of it."

"Your armour's damaged. You won't be able to take another hit from behind."

"My shields still work," he pointed out.

"Okay. But you still couldn't take any more than one or two hits at most… Maybe you should head back to the shuttle. The way back hasn't been blocked."

Tiberius shook his head. "I'm not leaving you, Blue. I can't lose you."

"But isn't it inevitable?" a voice asked over the speakers. "You do lose everyone in the end, don't you Tallin?"

"Don't listen to him," Sarah told him as she figured out the next best route from the schematics. "He's just trying to mess with you. You're not going to lose us. Now come on."

She lead the way, taking them towards the control room once more.

"Does anyone read me?"

Sarah almost stopped dead at the sound of her mother's voice over the comm. "Mum?" she asked, a little disbelieving, but careful to keep going.

"Alenko? Tallin? Come in!"

"A recording…" Tiberius muttered.

Sarah nodded, realising that it was the communicator logs from his father's last mission. "Is there any way to… shut it off?"

"Not without slowing down," Tiberius said, his pace increasing as he tried to ignore the recording playing around them.

"Kaidan? Quin? Please respond!"

"I'm still here, Shepard."

Sarah watched as Tiberius's shoulders stiffened at the sound of his father's voice.

"Thank the Spirits. We heard the blast from out here. Is Kaidan with you?"

"I… I'm sorry, Shepard. He was at the centre of the blast. There's nothing left of him."

"It's okay, Quin. I… As harsh as it sounds, I knew this day was coming. I'm just glad he didn't take you with him. I'll send you our coordinates so that we can rendezvous."

"Yeah, about that… Shepard, I got caught in the blast too. I figure I've got maybe two minutes left, tops."

"No! Send us your coordinates. We'll get there and patch you up in no time."

"Not going to happen, Shepard. This whole place is unstable. Plus… I saw enough in the war to know that there are some things medigel just can't fix…"

"If you think that a little instability in the environment will stop me then-"

"Shepard… Jane, please. Trust me on this. Besides, if I'm not going to make it home to my family, the least I can do is make sure you make it home to yours."

"Quin…"

"I'm serious, Jane. You were right, you know. About getting out, I mean. Too late now, I guess, but… doing this for your family is an oxymoron. You're no good to your daughter if you're dead."

"Just as you're no good to your son…"

"I guess not. Can you… I don't know… Make this sound a little less senseless? When you tell them?"

"There's nothing senseless about stopping slavers, Quin."

"You know what I mean…"

"Yeah, I do."

"And… just make sure that Karina and Ti know that I love them…"

"Of course."

"I… I'm getting real sleepy over here, Jane. I think I… might just rest a while…"

"Yeah… You do that…"

Sarah stopped in her tracks as the recording ended, the pain she felt from her bondmate becoming too much. She turned and wrapped her arms around him. "I'm sorry, Red."

"It's okay," he told her as he held her tight against him for a moment before pulling away. "I've held these memories for long enough. If this… whoever this is, thinks that he can break me by dredging them up with a recording, he couldn't be more wrong."

"What a pity," the voice replied. "But, then, I suppose you were never one to let memories define you. Your bondmate on the other hand…"

This time, a hologram appeared in front of them. They both recognised the figure in the hologram to be Harry, though neither of them recognised the boy who approached him.

"Hey, Harry," the other boy called as he ran up to him.

"Owen? What's up?"

"Look, Harry, Melissa's pretty upset. She's sure you ended it with her over some other girl."

Hologram-Harry sighed, shrugging. "Okay, Owen, I get the whole protective big brother thing but… Mel gave me an ultimatum. Her or my best friend. Asking me to choose her over my friend because she's jealous wasn't fair. So, I ended it."

"Mel said this girl was some kind of alien freak."

"That doesn't have anything to do with it."

"But is it true?"

"Sarah wears turian markings because her dad's a turian. It's not a big deal."

"You dump my sister for some hybrid freak and you say it's 'no big deal'?!"

"Dude, she's not actually half turian. She just wears the marks."

"Because she's a freak!"

"I dare you to say that one more time…" Harry's attempt to be threatening fooled no one and the other swiftly responded with a punch to the jaw. His friends then came into view of the recording device as they came to aid in beating up Harry.

Sarah looked away, not wanting to see. She knew how this ended.

"Is there a point to all of this?" Tiberius demanded, growling a little.

"Your bondmate will fail the ones she loves, including you. She always does. I'm simply reminding her of that fact. And how much higher the stakes are this time… My scanners are picking up four lifeforms where my cameras see only two. Failure this time would be… soul destroying, I imagine…"

Sarah ignored that, pressing on. They were almost there.

After a few minutes, they made it to the room that the schematics had labelled as the control room. But still, Sarah was wary. They had met no resistance, other than that meant to stall and separate them.

"There's no one here," Sarah said, warily. She couldn't sense anyone but herself and Tiberius within the room.

A hologram appeared in front of them. From what Sarah knew, it was an accurate representation of the Illusive Man.

"Well, look who found themselves here. I was almost sure you would turn tail and run. Never mind. This is far more fun."

Trace it, Sarah told Tiberius through their bond before turning her attention back to the hologram. "You're supposed to be dead."

"As are you. Funny how often that can happen…"

"Indeed… Still, why resurface now? Just for little old me?"

"For what you represent. You are the death of humanity."

"From what I had heard of you, you seemed arrogant and more than a little prone to bigotry, but never stupid. I'm seriously wondering what changed…"

"There's no transmission," Tiberius told her. "The hologram is being generated in this room."

"From where?" Sarah asked.

He indicated to the computer covering the wall. "My best guess would be that he's… some sort of AI."

"So… not the Illusive Man, then?"

"No."

"How limited your way of thinking is. I am as much the Illusive Man as the human your mother killed."

Sarah frowned before realising what was going on. "You're… a copy?"

"In a manner of speaking," the AI admitted as Tiberius continued to look over the equipment.

You remember what you said about his strategy not making sense? Tiberius asked through their bond. I might have the answer. His circuitry is degrading. He probably has no idea what he's doing at this point.

So, a crazy AI is in charge of Cerberus? That would… certainly explain some things… Do you think we can deactivate him?

I… With a lot of time, maybe. Our best bet is to probably stall for your mother or Tia to arrive.

"So, why let us get here?" Sarah asked. "You could have stopped us at any point."

"It's simple. This way I can be sure of your death."

An alarm sounded and Sarah almost froze with fear. "Is that what I think it is?"

"The self destruct sequence? Yeah."

"Do we have time to make it back to the shuttle?" she asked as Tiberius made his way over to the console.

"I…" He trailed off as he worked frantically for a few moments, before his hands paused. "There. That should have bought us enough time. Hurry!"

Sarah did as he instructed, turning on her heels and running, only to stop dead in her tracks as she heard the door slam shut behind her.

With Tiberius on the other side.

Unlike the other doors, this one had a small glass window in it, so that she could clearly see her bondmate trapped behind.

Red? What happened? she asked through their bond.

I'm sorry, Blue. There's not enough time to reach the shuttle and anything I can do, he can counteract. Except for one thing. I can cut the chain reaction from this console as the first charge blows, stopping the rest of them from going off.

The first one?

The… The one in here…

Red, no!

It's the only way, Blue. The only way to make sure you and our daughters are safe.

There has to be another way!

Not one I'd be willing to chance. I love you, Blue. Always remember that. And make sure they know too.

Red, I… I love you too.

Sarah was gripped an overwhelming need to do something! Anything to save her bondmate. But… she knew nothing of AI or explosives. And by sealing the door, Tiberius had but a barrier between himself and any biotic protection she might have been able to give.

There was nothing she could do. She was well and truly helpless as Tiberius put his helmet on, as if it would afford him some protection from the blast. Perhaps if his armour had not been damaged, it might have, but as it was…

The timer reached its end far too quickly.

"Time to see my work complete," the AI told them, a manic glee behind his words as the first charge went off.

Sarah shielded herself from the flash of light through the window and then…

Nothing.

He had done it.

The door opened as the station's systems reset.

It took Sarah a moment to figure out which charred mass had been her bondmate.

"Red!" she cried, running to his side as the others finally arrived behind her.

It was too late. She knew that. She could no longer sense him.

And, yet, she couldn't move from his side.

Just a little more medigel, she was sure.

Just a little more of her strength through their bond.

She couldn't fail this time…

Not him…

There had to be some way...

Something…

Anything…

Please...

The Citadel - C-Sec Executor's Apartment

2253 - 57 Years After the End of the Reaper War

"Stop!" Riina cried as she stood up, shaking her head. "I… I don't need to hear anymore…"

The Old Man sighed at her reaction, shaking his head. "Oh, Riina. I tried to warn you."

"I know!" she bit back, her arms tightly folded across her chest. "I… I knew this would be difficult… I just… didn't quite realise how bad it would be…"

"Riina," he started, getting up with the intent of attempting to comfort her.

She shook her head once more to silence him, dropping down onto the arm of the chair she had been sitting on before. Even he could hear how her subharmonics were screaming with pain as the reality of her situation finally seemed to hit home.

"Spirits…" she managed. "This is so fucked…"

"I know."

"You're all right about me, you know. I am broken. I'm damaged goods. Hell, I know you all only put up with me because of Shepard."

"That's not true," the Old Man interjected. "Riina, we all understand that you struggle sometimes. We might worry about you, but it's only because we care."

She didn't even seem to hear him. "I thought for once it would pay off. That I could get through this without… I thought that I was long past caring. To the point at which I didn't even have it in myself to be angry anymore… But I guess I was wrong."

"You're going to need that anger, Riina."

She shook her head. "For what? You were right, I can't do this. I… Spirits, I feel like a lost little girl… Cassi's right; I don't know where to go from here…"

The Old Man simply moved over to where she sat, kneeling down so that he was at eye-level with her. "Yes, you do. You've already started down this path, all you need to do is finish it."

She was a little surprised by that, lifting her head to meet his gaze. "Wasn't the whole point of pushing me that you didn't want me to follow through on the Council's orders?"

"Riina, you don't have a choice. It's you or her. They knew that Pol would make that clear in no uncertain terms, out of concern for you, so they allowed him to deliver the assignment. I'm confirming what he told you; Riina, they are simply looking for an excuse to get rid of you. Or, at least, turn you into the loyal agent they want. Sarah's already long gone and I don't want to lose you too."

"Then why push? Why not just give me the information?" she demanded, a little anger returning to her tone.

"Because I knew that this moment of doubt would happen sooner or later. I wanted it to be now so that you had someone to tell you to keep going."

"You want me to kill her?"

He shook his head. "Riina, all I know is that you have to finish what you've started. Whatever happens when you find her, happens. There's no point in worrying about it until you get there. Otherwise, you probably won't make it there at all."

Riina nodded at that before standing up. He was surprised when she hugged him. She hadn't done that in years. The movement was awkward, and she didn't seem quite sure of how to angle her arms, but still it was meaningful, coming from her.

"Thanks, O- Uncle Philip. I… Thank you."

He just responded with a sad smile as she pulled away. "Don't thank me just yet, Riina. I just hope you find what you're looking for."