It wasn't hard finding her destination. In fact, it was quite easy. Too easy. Shepard encountered no other guard on her way, suspiciously so. She checked her omni tool again. Nothing. The base was nearly deserted. It took her minutes to find the correct door and when it opened, she was greeted by an image so familiar it was almost nostalgic. He was sitting in his chair, a cigarette in one hand and a drink in the other, a smug grin on his face.

"Shepard, you made it. I was beginning to think you changed your mind."

"Skip the formalities. I came here for one reason only."

The Illusive Man laughed.

"But don't you want to hear a story, first? I've got a good one. You'll like it."

"Fuck you and your stories." Shepard spat and unholstering the pistol, pointed it at his head. "I want you to die, you ass hole!"

"Oh, but it is such a good story." he smiled, taking a drag. "Sit, Shepard. You'll want to hear this before you kill me." he pointed her to a chair and took another drag, blowing the smoke in her direction. Shepard scowled, waiving it away, and after a moment of hesitation, sat.

"You have sixty seconds."

"Relax. You'll have your chance. It's just you and me, after all."

"Tell your story, old man, so I can get on with my life."

"Such impatience. But I suppose it can't be helped. See, there once was a soldier, and a good one, too, by the name of Isadora Shepard."

"Is this a joke?"

"Please, let me tell my story. She was strong, fierce, tenacious. She was everything the Alliance could hope for. In her, they saw a fearless leader. A trusted soldier. Ruthless by nature but she got the job done. She was a paragon, a beacon of hope for the lost and and beaten. She was humanity's hope for the future. She always did more than what was required of her."

"If you're trying to put me to sleep, you're successful. The story is boring and fake."

"Do you often interrupt your superiors?"

"You are no superior of mine." Shepard gritted through her teeth.

"Ah, but I am. I crated you, therefore, you belong to me. We've been over this already, Shepard. Do you forget so easily?"

Shepard clenched her teeth in anger and frustration.

"Finish your story, then."

"Thank you. This soldier, while she did much good, she also angered many. Despite saving the galaxy, even saving the council, she was a disappointment to some and a nuisance to others. She was ungrateful, selfish. Soon, she even began to lose her way. But then, she got a fresh start. A new life. Yet, even that she managed to screw up. She had such options, such opportunities. But she chose to waste them. She was a hero once. Now, she's nothing. You know, I once like you believed the Reapers were a bad thing. But now I see they are an advantage. I have come to understand their reasoning. Their view of things."

"You are a fool. No less a fool than Saren!"

"On the contrary, Shepard. It is you who are a fool. You are fighting a war you not only cannot win, but a war you don't want to fight to begin with. I know you are as disillusioned as I am. Why else would you spend all those years so wasted away in cheap alcohol? I am old, Shepard. Too old to fight you. Humanity will never see me how I want it to see me. Thanks to you."

"Don't thank me for that. I was not the one performing illegal experiments on innocent species!"

"Ah, yes. You'll never see past that, either. How typical of you. Yet you will dismiss the deaths you have caused without hesitation."

"I did what I did for the greater good!"

"Are you sure, Shepard? Do you even know what the greater good is?"

"I know enough."

"So you seem to think. Did you know that while you were out there on your capering crusade for the greater good, the backroom politicians were planning a different course of action? As I recall, the council seemed to believe that you were getting out of hand, out of control. They were so desperate for a better Shepard, they turned to me."

"That facility..."

"Yes. A better you. That's what they wanted. What idiots. Even the humans. But I did it just to humor them. But thanks to you, I never succeeded. Not that time."

"What do you mean 'not that time'?"

"We created a perfect copy the second time around."

"... when you had me locked up in a cell.."

"Yes. That time."

"So what? You're gonna hand me over to the Reapers now?"

The Illusive Man chuckled.

"Despite your experience, Shepard, you are still so naive. No, I dislike the Reapers as much as you do. But believe it or not, they are quite reasonable."

"You've lost your mind."

"I like to think of it as... investment. In the future. Humanity still comes first in my book and the Reapers provided me with a deal I could not refuse."

"You can't be serious! You know you can't trust them!"

"And how do you know that, Shepard?"

"Did you not see what they did to Saren!"

"Saren was a fool! I will not make the same mistakes he did!"

"Saren was a fool? You are the fool here for thinking you are better!"

"That is irrelevant now. The deal is made."

"You will regret this. I promise you."

"Not if you kill me as you said you would."

Shepard instinctively clutched at the pistol by her side. The cool metal felt reassuring against her sweating palm.

"No." she whispered. "I won't kill you. I won't spare you the cost of your mistake."

"You are so predictable, Shepard, it's amusing. But also boring. You should have killed me the moment you walked through that door. So gullible, you make my job too easy. Take her."

Shepard was allowed only a moment of confusion before not even her reflexes could save her. She didn't see it coming. Them coming. She didn't know how many there were. But they overwhelmed her and before she knew it, her mind clouded over as the neurotoxins took their toll. Shepard was losing consciousness and fast.

"You bastard..." she was able to manage before darkness swallowed her whole. That day, the headlined read:

COMMANDER SHEPARD, MISSING IN ACTION AS WORLDS BEGIN TO DISAPPEAR. WAS SHE RIGHT, AFTER ALL?


A/N: And so it ends. Yes. The end. No happy endings here. But I shall continue in another story. Keep a look out for the sequel, a title for which is still in the works...