A/N: Noticed several silly typos in the last two chapters in some of the later-written material that wasn't over-edited. I'll be running some revisions on those two.
Also, to answer the couple of questions I've gotten: What sort of writer would I be if I was doing all this beautiful foreshadowing and didn't deal with Arrival?
And for those who were disappointed that Shepard didn't get to ream the Council, don't worry. It just takes over three-hundred thousand deaths to make her snap. :)

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Chapter 49: Leads in the Chase

They'd just finished another unremarkable wild-goose-chase of a mission and then been forced to explain the term to the alien team members. Shepard spent an hour hurling a pillow at her tank while muttering obscenities under her breath.

Once her frustration was sated she emerged, checked vital stations, and made her way to the cockpit.

"Where's Jack?" She glanced at the biotic's usual perch. Joker shrugged.

"In Engineering. She said she had to take care of something. Figured it was better to not ask."

"Probably."

"So, EDI learned a new trick."

Shepard glanced at the AI's platform. "EDI?"

"Shepard. To further facilitate understanding and interaction with the crew, I have adopted the use of color as an indicator of emotional interaction."

Shepard arched an eyebrow. Joker chuckled. "We shoulda unshackled her a long time ago, if you ask me."

"Please. Up until a month and a half ago you hated her."

"True. So, what brings you up here?"

"How far are we out from the relay?"

He frowned. "Seventeen. This last one was pretty far out."

"Yeah." Shepard sighed heavily. "I know."

"Where're we headed?"

Shepard scoffed. "Another bullshit remote world that's probably a waste of our time and energy."

Joker sighed. "Great. My favorite." He glanced up at her. "You know, you've looked like something's been bothering you for a while."

She didn't mince words. "We're gonna get massacred by the Reapers."

"Something else."

Shepard sighed, crossing her arms. "Last time we were on the Citadel I . . . Kaidan went out with someone. It shouldn't bother me. I was dead, I don't blame him. And then there was Lilith, that colonist we rescued from Horizon, and . . . I don't know why I keep thinking about this. It's stupid."

"Are you seriously comparing yourself – holy shit! You're female!" Joker held up his hands. "Shit! It's amazing!"

"I hate you."

"I know. Okay, look, what was her name?"

"Doctor Henry. Annalyse Henry."

Joker typed the name into the extranet. "Look. All academic hits, right? Now if we type your name in . . ."

#

A knock sounded at Miranda's door. "Come in." It zipped closed, prompting her to finally look up.

"You called?" Shepard asked, sinking into the chair across from her.

"Are you okay?"

Shepard paused, the shell-shocked look receding slightly from her eyes. "Yeah." She shook her head. "Joker reminded me why I never search the extranet for my name."

"Oh." Miranda winced.

"What did you need?"

"One of my remaining contacts in Cerberus intel forwarded me something your friend Liara might be interested in. Take a look."

Shepard watched the vid intently, one of her fingers tapping the back of the datapad. "She'll certainly be happy to get her little blue hands on this. I'll tell Joker to change course for Illium."

"What's our plan?"

"The Shadow Broker would be a valuable ally. If there's a way to resolve Liara's issues with him –" Shepard trailed off when she realized that Miranda was quiet, staring out her window. "Is there something you want to tell me?"

"Huh?" Miranda jumped, redirecting her attention. "Sorry. I just do not believe that the Shadow Broker will be inclined to work with us."

"Why not? I'm sure he isn't fond of me but –"

"We – I have evidence that he was working with the Collectors." Miranda's discomfort seemed to be multiplying with each word she spoke. Shepard arched one of her eyebrows.

"What sort of evidence?"

"I . . . witnessed a deal brokered between one of his agents and one of the possessed Collectors – those that we know were possessed by a Reaper. I-I can't say more."

"You have no need to protect Cerberus secrets anymore, Miranda."

She shook her head. "It isn't Cerberus I'm protecting."

"Fine." Shepard stood. "I trust it isn't important . . . and if it becomes important, you'll inform me immediately."

"Absolutely."

#

". . . So I've just finished hoping there isn't an afterlife and that, if there is, humans and turians don't go to the same one when I look back through my scope and spot Shepard standing in the middle of this open area between the barricades, staring at the bridge and scratching her head. She's got no idea that it's me up there, and she's just standing there while there's a sniper who can headshot people who are standing right where she is."

Tali chuckled. "That certainly sounds like Shepard."

"The mercs at the barricade started to get suspicious – usually I would have killed her by now – so I take her shields down."

"You shot her?"

"Only a concussive round, Alenko. By the time she made it over and found out it was me she thought it was hilarious." Garrus shrugged. "Then I tried to catch a gunship round with my face. Definitely thought she was going to kill me for that."

"Hell, Garrus, you don't need that side of your face to shoot." They jumped as Shepard slid into the seat next to Kaidan, coffee mug clenched in her hand. "Besides, I keep you around in the vain hope that an asari'll hit on you instead of me. Hasn't worked yet."

"Poor Shepard. Can't walk off a ship without getting mobbed by asari." Shepard glared at the turian, who held up his talons.

"You complain about it every time we head to Illium. Don't deny it," Tali said, her light laugh coloring her words.

"It isn't my fault that asari are fascinated with me for some crazy, unknown reason," she grumbled, rubbing her forehead.

"You okay?" Kaidan had picked up on her discomfort. She glanced at him, then rubbed an invisible speck of dirt on the table.

"We're headed to Illium so I can fulfill my monthly quota of asari," Shepard quipped, earning a few laughs. "No. We have intel for Liara on the Shadow Broker. I'm hoping we can resolve her issues with him and get him on our side."

"You don't sound hopeful," Garrus noted.

Shepard shook her head. "Miranda seems convinced that he won't help us. She says she saw his operatives involved in a deal with the Collectors. While it wouldn't surprise me if Cerberus, since that was where the info originated, just wanted the Broker out of the way, it brings up some interesting questions. Like, 'how did Cerberus end up with my body?'"

There was a short silence as Shepard downed half her coffee in one swallow.

"You think the Shadow Broker was involved?" Kaidan asked.

"I just know that the Collectors wanted my body, Liara got a personality transplant, and Miranda looks awfully uncomfortable talking about the Shadow Broker. Call me paranoid, but . . ." Shepard shook her head. "I think those things might be related."

"Now that you mention it," Garrus started, rubbing his cybernetic mandible thoughtfully. "Liara really was the only one of us who didn't seem surprised to see you. I thought I was hallucinating from not sleeping for several days when you showed up."

"I thought something had gotten into my suit," Tali added.

"You yelled at me."

"I did not . . ." Kaidan sighed, and shook his head. "Okay. Maybe I did."

"Do you think Liara had anything to do with it?" Tali asked. "Cerberus and the Shadow Broker?"

"I don't know. I was dead." Shepard shrugged. "How was she after the Normandy went down?"

"She sobbed incessantly all the way back to Arcturus," Tali answered. "I don't think she stopped until after your memorial service. I almost killed her halfway between Alchera and the station. Then she just disappeared. She was furious that no one was trying to find you."

"That wasn't long before I left for Omega."

"No. Because I went back to the Flotilla around the same time."

"She did ask me if I wanted to help her find you," Garrus continued. "I told her you wouldn't want us to waste time on you, what with the Reapers coming. She yelled at me and stormed off. At least, I think she was yelling at me. It's hard to tell sometimes."

Kaidan shook his head. "She never said anything to me."

"You'd been whisked off by the Alliance by then. And you made her nervous when you took command so easily." Tali glanced at Shepard through her mask. "She asked me, too. I told her that there was no way you'd survived that explosion – the best case was that you had been pulled onto the ship that attacked us and that meant you were beyond recovery. If not, there was no way you could have survived atmo. You were gone. She asked me how I could give up on you and stormed out. The next time I spoke to her I was with you and she didn't say anything."

"She saw what Cerberus is capable of. You don't think she'd risk –"

"I don't know." Shepard shook her head, downing the rest of her coffee. "After the Liara we saw on Illium, I'm not sure I knew her as well as I thought I did."

"I guess we'll find out," Kaidan said. "Is there any more coffee left?"

#

A/N 2: Warning: I'm really not that big of a Liara fan. She was on the bottom of my favorite-characters-from-ME1-list where mostly everyone else was tied at the top spot ("Everyone Else" being the rest of the squad, Joker, Chakwas, Anderson, and Hackett). She isn't a "bad" character (I think it's hard for Bioware to come up with a "bad" character, except for maybe Elanee or Zjhave in Neverwinter Nights 2). So if you are a big Liara fan you probably aren't going to like the way I do Shadow Broker.
I think my thing with Liara in ME2 is the weird personality transplant she got which, in the psychology of the character, is totally understandable; it's just I know I would have been completely weirded out if one of my friends had started being all asari-commando on the Shadow Broker's ass and refused to tell me anything about "why" she was going asari-commando on the Shadow Broker's ass.
So that's my reasoning for what's yet to come.