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In the shuttle, Shepard's comm link buzzed. She ignored it, still humming that little piece of a tune, staring blankly at the displays in front of her. Liara was equally lost in despair. Eventually Garrus hit his own comm. "Joker, that you trying to get in touch with Shepard?"

"Yeah. She— Garrus, Shepard's not …"

"Physically fine. Losing Thessia, and Cerberus taking the last hope of finding the Catalyst, seems to have sent her into shock."

"How's Liara?"

"Not much better."

"Well, as soon as you guys hit the ship, we're getting out of here. The asari forces are in full retreat—this system isn't going to be safe for anyone in a few minutes."

Garrus looked at Cortez, silent over the controls of the shuttle. "We'll be there in a minute. Don't leave without us."

"That's not funny."

"No. Sorry. Bad timing."

Joker clicked off, and Garrus resumed his attempt to try to get a response from either of the other two, gently shaking their shoulders.

At last, Liara blinked, wiping her tears away. "I …"

"Liara, nobody could have predicted Cerberus would reach Thessia before us."

"I should have. I'm the Shadow Broker! I should have known! I'm supposed to predict what will happen so we don't run into these situations." She swallowed hard against a fresh bout of tears. "And now Thessia is lost, as is our data on the Catalyst."

"If you want to blame someone for this, blame the asari councilor," he told her grimly. "If she had told us about this temple months ago, this war might already be over."

"Did we just assume the asari would be ready? That the Council would protect them? I … should have looked more closely at Thessia, should have guessed that something, some secret, some answer, would be there. Or was I so busy with the rest of the galaxy that I ignored my own people? I've failed them, I've failed you—" She looked past him at Shepard. "I failed her terribly."

Garrus took Liara's shoulders gently in his hands, looking her in the eye. "You are not responsible for the attack on Thessia. Just like I'm not responsible for the attack on Palaven, and Shepard's not responsible for the attack on Earth. Everyone's homes, everyone's people, have suffered in this war. Yours are no exception." He shook his head angrily. "We've all been warning people for years. They didn't listen, because they didn't want to hear it. There's not a damn thing any one of us has to feel guilty about."

"You feel strongly about this."

"I damn well do," he snapped. "And if now isn't the time to get mad, I don't know when would be. I don't know about you, but I want to go after that damned Cerberus assassin, beat the information about the Catalyst out of him, finish the Crucible, kill the Reapers—and tell the rest of the galaxy 'we told you so' for the rest of a very long and satisfying life."

"Hear, hear," Cortez said quietly. He was standing in front of them. Garrus hadn't noticed him get up, or that they were safely docked aboard the Normandy. "We're all with you, Garrus." He looked down at Shepard. "We need to get her to the med bay, have Dr. Chakwas look at her."

Garrus put an arm around Shepard's shoulders, trying not to let on how sick at heart he was seeing her like this. "Lead the way," he said to Cortez.

Liara followed them off the shuttle. "I'm going to go see what I can do about helping to coordinate evacuations from Thessia and organize the refugees. I'll be in my quarters if … if you need me." She gave a worried glance at Shepard, then hurried off.

Before they reached the elevator, Garrus's comm buzzed. Traynor's voice came through. "Garrus, the asari councilor is on the line, she wants to speak to Shepard in the War Room. What should I tell her?"

"Tell her to go to—"

"Wait." Shepard's voice was thin and wavery, but it was hers. "Traynor, tell her I'll be there in a minute."

Garrus clicked off his comm. "Are you sure? You aren't exactly—"

"None of us is." She pushed his hands away, walking shakily ahead. "I have to … I have to do this on my own."

He wanted to go with her, to tell the asari councilor where she could put her inevitable questions and complaints, but he knew Shepard wouldn't let him. He loved that about her, even while he despaired that somehow this war would leave her broken under the weight of too many people's responsibilities.

Vega came up behind him. "Everyone on this ship knows she did all she could."

"Except her."

"We all know what it's like to lose like that, though."

Garrus nodded. "Except her."

"She knows we're with her, right? Whatever it takes to get that data back from Cerberus, whatever it takes to end this."

"Yeah. She knows. It's the only thing keeping her on her feet right now."

Vega clapped him on the shoulder. "You all right? That must have been hard, down there."

"It was." He knew he would have nightmares about seeing Shepard sliding down the ruined floors of that crumbling temple, and about the blankness in her eyes after Kai Leng took off. He owed Kai Leng for that, and for Thane. "I'm just so sick of Cerberus beating us to the punch."

"You and me both, brother. Let's kick 'em in the balls first for a change!"

"Now you're talking. Come on."

"Where are we going?"

"Up to the War Room. We're going to get Shepard good and mad and figure out a way to take Kai Leng and the Illusive Man and all of Cerberus out once and for all."

Vega pounded his fists together. "I'm in. Time for Cerberus to go down for good."

As they rode the elevator up to the CIC, Garrus only hoped that somehow it could be that easy. If not … he wasn't sure Shepard would survive a war she couldn't win.