To Not-Del's credit, she reacted almost instantly to the surprise attack, although not quite quickly enough.

Immediately upon their appearance, Liara had two of the Cat6 jokers up off the ground, contained in her biotics. Shepard herself pegged one in the leg and pointed her rifle at another in clear threat.

Riot, who had come up behind the galaxy map, had the man who had been pretending to be Tal Salinos snagged around the waist and lifted in one of her tentacles. She had snatched for Not-Del as well, but the woman had twisted and ducked out of the way, hand going down to draw her pistol when Haley's was planted against her ear.

"You'll want to stop right there," he said.

Slowly her hands lifted and as he relieved her of her weapons, she turned a murderous glare on Del.

"How the fuck are you still alive?" she asked in a low voice.

"Honey, I've survived a lot worse than you," Del told her. "You're barely a speed bump in my life. Everyone, weapons down and hands behind your head."

A couple of the Cat6 men began to comply, which only made Not-Del scowl even more. "Fucking cowards," she said.

"I suggest you follow suit with those 'fucking cowards,'" Haley told her.

"Or?" she asked.

"I think that's self-evident," he said coolly. "There is no way for you to get off this ship except in chains or a body bag."

"There is always another way. You don't scare-"

"Joker, status," Del said.

{We have the crew decks,} he said over the comm. {It'll take just a few minutes more to get EDI fully booted but thankfully they don't seem to have caused too much damage down here.}

With almost every word he spoke Not-Del's expression got even darker. Del, herself, began to grin. "Excellent work. Can you throw up an external scan on the galaxy map for me?"

{Sure can, one second.}

A moment later, the galaxy map flickered and was replaced by a feed from one of the dock security cameras. It showed the Normandy at the dock…and dozens of C-Sec and Alliance personnel surrounding the ship with weapons drawn.

"Open connection, please and thank you Joker."

{Happy to oblige.}

"Brooks, this is Shepard. Status?"

{We've got fifteen Alliance soldiers here courtesy of the Robert Brown, under Captain Stettler's command.}

"Sounds wonderful. How about you, Garrus?"

{Bailey and nearly every officer in C-Sec is here, Shepard. We've got more guns on the Normandy than in the entire Fifth Fleet. Prisoner transports ready and waiting.}

"You are my favorite turian."

{Naturally.}

"I suggest you listen to my CSO and get your hands behind your head," Del said, her own weapon now poised on her doppelganger's skull. "You've got no chance in hell to fool anyone that you're really me, and I have no compulsions whatsoever about airing you out. Down. Now."

"You're nothing but a useless gutter-punk and a fool," Not-Del said, but slowly obeyed, threading her fingers behind the back of her head and slowly easing down.

"Maybe," Del said. "But I'm not the one on my knees now, am I? Garrus, let them in. I got some wrists in here that need chaining."

{Copy that.}

Within seconds, C-Sec and Alliance men were swarming into the CIC, snapping bind cuffs on the Cat6 mercs. One man looked a bit warily at Riot as she lowered 'Tal Salinos' to his feet, before stepping in and cuffing him as well.

"I should have known better," 'Salinos' said, glaring at Del as he was cuffed. "You're a fucking waste, why did I expect your clone to be any better."

Not-Del scowled around darkly at him as Garrus and Bailey got hold of her, slapping a pair of heavy-duty bar cuffs on her wrists, hands behind her back, before pulling her to her feet. Garrus bent and fastened a chained set of shackles to her ankles as well as Bailey held her arm, and looked at Del.

"She really does look just like you, doesn't she?" he said.

"Ehn, I think I'm a bit taller," Del said, shipping her rifle. Liara, having let go of her two biotically held captives so they could be cuffed, gave her a bit of a coy smile.

"And far better looking," she said. Del grinned at her.

"We've got a prisoner transport just for you two," Bailey said to Not-Del and Salinos. "Nothing but the best for our pretender."

She didn't say anything in response as Bailey and the rest of the officers began to escort them out of the CIC.

"Garrus, stay here and make sure the Normandy gets pinned up and cleared of any nasty surprises, please," Del told the turian. "And help Riot scrape the men off the cargo hold roof if you can."

"Where are you going?"

"I'm going to take a sky car," she said. "Follow that prisoner transport, make sure she gets to lockup without any problems."

"I am going with you," Liara said.

"Wouldn't have it any other way," Del told her.

They headed outside on the heels of C-Sec. Several transports waited just on the end of the dock. Most of the Cat6 were herded into two smaller transports, but the one that they took the clone and 'Salinos' to was larger, and appeared to have been designed to hold krogan.

Bailey directed the pair to be loaded then lingered to speak to Shepard.

"You can take my car and follow behind," he said, gesturing to one of the C-Sec vehicles nearby. "These transports don't have drivers, so it'll be going on a set route. They also aren't the fastest so it'll take about half an hour to get there. The mercs will be taken to C-Sec lockup on Katera Ward, but your special friend will be taken to the high security lockup on the 49 blocks. There'll be four armed men in back with her, including myself, and those chains on her legs will be mag-locked to the floor, her wrists the same to the wall behind her."

"Appreciate it, Bailey."

"She'll get a full scan when she gets to lock-up too, and we'll coordinate with the Alliance to get her transferred into their hands. I don't doubt the story I heard for a minute, but it's good you're following. They may want to scan you too, not only to get your biometrics fixed but just to be absolutely sure you're you."

She nodded. "Understood. It'll be pretty clear- she doesn't have any of my cybernetic upgrades, just some implants in her brain."

"Not to mention, your tattoos," Liara said.

"Hell, they could just weigh her and know she's not you," Bailey snorted. "How she expected to get away with this just boggles my mind," Bailey agreed.

Del half grinned. "You calling me fat, Bailey?"

He laughed. "Not in a million years. I'll see you on the other side."

He stepped into the back of the transport, joining Not-Del, Not-Salinos, and three other armored C-Sec agents. Her clone had already been seated on one of the benches, the chains between her ankles fastened to the ground by mag-locks, the cuffs behind her back stuck to the wall in the same way. Her expression as she glanced over at Del was cold and unreadable. The Salinos imposter just looked pissed.

Bailey swung the doors shut, and Del and Liara went to Bailey's car. As Shepard started toward the driver's side, Liara touched her arm.

"I will drive," she said. "I have been in too many vehicles with you behind the wheel."

"Hey! I'm a good driver," Del said, reluctantly heading over to the passenger's side.

"My heart has not yet come out of my throat since that taxi on Illium," Liara told her, as they pulled their doors shut.

The transport lifted into the air and Liara guided the skycar after it. Del, arms folded, kept her eyes fixed to it.

"What do you think the Alliance will do to her?" Liara asked after a moment.

"Well, she's going to face some hefty charges. Attempted murder, about three dozen counts. Attempted murder of an Alliance captain. Impersonating an Alliance captain, impersonating a Spectre, theft of Alliance property, attempted theft of Alliance property, kidnapping, unlawful imprisonment, conspiracy, identity theft, good old fashioned every day theft- and that's not even counting the charges the Council will add on for breaking into the Archives and destroying that restaurant. There's probably another half dozen charges in there I'm not even thinking of. I'm guessing she's going to face hard labor for life, at the very least."

"Do clones even have legal rights in the Alliance?" Liara asked, and Del shrugged.

"Never looked too deep into it. That'll be a question for the Brass to figure out. To be honest, I wouldn't mind if they just pitched her into a volcano somewhere and called it good."

Liara looked at her. "Do you truly feel that way?"

"Don't you?" Del asked. "She almost killed me. Tried to kill you, my crew. My family. I don't care who the fuck she is."

"One might argue that she was being manipulated, possibly even controlled by that man pretending to be Salinos," Liara said. "It could be he implanted more into her brain that just the cybernetic implants designed to help her to learn faster."

"If she's got a control chip in her head they'll find it. If they do, they can decide how they want to approach that. Me…I don't know. Maybe I'm a terrible person, but right now I don't care if there's a control chip or not. She tried to kill my family, Liara."

"I know," Liara said softly. "And you are not a terrible person."

"You have to say that," Del said, and then smiled a little. "For some demented reason, you love me."

"I do," Liara said, with her own slight smile. "And sadly yes, the reasons I do are all demented."

Del laughed at that, and after a moment of silence Liara continued.

"That is just it, however. I know what she has done, and I know she is not you however…I cannot bring myself to actually want her dead. She deserves punishment for her actions but, well. I suppose I cannot wish death on anyone that…"

"That looks like me."

"Yes. If I had been the one cloned, would you feel the same?"

Del rolled her shoulders a little uncomfortably, then conceded. "Yeah, probably. You're probably right. You usually are."

Liara released the wheel with one hand and gently lay it on Del's arm a moment, before placing it back on the wheel. "Then we have the most important part established."

Del gave her another tired smirk, then suddenly straightened up and focused on the transport. The doors had just burst open on the back, and someone came sailing out. Liara gasped, barely missing hitting the man as he tumbled past and was gone. In the back, they could see several prone forms on the floor of the transport, and Not-Del just as she whipped Bailey across the head again with something that they couldn't quite make out.

"Fuck!" Del unfastened her restraints and grabbed the handle of the door. "Get us close!"

"Shepard!"

"Just get us fucking close!" Del shouted at her, the roar of the wind nearly drowning out her words. Liara, relieved that their route to lock up had been taking them through protected throughfares not open to vacuum, moved the skycar closer to the flapping doors of the transport. Within they only caught glimpses of the ongoing struggle. It was clear that Bailey was putting up a good fight but his face was streaked with blood and his knees were buckling. He and Not-Del seemed to be wrestling over a weapon, a fact that was only confirmed when a flash of light suddenly bloomed and something ricocheted off of the windscreen.

Shepard, unable to fire into the back of the transport for risk of hitting Bailey, half hung out of the sky car. Levering herself up over the door, she bore her teeth as Liara moved in even closer, then leapt.

As Bailey closed the transport doors and settled into a seat opposite the clone, he fixed her with a look. She ignored him, her eyes closed. The chain between her feet was mag- locked to the floor. Her hands and the thick six-inch bar of the cuffs between them, pinned behind her. Beside her, Rick seemed incensed.

"I should have known better," he said. "I should have left you floating in that damned tank, flushed you out into space. I knew you'd fuck this up somehow. And what are you looking at?"

He fixed Bailey with a glare, and the officer smiled a little at him. "I'm just happy if you keep talking," Bailey said. "I mean, I'm all for you incriminating yourself even more. Did I forget to mention the part where you have a right to remain silent? Smart guy like you, I suppose you already know that, but let me make it clear so some legal eagle doesn't try and find a loop hole. You have the right to remain silent, but by all means, keep yapping."

"You're a parasite," he said to Bailey. "A two-bit dirty cop who never did anything worth anything in his entire life. Just like her."

"You talking about our clone here?" Bailey asked, nonplussed. "Or the real Shepard?"

"Both. One's nothing but a worthless gutter-punk, and the other a useless waste of DNA."

"Oh really?" Bailey asked.

"Yes really, but I don't have the time or the crayons to explain it to you," Carter said bitterly.

"Come on, you can do better than that!" Bailey laughed. "I mean, you're scraping the bottom of the barrel here if you want to insult me."

"Seriously," one of the other C-Sec officers said. "I've heard better than that coming from vent rats no older than eleven."

"I know," Bailey said to him. "It's like he's not even trying. There's so many options here."

"Something like, 'you're the kind of person who would fail a DNA test,'" the other officer said.

"Right. Or, 'you've gotta stop using your head as just a container for your teeth."

"One of the best I heard," another of the C-Sec grunts added. "'May your ears turn into anuses and shit on your shoulders.'"

"Oh that's good," Bailey laughed. "My favorite always was 'your Daddy must have jacked off into a flower pot because you're a blooming idiot.'"

"Oh fuck off," Carter snarled, which only made them laugh harder.

"How about you all fuck off?" Not-Del said, and suddenly whipped her hand out. One of the C-Sec agents was sitting beside her, on the other side from Rick, and her fist slammed into his face hard enough to shatter his nose, before that hand dropped down. She yanked his pistol out and shot the officer sitting beside Bailey in the face.

Bailey lurched to the side, barely missing getting a bullet in his own face as she fired at him next. He snapped a bullet toward her as he did, but just after she'd fired at him she hooked her arm around the shoulders of the man whose nose she'd broken and wrenched him over until he was in front of her. Bailey's shot took him in the side of the head. She fired another shot at Bailey, the gun braced on the now dead C-Sec man's shoulders. The bullet panged by just a centimeter or so from Bailey's ear and ricocheted to nearly hit Rick, who yelled in shock. She shoved the now dead officer at Bailey, the weight nearly knocking him completely to the ground and tangling him up for a moment. That left the final C-Sec officer, who had his gun out but seemed reluctant to fire it in the enclosed van, probably for fear it would ricochet as well.

Not-Del had no such compunctions, but her next bullet wasn't aimed at him. The panel on the wall that controlled the mag-locks exploded in a rain of sparks. Instantly her foot shackles and the arm bar holding her other arm behind her back were free. Rising to her feet, the clone turned the weapon toward the final officer and he reflexively shot, the bullet skidding past her shoulder in a flash of blood and then whining off the metal just behind her.

She shot him in the face as well, and an instant after that, she had Carter.

Ignoring the thumb she'd broken to get her hand out, she hooked the bar of her cuffs around his neck and grabbed the empty cuff with her free hand, hauling him up to his feet and twisting.

He stumbled, half tripping over one of the dead men on the ground and knocked Bailey flat again just as he fired. Carter screamed as the shot hit him in the lower back, stumbled back another step as the clone shoved, and hit the doors with his shoulders and head, hard.

"Waste of DNA am I?" she asked, as Carter reeled. She whipped her hand out without bothering to look and the bar and empty cuff dangling from her other wrist cracked Bailey in the face as he started to lift his gun again. He recoiled with a cry of pain, half falling again.

"Fuck you, Rick," she said, lifting her knee to her chest and sending her boot crashing into Carter's chest, feeling ribs snap even as the transport doors broke apart and flew open.

Bailey must have lost hold of his weapon the last time she'd hit him, but the cop was not yet down. She hadn't even gotten her foot planted back down when he was suddenly there, grabbing for the gun still in her hand. Gritting her teeth, the clone shoved toward him, the two wrestling hard over the weapon. He'd nearly twisted it out of her grip when she set the loose cuff and its iron bar cracking over the side of his head again. Blood flew, and he sagged a little before struggling to recover himself, wrenching again at the gun.

It went off, neither cop nor clone noticing that it hit the windshield of the sky car just behind them; a sky car with the real Del Shepard hanging out of it, closing in fast.

The pair spun around, both almost stumbling as their feet tangled in the men laying around them. The clone recovered herself, and caught sight of Shepard just outside the gaping doors just as the woman leapt.

Using her momentum and leverage, she managed to throw Bailey to one side and snapped the pistol up toward Del's face, and pulled the trigger.