Shepard woke in the dark bedroom that wasn't hers. The entire room was blank - white-painted walls, white sheets and pillows, cupboard devoid of anything of hers except the uniforms she wore to court and the Threat Analysis Office.

She never felt more like an imposter than when she put on her dress whites and all the medals from her previous life. Like she was inhabiting some other woman's life and accomplishments.

Shepard's side ached as she sat up, facing one of those blank walls. She looked down, pulling her sleep shirt up and winced. The skin had split along one of her ribs. There was dried blood on her side and the soft glow of cybernetics underneath.

Imposter. Traitor.

She looked down, at the hands on her lap. They felt like someone else's.

"Shepard."

The familiar voice was like a jolt of electricity. She turned, her heart in her mouth.

Ashley stood in the doorway in the same hardsuit she'd been wearing the day Shepard had died, dim hallway light sinking into the dark of her hair, outlining the sweep of her cheekbone, the strong profile of her nose. She was beautiful.

She wasn't meant to be here.

"Ash," Shepard began but then Ash was standing in front of her, looming over her. Her gauntleted hands were cupping Shepard's jaw and she was staring at her with intense blue eyes.

Blue? No, that was wrong.

This was all wrong.

"Ash," she began.

There was something worming beneath the copper of Ashley's skin. No - not Ashley, this couldn't be her, with the cold blue light coming out of its eyes. She tried to push it away but the grip on her face tightened - tightened -

"You betrayed me," it said in the voice of the woman she loved.

"No-" She couldn't reach the familiar buzz of her biotics, couldn't push away the iron hands, couldn't think through the pressure -

"-Shepard," a hand on her shoulder.

She came to reality abruptly, the skin on her knuckles stinging. She was on her bed in the apartment that wasn't really hers, the light on and Sergeant Vega -

Vega was half turned away from her, clutching his face.

She'd hit him, she realised.

"Mierda," he breathed and winced, "you've got a mean right hook, ma'am." There was blood trickling down his chin from a nasty split lip.

Mierda, indeed. "Shit, I'm sorry."

She was shivering, she realised, clammy from the fading rush of adrenaline. Her side and her head hurt.

"It's okay," Vega said, "shoulda known better than to grab you when you were having a nightmare."

"Think there's a first aid kit in the bathroom," she said, lurching to her feet. Her hands were shaking.

"Shepard, that's not necessary," he said, looking a little embarrassed, "had a lot worse than a split lip-"

"I punched you in the face," she muttered, "it's the least I can do. C'mon."

The muscular Marine looked kind of hilarious, embarrassed and perched on the edge of the bathtub. The space was really too small for the two of them - she found a wad of gauze for him and some painkillers for herself and retreated to the doorway once he had it pressed to his mouth.

"Thanks," he said, muffled by the gauze.

"I'll get you some ice once it stops bleeding," she dry swallowed the pills. Her head throbbed in time with her pulse. Maybe she'd get something cold for her head too.

"You don't have to do that," he muttered.

She smiled slightly. "Who said I'm being nice? Maybe I'm just trying to get out of more charges for assaulting my guard."

He winced. "It wasn't your fault, Shepard."

"Yeah, yeah." Once again she cursed Anderson for making sure she couldn't be mean to Vega without feeling bad about it. He was nice and genuine. She didn't know what to do with nice. He clearly had his own baggage to carry - the demotion and the all too understanding look he got in his eyes sometimes when her shit came up. But even digging into him to try and see what made him tick made her feel vaguely guilty.

"Do you...do you want to talk about it?" he asked when he'd followed her into the kitchen.

She grimaced and decided on an element of the truth. "Ever fought a husk?"

She shuddered, thinking of that blue light shining from Ash's face. Too many people were going to meet that kind of fate and there was nothing Shepard could do to stop it. The Reapers were coming, with their dragon's teeth. They were coming, and Shepard couldn't do a fucking thing to stop it.

She was playing passenger on the galactic train right to hell.

"One of my team got husked and turned into part of a Praetorian if that counts," Vega said, going for dark humour, but it fell flat. Especially by the pain in his eyes that he couldn't quite mask.

"Shit, man, I'm sorry," and she meant it, "then you get it."

"Yeah."

"Ice?" she asked, going to the freezer.

"Thanks."

She tossed it at him before getting herself an ice pack and pressing it to her sore forehead. "Fuck."

He laughed, just a little. "Yeah, tell me about it. You wanna hit the gym before you have to be in court?"

At least her guard liked the gym as much as she did.

"Nah. Think today is going to be tiring enough as it is."

"Right, your ex is testifying."

She grimaced. She hadn't seen Ash since that night on the Citadel, and hadn't had a word from her since. Now they were going to be in the same place but unable to talk. "One of them, at least."

Rita had agreed to be a fucking character witness.

"Well," Vega smirked, "look on the bright side. How many people can say their exes would defend them in court?"

She groaned and buried her face in her hands.

Ashley had about twenty messages from her sisters and mother since Shepard's cross-examination and she hadn't replied to them yet. She'd told Abby about her and Shepard, back when she'd come home after Alchera, still raw and bleeding from it, and she was pretty sure her mother had worked it out, but Lynn and Sarah's messages had been...blind-sided.

Ash had felt blind-sided. It felt like all the private pain and love and all of it - had been dragged up and dissected for public consumption.

Hackett had told her not to worry. That he'd protect her.

She wasn't sure how comforted she was, especially now she was in full blues and medals - hell, she hadn't worn the full Navy Cross since the day she'd gotten it - and there was a Bible in her hand. She hated all these cameras. She hated that she couldn't even look at Emilia without her heart twisting painfully, without seeing that painfully blank expression Shepard always wore when everything was going to hell, without remembering that night before Shepard had thrown herself through the Omega-4 relay.

"I, Ashley Rodrigues Williams, swear that the evidence I shall give will be the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth. So help me God."

"Thank you for being here today, Staff Lieutenant," Castillo said as he stood to begin his examination. "I can appreciate how hard this must be for you. Please begin with your full name, rank, and current billet for the court."

"Staff Lieutenant Ashley Rodrigues Williams. I am currently a staff officer in the 103rd Marine Special Operations Division." Hackett had promised her another Raider team now her Spectrehood was...unlikely, but she wanted her team back, damnit.

"And how did you come to know Commander Shepard?"

Fun story to start off with. "I was a platoon sergeant in 2nd Battalion, 12th Marine Regiment." A few shifting jurors - all Marines. Everyone in the Corps fucking knew that battalion. "I was stationed on Eden Prime when the geth attacked in 2183. My...battalion, the 2/12th, was routed and mostly destroyed and I was the sole survivor of my company. The Normandy Raider team, led by Commander Shepard, found me on the battlefield and I guided them to their objective on Eden Prime."

"After the attack on Eden Prime, what posting did you undertake?"

"I was reassigned to the Normandy as the Marine Detachment NCO on Staff Lieutenant Kaidan Alenko's recommendation."

"How long did you serve on the Normandy?"

"About a year."

"And in that time," Castillo sucked air through his teeth. "Did you and Commander Shepard enter into a romantic and sexual relationship?"

Vogt had made sure there was no hiding from it.

Ashley lifted her chin, ignoring the clicking of cameras. "Yes. We got together after I was commissioned. I was...going to be transferred but Alchera happened first."

Castillo turned his eyes towards the ground a moment, looking mournful. Vogt shook his head, arms crossed, with a thin, pursed-lip smile. The Shepards were getting their money's worth.

"That's awful. Tell me, did you think there was any difference between how you were treated, by Commander Shepard, before and after that relationship began?"

Ash frowned. "In private, sure, we were together and she treated me as an equal. But we talked pretty extensively about the need to keep our professional relationship like it was. She still sent me on missions and she didn't interfere with the Marine Detachment, even when I was having issues with individual Marines."

"Did any other members of the crew give you indication that they were aware of the change in your relationship?"

"Joker - Lieutenant Moreau made a comment to that effect but no one else did." She was pretty sure Talitha had known, but outside of that very oblique go for it comment prior to Ilos, her friend hadn't said anything.

"Your Marines - N5 Raiders - are generally more perceptive than non-special forces Marines, wouldn't you?"

She smiled despite herself. God, she missed those Marines. "Yeah. Part of their job, really."

"And even they didn't know?"

"No, or at least they never gave any sign that they knew, and Raiders are pretty forthright with their officers. Hell, we all know they can get rid of us if we're f - sorry, we're screw ups." Gotta reign the cursing in. This was the sanitised Navy, after all.

Vogt smirked while Castillo nodded, dropping his voice to have a more gentle tone and his wizened features became somber. "Staff Lieutenant," he said. "I need to direct your attention to Alchera. I understand if it's upsetting. Take your time with the questions if you need to. What were you doing when the attack happened?"

This hadn't been any fun when it'd been for the inquest into Alchera, and it wasn't any fun now. At least the wound had healed somewhat. At least, if she turned her head, she could see Emilia there, real and breathing.

Ash breathed in. "I was in the cargo bay, maintaining weapons with Staff Sergeant Draven."

"What was the first indication you were under attack?"

"The General Quarters alarm came on, and then shortly after the entire ship started shaking. When I heard the alarm, I immediately started suiting up and told my guys to do the same."

"What was your first instinct? Where did you go?"

"Usually in General Quarters the Marine Detachment stands to in case we're boarded, which we did, and assists the damage control team. So I went to Engineering and assisted in fire fighting between the General Quarters and when the order came down to abandon ship."

"Run me through the abandon ship procedure."

"All non essential crew evacuate first - there's escape pods on every deck - usually leaving a skeleton engineering and bridge crew while everyone gets off. Then those crew members evacuate. The last people off are usually CHENG - the chief engineer - and the captain. On a frigate the MARDET Commander, which was me obviously, is in charge of making sure the pods are checked every week and usually oversees the evacuation."

"Is that what you were doing once the abandon ship was called?"

She nodded. "Yeah. I started on deck three and made sure everyone but the crew CHENG needed were off. Unfortunately Staff Sergeant Draven refused to evacuate because her wife was still on the ship. Then I went up to Deck Two and tried to organise everything up there, which was uh...around the last time I saw Shepard."

"Did you speak to her?"

"Yeah. The CIC had been hit, and I told her that Lieutenant Moreau was refusing to evacuate from the cockpit. I...said that I wasn't gonna leave either. Didn't say it, but...I didn't want to leave without her, you know?" Her eyes burned and she struggled to keep her composure. She could feel Shepard's eyes on her like a weight. They hadn't talked about Alchera.

"Of course. Draven didn't want to leave her wife, you didn't want to leave your partner. Perfectly natural response. But you did leave, didn't you?"

"Yeah. Yeah, I did. Shepard said she needed me to get everyone onto the escape pods, that she'd get Lieutenant Moreau and...I said 'aye aye ma'am' and I went. I got off the ship, and she didn't." How often had that conversation echoed in her head over the two years that followed? How many times had she questioned why she hadn't gone with her, or reminded Shepard to put her fucking amp in?

"Even though you loved Shepard, even though you didn't want to leave the ship without her… You knew your duty. Do you regret leaving without Shepard?"

"I...made the decision I had to. There were other peoples' lives riding on me. I was responsible for them. If I'd saved Shepard but others had died in her place...I don't think either of us could've lived with that." It was the hard truth. She could feel Shepard's eyes on her.

"Do you think your personal relationship with Commander Shepard impacted your ability to do your duty or follow orders?"

"I never disobeyed an order from her or Pressley, or asked for special treatment," Ash said honestly, "I did evacuate the ship as best I could. So no, I don't think it did."

"That was the last time you saw Commander Shepard alive, wasn't it?"

"Yeah." She swallowed, shifting in her seat. She couldn't look over at Shepard.

"When did you next see Commander Shepard?"

"On Horizon, during the attack on the colony there, last year."

"What was she doing on Horizon?"

"The Collectors were attacking. She repaired the planetary defence cannon my team and I had installed, which damaged their battle cruiser enough it withdrew." Maybe if they'd gotten the cannon working from the start...but man, it sure was convenient that it'd hadn't worked until Shepard was there. Another of the Illusive Man's fucking tricks maybe.

"And did you speak with her when you saw her on Horizon?"

"Yeah. I'd been told by Admiral Anderson she might be alive before then...but seeing her was a shock, not gonna lie." What a fucking mess she'd felt like. A ball of anger and grief and relief and love. Afterwards she'd questioned everything - how well she'd known Shepard, their relationship. What did you do when the love of your life came back to life like a fucking miracle but wearing the wrong uniform?

But it had been real. She knew that because it still hurt.

Castillo chuckled. "I bet. Did you talk about her ties to Cerberus?"

"We did, yeah. We argued a bit about it. She told me she was only using their resources to look into the colony disappearances."

"Because no one in the Alliance was going to?"

Vogt stood. "I believe my learned friend is questioning the Staff Lieutenant, not the literal, entire Systems Alliance."

"That is true, Mr Castillo, you may not ask that question."

"Of course, Your Honour. Did Commander Shepard indicate how she felt towards the Alliance?"

"She said she didn't defect, but she felt like she had to do something about the colonies that were disappearing. She was pretty insistent she wasn't a traitor."

"When did you see her next, after Horizon?"

"A few months later, on the Citadel. She came to my apartment."

"I imagine you had a more in-depth conversation at that time?"

Ash shifted uncomfortably. That was one way to put it. "Yeah, we talked a little then. I didn't feel as...blindsided I guess. She said she couldn't come back to the Alliance until she'd dealt with the Collectors because they'd kidnapped some of her crew."

"Did she give any indication when you spoke that it was more than words? She had real intent to return to the Alliance?"

"She gave me a OSD with details on two Cerberus cells and research data on the Collectors. The info panned out - both cells were successfully destroyed by Alliance forces. In addition she gave me - uh, it's classified top secret. Am I allowed to say this to the court?" God her head hurt with all the rules involved in this.

"Uh, what you're referring to there is something that cannot be stated in court. Your Honour," Castillo directed his attention to the bench. "As it would be prejudicial to my client to not have this particular piece of evidence adduced by this witness, I seek leave to directly address the jury in a quick submission to stress the importance of the intelligence that was given to Staff Lieutenant Williams by Commander Shepard."

Vogt couldn't argue. He didn't even know what this intelligence was let alone how to fight that.

"Unorthodox, Mr Castillo, but you have the leave of the court."

"Thank you, Your Honour. As the witness stated, there was intelligence taken directly by Commander Shepard and given to Staff Lieutenant Williams. The intelligence relating to the cells is classified, but allowed by the Navy to be adduced in court. The other… item of intelligence is an incredibly high-tech piece of equipment that is classified top secret. I cannot stress enough that this would have been the crown jewel of Cerberus technology, which was stolen by Shepard and given to Lieutenant Williams."

The jury shifted.

"Did you have any doubts at all, that Commander Shepard intended on returning to the Alliance after the intelligence she gave to you to pass on?"

"No," Ash said softly, "No doubt."

With a self-satisfied smile, Castillo nodded. He looked as if he was pleased with Ashley's testimony so far. "We'll perhaps just jump back to Commander Shepard's career, as you understand it."

Castillo had spent the rest of the morning asking Ashley questions of a more mundane nature - what she thought of Shepard and whether she thought Shepard was a reasonable person or a good leader. It was a fairly stock standard affair and then the court had been adjourned for an hour for lunch.

Even though her testimony had been fair, and clearly what Castillo had hoped for, the entire time, Ashley hadn't looked at Shepard. Shepard however, could barely look away from her. The moment she'd stepped into the courtroom, beautiful and stern in her neat dress blues, Shepard's chest had squeezed tight at the sight of her.

When they were back in session, Ash was sworn in once more and Vogt had the chance to cross.

"I hope lunch was good, Staff Lieutenant," Commander Vogt said.

Castillo objected. "Your Honour, this is a vacuous display that serves the factfinder no purpose."

Shepard hid a smile.

"You sound as if you have swallowed a thesaurus," the Judge glowered, "but I have no choice but to agree with you. Limit statements and questions to the proceedings please."

"Yes Your Honour… Staff Lieutenant, how old are you?"

"Twenty-nine."

"Do you happen to know how old the Accused is?"

Ash raised an eyebrow. "Thirty-one."

A three year age gap. Scandalous.

"When did you join the Marine Corps?"

"November 2174, when I was eighteen."

"And again, do you happen to know whenabouts the Accused join the SAMC?"

"Sometime in 2172."

"Would you please describe your service history, as briefly as possible - when you first joined, where you were posted, what were you doing, etcetera, from enlistment to the Eden Prime War."

"Sure. I trained as an infantry Marine after enlisting in 2174 and was posted first to Terra Nova with the 3/20th. In 2177 I attended Scout-Sniper training and was transferred to the 1/1st on Luna. In 2180, after being promoted to Sergeant I was transferred to the 2/23rd on Czarnobóg Fleet Depot and was part of the relief force from that station to Tiptree, which is when I was awarded my Combat Action Ribbon. In 2182 I was transferred to the 2/12th on Eden Prime."

"So the first time you saw combat in the Marine Corps was after six years, even though you were already a sergeant?"

"Yeah."

Shepard watched the way she frowned and shifted. Ashley's confidence had grown in leaps and bounds from when they'd first met, when she'd still felt like she'd never be good enough for the Alliance, but it was clearly still a sore spot.

"I won't ask the same question in specific detail, but generally, are you aware of the Accused's service record?"

"Yes."

"Has Commander Shepard ever told you the story of her Star of Terra award?"

"We've talked about it, yeah. She felt the media reports were distorted from what she really experienced. To be honest, we talked about Akuze more."

Vogt smiled. "Were you awed when you met Commander Shepard, and realised who she was?"

The frown came back. "...a little, yeah, when I first came aboard."

Shepard could barely remember that. The brief moment of hero worship had quickly morphed into more than a bit of teasing. Ashley had always kept her on her toes.

"We don't blame you. Star of Terra, lone survivor, red stripe… And you were a Marine who'd been relegated to a garritrooper position for most of your career." Vogt breathed in, deep. He had to play this just right or he could get himself into trouble. "Did you know Commander Shepard had been married prior to taking command of the Normandy?"

"Yes."

"And you were aware that marriage was to another woman?"

"Sure. I don't know what it's like in JAG, but in the fleet, someone's sexuality wasn't something commented on and Commander Shepard, myself, and any of the other LGBT crew members didn't hide it." Ashley arced one dark eyebrow.

SHepard couldn't help the smirk that leapt to her lips at that.

The barb stung Vogt, somewhat. JAG and the other support and admin divisions of the military were often considered to not be the 'real' military - Vogt didn't even get a nickname until he served on a warship.

But he ignored it, not letting his expression change. "Were you wary that Commander Shepard might try to sleep with you?"

"Your Honour, I really don't think this line of questioning is necessary!"

"We heard in chief that Staff Lieutenant Williams' and the Accused relationship didn't have any negative effects on the ship or the crew. I'd say the existence of, and the depth of it, is entirely within the realm of relevance," Vogt shot back.

"Mr Vogt is correct, Mr Castillo. As distasteful as you may find it, you opened this door when you adduced evidence in relation to it."

"Thank you, Your Honour." He looked back to Ash. "Well, Staff Lieutenant?"

"I...no? I didn't think at any point she was trying to seduce me."

Shepard had done her best to ignore her own feelings back then, right up until grief, a bit of alcohol and some time alone had unravelled all her denial.

"But clearly Commander Shepard did, or nothing would ever have materialised between the two of you, don't you agree?"

"I was attracted to her, but I initiated the conversation about us starting a relationship." Ashley shrugged.

If it had been up to Shepard, she had to admit to herself, they'd probably still be dancing around how they felt about each other. She'd kissed Ashley first but it had always been Ash who'd dared to come closer, to be vulnerable.

"Maybe, but she was the Star of Terra recipient, the N7, the Commander. She was the war hero divorcee. She was the one who would get into the most trouble if you were discovered. If she initiated and you rejected her and told someone, she might have been punished. Discharged or jailed even. She had plenty of experience-."

"Is there a point here?!" Castillo demanded.

"Is there, Mr Vogt?"

"Yes Your Honour. This is it. With all her experience at being an officer, a Marine, and a married woman, isn't it possible you acted precisely in the way she intended?" Vogt stressed the 'she'.

"I always felt safe and like she listened to me," Ash looked off-balance for a moment, and of course Vogt bounced on it.

"Perhaps that was exactly how she wanted you to feel. Perhaps she wanted to charm you so that you would make the first move."

"Your Honour," blustered Castillo, "my friend is not asking questions!"

"When speaking to a witness, Mr Vogt, please limit dialogue to questions."

"Do you think Commander Shepard intended to enter into a relationship with you?"

"Your Honour, again I must object, this witness-"

"I'll rephrase," Vogt cut in. "Did Commander Shepard indicate to you that she intended to enter into a relationship with you?"

Shepard wondered if she ought to be flattered that they thought she was some kind of seductress.

"No. Nothing she said to me indicated that to me."

"So you had to be the one to initiate?"

"This feels like Groundhog Day," she said caustically, dark eyes sharpening, "Yes, I initiated our relationship."

"And when you initiated, did you worry about your career? About getting in trouble?"

"Yeah, sure. My career is important to me. That's why I wanted to be transferred, so we could do things the right way," she replied, leaning back in her seat.

"But you continued your relationship even when you were still on the Normandy. She could have masted you for even approaching the topic, but you went for it anyway. Why?"

"I was in love," Ash shrugged. "We'd both nearly died. I felt the risks were worth it."

Shepard tried to hide the flinch at the was.

After a few seconds of careful consideration, Vogt asked, "You were in love…" He paused for effect. "Or you were both in love?"

"I can't speak for Shepard, but we were in a pretty serious, committed relationship," she said.

Of course I love you, she wanted to say.

"When did you complete Raider training and earn the Raider designation?"

"April 2184."

"2184?" Vogt repeated, surprised. It was part of the act, he had to have Ashley's service record right in front of him. "But you were MARDET Commander on the Normandy for a Raider Platoon in 2183, weren't you?"

"Yes."

"You weren't technically qualified for that position, were you?"

"Your Honour, this again appears to be an attempt to discredit my witness' testimony!"

"Not at all. Your Honour, my friend adduced that this officer was exemplary in the position, the prosecution doesn't disagree."

"I'll allow the question," the Judge said, peering down at Castillo.

"No, I wasn't technically qualified for it," she admitted.

Ashley had been the right choice then, Shepard still felt that. The Normandy Marines had trusted her and her mix of scout-sniper training and competence had meant she'd kept up on missions. Marines like Ashley Williams were far and few between.

Vogt spread his arms wide. "The Accused knew you lacked the specific, required designation and rating to perform the role and yet kept you on her ship for months, in that role?"

"Yeah, but it wasn't - I was the most senior Marine on the ship after Kaidan's death. That's why I took over," she shifted uncomfortably.

"And you were then appointed as a Lieutenant, on merit. But shouldn't the Accused have simply sent you away and traded for an infantry officer who had the necessary qualifications?"

"Your Honour, that's not something I feel this witness should speak to."

"Your Honour, if my friend had been in the military, he would know I am simply asking for the witness to attest to what protocol the military would require a commanding officer in the Accused's position at the time to follow."

"The question is allowed, however, Mr Castillo is a guest in our court, Mr Vogt, and I will not allow you to condescend to him due to never having served himself," the judge said crossly.

"Maybe she should have," Ash said with gritted teeth, "but I know we had a conversation where we discussed that neither of us wanted to replace both the MARDET CO and NCO at the same time when they were struggling with the KIAs we'd taken. I wasn't technically qualified, but I'd led them in battle. They trusted me. They were my guys. I was appointed because I did a good job in the latter part of the Eden Prime War."

"That is true. But the fact remains that you should have been transferred, and weren't and shortly after your promotion on merit, the Accused commenced an inappropriate relationship with you. Perhaps all of that contributed to your desire to have a relationship with the Accused?"

Ash's expression darkened. "I disagree with that assessment of the situation."

"Be that as it may, Staff Lieutenant," he looked down at the desk, composed but avoiding Ash's hard gaze, "those are the facts."

After Shepard's very long, no good day in court, after Ashley Williams had disappeared from her life again as abruptly as she'd reappeared, Vega had brought Shepard pizza. Pepperoni. The logo on the box was faintly familiar, like she should remember it. Maybe she'd eaten there when she'd lived on Arcturus Station. She didn't think too hard about the fact that she couldn't be sure.

She smiled at Vega and ate, because she was grateful that he didn't treat her like a genocidal lunatic, but she could barely taste it. She thought about Ashley in her dress blues and the pain in her voice when she'd spoken about Alchera, about I was in love. The 'was' felt like a knife in the gut.

It was stupid, to be so preoccupied with her own broken heart when she was on trial for mass murder and the galaxy was about to end. She'd thought she'd pushed it down during the mission to destroy the Collectors.

The thing about being under house arrest was the fact it gave her far too much time to think.

"Want me to get you a vid?" Vega asked, because she didn't have extranet access here.

She shook her head. "Think I'm just gonna go get some sleep."

If she could sleep.

When Vega was gone, she laid on the bed and stared at the white-painted ceiling.

Would the dreams come back? What was she kidding, the dreams always came back. She huffed out a breath and turned onto her side, thinking again of Ash's testimony - and the glimpse of raw pain in her eyes. How had things ended up like this? She'd killed the Collectors, or at least most of them, but she could never get back what they'd taken from her. From both of them.

Ugh. She huffed out a breath and turned onto her side, staring at the soft glow of the holographic alarm clock besides her bed. Her life was again as regimented as it had been in basic training or even N training, that alarm buzzing her awake everyday. She imagined it'd be worse in prison.

Castillo seemed to think Ash's testimony was key to disproving the treason charges at least. Ironic, considering who had called her a traitor on Horizon...

Maybe she ought to just be grateful Ash was willing to defend her.

Shepard closed her eyes and breathed in. Breathed out. She needed to sleep. A pity that house arrest had just given her mind plenty of time to grind its gears. Don't think about Ash. Don't think about her brother or her grandparents. None of them had visited, only Anderson and Hannah.

That wasn't exactly not thinking about it.

Shepard froze when she heard a soft hiss from the other room. Had that been the door opening? Was Vega back? Had he forgotten something?

Seconds passed but she couldn't hear the now familiar tread of Vega's boots - and he usually called out when he entered the apartment. Was she hearing things?

Just what she'd need. Plenty of people already thought she was a basket case.

In the next moment, she knew she wasn't imagining it. Someone was standing in the doorway, little more than a figure formed out of deeper shadows. She couldn't tell if they were human or some other species. Her heart pounded hard in her chest.

Shepard reached for the familiar buzz of her biotics but there was nothing - just the deadened numbness of the inhibitor.

Fuck.

The figure moved, arm raised - a glint in the low, low light-

Shepard threw herself out of the bed and at the figure. They toppled to the ground, Shepard on top, the breath driven from the other person's lungs in a distinctly male groan. Then there was a flash of red hot pain in Shepard's arm-

Definitely a knife.

They grappled in a deadly silence. Shepard could only make out vague outlines of her enemy through the faint light from the open door and the alarm clock but there was something on his face. A visor probably. Bastard probably had a night vision filter on.

She struck out blindly, feeling her knuckles split when they hit teeth, knocking several loose. This time the guy did cry out -

His fist impacted with her side, hard. Then he drew back his arm and there was something warm trickling down her side and there was the glint in his fist in the full light -

He'd stabbed her. Fucker! Somehow he now had her pinned.

His hand came down again. Raised again. Warm droplets on her face from the swing, copper on her tongue.

The pain and the rage and the frustration came bubbling up, all of it. She saw red. She struck out, hard as she could, roughly where she thought his head or his throat was.

He made a horrible choking noise when her fist connected and she felt more than saw the way he faltered, his free hand going for his throat. She found his knife arm, wet with her blood, and forced his wrist back roughly. He screamed when it snapped.

She was going to kill this motherfucker. Now she was on top of him in the dark. She hit him, putting all her weight and fury behind it. Something crunched under her fist. She hit him again. Again -

Eventually he stopped moving.

For a moment she just stopped, the only noise the rasp of her own breathing. Then she pushed off and tried to stand. Her legs felt weak, like a newborn foal's.

Fuck. Okay. She scrabbled for the light switch, blinking against the sudden flood of harsh white light.

The man on her bedroom floor was dead.

Dead, and wearing an Alliance Marine uniform with a MP patch on his sleeve. His face was unrecognisable, but he had dark hair, just like one of the MPs that had been guarding Shepard's door that evening.

The pain came then, fire burning in her side, radiating until she could barely think. She pressed a hand into her side and gritted her teeth. Fuck. She needed help, quickly, or she'd die, and that would just be embarrassing.

There were MPs outside her apartment - no, no, one of them was dead on her floor, the other had to have been in on it or was already incapicitated.

Where was her omnitool? Right, on her bedside table, next to the alarm clock. It had been locked so she could only use certain apps and call certain numbers. Her mother, Anderson, Castillo and-

Vega.

Shepard propped herself against the wall and pressed his name on her contacts list.

CODEX ENTRY

Alliance News Network Aggregator March 2186:

SYSTEMS ALLIANCE REQUESTS MEDIATION

Alliance News Network - The Shastri government has formally requested the Citadel Council mediate between the Systems Alliance and the batarian Hegemony ove issues arising from the destruction of the Bahak system. The Hegemony has demanded the Alliance pay reparations for those killed, make a formal apology and hand over the alleged perpetrator, Commander Emilia Shepard.

"The destruction of the Bahak System was a terrible tragedy," a spokesperson for the Department of Foreign Affairs stated, "but it was not an act of the Alliance government. We welcome the mediation of the Citadel Council and will abide by its decision."

The reaction from the Hegemony has been critical. Lord Kales Haronek, speaking on behalf of the Hegemon, stated, "The Alliance is a member of the Citadel Council, whereas the batarian people have no ties to it. How can such a mediation be balanced? The Alliance says it wishes to see justice as we do, but refuses to hand over the mass murderer that wears its uniform."

HARIBON MILITARY INDUSTRIES EXECUTIVE ARRESTED

Future Content Corporation - Jacob Houghton, the chief financial officer of Haribon Military Industries, was today arrested by federal agents on racketeering charges. Federal prosecutors alleged that Houghton assisted in money laundering and weapons trafficking on behalf of the terrorist organisation Cerberus. Haribon Military Industries is a Terra Nova based defence contractor that has come under increasing scrutiny from federal investigators in the last year over its alleged ties to Cerberus.

TERRA FIRMA SPEAKS OUT IN SUPPORT OF COMMANDER SHEPARD

Arcturus Journal - The Terra Firma party has released a statement supporting the currently incarcerated naval officer Commander Emilia Shepard, who is accused of destroying the Bahak System and charges related to working for the terrorist group Cerberus.

Charles Saracino, one of the MPs for Spacers and current leader of the party, said at a press conference: "Commander Shepard is a hero, not a criminal. She has saved millions of lives over her career. She even died for her country, and now her country puts her on trial at the word of the batarians? The same people who've killed our families for years? It's ridiculous."