By the time Jacob managed to hobble is way to a makeshift med-bay, the trio were already preparing to leave the building. Kacey was busy talking to Brynn about something that Kaiden assumed was about their experiments or something of the like. Garrus had wandered off into one of the other rooms, helping the scientists with packing until Kacey gave the order. As for Kaiden, he stayed close by Kacey, observing several terminals at varying degrees of operational and a desk with multiple items strewn across it, including another datapad. He carefully picked up the datapad and read its contents carefully:

Personal Log: Brynn Cole

With Jacob's help, we have managed to ascertain that several of our colleagues were, in fact, killed. "Contracts terminated" is what Cerberus called it. Makeda, Scott, Daniel, Chun Hei, Anikka…and so many others I didn't even know about. All of them gone, disappeared without a trace. Just like that.

We should have left sooner. I don't know why we waited so long. I can't remember what seemed so important that we had to stay just one more day…

What was I thinking?

He was horrified. So that's why they were so desperate to escape. That's why Brynn said they were 'signing each other's death warrants' as she put it. The Illusive Man…he killed them. All those scientists who did as he asked. They died. Murdered by Cerberus once they were no longer useful to him.

'But how did Kacey and Joker escape?'

He didn't know the real reason Kacey was under house arrest on Earth. He always assumed it was because she co-operated with Cerberus. Even when he tried asking Admiral Anderson, he never got a straight answer from him. It seemed that it was something that only Kacey and Admiral Hackett knew about. He doubted that the house arrest would've deterred Cerberus, so however those two managed it, they were lucky compared to the scientists.

"Found something?"

Kaiden jumped and turned to see Kacey standing behind him, a smile on her face. He quickly regained his composure as he showed Kacey the datapad.

"Found two of these things," Kaiden said, "Looks like they weren't kidding about the Illusive Man wanting to kill them."

Kacey skimmed through the datapads, her face grim.

"Seems to be a pattern these days," she murmured, "all the more reason to get them out of here."

"Agreed."

"Come on, I'm going to check on Jacob before we leave." Kacey said, walking towards the med-bay.

"You sure?"

"You don't have if you don't want to," Kacey said, "I just think you could do some…socialising."

"Oh hardy har!" Kaiden replied amused, "Okay, okay I'm coming."

The pair entered the med-bay where Jacob was seated with a couple of bandages around his leg.

"Hey." Kacey said as both she and Kaiden approached Jacob, "You okay? How have you been?"

"This is crazy." Jacob replied, "I didn't think I'd ever see you again."

"I know the feeling," Kacey replied, "So how'd you end up here?"

"Long story." Jacob replied, "It was an opportunity I couldn't resist for the people I came to care about. These are great people. Defending their ideals…I like it. I think I found what I'm meant to do."

"That's good to hear," Kacey replied. "Do you still think about what happened to your dad?"

Kaiden looked confused. He assumed that Kacey would get to this part eventually, but right now, he was curious. Jacob's face fell.

"Haunts me, more like." He replied solemnly.

"How long have you known Brynn?" Kaiden asked, deciding to speak up. Jacob turned his attention to the biotic.

"We met through a mutual friend in the Mumbai cell." Jacob explained, "Guess I've known her a year. We had a lot in common and got on with each other well. Then, she came to me about her missing colleagues. Asked for my protection, my help finding a place to run to, how could I say no?"

"You did the right thing." Kaiden said.

"Yeah, I agree," Kacey added, "but I've got to ask; how did you end up here? Leaving Cerberus and all? I mean, you were singing their praises when we were chasing the Collectors."

"About that," Jacob sighed, "after we got back…well, things look different when you come back from a suicide mission alive."

"Yeah, I know the feeling." Kacey replied solemnly. Kaiden noticed how she avoided both his and Jacob's gaze as the latter continued.

"So, I quit Cerberus." Jacob explained, "I quit everything and sat by the Mediterranean for a while. That's when I lost track of you."

"I was under house arrest so I guess you could say that I had some relaxation of my own," Kacey replied, "So, what did all that fresh air and meditation teach you?"

"That what I choose to fight for better mean something to me—that it come from the heart."

"You could come with us if you want."

"It's real tempting Shepard, but I like where I'm at," Jacob replied, "I'm important to these people. I want a life. I want a family.

"Sure. I get that."

"No, Shepard. The Normandy's your real love." Jacob turned to Kaiden with a smirk, "Or should I say—"

"Don't even." Kacey replied flustered. Jacob laughed as Kaiden also looked away. Did everyone know about it?

"Well, I better find Garrus so we can get those AA guns online," Kacey said walking off, "See you in two."

Once Kacey had turned the corner, Jacob turned to face Kaiden, looking rather amused.

"Is she gone yet?" He asked.

"Yeah, why?" Kaiden asked, confused.

"I was going to say it earlier, but she interrupted me," Jacob replied, "I thought I recognised you outside."

"How? We've never met until now."

"The Commander had a photo of you in her quarters," Jacob laughed, "Amongst some other random pictures of people I don't recognise. She was pretty mad when I saw it."

"So that's why people aren't allowed in her quarters," Kaiden mused, "I didn't know."

"Yeah, I can imagine," Jacob replied, "All I know, is that you were at Horizon when the Collectors attacked, and Shepard rushed over there as fast as she could. Only time I've ever saw her like that."

"So, I've heard."

"Believe what you want," Jacob replied, "Either way, it was nice to meet you."

"Likewise." Kaiden replied.

…

"What would these people have done if we hadn't shown up?" Garrus asked as the trio ran down the dimly lit, red hued hallway.

"They probably wouldn't have made it," Kaiden replied, "They had no hope of getting through this on their own."

"Looks that way." Kacey said as she climbed up the ladder.

Kaiden followed Kacey up the ladder and stopped as she held her hand up by the corner of the area. He could faintly hear movement coming from around the corner. He peered round to see several Cerberus operatives patrolling the area, blissfully unaware of the heavily armed trio of veteran soldiers behind them.

"Got the jump." Garrus whispered. Kacey signalled for Garrus to draw his sniper rifle while instructing Kaiden to move into cover closer to the enemy. He did as he was asked and quietly snuck over without alerting the Cerberus troops. Kacey threw a grenade while Garrus quickly picked off the soldiers furthest away from their location. Kaiden opened fire on the remaining troops. The grenade had thankfully destroyed the shield pylon, meaning they were able to conserve some of their bullets. Kaiden vaulted over his cover and made his way through the area while Garrus hung back to prevent anyone else from sneaking up on them.

"Found the controls!" Kacey shouted as she shot the engineer, unaware of the troops dropping in behind her.

"Kacey!" Kaiden shouted as he began to shoot the Cerberus troops, drawing their fire. Kacey managed to avoid being shot at and successfully fought back, killing the reinforcements.

"Thanks," she said, lowering her gun.

"It's fine, Commander."

Kacey turned and used her Omni-tool on the controls.

"Jacob?" Kacey said through her radio, "Dish should be back online now."

"Affirmative." Jacob replied, "But the guns are still down. You'll need to manually activate them. Head back to the front of the facility."

"Reinforcements are here!" Garrus shouted as he shot several Cerberus soldiers.

Kaiden narrowly avoided a bullet, which clipped his shield as he dived into cover. He quickly used reave before opening fire on the Cerberus soldiers as he jumped up over the ledge and darted to cover. Kaiden took only a few small breaths to collect himself, feeling another impending migraine coming on. He peered round the corner to see Kacey throw a grenade towards a few of the soldiers while Garrus tried to circle the enemy from behind. Once he caught his breath, Kaiden moved quietly around one of the engineers and manged to kill the solider and destroy the generator power the Cerberus shields.

"Kaiden! Watch out!" Kacey shouted.

Kaiden turned to see a Cerberus shuttle pull up with a single solider piloting a mounted gun and several more soldiers spilling out of the shuttle. As the biotic bolted to the nearest cover, his shield smashed completely. Kacey then managed to catch up to him, and Kaiden to see the worry in her eyes, even if it was only for a brief moment.

"Are you hurt, Kaiden?" Kacey asked.

"No, I'm fine," He responded, "My shields are gone for now."

"Good…good…" Kacey trailed off. She tried to peak round the corner but quickly pulled herself back behind cover as what looked to be millions of bullets were flying towards them.

"Garrus!" Kacey shouted down the coms, "Can you shoot the guy with mounted gun?"

"I'm already on it." The turian replied.

The bullets stopped almost instantly as the lifeless corpse of the solider dropped from the shuttle. The shuttle flew off shortly after and both Alliance soldiers were able to make quick work of the few remaining troops. The trio then darted towards the AA guns on the roof, wasting no time in doing so.

By the time the trio got to the AA guns, Kaiden could feel the migraine getting worse but shrugged it off. He was on a mission and Kacey needed him to stay focused. Heck, the whole galaxy needed him to stay focused!

And yet his thoughts were elsewhere.

He hadn't ever been this distracted before. He hadn't even noticed until now, as they finally reached the first AA tower, that he was almost entirely distracted from the mission at hand. When did it start? He immediately thought back to the Citadel Coup but…it must've been before that. Back at the hospital?

Or maybe it was before this war really got going.

At the centre of all his distracted thoughts, lied the scarlet-haired commander. Lied the Hero of the Alliance. Lied Kacey, his Commander. But she was more than that. She is more than that.

"Power Restored. Gun One Reset. Circuit Incomplete." The computer beeped, the sound of which brought Kaiden back to reality.

"The gun's still down," Kacey said as she began to run towards the second gun, "Let's get over there."

Kaiden wasted no time in following Kacey. His momentary lapse in concentration completely forgotten by him until he caught Garrus' eye. The turian didn't utter a word, but by the look he was giving Kaiden, the biotic knew it wasn't forgotten by the turian.

As they approached the second gun, Kaiden noticed sparks flying off the side of the controls. As Kacey approached the controls the computer beeped.

"Failure At Junction. Repair And Reset."

"Okay," Kacey turned to face Kaiden and Garrus, "One of us has to make these repairs."

"I'll do it," Garrus said.

"Alright, get on it as fast as you can."

Kaiden could've sworn he saw the faintest signs of a smirk form on Garrus' face before the sound of shuttles thundered through the sky.

"Stay focused Kaiden," Kacey said as Kaiden turned his attention back to her, "Just you and me."

"Of course, Kacey." He replied.

They both moved into defensive positions. Ready for the enemy. As several Cerberus soldiers jumped down from the shuttle, both Alliance soldiers opened fire on the troops. Kaiden did his best to shoot the soldiers without his throbbing migraine getting in the way, but he noticed that a few of his shots weren't landing and the sound of Kacey's grenades weren't helping matters. He had only briefly glanced at Kacey when he had noticed something off.

"Kacey! Behind you!"

He had already opened fire with his rifle, using his Barrier biotic to protect himself as he closed the gap and used his Omni-tool blade to finish the job. He ducked beck behind cover right next to Kacey, who had only just realised what had happened.

"Thanks, Kaiden." She replied, Kaiden noticed how her cheeks had gone slightly red.

"No problem, Kacey." He replied.

"Done!" Garrus shouted, "Go power up the gun!"

Kaiden covered Kacey as she bolted back to the AA gun and activated it. Kaiden could hear Jacob over the coms as he killed the final soldier.

"Shepard!" Jacob said, "AA guns back online."

"Copy that. Let's get these people out of here." Kacey said down the coms.

…

By the time Kacey, Kaiden and Garrus made it back inside the place had become much busier as the preparations to leave had sped up and were finishing up. Kaiden silently hoped that they'd be able to get everyone out alive but even he knew that wasn't always possible. He followed behind Kacey as she approached Brynn and Jacob.

"Okay, the guns are already picking Cerberus ships out of the sky," Kacey said in a matter-of-fact tone, "Where are we at?"

"On track." Jacob said as he walked towards the commander, "The first shuttle is already loaded with everyone under sixteen."

"Commander, when should we leave?" Brynn asked, approaching the group, "What's our best chance for survival?"

A tricky question to be sure. Even Kaiden couldn't work out their odds.

"Jacob, what do you think?" Kacey replied, "Are we ready?"

"Almost. We could go now. But there's no do-overs here."

"Agreed. We get one shot."

"And we don't want to leave anything behind that could strengthen the Illusive Man's cause." Jacob replied, "Your call."

"Evacuate immediately." Kacey commanded, "We can't afford to waste any more time."

…

"Have the guns punch a hole in the perimeter, then launch shuttle one." Kacey ordered in her commanding voice.

Kaiden spent the last few moments of respite ensuring his guns were fully loaded and ready to go. His migraine hadn't disappeared, and he didn't particularly want to rely on his biotics unless he absolutely had to. Kacey had ordered both Garrus and him to prepare in case they had to engage any Cerberus troops. While Jacob thought it was unnecessary, Kaiden knew the commander was just being cautious. If her story was anything to go by, the Illusive Man was unpredictable, and the tactics used by Cerberus were not conventional by any means.

"Shuttle one is away." The computer beeped.

Many of the remaining scientists cheered at the sound and gathered around Kacey. Kaiden looked up as the scarlet-haired commander spoke to the small group gathered around her.

"All right!" Kacey said, "Everyone here head to the shuttle bay and—"

A large bang ripped through the base, shaking it violently. Kaiden watched as Kacey spun round and looked towards one of the scientists by the terminals.

"Suicide fighter took out one of the guns!" he shouted, "Cerberus troops are—"

Another loud bang ripped through the base, smashing one of the nearby windows.

"Get those people out of here!" Kacey ordered Jacob. Both Jacob and Brynn ran off to do as she asked.

Kaiden watched a single Cerberus shock trooper land inside and immediately shot it in the head with his pistol, killing him instantly. Kacey looked over at Kaiden.

"What?" He shrugged, "Just wanted to know if it worked."

Kacey couldn't help but laugh as the pair moved into defensive positions. A few more shock troopers landed through the broken window. Kaiden used his own assault rifle to take them out while Kacey opted for shotgun. After dispatching the troopers, Kaiden reloaded his gun.

"Shuttle bay doors have been breached. Attention: shuttle bay doors have been breached."

"Oh, for fuck's sake." Kaiden could hear Kacey mutter under her breath.

"Shepard!" Jacob shouted over the coms, "Shuttles are loaded. We need you at the landing area to make sure they get away! I'll meet you down there."

Kacey and Kaiden ran towards to landing pad, where a shootout was already underway between Garrus and the Cerberus troops.

"Reinforcements are here!" Kacey shouted as she shot one of the soldiers in the face.

"Nice of you two to join me." Garrus quipped.

"Come on, clear the shuttle bay so we can bring the door up." Kacey said.

Kaiden moved into cover behind some crates as more Cerberus troopers landed into the landing pad. Kaiden couldn't help but watch as Kacey effortlessly dispatched the Cerberus soldiers. As he covered her from the rear, picking off the last of the soldiers, Kacey's voice rang through the coms.

"Jacob, bring up the main door!" she shouted.

"Got it, Shepard. Will do."

The door pulled apart, revealing the snowy battlefield where even more Cerberus troops were lurking. Kaiden sighed as he followed his commander outside.

"Okay, let's get these people out of here." Kacey said.

Kaiden switched over to his pistol as he shot the generator to disrupt the enemy shields, leaving them vulnerable to Kacey and Garrus' bullets. He continued to shoot the soilders as the shuttles began to depart the outpost. After what felt like hours, Jacob finally spoke over the coms.

"Shepard! The facility is overrun – Cerberus troops are all over the place!" Jacob said.

Kaiden saw Kacey's face turn grim for only a brief moment before changing to a more determined look, "One more shuttle of refugees to go, right?"

"Affirmative."

"We got this!" Kacey said firmly as the trio bolted it down the path, "Just need to hold them off a little longer."

Kaiden narrowly dodged a grenade and fired back at his attacker, agitated that his migraine still hadn't passed. Kacey was holding up physically well, albeit with a minor cut on her face. But mentally? He had no idea. After what felt like forever the final solider went down the computer rang out.

"Shuttle three is away—evacuation is complete."

"That's the last of the civilians." Kacey said.

"Heads up, Shepard!" Jacob shouted, "This place is overrun. We gotta go! Headed to you with the shuttle!"

"Understood."

"Crap!" Garrus shouted, "Mech on scene!"

An Atlas mech dropped onto the scene, guns blazing. Kacey threw her last grenade at the mech while Garrus used Overload to break its shields while Kaiden simply used the last of his bullets to finish the mech off.

"Jacob!" Kacey shouted, "Landing area is clear."

"This place is crawling!" Jacob mused, "bringing the shuttle now."

Jacob lowered the shuttle on the landing pad, with both Garrus and Kaiden bolting towards it. Once Kaiden was on the shuttle, however, he heard Jacob shout.

"Shepard!"

Kaiden wheeled round to see Kacey land on the ground after narrowly missing a missile from one of the Atlas mech. Brynn jumped off and helped Kacey back to the shuttle while Jacob covered them both. Once Jacob was on the shuttle, they immediately flew off.

"Out by the skin of our teeth again." Jacob laughed, "Hey, Shepard?"

"Nice to see you back in action." Kacey replied.

"Yeah, feels good."

"I was afraid we wouldn't get anyone out alive," Brynn said, "but because of you, we got almost everyone. Thank you."

"Doctor Cole, I have a request," Kacey said, "one that you can't afford to turn down. I need your help against the Reapers."

"Without a doubt—I'm at your service. And I'm sure you can count on the others as well."

"You too, Jacob." Kacey smirked as she turned to the man in question, "I need you."

"Of course. But I wouldn't mind staying with these folks."

"Keep them safe, then. The Alliance needs that Crucible."

"You got it."

"All right." Kacey said, "Report to Admiral Hackett for your assignment."

"You know, Commander," Brynn said, "I've never met anyone like you. Just feel better knowing you're on our side."

"Thanks."

"Shepard," Jacob said, "When this mess is over, drinks are on me. Be safe out there."

…

What was going on with him?

He was getting too distracted. And now it seemed it was having an effect on the battlefield. He couldn't understand it. He was never like this. Kacey was at the forefront of his mind, he was becoming reckless, more so than usual.

And why?

They had something. Had being the operative word. It had happened once. And since then, nothing. She may have been dead for those two, long, agonising years, but it didn't excuse what he saw on Horizon. The fact he had to find out she was back through rumours, and not her own admission hurt. And yet…

A part of him already forgave her long ago.

His memory of what happened on Mars was a bit hazy, since he had the life nearly beaten out of him by the Doctor Eva android, and the injuries that resulted by it. But he knew that the words he exchanged with Kacey weren't nice, but bitter and resentful. He needed to wrap his head around everything, but it wasn't an excuse. but what he did remember was the hospital. When she came to see him, what she said.

If there was a way back, would you even want to?

She had changed. He had noticed it. It was as clear as night and day. Her vigour had faded. Her bright, sapphire eyes had dulled, and she seemed more…isolated than she was before. The business with the Collectors had clearly taken its toll. Jacob had mentioned what surviving that mission did to him. But what did it do to Kacey?

He knew he wasn't going to be able to pry anything from Joker or Garrus. So, he needed to get it directly from Kacey. One way or another.

"Hey, stranger."

He turned to see Kacey standing behind him. Why did she always appear when he was thinking about her?

"You know, with this place as quiet as it is," Kacey said as she looked around the Starboard Observation Deck, "I didn't think I'd keep sneaking up on you like that."

She smiled at him, but he saw through it. It was hollow, empty. It wasn't genuine.

"Yeah, I was just…" he hesitated, "Lost in thought. That's all."

"Okay. I was just wanting to see if you were busy." Kacey replied, "So I could go over the next part."

"I'm not busy, so feel free." He wanted to kick himself. It sounded cold-hearted.

"Okay." Kacey said, sitting down next to him, "After we got Mordin on board, we headed to Korlus, where the Warlord Okeer was waiting for us."

"Sounds like quite the lengthy trip."

"Yeah, it was. I went to check on everyone while we were traveling. To make sure everyone was doing okay…"