Chapter 8: Corruption of Body

"Is this that woman you mentioned, Shepard?" Grunt said, his shotgun aimed towards her.

Ashley looks back at Cole. "How did you manage to recruit another Krogan on your team?"

"Simple. Through battle, leadership, and experience."

"Shepard is my Battlemaster, any who threaten him are my enemies." He then looks Ashley dead in the eye. "Do you threaten him?"

"As of this moment?" She eyes Garrus behind her. "No."

"Heh, interesting choice of words human." He said, relaxing his grip on his shotgun and lowering it. "If you're smart, you will keep it that way."

Ashley once again looks back to Cole, both nervous and slightly astonished at the exchange she just had. He responds with a slight shrug. "He grows on you after you've proven yourself to him." Cole then looks to Garrus. "This shouldn't take more than ten minutes."

Garrus nods and posts himself on the opposite side of Grunt by the door. Though, as Cole and Ashley were entering the room, he quickly reached out for her arm and grabbed her. "Remember Ashley, I have very keen hearing, so I'll be listening in on everything that goes on in there."

"I'm not going to do anything Garrus." She said confidently.

"Yeah, well, I just wanted to remind you in case Grunt wasn't enough a deterrent." He said, releasing her arm – allowing her to enter.

Once the door closed behind her, she immediately took stock of the interior of Cole's cabin. "This is a really nice setup Shepard, and…" She looks past him and sees Tali, sitting cross-legged on his bed, with a shotgun in her hands. "And you brought Tali. Even with two guards at your door, you couldn't talk with me without someone else in the room?"

"Says the person who is hunting me." Cole said as he leaned against the case of his model ship collection. "Look, Ashley, I know my head is on a chopping block. The Alliance wants their scapegoat while the Council may just want to chop my head off."

She crosses her arms. "That's not what Anderson wants."

He looks Ashley dead in the eye. "This is where the line of trust starts, Ash. I know Anderson has my back. He always has, but what of the others?"

"They never really had an open discussion with me. All they did was argue about my presence, then sent me to get you at all costs."

As much as Garrus, Grunt, and Tali were there to guard and back Cole up, there was another reason he had all of them here in this moment. It was to simply break down Ashley's defensive walls and strip her of her confidence – all of which seemed to be successful. He needed to hear her, not a potential cover she was given or had made up. So, when she gave her response about the other Council members, he felt she was telling the truth.

"Hmm… perhaps the others want me as their scapegoat too." Cole said as he rubbed his chin. "Not sure why though, they're not exactly fond of Batarians."

"Does it really matter?" Tali said as she stood up from the bed and moved up the steps. "They're coming after you, regardless of their intentions or the severity of who they send after you."

"She's right," Ashley said, quick to cut in. "but I will add that I'm the kindest option they put out. Now, you went through all this effort to get me on your ship for a talk, so talk. Why do you have glowing scars now, and why the hell did you destroy a Mass Relay?"

"Well, I'll answer the simpler question first. I destroyed a Mass Relay to slow down the Reaper invasion." He reaches for the compartment holding the OSD, pulls it out, and tosses it to Ashley. "That there is a video recording of the system's last moments. They were at the system's edge, Ashley. Minutes away from using that Relay to start their assimilation. That, along with the report I gave Hackett, sums up my motives. I did what I had to do to buy us more time."

After looking over and fumbling the OSD between her fingers, she closes her eyes, takes a deep breath, then pockets it into a compartment on her own belt. "This isn't going to be enough, Shepard." She said as she opened her eyes. "They want you, not something to absolve you."

"I don't care what they want, I can't come in so that has to be enough." Cole said, standing straighter with his cybernetics fluttering ever so slightly.

"Why?" She said in a pleading tone. "It's not like you to turn them away, Shepard. You've always talked your way out of whatever they threw at you. Why can't you do it now?"

"I know it's not like me." He said as he put up a fist to cover his mouth. Tali comes in behind him and lays her hand on his shoulder. "I can't do this because I'm compromised." Ashley just shakes her head slightly – her eyes squinted in confusion. "Do you remember what I told you at Horizon, that I died, and Cerberus brought me back?"

"Of course I do. Is this their doing? What did they do?" She said, her voice shifting from concern to anger.

The whispers, with their sick and chilling voices, once again swarm his mind with their tone haunting and drawn out. She will hate, hate, hate… you… for what you are.

"They brought me back using deactivated Reaper tech. When I encountered the Reaper artifact, it all reactivated." Ashley's eyes go wide upon hearing about Cole's true confliction. "They have already attacked me a few times through it, and I rather not imagine what would happen if I turned myself in while still under their influence. I might turn like Saren did."

"What… Are you crazy?!" Ashley yelled out as she closed the distance between them – adding more tension within Tali. "You can't deal with this alone. The Council has resources, scientists… they can find a way to help you."

They can't… They won't. Easier to discard.

"I can't Ash." He said, tears threatening to well up in his eyes. "I can't trust them to help me after what I did."

That's right… Can't trust. Won't trust.

"Listen to me Shepard, I can't let you do this alone. I won't."

Tali moves in from behind Cole to his side. "He's not alone. We're all here to help him, and we have our own scientist and specialists working on it."

"Shepard…" She draws in closer, her body almost up against his, causing Tali to tense up even more. "I know you have faith in your crew, but I don't."

The whispers buzz in his head even louder. Of course she doesn't. Why would she… have faith, faith in them if she… never had faith in you, you, you.

"You need to come with me now, before it's too late to do anything."

"Back off Ashley." Tali said as she raised her shotgun to Ashley's waist.

She simply just looks at her. "No." Then suddenly, like a tightly wound spring, she strikes out and kicks Tali square in the chest, the force knocking her into the aquarium behind her. Then, with a swift thrust, she struck out at Cole with an extended stun baton she had cleverly concealed before boarding the Normandy.

Unfortunately for Cole, with the whispers swirling in his head and the negative emotions that both they and Ashley were instilling in him, he couldn't react fast enough to deflect or stop Ashley's attack with her stun baton. The second it connected him, a shooting pain, both from his cybernetics and from the baton, rocked throughout his entire body, forcing him to keel over onto one knee.

"Don't… do this." He said through gritted teeth.

She wasn't listening to him though as her attention focused in on Tali once again, who had just regained her composure and re-aimed her shotgun at Ashley. "Nice try, but it wasn't good enough. Garrus, get in... ugh!"

Ashley cut her words short as she grabbed the barrel end of her shotgun and pulled it off to the side, throwing Tali off balance. Then, in the same quick motion she dealt against Cole, she thrusts the shocking tip of the baton into Tali's gut, forcing her to topple over as well. Unfortunately for Ashley, both Garrus and Grunt were already through the door before she could enact any further actions.

"Alright, this party is over." Garrus said as he positioned himself just in front of Grunt.

"Get out of my way Turian, I have a human to splatter."

"No." Garrus said, side-eyeing Grunt. "Shepard specifically said no killing."

Ashley turns to stare directly at Garrus. "That's why I have the advantage Garrus." She said before rushing in behind Cole, who had picked himself up, and put him into a chokehold. Cole, in turn, was quick to throw her off him, or he would have if she didn't shift her weight to the back, making it far more difficult for him to escape.

"Damn it. Shepard, you got to give us the kill order before this gets much worse." Garrus said as he sidesteps to flank her.

"Back off, Garrus!" Ashley said, mirroring his movements in the opposite direction – towards Cole's bathroom. "All of you are blind to what Shepard needs right now. The only help he can get is at the Citadel." She said, baton outstretched, readied to attack anyone who came in close.

"Ashley…" Cole said, the one word he could manage to get out as he worked on loosening her chokehold.

"Look Ashley, even if you get past me and Grunt, there's no way you're getting off this ship with him." Garrus said, slowing his movements as to not give her further advantages.

"I can if you allow me." She said as she moved further into the open space behind her, effectively closing off any potential attacks from the sides. "You can't possibly believe that who you have at your disposal is enough to help him."

"We have… ugh," Tali said as she got up from the ground. "we have the top STG scientist looking into it. We also have the kiyet who put those cybernetics in him. So, we have it covered."

Ashley stayed silent, both contemplating what Tali said and calculating on how to escape the situation with Cole in her grasp. This shift in her demeanor caused Tali to spring into action. It was foolish and downright stupid, but she wasn't about to have her take control of the situation any further.

Kicking off the aquarium's bottom wall, she rushes towards them both, intending to tackle either of them to break the stalemate. Time slowed for Cole as he watched his love rush in to save him. Though worry wracked his head as he felt Ashley shift her stance to better defend herself against Tali's attack.

Cole's eyes shifted from Tali to Ashley's movement of her attack, and quickly learned that her intent wasn't meant to stun, it was meant to knock out. Her swing started high and plunged downward at an angle across Tali's visor. The motion was so fast that he couldn't see how severe the damage was as Tali's head snapped to her left side, making her fall face first at the foot of the desk in front of his model ship case on their right.

"Ashley, what the hell!" Garrus said as he rushed towards Tali's still body.

Pain, anger, and adrenaline shot through Cole's body as his cybernetics burned white hot – the pain coming from them fueling his rage even further. "You… shouldn't have… done that."

With the massive amount of adrenalin pumping through his veins, he kicks himself back and pushes himself against Ashley, using her tactic against her. This weight shift thrusted her into the desk behind them, which allowed a momentary disruption of her chokehold over him, giving him the chance to pull out of her grasp and take her on.

Ashley disjointedly looks up at Cole and watches as the man she loved tower over her. The bright white light emanating from his cybernetics blotted out the color of his right eye – enhancing the look of blinding rage pouring out from him. The sheer sight of his disturbed look towards her sent her reeling into a panic.

"Shepard, I just reacted… There's no need to… awk… argh…" Suddenly, his hand was on her throat – squeezing tighter and tighter every second.

The whispers return to his mind, louder, less haunting, but far more menacing. Yes… kill her. Kill, kill, kill… She would have done the same, same, same… if she brought you to them. They said, each word and sentence dripping with succulent cruelty.

"Yes…" Cole said as he tightened his grip, nearly lifting her off the ground. "I gave you every chance to help and still you don't see."

She drops the baton and grasps his wrist with both of her hands – trying with all her might to rip his grip from her throat. "Shep… awk… Shepard… you can't…"

Cole's grip tightens even more, the motion threatening to crush her windpipe. "Oh yes I could…" He then pulls her close and whispers to her. "You have no idea how easy you made this for me."

Grunt, who was more interested in how this was all going to go down, just takes a step forward and chuckles. "Yeah, kill her good Shepard."

"What…" Cole said as Grunt's words cracked through his blinding rage, causing him to loosen his grip.

In the middle of all this, Garrus had turned Tali over to see what her condition was. She was conscience, but the thing that worried him was the cracked section on the right side of her visor. "Spirits… Tali!" He called out to her as he tried to shake her awake.

For Tali, she was in the sweet bliss of slumber. That was before someone started to shake her roughly. Her eyes flutter open and instantly pain pulses through her head. "Ugh… what?" Memories flood her mind and she quickly realizes what had happened to her. She quickly shifts her gaze from the ceiling towards where Cole and Ashley were and immediately sees him choking her.

"Keelah…" She scrambles to get up and forces herself in between them. "Cole, no! Stop!" She said, grabbing onto his arm and chest.

His expression goes from anger to shock as he looks at Tali. She's okay, or is she? He questioned this to himself before narrowing his eyes on the cracks within her visor. "Why?" He said, his tone low and grumbling along with his grip re-tightening. "She cracked your visor, endangering your life! Why should she get no less?"

She releases her gasp over him to place her hands on his cheeks. "Because you don't want to kill her."

Yes… you do.

"You told us not to kill her."

A mistake…

"Most importantly, you know it's the wrong thing to do."

Cole's eyes water as he looks at his reflection in Tali's visor. He was so full of hate and anger from what had happened to Tali, with Ashley's inability to work with him from the start of all this, and with the voices in his head. His breath goes ragged as the better half of him, the one full of love and logic, began to take control over his mind and body.

"I'll be okay, Cole. Let her go so she can do what you need her to do."

He rapidly blinks his eyes and lets her go with a flustered cry – his release causing her to crumple onto the ground and grasp her throat in desperation as she immediately going into a coughing fit.

"Take that OSD to Anderson, Ashley." Cole said, his eyes still locked in on Tali. "Garrus, Grunt, escort her off my ship."

"Yeah… yeah, I'll see her safely aboard her ship, Shepard." Garrus said as he moves over to Ashley and helps her up.

"You need…" Her voice goes ragged before letting out another cough. "You need more help than what you have."

He turns his head to her. "Then help me by staying out of my way."

Tali pulls him into a hug, which he limply enters, and desperately keeps her grasp over him as Garrus and Grunt pulled Ashley away. "You scared me there, Cole." She then lets out a nervous chuckle. "Part of me thought you wouldn't snap out of it."

"I very nearly didn't Tali." He said, still limp in her arms. "I was so close to snapping her neck when I saw the damaged to your visor." Suddenly, a spike of concern goes through him as he recalled the damage to her visor. This made him pull away from her grasp to look over the damage. "Are you sure you don't have a breach?"

She quickly pulls up her omni-tool and initializes a scan of her suit. Within seconds, the results come back with no breach detected, which she raises up for Cole to see. "No breach, see?"

"Yeah, okay." Cole said, nodding, then pulling away from her completely to move in front of his aquarium. He stood there in silence for a few moments as he pondered the last several minutes. "I should have done what Garrus said." He said after coming up with a conclusion to it all.

"What did he say?" She said as she takes a couple of steps closer to him.

"He told me to just give her the OSD and send her on her way. Heh, he was right, it was a mistake to do anything else but that." He then lets out a laughing huff. "I haven't done something like that for quite some time."

"Done what?" She said, still inching closer.

He turns around and faces Tali, causing her to stop in her tracks. "Killing someone like that… Purposefully, almost happily."

"I've never pictured you as the type to have that kind of darkness within you."

"You never met the kid stuck in a gang who primarily focused on surviving. I was a very different person before I escaped to the Alliance."

Joker's voice suddenly comes through the speakers in the cabin. "Hey Commander, just wanted to let you know that Ashley has been escorted to the airlock and is in process of boarding her ship."

"Thank you, Joker. It's time we head for Omega, so once they're on their way you can head there."

"Will do, and Shepard, are you okay?"

"Did you not listen in on what all went down?"

"Well, I mean I did, but I figured I'd ask anyway."

Cole just shakes his head. "No, no, I'm not okay Joker."

Tali cuts in. "Thank you for your concern, Joker, but I think we need some time alone now."

Joker doesn't respond. The last thing either of them could hear was the disconnecting sound of the comm. Feeling confident that they were truly alone, Tali goes up to Cole and wraps herself in his embrace once again. Cole didn't know how to respond. The darkest side of him, the one he thought had been snuffed out, returned, and nearly killed someone he was close to.

"Tali…" He said as his body went stiff in her arms. "I don't think it safe to be with me right now."

"The worst thing to do right now is to leave you by yourself." She said, tightening her grip on him. "I will stay with you until we hit Omega and make sure you don't slip away again."

Nearly two hours pass by as the Normandy escorts Ashley's ship, the Tempest, towards the Mass Relay. Joker suspected that if the pilot of the Tempest wanted to, they could have made the journey to the Relay in ten to fifteen minutes. It was a fast ship, and based on the information EDI pulled from it, it could outpace the Normandy easily. Something was off, but he wasn't about to push the paranoia button right away.

"So EDI, any guesses on what has them dragging their tails?" Joker said, his head leaning against his hand.

"I do not have to guess, Jeff. When I hacked into the Tempest, I uploaded a subsystem to its mainframe that uploads any log entries directly to me."

"Wait, you did what?" He said as his posture straightens out. "Why didn't you say this sooner?"

"For starters, it is highly illegal to do. Also, I wanted to collect all potential data and report it after they had left the system."

"Screw that, tell me everything that's been going on."

"Very well. Within the first ten minutes of Ashley Williams's return to her ship, they admitted her to the medical room for injuries to her throat. While there was no permanent damage done, medi-gel was applied to the area to help the healing process."

"Damn… I wonder if Shepard really would have killed her."

"Based on my evaluation of his heart rate as well as his cybernetic's activity, he was most likely being influenced by the Reapers, though it was more subtle this time around. I have already forwarded this information to Mordin."

"Good." He said as he rubbed the back of his neck. "What else?"

"At o-nine forty-seven, Ashley Williams sent out a message directly to Councilor Anderson and reported about what had transpired. Then at o-nine fifty-one, Ashley Williams uploaded the video file from the OSD to Councilor Anderson."

"Well, at least she did the thing we wanted. Anything more?"

"At ten twenty-four, Ashley Williams received a call from all the Council members. The call, however, was on an encrypted channel, so I do not have any information on what they said. The call then ended at ten forty-one. At eleven o-two, Ashley Williams played the OSD in her private quarters. The last log recorded was at eleven fourteen. Ashley Williams gave out an order to head for the Citadel, but to not alarm the Normandy or its crew by quote 'speeding away.'"

"Great, I'd rather not waste my time pretend babysitting… Okay, well, send that information to Shepard and let him know we'll be hitting Omega in about ten minutes."

"Very well."

――――――

Down in the Crew Quarters floor sat Garrus at the mess table, his blade in his hand, twirling its tip on the table as if it were a top. He was just staring blankly off in the distance, thinking about what all had transpired at Cole's cabin. It certainly wasn't the first time he had seen him be ruthless against an enemy, but this one struck him a bit differently. Ashley wasn't an enemy. A nasty thorn in their side, sure, but definitely not their enemy.

"Greetings Garrus." Thane said as his rough, yet smooth voice echoed out from his quarters.

"Hey Thane." He simply replied.

Thane intently stares at Garrus's demeanor as he rounds the table and takes a seat opposite of him. "You seem rather disturbed."

"A little."

Thane just nods and clasps his hands together. Nothing further was said between them, as he was never one to pry into the matters of others. Though, after several minutes of silence, Garrus broke down and engaged with him.

"Thane, do you think we're doing the right thing with Shepard?" He said as he pulled the dagger away and sheathed it back into his boot.

"How do you mean?"

"I just witnessed a side of him I've never seen before. No, that's not true. It was his ruthless side, but it was at an extreme and directed at a friend."

"To you?" Thane said, trying to tease out who.

"No, not to me. An old friend of his, ex-lover actually, and he nearly killed her. It almost looked as if he was enjoying it."

"Hmm… has he killed for pleasure before?"

He shifts in his seat as he ponders the question. "I don't think so. I've never known him to be like that. Again, he has been quite ruthless at times, but never to the extent of enjoying it."

"Then it is as I fear." Thane said as he lays his hands onto the table, though still clasped to one another. "The line between his body and soul is becoming blurry. If Mordin and the others cannot create a solution to his problem soon, his soul will go into a slumber."

"I'm sorry Thane, I'm not following." Garrus said as he shook his head.

"My apologies, I will explain." Thane shifts his posture and leans forward. "Drell have a unique belief about our body and soul. We see our bodies as a vessel and accept that it is not always under our control. Our soul controls what our body does, but when something disrupts the link between the body and soul, our body will do what it does naturally." He said, all the while gesturing as he explained every aspect of his beliefs. "Shepard is a fighter, a survivor, and most importantly a protector. While all these aspects are good in nature, when applied negatively, it can prove to be damaging to all parties involved."

"Huh, that is a unique belief, Thane. More interesting is that it completely fits with what is going on with Shepard right now."

Thane just smiles. "It is one reason why I have held this belief my whole life. It often puts many things in their proper perspective."

Both of them go silent as they hear the elevator door open, which was swiftly followed by the sound of a soft, feminine voice coming from it. "Why the hell did I ever agree to put those blasted cybernetics in him." Miranda said, as she rounded the corner nearby Garrus and stopping in place the second she spotted she wasn't alone.

"Hey Miranda, things not going your way?" Garrus said as he slightly turned to face at her.

"Not necessarily." She then moves around behind Garrus as she continues. "We may have figured out what to do, but certain people are arguing against doing it because it's too dangerous." She stops herself from continuing on and just shakes her head. "I'd rather not focus on that right now. I just came down to get a drink of something and destress a bit."

As she moves towards the kitchen area, Thane immediately stands up to catch her attention. "Actually, I was planning on making some tea for myself. Would you like to have some Ms. Lawson?"

Upon hearing the mention of tea being made, her posture visibly slacks as she releases the pent up stress and emotional turmoil of figuring out how to fix what she had done to Cole. "Oh, that sounds quite lovely. Yes, I would love some." She said with a nod before taking a seat at the mess table.

"It would be my pleasure Ms. Lawson." He said, with a slight bow.

Garrus gets up from the table and scratches the plates on the back of his neck. "Well, I know it is a running joke around here, but I need to go back to calibrating the gun." A small smile hits Miranda's face. "I also need to take stock of what I need to get when we hit Omega, so I suggest for you all to do the same." After taking a few steps towards the Main Battery, he stops and turns back to Miranda and Thane – his glance focused on Thane. "Thanks for the insight, Thane. It didn't exactly help answer my question, but I think I feel a little better about how everything has gone down." He nods to him, then to Miranda. "Miranda."

"Garrus." She said, returning the nod.

After Garrus left, Thane heads over to the kitchen and goes through the motions of boiling water and steeping the tea. It was a very precise and time sensitive process that he took pride in. After adding the final touches to each cup, he grabs them both and carefully brings them to the table, giving Miranda the cup first before heading to the opposite side of the table.

She instantly leans in to smell the aroma of the tea. "This smells rather good." She said with a smile. "It smells rather sharp or perhaps spicy, but sweet as well."

"It's a type of green tea with a bit of ginger root and a hint of honey." He lifts the cup to his mouth, blows on it, and takes a small sip of it. "It provides a mild reprieve from my respiratory issues." He said as he watches her go through the same process of cooling the surface of the tea and taking a sip. "How does it taste? If you like it sweeter, I can grab the honey for you."

"No, no, it's perfect." She said, gesturing for him to stay seated.

"Good." He said with a smile.

They sit there in silence, both slowly enjoying their tea and each other's company. Though, once Miranda got half-way through her cup of tea, curiosity about what conversation took place prior to her arrival got the better of her.

"So Thane, what did you talk about with Garrus?"

"Shepard, and his current situation." He said after taking another sip.

"Right." She lifts her cup to her lips but stops short and puts it back down. "I feel awful about this whole thing, Thane." Noticing the shift of sadness in her voice, he too sets down his cup and focuses his attention on her. "I know it's pointless to beat myself up about it, but if I had just been smarter about it, found another way, then he wouldn't be suffering right now. There were other avenues I could have taken, but I blindly accepted what the Illusive Man wanted."

Thane nods, takes a sip of tea again, then sets it down and clasps his hands together. "You were a different person then. As much as you may believe there were other avenues, I doubt the Illusive Man would have allowed you to take them. You bear the weight of what you have done, but perhaps you have taken on too much of that weight."

Miranda just shakes her head. "Hell, Thane, I wanted to put a control chip in him. The Illusive Man stopped me. He stopped me from putting in something even worse than what I already had put in."

"He stopped you only because another form of control was already being put in." She says nothing. She just leans back and listens in more attentively. "If Shepard has made the same conclusions I have, he too is under the Reaper's influence. A tragic villain if he is unaware of his doings, but my belief is that he was very much aware and wanted this. If I happen to still draw breath when Shepard confronts him, I will gladly take his life as part of my penance."

"What about me? I had the same ambitions and drive as the Illusive Man's." She said with her arms crossed – her posture revealing her insecurity about it all.

"Had." Thane responded quickly. "Whether or not you want to believe it, you were in a slumber until Shepard woke you up. You do not have a dark desire like the Illusive Man does. You no longer live under his sinister ambitions. What you do now for Shepard will be your penance."

She just looks down at her cup of tea to process everything he said. "Thank you, Thane." She said as she looks back up at him. "I'm not sure if I deserve that kindness, or if I even fully understand what you said there, but I am glad that everyone won't completely hate me because of what I did."

He smiles, finishes the rest of his tea, and clasps his hands once again. "If you have the spare time, I will happily explain my beliefs to you. It will add clarity to what I said."

She simply smiles back. "Yeah, sure. I would like that."