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Shepard had to calm Traynor down by promising to buy her another toothbrush—an easy promise despite the expense, since Traynor's toothbrush was the only thing that had gotten them onto the Normandy before Brooks and the clone had time to do too much damage to it.

The clone was in Joker's chair, making Shepard very glad she'd left him outside the ship so he couldn't break anything, because he certainly would have at the sight of someone else in his seat. As Shepard entered the cockpit, the clone swiveled around, frowning.

"You again. Didn't I lose you somewhere along the way?"

"What's the plan now? You try to steal the Normandy? How far do you think you can get? Do you think fake fingerprints were ever going to fool Anderson? Or Hackett? The first time you didn't sound like me, they'd have blown you out of the sky."

"It's not that hard to sound like you," the clone sneered. "And look like you, too. Right down to the scars." She ran a finger down the side of her face, where one of the fake scars showed.

Shepard narrowed her eyes. "You got your scars out of a petri dish. You know where I got mine? Feros, and Noveria, and Virmire, and Ilos. And at the Collector base and Palaven and Tuchanka. I've been all over this galaxy. I know more people than you've ever dreamed of—and they know me. I've fought at their side. They trust me. And you want to step into my life without ever having earned an ounce of faith and think you can do better than I can." She sighed. "You want me to tell you a secret? I'm exhausted. This morning, I would have loved nothing more than to let someone who looked like me take it all on for a little while, just to rest. But not you. I'd rather take my chances with the Reapers than give you access to my life for a single minute."

She heard the click of a gun being cocked behind her, and turned to see Brooks standing there looking smug, with a pistol trained on her. Shepard had sent the others after Brooks, but wasn't overly surprised that she had eluded them.

"Oh, boohoo," Brooks fake-cried. "The great Commander Shepard is so tired of being the galaxy's chief bumbler. What a shame." Her expression hardened. "Do you hear yourself? You're a disgrace to humanity. We are strength! We are power. We have no time for your petty weaknesses."

"Neither of you has the faintest idea what it's like in the real world. Look at the mercs you hired! For all their overpriced gadgets and armor, they couldn't hold up for five minutes against my team."

"Details."

"Yes, details," Shepard repeated. "Details matter."

Brooks was about to say something else, but Shepard was spared hearing any more of her nonsense by the appearance of Kaidan behind her with a gun to her head. Brooks was a physical coward, as she had amply proven all day while she thought she was playacting, and she relinquished her pistol immediately.

The clone, seeing her partner taken down so easily, leaped to her feet and locked an arm around Shepard's throat from behind, digging a pistol into her side. "Let her go, or there really will be only one Shepard."

Kaidan hesitated a fraction of a second too long, and Brooks neatly stepped away from his gun, punching him in the face and then scurrying into the CIC. The clone dragged Shepard after her, past Kaidan, who lay groaning on the floor.

Shepard was having trouble breathing with the clone's arm cutting off her air. She could only hope that they were going to take her off the ship and that the others would have arrived by the time they got out the airlock.

But she had forgotten Tali. When the elevator arrived at the CIC and the doors opened, Tali stood there, gun at the ready. It took her only a moment to size up the situation, and she lifted the weapon and shot the clone between the eyes.

Shepard was dragged backward by the falling clone before the arm around her throat went limp. Brooks stood for a moment too long, just enough time for Tali, Shepard, and a recovered Kaidan to box her in. They fastened her hands behind her back in preparation for turning her over to C-Sec.

Brooks was remarkably quiet while all this was happening, sparing not a single glance at the body of the clone lying there on the floor. Shepard frowned at her. "You don't think she's going to try to wriggle free, do you?"

"Me?" Brooks widened her eyes. "But I'm not a field agent."

Kaidan and Shepard both rolled their eyes, having had more than enough of her today. "Stop," Shepard told her. "Just stop. You betrayed the Alliance in the middle of a war."

"What can I say? I was young and naïve." She smiled up at Shepard, that smug smile that made Shepard want to slug it off her face. "Admit it, Commander. You'll miss me."

Shepard didn't dignify that with a response—but Tali did. As coolly as she had shot the clone, she shot Brooks as well, just as Brooks' hands came free of her bonds.

"Well, I won't miss you, you crazy bosh'tet."

Traynor came out of the war room, hitting the comm button in her collar. "Maintenance to the CIC." Shutting off the comm, she looked at Shepard with concern. "Commander, are you all right?"

Shepard couldn't look at the figure lying behind her. Knowing she had died once was one thing. Seeing herself dead was quite another. "Nothing sleeping for ten years won't cure, Lieutenant. Thanks for your work today."

"I'm glad I could help."

Kaidan put an arm around Shepard's waist. "Let's get you back to the apartment."

"I'm all right, Kaidan."

"No one's doubting that," he told her. "But you could use that rest—and the others can handle things here."

As if he had conjured them, the elevator binged to a stop on the CIC level and the doors slid open to reveal the others, who quickly took stock of the situation.

"Man," came James Vega's voice from the back of the group, "I miss all the fun."