Chapter 4:

A good night's rest and a few hours later, we reached the Citadel. It was massive. The vids I'd watched about it hadn't done it justice. I felt so tiny compared to it. Even the Normandy, as big as it is, had nothing on it, by far.

We'd gotten my living status renewed, curtesy of Captain Bailey- he'd just gone ahead and processed it for me, without making me jump through any hoops. Which was kind of him.

Now, with my heart pounding, Garrus and I walked into Councilor Anderson's office. The Council was gathered, in hologram form, on the other side of the room.

Anderson was speaking as we stepped through the door. "Shepard will be here any- Oh, Commander. We were just talking about you."

I nodded, glancing at the rest of the Council. I was glad that I'd had Kelly send a message to him for me, to set this up.

"Good to see you."

"It's good to have you back."

The salarian Councilor spoke up. "We've heard many rumors surrounding your unexpected return. Some of them are... unsettling."

"We called this meeting so you could explain your actions, Shepard." You called? No, I called. "We owe you that much. After all, you saved our lives in the battle against Saren and his geth."

I knew they wouldn't want to hear about the Reapers being involved, so I kept that to myself.

"Human colonies are being abducted by the Collectors- we have proof it's them." Before they could interrupt me, which I could see they were about to. "While they are out in the Terminus, I want to investigate it. And I was hoping to have the Spectre resources at my disposal. Think of it as an investment. You have me out in the Traverse, carrying out missions you want done, but don't want to send others on, and I stay out of your hair, so to speak. It's a win-win, on both sides." A pause. "And, you wouldn't be openly aiding Cerberus. It would be behind the scenes. Neither I nor my crew would say anything about this. If things go well, if we stop the abductions, you can step forward and say you had your hand in it. If things don't... well, you're clean."

They all exchanged surprised looks, no doubt because of my well-rehearsed speech.

The turian turned to me, dipping his head. "The Council is willing to offer you reinstatement as a Spectre."

"Thank you." I bowed my head in deference.

"Good luck with your investigation, Shepard. We hope for a quick resolution... and a quick end to your relationship with Cerberus."

"You and me both." I made a face.

The holograms disappeared, and I glanced at Anderson.

"Well. That went better than I expected." I wondered if I hadn't been... diplomatic before. "Don't worry about the Council or the Alliance. I'll find some way to keep them off your back. Shouldn't be too hard as long as you keep to the Terminus Systems."

Udina walked in, sparking my anger again.

"Anderson, we need to talk about- Shepard!" His eyes widened. "What are you doing here?"

"Oh, just visiting."

"You don't have to cover for me." Anderson shook his head. "Shepard is here to speak with the Council. We just finished our meeting."

"You what? Councilor, do the words political shit-storm mean anything to you?"

I smiled, amused by his words. "Come on. Do you really think I would cause such an uproar? Everything went well- I even got my Spectre status reinstated. I'm going to stay out in the Terminus Systems, too, so I won't be in anyone's hair."

He fell deep in thought, nodding to himself. "Yes... I could see how that arrangement works best for both sides. But you really shouldn't have taken a step like this without consulting with me first, Councilor."

I'm sorry? Who was the Councilor here? Certainly not the man who reminded me of a weasel.

"I don't answer to you, Udina." Anderson reminded him. 'Why don't you go to your office and think about that for a while?"

I gathered all my strength of will.

"Of course, Councilor. Good day to you." He left us.

Anderson shook his head. "Udina's never gotten over the fact that I got the Council position instead of him. Sometimes I need to put him in his place.

I couldn't keep it in any longer- I snorted, covering my mouth to hide my laughter. That was gold.

"I'm sorry. I'm sorry." I waved my hand when I'd finally calmed down. "That was just... so good. I loved it."

We chatted for a while, before Kaidan was brought up.

"Staff Commander Alenko is still with the Alliance, but he's working on a special mission." A pause. "It's classified. I can't say more. Not while you're working with Cerberus. I'm sorry."

"No worries. I wouldn't expect anything from the Alliance to get back to me." I waved it off, pushing away from the railing. "We should be going. Lots to do and all that."

We said our goodbyes, and Garrus and I walked out of the room. I let out a breath of relief.

"That went well." I commented.

"Yeah." He nodded, eyeing me.

A few minutes later, as we were walking to the docking bay, I paused, feeling like someone was watching me. As subtly as I could, I looked around, trying to figure out where it was coming from. My eyes went to the rafters above me, and I caught the shadow of a person- just before she dropped down in front of me.

"I was wondering when you'd come down." I gave a half smile, bemused.

She bowed dramatically, grinning. "You've got a keen eye, Shep. You don't disappoint."

"I'm glad for that." Realization hit me. "Kasumi, right?"

She matched the picture I'd gotten with the dossier for the thief.

A nod. "Yep. That's me."

"And will you be joining us?" I asked.

"My things are already on your ship." I chuckled at that. "Did anyone tell you what I want in return?"

"No, but by all means, ask away."

"I have a little... gathering I need to go to. And I want you to accompany me."

I doubted it was that simple, or she wouldn't be weighing it against joining us.

With a shrug, I nodded. "I love a good party."

"I knew you'd agree." Her grin widened. "I'll be on the ship, if you need me."

She cloaked, disappearing from sight. Leaving us, I imagined.

"You hate parties." Garrus chimed in.

Did I?

"Do I?" I hedged.

He let it go, and we didn't talk again, reaching the ship not long after and parting ways. Once I was back in my room, I let out a groan. Did I really hate parties? Did I hate parties? I hadn't been to one, so how would I know?

Before I could spiral into an existential crisis- again- I sat at my desk and poured over the dossiers again. Not only was it a good use of time, I still had to figure out where we were going next.

Illium seemed the best choice. Two for the price of one again.

"EDI, can I just tell you where I want us to go, and you input it?" I asked, hopeful.

"Yes."

"Set course for Illium, then. And make sure the others know, please."

"Of course, Alessia."

Judging by the distance, it would take about the same amount of time from Omega to the Citadel, so we had some time to kill. After going through the dossiers yet again, I forced myself up and decided to chat with the crew. Not distract them, of course, but just chat, if they wanted to.

I finished with Rupert, the cook- where he told me he'd gotten what he'd needed from the Citadel while we were there- and headed down to engineering. Gabby and Ken were over the moon with the new couplings, both thanking me for making it happen. I told them that they'd done all the work- I'd just supplied the funds.

...

I was laughing at Joker, because he really didn't like EDI being part of his ship, when Miranda walked up.

"We're almost there, Alessia." She said, tone stiff. "Have you decided who you're taking with you?"

I raised an eyebrow. "I was thinking Kasumi and Garrus."

If I was going to be stuck with three people in a team, then I was going to choose outside the Cerberus crew. At least, when it came to recruiting aliens.

A spark lit in her eyes, and she puffed up. Before she could say anything, I turned back to Joker.

"She's here to stay." I reminded him, smiling. "Try, try, try to get along, please."

He made a face, but didn't argue. Just turned in his chair and got back to work.

"Alessia."

Garrus, Kasumi, and Jacob joined us then.

I sighed, glancing at Miranda. "What's your argument?"

"Kasumi is untested as of now. And Garrus is still injured." She pointed out. "I think you should have at least one of either of us- me or Jacob- join you for this."

"That's a flimsy argument." I raised an eyebrow. "Not very compelling. We know Kasumi is good, because Tim chose her for this mission. Garrus says he's fine, and I trust him. You haven't given me any reasons to take you over them." She opened her mouth, and I held up a hand. "Perfect genes don't mean shit."

She blinked at me, taken aback. I doubted she'd ever had someone say that to her before.

"Look. I like you- I really do. But, I'm the one in charge. When I make a decision, I expect it to be respected. If you feel- genuinely- that it's the wrong thing, then speak up. If it's because you feel like you're entitled to come along, then the answer is no." I smiled to make my words less harsh. "I make choices based on facts. We're going after an assassin and a justicar. The assassin will be stealthy and a good shot from a distance, from what I've read. Kasumi is good at stealth, and Garrus is a damn good shot. With the justicar, she might be more against Cerberus than those of you who aren't. You two are proud to work with Cerberus, which- good for you. That's great you feel that way. But not everyone will see it like that. The reason I'm not taking Mordin, is because we've already got him busy in the lab. And Zaeed will be doing some things of his own while we're there."

He'd told me he wanted to see a few of his contacts that were on Illium, so I didn't consider him for being on the team.

After a few moments of silence, Miranda nodded, with begrudging respect. "I understand. I... hadn't considered all of that. I apologize."

I waved it away. "No worries. Nobody's perfect. That's why we're working together- because we see things differently."

Joker called out over his shoulder that we were getting ready to dock.

"Now." I glanced between Kasumi and Garrus. "Are we ready?"

They both nodded, and we waited. Miranda and Jacob wandered away.

...

The woman that had greeted us had said that Liara wanted to see us.

"Well, that's going to have to wait." I frowned. "We need to reach Thane first."

Which had turned out to be rather easy, actually. All we'd had to do was storm a couple skyscrapers and let him take out Nassana- who I'd apparently helped in the past by killing her sister.

Given that it was already late when we got here- and it was well into the night after recruiting him- we returned to the ship with him. With orders to all three of them to be ready by ten the next morning to go see Samara.

...

We entered the area the police had cordoned off, taking out the mercs that stood in our way of finding the ship name the justicar had asked us for.

Walking into a room, I paused- something felt... off. Raising my pistol, I rounded the corner. An asari was crouched just out of sight of the door, a gun laying on the ground next to her.

She was wearing Eclipse armor.

"Stop!" She shouted, jumping away from me. "I didn't fire my weapon once! I pretended to because the other Eclipse sisters were watching, but I didn't really shoot!"

Without missing a beat, I shot her in the head. As her body fell, I turned and walked back through the door.

"Well, okay, then." Kasumi sounded surprised. "Remind me not to get on your bad side."

"The Eclipse sisters need to kill someone, before they can join the group." I shrugged. "I read up on them."

Sure enough, we came upon a recording of Elnora- the asari who'd lied to us- saying that she'd relished her first kill and couldn't wait to do it again. I gave her a look that said "see? I was right."

After that, it was a simple matter of taking out the leader. Once she was dead, we split up, looking for the name. Thane was the one to find it, which I thanked him for, and we retreated back through to the precinct. Samara bound herself to me and left to get on the ship, to pick a room for herself, and we returned to the area near our docking bay after a brief conversation with the officer.

"You guys can go. I'm going to go see Liara."

Something I was dreading- another person from my past. And I was doing so well, already, keeping up appearances. It really was only a matter of time, before someone called me out.

She welcomed me well enough- a little standoffish, but she looked like she had a lot on her mind. I did a couple of things for her- including killing her assistant- and she said that, when she found out where her friend- a drell, Feron- was, I would be the first to know. I promised her my help and went on my way.

I did not miss Garrus waiting a ways down the hall, waiting for me to walk far enough away so that he could slip up the stairs to see her. It made my heart pound, knowing he wanted to talk to her about something I wasn't supposed to know about. Probably to do with me.

No. Maybe he just wanted to catch up with her, and I was reading too much into his actions. Maybe he hadn't been waiting for me to leave- it had just worked out that way. Yeah, that was it.

I was being conceited, thinking that what they were doing had anything to do with me.