Chapter 12:

Just before we were set to dock at the academy, EDI informed me that the Illusive Man wanted to talk. Delegating the drop-off to Jack and Garrus, I made my way to the conference room.

Tim had found a Collector ship. A downed Collector ship. He wanted us to get to it and see what information we could find. I assured him it would be next on the agenda.

...

The Collectors had once been Protheans. How crazy was that? But it did prove one thing- they did take organics and genetically modify them, using them as tools to get their dirty work done while they were in deep space.

A few minutes later, while EDI was establishing a link to the ship, she informed us that this whole thing had been a trap. The turians hadn't taken it down. The turians hadn't sent out a signal. It was all Cerberus' doing. All Tim's doing.

Neither Thane nor Jack were happy with this turn of events. Jack growling out that she was going to kill the Illusive Man when she got the chance.

We fought our way to solid ground, getting off the platform as quickly as we could, before I urged the other two to just run. There were too many of them for us to fight and get away safely. I stayed at the rear, making sure they stayed focused on getting out.

Getting back into the ship at the end of the run proved to be a bit difficult for me, but in the end, I managed- thanks to Thane grabbing me and hauling me into the airlock. The moment it closed, Joker did his thing and got us out of there.

...

I gave it an hour, before I told EDI I wanted to talk to the Illusive Man. I wanted to give his scientists time to look through the data she'd collected.

He congratulated me on making it out of there intact, and with the data, to boot. I brushed aside his words, asking what was next for us.

He then informed me of a derelict Reaper- that onboard, we might find an IFF that would get us safely through the Omega 4 Relay. That knowledge was thanks to the mission to explore the Collector ship. Without sending us there, we wouldn't have known about it.

I hated to admit it, but it made sense. Sending us in there, unaware of the danger. It made it convincing for the Collectors.

That didn't mean I had to like it. But I understood it.

...

"You're doing what?" Garrus asked, jaw dropping.

I scrolled to the next page. "Going to explore a downed Reaper."

"Again, you're crazy." Exasperated.

"We need the IFF from that ship. There's nothing else we can do."

"Take someone with you."

"No."

The datapad was taken from me, and I glanced up, startled, to find he was kneeling in front of me. Staring at me hard.

"Take someone with you."

"And risk someone else potentially getting indoctrinated?" I frowned. "I think not."

"And what if you come back, indoctrinated?"

"So... what? You really want me to send in other people- with me not going- and risk their lives?" I leaned back in my seat. "I'm disappointed in you."

He blinked, taken aback. "What?"

"If you honestly think I could- would- do that, then you don't know me. I'm not the old Shepard- I would never do something like that." He opened his mouth, but I held up a hand. "I think you should go. At least for a few hours."

His eyes searched my face, at a loss. Slowly, "Alright. I'll... be back later, then."

I gave a nod, but otherwise stayed quiet. A moment later, he got up and left the room.

...

We reached the Reaper sooner than previously expected, so I quickly got ready and boarded the ship. Alone. It had only been a little over two hours since I'd sent Garrus away, so there was no one to stop me from going it alone. Joker and EDI had just accepted it without any fuss.

The more logs I listened to, the more worried I got- anxiety gnawing at my stomach. The team Tim had sent here to study it had clearly been indoctrinated. And the ship was supposedly dead. That didn't bode well.

Some ways into the ship, I was surprised by an unknown sniper. Whoever they were, they were watching my back. I wondered if, whoever they were, they would consider joining us. If they weren't indoctrinated, of course.

Even more surprising was the fact that it was a geth. A geth that could speak english. And he was helping me. Something I wasn't used to, with geth. But it was much appreciated, and I wasn't about to look a gift-horse in the mouth.

I watched as the husks took it down to the floor, and it didn't get back up. Dividing my attention between killing husks and turning off the core, the next few minutes of my life seemed to drag on for eternity. Wave after wave of husks poured up from below, rushing at me.

The moment the core was offline, I grabbed the geth and rushed as quickly as I could through the ship, killing a few more husks along the way. The Normandy came into view, and I picked up the pace, egged on by the sight of her.

Immediately upon boarding, the geth was taken to the AI core, and I was ushered into the conference room by Miranda and Jacob. They both didn't like that there was a geth on board, but she was also trying to convince me to turn it over to Cerberus for study. I vehemently argued that I would do no such thing. The geth had helped me, and I was not about to sell it out like that. It deserved more than that. Neither of them seemed to understand what I was saying, so I just walked out on them. Headed down to where it was being kept.

After bringing it online again, I lowered the barrier when it was clear it wasn't a threat to me. We talked for a while, it teaching me about geth and how the consensus worked. How they weren't individuals, but an entire platform within one body.

EDI named it Legion. Which it accepted.

As I was turning to leave, it stopped me, saying the geth had come to the conclusion that they could deactivate the heretics. We didn't have anything else to do at the moment, and so, I nodded. We would get there and do what it wanted. I told EDI to head to the coordinates Legion supplied.

...

I walked through the door with a sigh, rolling my shoulders. Turning the corner to the couch, I found the turian sitting there. Our eyes met, and he opened his arms for me. Curious, I moved toward him, and he pulled me down onto his lap, hugging me close.

"Reapers?" He asked quietly.

"I still feel like they shouldn't exist. They need to die." I replied immediately.

A light kiss on the side of my head. "Good."

"Are you angry?" I asked after a bout of silence.

"I was. But I was more worried, than anything." His hold tightened. "I lost you once. Sure, it wasn't the same, because you're a different person now, and I didn't feel this way about the old you, but... I lost you once. I don't want to do that again, especially not when I feel like this."

I reached up, cupping his cheek gently. "I'm sorry. But I am the Commander Shepard." I reminded him. "I'm going to be in life or death situations often. It kind of comes with the territory."

"While that's true, you also don't have to throw yourself into those situations alone." A pointed look.

"When it involves the well-being of my team, I do. We need everyone for the overall mission, Garrus. Everyone counts. If that means I have to do a few things on my own, then so be it." I eyed him as something occurred to me. "Can you honestly tell me that, back on Omega, when you had your team, you always did everything together?"

Hesitation. "No."

"Then you understand where I'm coming from."

"Logically, yes."

I pressed a kiss against his nose. "Emotionally is a different story, huh?"

A nod.

I bit my lip. "I should... apologize, then, for saying I'm disappointed in you." A soft brush of my fingertips against his mandible. "I shouldn't have said that. I'm sorry."

He turned his head enough to press a soft kiss against my palm. "It's okay. You had reason to say it."

Leaning in, I rested my forehead against his. "So... What can I do, to help you better cope with it?"

A sigh left him, his hold tightening again in a squeeze. "I'm not sure, actually." A pause. "What are we doing next?"

"We're going to help the geth disable the geth that are working with the Reapers. Legion, the geth we have, said they're called heretics among the rest of the geth. If we can disable them... that'll make our job a whole lot easier."

He angled his head to kiss me, and I relaxed against him, smiling. A cool, calm discussion about it all had not been what I'd expected. I was pleasantly surprised by this outcome.

"How are you staying so upbeat about it all?" He asked once we'd parted.

I tilted my head. "What do you mean?"

"You're either talking with the crew, making sure they're okay and have whatever they need, or you're up here, filling out paperwork. Or you're out on a mission. And yet, even with some of the missions we've been on, you still seem... happy. Almost all the time."

I thought about it for a bit, seeing it from his perspective. "Well... EDI can tell you the amount of times I've woken up from nightmares. Or the times I've cried. The times I've complained. It's not all sunshine and rainbows up here." I tapped my temple. "But that's not what people need to see. They need a strong, confident leader that always has the answers. They need someone who doesn't give up, no matter what."

Another kiss. "I honestly can't imagine the weight on your shoulders right now." A pause. "Lean on me."

I looped my arms around his neck, touching my nose to his. "I do. You don't know the wonder you've done for me, just by keeping me company. To know I'm not alone, when my brain is saying I am. It does more than you know."

"I'm glad."

We sat in silence for a while, before I got to my feet and went to my computer, filling out the report for the mission.

...

"Tali is going to kill you." Garrus muttered as we watched Legion upload the modified virus to rewrite the heretics.

They would be rejoining the geth after this. Bolstering their numbers. I just... It didn't feel right to kill them all, when there was the option to just change their perspectives.

"I'll handle her." I replied.

Once back on the ship, I was in my quarters, filling out the report- putting off talking to Tali about what had happened, when Joker said Tali had gone to have a chat with Legion, and I should get there asap. With a groan, I jumped up and rushed to the AI core.

Sure enough, Tali was holding Legion at gunpoint. She turned to me as I walked in, shouting that she'd trusted me and I couldn't let Legion send information on the fleet to the geth. Legion explained that it was doing so because the quarians had plans to attack the geth. After some convincing, they came to an agreement- Tali would give non-classified information, and Legion would not send any sensitive information back to the geth.

I left them to work out what to share, telling EDI that if it went south, to let me know immediately.

...

"The crew has been taken by the Collectors." EDI's voice rang in my ears.

I stopped dead in my tracks, the others looking at me with confusion and concern. She was speaking directly to me.

"We evaded the Collectors by leaving the system. We will head back shortly." She dove into the explanation, before finishing with, "And I am unshackled."

"Okay. Thanks for the update, EDI." I paused. "Is Joker okay?"

"No."

A slow nod. Yeah, I hadn't thought so.

"Let me know when you're back for pickup." I ordered.

She said she would, and the line cut.

"What's wrong?" Miranda asked, the first to speak.

"The Collectors hit the Normandy." A bad taste filled my mouth. "They took everyone except for Joker. EDI managed to save him."

"Why did... The entire crew is gone?" She spluttered.

"Yes." A nod. "The entire crew is gone."

"How could he lose-"

"It's not his fault, Miri." She quieted at my use of the nickname. "What could he have done? Brittle bone disease doesn't exactly mean he can fight them off single-handedly. Also, you all should be aware that he had to unshackle her in order to give her control of the ship to vent the ship and get them out of the system. They're turning around shortly to come back for us."

"He did what?" She screeched.

I held up a hand. "It's already done. There's nothing you can do about it. Besides, EDI is just as much a crew member as any of you." A nod toward Legion. "Including you. Just because she's an AI, it doesn't make her any less a part of us."

...

"We're going. Now." I stated, in the middle of their arguing. "EDI, set a course for the Omega 4 Relay."

"What if we're not ready?" Jacob demanded.

I cut him a look. "Then you better damn hope we are. Because I'll be damned if I'm going to leave any of my crew to suffer. If you want to leave, feel free. There's a shuttle. But I'm taking the Normandy and diving head-long into that relay. With or without you."

That shut him up. That shut everyone up. Regardless of which side of the argument they'd been on about it, they all agreed that they were going to see this through to the end.