PRESENT DAY

"I thought she did move on," Shepard said as he was wrapping up his story, "instead it turned out her feelings for me were stronger than I had originally suspected. She never even said that she loved me until we found her at the biotic cure facility. When she asked me to kiss her, I initially refused to do it because I didn't want to risk hurting you. But aside from the fact that it was her last wish, I did it because I owe everything to Miranda. I wouldn't even be alive now if it wasn't for her. A kiss on the forehead was the least I could give to repay her."

"I'm so sorry Shepard," Ashley said as she took the hand Shepard had wrapped around her shoulder, "it sounds like you had a lot to take in down there and I certainly didn't help by getting jealous. I was wrong to get upset about the kiss. Like you said, you were just trying to grant a friend's last wish and there was no reason for me to be mad at your for that."

Shepard took a deep breath before he spoke again. Ashley seemed like she had calmed down while listening to his story. Now was as good a time as any to ask her the question that was currently bothering him. True there was a slight possibility that the question might set her off again but he couldn't avoid asking her forever.

"Ash," he began, "don't take this the wrong way but saying you got upset would be somewhat of an understatement. After I told you about the kiss, you slapped me and gave me probably the meanest glare you've ever given me. I realize kissing another woman is not something you would normally approve of me doing but you should know by now that you're the one I love and nothing will ever change that. My kissing Miranda on the forehead should not have gotten that kind of reaction from you. And it's not just the way you reacted to that which is bothering me. You have been acting strange the last few days. Is everything okay with you?"

Ashley slowly got up from the couch and moved towards the fish tank wall, "I'll admit that I probably overreacted a bit."

"Ash."

"Fine, I did overreact. But it was just one slip of jealousy. I'm fine. You don't need to look so hard into it."

"Please Ash," Shepard pleaded as he got behind Ashley and wrapped his arms around her, "don't brush me off anymore. I'm only bringing this up because I'm worried about you. I've been trying to give you the benefit of the doubt when you say that everything's fine but the strange behavior has been showing up more frequently since the morning this mission started. Ash whatever is going on, you can tell me. I just want to know that you're okay."

It was then that Shepard noticed Ashley's reflection on the fish tank. Though it wasn't a clear reflection, he thought he saw her lips quivering as tears began to form in her eyes. Suddenly Ashley turned around and embraced Shepard. This caused Shepard to nearly stumble back as he was caught off guard by the strength and sudden nature of Ashley's hug. As he got himself stabilized, he began to hear Ashley crying. If the sudden embrace had not already surprised him, the sudden emotional outburst would have for sure. Shepard did know that Ashley was not someone who tried to hold in her emotions but the fact that she was losing it now told him that whatever was going on with her was bothering her more than he originally thought. With no idea what to say next, he patted her reassuringly on the back while silently repeating "it's okay." Finally Ashley was able to calm herself down enough to speak.

"I don't know," she said, "I don't know what's going on and it's scaring me."

"Just start at the beginning," Shepard said as he led Ashley to take a seat at the foot of the bed, "maybe we can figure this out together."

Ashley sighed, "the last few days I've been having moments where I get hit with feelings of nausea. I thought maybe it was just something I ate disagreeing with me so I didn't give it much thought. Then on the morning we were having lunch with Garrus and Tali, the feeling got so strong that I almost threw up. I meant to have Dr. Chakwas give me a checkup when our leave was over just to be safe but then you heard about what happened to Kelly and that her killer worked for the mystery backer. I knew that you were going to want to go after them and I wanted to be with you when you did. So I decided to put the examination on hold because I didn't want to risk being sidelined for medical reasons."

"You were having one of those feelings on the shuttle ride to the facility weren't you?"

"Yes. I'm scared Shepard. I don't know what's wrong with me and with everything that's happening with the backer this is not the time for me to get sick."

Shepard took Ashley's hand, "well the first thing we need to do is take you down to the med bay so that Dr. Chakwas can take a look at you."

"But…"

"Ash you were the one that told me I had to take better care of myself when I was pushing my efforts to track the backer too hard. The same is true for you. I need everyone on my team to be in prime condition when we finally locate the backer so that we can handle whatever we might find. Now please don't hate me for saying this. I love you and I appreciate how much you want to help me, but if I have to pull rank to get you to see the doctor, I will."

Ashley smiled. She knew that Shepard would never actually follow through with his threat to pull rank. However that was because she knew he wouldn't have to. Simply making the threat was enough to convince her she should do what he suggested. She nodded in agreement.

Shepard smiled back. Still hand in hand with Ashley, they exited the cabin and entered the elevator to ride down to the crew deck. As the doors closed, Ashley started laughing at something she was thinking about.

"What's so funny?" he asked.

"I was just thinking about how fortunate it was that I didn't go with you to Kelly's apartment."

"Why's that?"

"I know we talked about how there was no truth to the scuttlebutt that said you two had a date in your cabin. Even so, the fact that there was scuttlebutt at all made me a little jealous of her. Not as much as I was of Miranda but enough that I probably would have acted slightly immature."

The statement caused Shepard to chuckle. He thought back to the semi-awkward conversation he had with Ashley about the meal he had with Kelly. Fortunately it didn't take much for him to help her see that it was just a meal between two people who were getting to know each other as friends. It was still a slightly frustrating conversation but only because it wasn't the first time he had it. He already had to explain what really happened to most of the crew on the Normandy who asked about it.

Suddenly a thought entered Shepard's head and the smile on his face quickly vanished. Ashley noticed the smile disappear out of the corner of her eye and turned to face him. She was about to ask what was wrong when she realized that she had seen this particular face on Shepard before. It was one he would have when he was putting pieces together in his head and was on the verge of seeing the whole picture. His eyes shot wide open when he did. He quickly hit the stop button before the elevator reached the crew deck. As he hit the button to send the elevator back up to the CIC deck, he looked up to speak towards the intercom in the elevator.

"Liara, are you and Garrus still in the War Room?"

"Yes," replied Liara's voice, "I was just about to call you. We found something that you need to see."

"Ashley and I are on our way now. I have something too."

"What is it?" Ashley asked after Liara signed off.

"I know who the backer is going after next."

Garrus and Liara were in the War Room waiting when Shepard and Ashley arrived. Before Shepard could say anything, he noticed that the Cerberus logo was being projected on the table in the center of the room. Next to the logo was a list of names. It was a long list but Shepard could make out that some of the names were crossed off. Garrus picked up on Shepard's confusion.

"This is what Liara and I wanted to talk to you about. On a hunch, we put a list together of known Cerberus employees who survived the Reaper War. Between the ones who are currently incarcerated and the ones who left the group before Cerberus' destruction, it's a long list. Even if you consider the number of troops that we killed during the war."

"Of the names we found," Liara joined in, "twenty of them have died since the war ended. They are the ones who are crossed off on the list. We were able to account the cause of death for all but three of them. Do any of these people look familiar to you?"

Liara punched a few keys and the Cerberus logo vanished and was replaced with pictures of three men. The first one Shepard instantly recognized as Dr. Wayne. Just as quickly, he was able to recognize the other two men and in their case it was not a good thing that he did. The names at the bottom confirmed that they were who he thought they were: Dr. Gavin Archer and General Oleg Petrovsky.

Dr. Archer was the head scientist of a Cerberus project called Project Overlord. The purpose of the project was to find a way to exploit the geth's religious impulses to help Cerberus control them. After a long stretch with no progress and with the Illusive Man threatening to shut the project down, Archer discovered that his autistic younger brother David could communicate with the geth thanks to his abilities as a mathematical savant. Archer then decided to merge his brother's mind with a VI that he had created to serve as an overlord of the geth. Despite the potential risk to his brother and not knowing for sure what would happen when the connection was made, Archer went ahead with the experiment. Unfortunately David's mind couldn't handle the merger and the VI went berserk. It then dispatched geth to eliminate the staff and tried to upload its program off planet. Thanks to Shepard's intervention, the VI was shut down before the upload could be completed and David was set free. When Shepard saw the horrific way Archer had treated his brother in order to conduct the experiment, he arranged for David to be sent to Grissom Academy for treatment despite both Archer and later the Illusive Man saying that taking David away would seriously set back research that could help humanity defeat the geth. The next time Shepard saw Archer after that was during the Reaper War when he helped rescue a group of scientists who defected from Cerberus. Archer was among the scientists. He explained to Shepard that he had left Cerberus after he refused to follow the Illusive Man's request to find someone to replace David so that the experiments could be continued. Shepard still hated Archer for what he did to David, but he was glad that Archer at least managed to finally see the error of his ways and was trying to make amends. After the rescue, Archer and other scientists volunteered to help with the construction of the Crucible.

As for General Petrovsky, he was a high ranking Cerberus operative and easily the Illusive Man's best military strategist. He was also the one in charge of the Cerberus takeover of Omega. Under his leadership, the station was run like a concentration camp. But the most horrific thing that Petrovsky and Cerberus had done was allowing the citizens of Omega to be turned into creatures called Adjutants that they hoped to turn into obedient soldiers. With help from Aria T'Loak, Nyreen Kandros and their respected forces, Shepard was able to liberate the station and capture Petrovsky. In exchange for asylum, Petrovsky agreed to tell the Alliance everything he knew about Cerberus activities and even helped locate a Cerberus base that the Alliance later destroyed.

Both men, along with Dr. Wayne were granted immunity from charges for their crimes and, last Shepard knew, they had been living comfortable lives. Now according to Liara's findings, all three men had died at some point during the two plus years since the Reaper War ended.

"What do we know about how they died?" Shepard asked.

Garrus answered, "Dr. Wayne and General Petrovsky both had protective details and they were in public places when they were killed by what authorities determined to be a sniper. Somehow the sniper was able to get into the protective perimeters, fire a perfect headshot and slip back out before anyone knew what happened."

"Does Toombs have the training needed to pull off kills like that?" asked Ashley.

Shepard nodded, "I've read his file. He's not as good as you, me or Garrus but he's more than capable with a sniper rifle. He also has a strong enough motive for going after them."

"That's what we thought," said Liara, "except we don't think he killed Dr. Archer. His cause of death is listed as the result of a brain hemorrhage he had while he slept."

A chill went up Shepard's spine when Liara mentioned the hemorrhage, "were any pictures taken of the body?"

Liara nodded and pushed a few buttons to make the men's' pictures disappear. They were then replaced with a series of images showing Dr. Archer dead in his bed. Shepard was particularly interested in the close ups of Archer's face. The expression on his face was eerily similar to the one that he saw on Kelly's back at her apartment.

"Luciana?" Ashley asked Shepard.

"Without a doubt," he replied.

"But why would she help kill him? She said that everything her employer has done has been about hurting you. From what you've told me about Dr. Archer, he's not someone you would have shed a tear over losing so there was no reason for them to target him."

"You all listened to my call with Samara about Luciana. According to her, Luciana is a vigilante. If she found out what Archer did on Project Overlord she would see him as a criminal that needed punishing. Besides that, I believe she and the backer agreed to kill Archer and helped Toombs kill the other two as a means to secure his loyalty. In exchange for helping with his goals, he would help them with theirs in return."

"Also," said Garrus, "some of our friends they've been killing used to work for Cerberus. That certainly gives Toombs more incentive to help them."

"Shepard," Liara said, "we should probably contact Jacob and Brynn. They would be the next logical target for Toombs and Luciana to go after."

Shepard shook his head, "No they wouldn't. That's what I was coming up to tell you. It's true that the last two people they've killed both used to work for Cerberus but that's not the only thing they have in common. Not many people knew this but Miranda had feelings for me. There was also a rumor going around the Normandy that Kelly and I had a 'date' in my cabin during the Collector mission."

Garrus and Liara both shared a look of confusion as they tried to figure out what Shepard was implying. However it was Ashley who made the connection first.

"They're going after women who either had or were rumored to have feelings for you."

"Exactly, the backer said in their message that this was all part of their endgame. Up until now the only thing that mattered was that the person they killed was a friend of mine. Now that they're reaching the end, just anyone is not going to be enough anymore. They want the friends I'm the closest to and whose death would hurt me the most. I may not have had romantic feelings for Kelly or Miranda but they both were what I would consider to be some of my closest friends. That made them the perfect targets for the backer's endgame."

Liara gasped, "if that's the case, then that would make Ashley and me targets too. I did admit to having feelings for you during our mission against Saren."

"Except you and Ashley are here on the Normandy. Even if they did try to come after you here, the stealth systems would make it impossible for them to find us."

"But you said in the elevator that you knew who the backer would go after next," Ashley said as she crossed her arms and gave Shepard a questioning look, "so was there someone else that tried to make a move on you?"

"Settle down Ash, we've already talked about this. There's no need to get jealous. But yes. With you and Liara here on the Normandy, that leaves only one person left for the backer to go after. Like Miranda, she's someone who admitted to having feelings for me during the Collector Mission."

"You don't mean," Garrus interrupted.

Shepard somberly nodded to Garrus. The confirmation from Shepard's nod caused a fearful expression to appear on Garrus' face. He then ran straight for the exit to take him to the CIC. It then hit Ashley and Liara who Garrus was thinking about and their mouths dropped open in shock.

"Tali?!" they both said in unison.

Shepard, Ashley and Liara had joined Garrus in the CIC and were nervously pacing around Comm. Specialist Samantha Traynor's workstation. They had her trying to patch a call through to the quarian embassy on the Citadel. Unfortunately they were having trouble getting past the receptionist. Even after mentioning the call was regarding an urgent Spectre matter, the receptionist responded by putting them on hold. Three minutes later they were still listening to the hold music. Tired from pacing, Garrus took a seat on the steps leading to the galaxy map.

"She'll be fine Garrus," Shepard said in an attempt to calm Garrus' worries.

"I know," Garrus replied, "I just…I wonder if I should have stayed with her. You would have had no trouble reaching me and I would have been there to keep her safe."

"Garrus," Ashley said as she put a hand on his shoulder, "I understand your concern. I'm the same way whenever Shepard and I get separated on a mission. I was a nervous wreck on our last mission when he was trapped in Buckingham Palace while it was on fire. But the thing that helped me through it was the fact that I knew he would always find some way to beat the odds and survive. You and I both know that Tali's a survivor too. Once we give her the heads up about the backer's plan, she'll be able to take care of herself."

Garrus looked up at Ashley and nodded, "Thanks Ash. You're right. I guess it's just the waiting that's really bothering me."

"Shepard," said Liara, "if you don't mind me asking, what happened between you and Tali that would make her a target for the backer."

Shepard sighed as he thought about the moment in question, "during the Collector mission, I went down to visit her in engineering and she told me about how she was recovering from an infection she received during her personal mission. I started asking her about how rough it actually was for quarians living in their suits. According to her, the quarians' immune systems were so bad they had to be in their suits even among family. As a result, she said the only way they could show trust was by linking their suit environments. She told me I was the only one she knew who she would consider doing that with. I told her she wouldn't need to prove her loyalty in that way because I trusted her too but then she said the tradition of the gesture also signified willingness for intimacy. I realized she was implying that she had feelings for me. I told her that while I thought it was sweet she felt that way, I just didn't feel the same about her. I could have left it at that but I knew I owed her the whole story. So before we hit the Omega-4 Relay, I had a drink with her and Garrus. I used that opportunity to tell her that the reason I didn't feel the same way about her was because I wanted to try and get back together with Ash. She said that she understood as she was aware of our relationship back when we were on the original Normandy. Then she heard about the rough reunion we had on Horizon and thought along with the rest of the crew that we were done. She said if she had known otherwise she wouldn't have said anything about her feelings for me. Our discussion ended with her saying that she hoped things worked out for Ash and me and that we would be happy together."

"And since I was there when they talked about it," said Garrus, "that's why I knew about her having feelings for him once and realized she was the person Shepard was talking about. On the plus side, that conversation also told me that I didn't have to worry about Shepard being competition when Tali and I started dating."

Shepard chucked, "weren't you the one who said that everyone was always ignoring me and hitting on you. If anything you should have been competition for me."

The comment made Garrus laugh as well. Suddenly the holding music coming from Traynor's terminal stopped playing. Everyone froze where they were and anxiously held their breath as they waited to hear what they hoped would be Tali's voice. Unfortunately what they heard instead was a distorted voice.

"…..Hello Shepard."

While everyone else initially thought there was a problem with the comm., Shepard knew right away who it was they were listening to. He gently pushed Traynor to the side so that he could be in front of the terminal.

"You," he said sternly.

"Yes it's me," the distorted voice replied.

Shepard turned to face the rest of the group and nodded to terminal to silently tell them that the voice they were listening to was the mystery backer. Everyone exchanged concerned looks wondering how the backer hacked into their call. Wondering the same thing, Shepard continued the conversation by asking that very question.

"How did you tap into this call?

"I knew you would eventually figure out that Ambassador Tali'Zorah would be my next target. I had a quarian friend of mine arrange for me to be able to monitor all the embassies incoming calls so that I could intercept yours when it came. It's a good thing I did otherwise you would have been wasting your time waiting for someone to finally take your call only for them to tell you that the ambassador is not on the Citadel at moment."

"Where is she?" he asked as Garrus joined him at the terminal.

"Unfortunately she was recalled to Rannoch for some urgent business. But when she gets there, I can have my people give her any message you might have for her."

Garrus slammed his fist next to the terminal causing Shepard to jump, "you son of a bitch if you lay one finger on her, I will personally sign your death warrant."

"Oh, I'm sorry Detective Vakarian I didn't know you were listening in. I guess that means Commander Williams and Dr. T'Soni are listening as well. It's nice to finally meet you all. Well since you're listening in Detective, I want to ask you something. How come you weren't as eager to sign a death warrant for Shepard when he committed murder as you are for me?"

Garrus let out a frustrated sigh, "maybe because Shepard has never murdered anyone. As his friend I would know if he had."

"No Detective it's BECAUSE you're his friend that you refuse to believe that he could be a murderer. But by now you all know that the true purpose of everything I've done up to this point was to avenge the death of someone special to me, someone who died at Shepard's hands. Now believe me when I say I don't want to have my people kill the ambassador but because of how close she is to Shepard, she's the perfect target. However, as I told Shepard in my last message, I'm a fair individual. I know how much the ambassador means to you Detective so I want to give you the chance to save her. My people may have a head start on you but it is still possible for you and Shepard to get to Rannoch in time to stop them from killing her. You both just have to decide if you are willing to sacrifice ten innocent lives to do that."

"What are you talking about?" asked Shepard.

"Turn on the Alliance News Network. They're reporting on a story right now that I think you should see."

Not wasting a second, Shepard ran over to his private terminal on the other side of the stairs leading to the galaxy map. Upon opening the main page for the Alliance News Network, he saw the story the backer was talking about at the top of the page. The headline read: DEVELOPING STORY: HOSTAGE SITUATION ON SHANXI." He hit the play button for the attached video just as the others were gathering around to watch.

"For those of you just tuning in, this is Diana Allers reporting outside the trade building on Shanxi. This location was to be the sight of a conference for ten of the wealthiest businessmen and women in Alliance space. An hour ago, it was learned that terrorists had infiltrated the building and taken everyone inside hostage. No demands have yet been made but when the authorities arrived, the terrorists released all but the ten conference attendees. We'll remain on scene and keep you apprised of any developments as they happen here on the Alliance News Network."

Shepard made his way back to Traynor's terminal after the video ended, "listen to me, I don't know who you are or who you think I murdered but this is getting out of hand. If you want me so badly, just tell me where you are and I will come to you. You don't need to involve Tali or those hostages."

"I'm afraid I have to disagree with you Shepard. As much as I am looking forward to when you and I finally meet, it's not time for that yet. Right now, the only thing you need to do is make a choice. Will you save the life of your friend or will you save the life of ten strangers? My people will be waiting for you at both locations. Once one location confirms your arrival, they will notify the other and my people there will…well you don't need me to finish. Once again, the ball is in your court Shepard. Choose wisely."

The line went dead shortly after the backer had finished speaking. Initially Shepard didn't say anything. He just stood there staring at the blank screen on the terminal. Ashley, Garrus and Liara just watched him unsure of what to do or say. Finally Shepard moved back to his private terminal and looked at the news headline about the hostage situation. It was then that the others noticed that Shepard was breathing heavily. Each time he did, the breaths got quicker and louder. Before anyone had a chance to react, Shepard grabbed his terminal, yanked it free from its cords and let out an angry scream as he threw it towards the elevator. The scream caused the remaining personnel on the CIC deck to stop what they were doing and turn their attention to Shepard. They all nervously watched as Shepard kicked aside the smashed pieces of his terminal and entered the elevator to head up to his cabin.