A/N: Okay, I am not going to lie. This was by far the hardest chapter for me to write for any of my stories thus far. The reason for that was because of one thing that this chapter features: Shepard's response to Ashley's email. In the last chapter I didn't have to bother writing Ashley's email because the game already did that for me. Sadly the game does not give you to option to respond to it. (Which I think would have been cool. They could have even had it be another factor in determining how the confrontation with Ashley during the Citadel coup in ME3 would play out. Basically sending her a paragon response would get you more points while sending a renegade response would make you lose points.) So I had to really put myself in my Shepard's mindset and think "how would Shepard respond?". Hopefully I have come up with an email that would be close to what Shepard would actually write.

"Eight…Nine…Ten. Ready or not, here I come."

A little girl opened her eyes and began scanning the backyard she was in. The backyard may not have seemed that big but to a girl who was five-years old, it was a jungle filled with lots of hiding places. Yet she was surprised by the fact that the person she was looking for managed to completely vanish. While a little girl could hide in this backyard, the person she was looking for was a grown-up and it was hard to see how they could hide from her. The only thing the girl had going for her was that a rule had been established saying that the game could not leave the backyard. Her target was there somewhere, she just needed to find them.

The first place the girl looked was in the little playhouse. It might have been a little cramped but it was still possible for a grown-up to fit through the small door and hide inside. She cautiously approached the door like a soldier about to breach an entrance. Trying to suppress a giggle, she grabbed the doorknob and threw the door open.

"FOUND…" she started to say before realizing that the person she was looking for was not inside.

The playhouse was the most likely place where the person she was looking for could hide completely. If they weren't there, then where were they? The playground equipment could work but only if you looked at it from a certain angle. The girl's journey to the playhouse gave her the chance to glance at the playground equipment from each angle using her peripheral vision. No one was there. The kid-sized swimming pool was another possibility but as the girl approached it, she could see that there was no one there either. The girl was now getting somewhat frustrated as she was running out of places to look. Then she looked at the lone tree in the backyard. It was an oak tree and would have been too high for her to climb. However the person she was looking for was more than capable of climbing it. Her theory was confirmed when she noticed some branches moving even though there was no wind. She didn't bother trying to be sneaky this time and ran to the tree. When she reached it, she looked up and smiled.

"I FOUND YOU AUNT ASHLEY!"

"Aw man," Ashley said pretending to sound defeated, "I guess that means you win Grace."

It was only a matter of time before she was found but Ashley was still impressed by how her niece had managed to find her so quickly. True it was mostly process of elimination but she didn't think most kids would think of looking for her in a place that they couldn't reach themselves. Grace seemed to be pretty smart for a five-year old. As she climbed down from the tree, Grace was already moving away like she was ready to find a place to hide herself.

"You count and I'll go hide now," she said.

"Hold on a second Grace," Ashley said as she lifted Grace off the ground, "Mommy's going to be coming home soon and we need to get you cleaned up because we're going to be having dinner when she gets back."

Grace attempted to give Ashley a sad puppy dog face but it only made Ashley's smile grow. The kid was good but Ashley was a tough soldier and it was going to take more than a cute sad face to get her to change her mind. Maybe if Grace had been her own child it would have worked.

As for Grace's mother, Ashley was referring to her sister Abby. Abby had some errands to run with Mrs. Williams and Ashley had agreed to babysit her daughter while she was gone. The last few hours had been a blast as it gave Ashley the chance to see her niece again for the first time in almost two years. Fortunately the long absence didn't cause Grace to forget about her. When she first arrived at Abby's house, Grace ran into Ashley's arms. The two then spent most of the day playing a variety of games including hide-and-seek, catch and they even had a tea party. Ashley was always a bit of tom-boy growing up so she wasn't really fond of tea parties but she was willing to make an exception for Grace. She even agreed to wear the costume pieces Grace picked out so that it was a princess tea-party. Seeing Grace having fun made the slight embarrassment she felt being dressed up worth it.

Grace tried the puppy dog face one more time but Ashley threw one of her own and said in a fake sad voice, "now will you please go inside and wash your hands for dinner?"

Finally Grace caved, "okay Aunt Ashley."

Once inside, Grace went into the bathroom while Ashley went to the office that belonged to Abby's husband. She hadn't checked her email for a while so she figured she would use the time Grace was in the bathroom to do it. To her disappointment, there were no new messages. It had been weeks since she had sent her message to Shepard. Everyday that went by without a response from him made her more nervous. She had been hoping that it was because he was busy. After all, he was out there fighting the Collectors and Ashley knew how hard it is to find time to send a message while on a mission. She wanted to believe that was the case more than the possibility that he was mad at her and especially more so than the possibility that he might have been killed.

"No," Ashley thought, "don't even think that Ash. Shepard will be fine."

"I'm finished Aunt Ashley," Grace called from the bathroom.

Ashley quickly forced herself to cheer up so that Grace wouldn't see her worried look, "coming Grace."

The sound of a skycar horn coming from outside told Ashley that Abby had just arrived. She went to get Grace from the bathroom and the two of them went to greet her at the door.

"MOMMY!" Grace shouted as she ran into her mother's waiting arms.

"Hey Gracie," Abby responded while giving Grace a kiss on the cheek, "did you have fun with Aunt Ashley?"

"Yes, we played hide-and-seek, catch and we even had a princess tea party."

"Really?" Abby said giving Ashley a surprised look.

Ashley mouthed "don't ask" warning Abby not to make her elaborate. Abby nodded to indicate she understood and invited Ashley to stay for dinner. Ashley accepted and the three ladies proceeded into the kitchen to begin the preparations. Abby's husband arrived an hour later and right when the dinner was ready and on the table. After another excited welcome from Grace, everyone took a seat. They were about to say a prayer when a voice came from the office saying, "you have received a new message." Abby's husband was initially confused because he didn't remember leaving his email open. It was then Ashley remembered that she didn't log off after checking her messages a few minutes ago. She apologized and excused herself. She then entered the office and clicked on the "new message" icon. The subject line of the message read "RE: Hey there." Ashley's heart skipped a beat. Shepard had finally responded to her message. She felt a wave of relief come over her. The message at least proved that Shepard was still alive. She proceeded to open the message and began reading.

Ash,

You have nothing to apologize for. I would be lying if I said I wasn't hurt by some of the things you said on Horizon but after thinking about it, you weren't wrong to not completely trust me. I had been gone for two years and then I reappeared with a Cerberus ship. If the roles had been switched, I probably would have had a similar reaction.

I can't imagine what it's been like for you these past two years. Believe me when I say that I had no intention of putting you through that. I don't really know what happened to me after the Normandy was destroyed. All I know is that one minute I was floating in space and losing air, the next minute I woke up in a Cerberus facility that was under attack.

I'm sorry it took so long to respond to your message. Things have been crazy out here since Horizon and finding time to sit down and write a proper response has been nearly impossible. The other reason for the delay was because I wanted to make sure that the message was just right before I sent it. After what happened on Horizon, I didn't want to risk another misunderstanding because what I have to say is too important. Ash, you were the first person I thought of when I woke up in that facility and the thing I wanted most was the chance to see you again. I tried to get a message to you but all my attempts to reach you were stonewalled for one reason or another. I can't help but wonder if I had gotten a message to you sooner, maybe our reunion could have turned out differently.

I've missed you so much Ash and I don't want to lose you either. A part of me thought I did after Horizon. I know we've both changed over the past two years but one thing that hasn't changed is how much I care about you. I don't know what the future holds either but I know that, if you are willing, I would like to face whatever it holds with you. You don't have to answer right away. I know you've had to absorb a lot of information lately. All I ask is that you take as much time as you need to think it over.

We're about to hit the Collector homeworld so I should probably wrap this up. My team is as ready as they can be but it's hard to be ready when we don't know what's waiting for us there. I don't like going into a fight blind but "though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil for you are with me." I know that when the psalm says "you are with me," it's talking about God. I do believe that is true in this situation as well but I also feel that I don't need to be afraid because you are with me too. Regardless of what we find, my team and I are going to see it to it that no one is abducted by the Collectors again. One way or another, this is going to end soon.

Be safe, Ash.

Shepard

The message had left Ashley feeling several emotions. Initially she felt scared. Shepard had told her that he was about to attack the Collector homeworld. She knew that meant he would have to go through the Omega-4 relay and there were stories of how other ships that had attempted to go through it never returned. It was practically a suicide mission. The only thing keeping her from panicking was the fact that Illos was a suicide mission too and Shepard managed to survive that.

After the initial fear subsided, the next emotion Ashley felt was happiness. The message proved that Anderson was right. Shepard's feelings for her were still as strong as they were two years ago. He also was not letting what happened on Horizon change that. As she reread the third and fourth paragraphs of the message, she could feel the Shepard had put his heart and soul into his words. The tears began to flow when she reread the part where Shepard quoted the Book of Psalms and how he also said that his feelings for her would help him not be afraid of the mission.

When Ashley had finished rereading the message one final time, she closed her email and rejoined Abby's family at the dinner table. The table was the same as she had left it and none of the food had been touched. Abby explained that they were waiting to say their pre-meal prayer until Ashley came back. Ashley apologized for keeping them waiting and took her seat.

"Is everything alright?" Abby asked when she noticed what was left of the tears on Ashley's face.

"Yeah," Ashley replied with a small smile, "it was from you-know-who. We'll talk about it after dinner."

Abby smiled and nodded. Ashley didn't need to tell her anymore to help her figure out who she was talking about. With nothing more to say, everyone joined hands and bowed their heads. Abby's husband then led them in a prayer. The main focus of the prayer was thanking God for the many blessings in their lives including family, the food they were about to eat and for soldiers like Ashley who were out there fighting to defend the freedoms they enjoyed everyday. At the same time, Ashley was saying a silent prayer of her own for Shepard. She quoted the same bible verse Shepard did in his email and asked for God to be with him and his crew and keep them safe from whatever awaited them beyond the Omega-4 Relay. She also asked for the guidance and wisdom to handle whatever came after Shepard's mission was over. Her feelings for Shepard were still as strong as ever and she wanted the same thing Shepard wanted, a future together. Sadly the incident on Horizon had put several doubts in her head and they weren't something that could just go away. There was going to be a lot of work that she and Shepard would have to do to mend their relationship but that was the case with most good things and life. In this case, Ashley knew that this was something that was going to be worth fighting for and she was willing to put in whatever work it took.

The elevator was only taking him down two floors but to Shepard it felt like several dozen. All things considered, he should have been happy. He had done exactly what he had told Joker he would do shortly after they crashed landed on the Collector Base. He had defeated the Collectors and was still alive to talk about it. Not only that, but he managed to complete the mission without losing a single member of his crew. So many times throughout the mission there were talks about how not everyone would be coming back from the mission. Shepard proved them all wrong. So why wasn't he happier than he currently was? It was because he was on his way to give a speech to the crew and he was going to make an announcement that some of them may not entirely approve of.

The doors to the elevator opened on the Normandy's cargo deck and Shepard was greeted by the entire crew of the Normandy. He did a quick scan of the whole room and couldn't help but be impressed with how good it looked after what they had just been through. You never would have known that a fight had taken place in there. Shepard was so focused on scanning the room that he nearly jumped when he noticed the crew snap to attention and salute him. He returned their salute and told them to stand at ease.

As he situated himself on the shuttle launch control platform so that everyone could see him, he exchanged quick glances with his twelve squadmates. Starting with Garrus and ending with Miranda, each squadmate gave him a subtle nod. They were the only ones who already knew what Shepard was about to announce and their nods indicated they were ready to carry out a plan they had worked out with Shepard if the situation called for it. Everything was in place and it was time for Shepard to begin his speech.

"Take a look around the room," he began.

The crew was initially confused by Shepard's statement but reluctantly did as he said.

"Take a look around and see if you notice any missing faces," Shepard continued, "Is there anyone from the crew that is not in this room right now? Anyone? Well I'll tell you right now that there isn't. Do you know why? It's because we traveled through the Omega-4 Relay to the center of the galaxy, blew up the Collector Base and did it without losing a single person! WE SURVIVED WHAT THE REST OF GALAXY CALLED A SUICIDE MISSION!"

The room erupted into loud cheering and applause. Shepard gave the crew a few seconds to celebrate their victory before he held up his hands and motioned for them to quiet down.

"Each and every person in this room played an essential part in making that accomplishment possible. I couldn't have asked for a better team. Thank you, all of you."

Another chorus of cheers and applause followed. Shepard used the moment to take a few calming breaths before continuing. This was the part of the speech that he was nervous about. Whatever was going to happen next all depended on how the crew took what he was about to say.

"You all have been really good to me and that is why I feel I need to give you all a fair warning about what is going to happen now. By the authority vested in me by the Office of Special Tactics and Reconnaissance, I'm placing the Normandy under Spectre authority. Effective immediately, this is no longer a Cerberus vessel."

Whatever happiness the crew was feeling at that time vanished and quickly turned to confusion. There were even some who quickly picked up on what Shepard was doing and were throwing him looks of anger and betrayal. The looks that Shepard's squadmates were giving him showed they were worried that this was going to get out of hand quickly. While Shepard was feeling the same way, he also felt that there was still a chance this could be resolved peacefully. He held up his hands again.

"Please, I know that some of you aren't going to be happy with this but all I ask is that you let me finish before you make a decision on how you want to respond to this. Most of you are aware that I have never been a supporter of Cerberus. It has nothing to do with the fact that I used to be in the Alliance and that they classify Cerberus as a terrorist group. It's because I have seen some of the other projects Cerberus has conducted. In fact I was the one that put a stop to most of them. Cerberus may claim to be trying to protect humanity but from what I've seen, Cerberus has lost its humanity in the process. That was made all the more clear to me towards the end of our assault on the Collector Base. I was all set to blow the base sky high when I got a call from your boss, the Illusive Man. He didn't want me to destroy the base. Instead he wanted me to release a radiation pulse to kill the remaining Collectors but leave the machinery intact. His reason was that he wanted to use the Collectors' technology against the Reapers, including the machine the Collectors were using to build a Reaper."

Some members of the crew were originally nodding to show they believed the Illusive Man's idea was right but stopped as soon as Shepard mentioned the Reaper building machine.

"Do you remember how the Collectors were making the Reaper? Do you remember how they were melting down humans to make the key ingredient for it? You should since most of you would have suffered the same fate if my team and I hadn't rescued you when we did. That technology killed God knows how many humans and yet the Illusive Man wanted to use it to help save humanity. I don't know about the rest of you but I fail to see how that logic works. If anything, using that technology would be a betrayal to the people who were killed by it. Now some of you may doubt that the Illusive Man would do such a thing but Miss Lawson will confirm everything I've said and you know how loyal to the Illusive Man she was."

The crew turned to Miranda for confirmation which she gave by nodding.

"I say 'was' because Miss Lawson has since resigned from Cerberus, as has Mr. Taylor. Now I meant what I said about the Normandy no longer being a Cerberus vessel. My plan now is to turn it over to the Alliance. It is after all based off designs of the original Normandy which was an Alliance frigate. Before I do, I need to know right now how many of you are going to go along with my decision. If you are with me, you will be allowed to remain on the Normandy and I will use my Spectre status to ensure that you don't face any legal action because of your association with Cerberus. If any of you are still opposed to my decision, we will drop you off at the nearest port and help you get transportation to any location of your choosing. It is only because I meant what I said about how much I appreciate everything you've done for me as my crew that I'm not going to arrest anybody. Ultimately, the choice is yours."

The crew began exchanging nervous glances with each other and some even mumbled as they contemplated what to do. Shepard looked to each of his squadmates who were each putting their hands on their weapons to handle any riots that might start. Then everyone got quiet. Shepard turned his focus back to the crowd and saw why the murmurs silenced. Stepping forward were Joker and Dr. Chakwas. The gesture, while appreciated, was not a surprise to Shepard. They were part of his original crew on the first Normandy so it wouldn't take much to get them to be on his side. This meant it wasn't going to be a surprise to the rest of the crew either and thus not influence anyone's decision. Suddenly the murmurs resumed when another person stepped forward. It was Kelly. When she saluted, a few gasps were heard. Then Engineers Kenneth Donnelly and Gabriella Daniels stepped forward and were shortly followed by Mess Sergeant Rupert Gardner. Soon more crew members stepped forward. As each person stepped forward, the murmurs got quieter. It wasn't long before the room became quiet as the last member of the crew stepped forward and saluted. Shepard couldn't help but smile as he returned the salutes.

"Thank you," he said after the salutes were dropped, "now enough with the formalities. I know that Joker wouldn't forgive me if I didn't say that we need to celebrate our victory properly. So everyone up to the crew deck because the drinks are on me."

The crew erupted into cheers as they followed Shepard to the elevator.

The party on the crew deck was still in full swing but Shepard had managed to slip away and was now riding the elevator up to his cabin. He wasn't trying to escape the party. On the contrary, he was having a great time celebrating with his crew. It was just he had something that he needed to do as part of his own personal celebration. Once he was done, he would return to the party. As soon as the doors opened, Shepard entered his cabin and went straight for his desk. He sat down in the chair and picked up Ashley's picture. He looked at her picture for several seconds before he hugged it.

"We did it Ash," he thought, "the mission is over and I don't have to work with Cerberus anymore. Now I can keep my promise and come back to you. I still believe there is a chance that we can pick up where we left off and I hope you'll see it too."

After placing the photo back on the desk, Shepard remained in his chair for a few seconds longer as he looked around his cabin at all the items he had collected on the mission. There was the display case full of model ships, his old N7 helmet he found when he placed a monument at the wreckage of the original Normandy and his dog tags he got from his former squadmate Dr. Liara T'Soni after helping her rescue her friend Feron. There was no doubt in Shepard's mind hat he had done a lot of good since coming back to life. There was still more work he would need to do if he wanted to get the galaxy ready for the Reapers but his latest victory proved that they could be beaten. His spirits lifted up by the final thought, Shepard got up and headed back to the elevator to rejoin the party. He barely made it to the door when a voice suddenly came from his terminal.

"Incoming message from Admiral Steven Hackett, Alliance HQ."