Three weeks. It had been three weeks since she left the Normandy, since she had been found guilty of false charges, since she had been locked away in the Citadel's prison with only her hour of exercise to look forward to each day. In those three weeks she had been interviewed by Emily Wong a couple of times, spoken to by several members of the Alliance brass that had made the journey to the Citadel to voice their outrage at her incarceration, and she had been visited a few times by Kasumi which was whom she was expecting to see right now.

Elissa was laying down on her bed, looking up at the smooth ceiling thinking about all that had happened in the three weeks since her arrest, mostly about how relieved she was that Joker had been able to see a doctor about his arm immediately. She had insisted on staying with him the entire time he was there in the clinic, saying that she wanted to make sure that no further harm came to him by the guards. Shortly after his arm had been put in a cast, they were whisked away to their respective cells, and she had only seen him two or three more times since then when their exercise hours had aligned. The last time she saw him he was still in the cast though he said his arm was getting stronger, and he told her he was being allowed to have physical therapy, C-Sec officers apparently did not want him to have anymore broken bones on their hands so they let him get any health treatment he wanted. There had also been no word on where Hackett was, she had asked Kasumi every time she visited if they had heard anything about him, so far there was nothing not even Liara knew where he was.

"Shep," whispered Kasumi, and Elissa sat straight up, " is the coast clear?"

"Yeah," said Elissa quietly, "the cameras have been greased as well."

"Thank God," said Kasumi as she uncloaked herself, and made her way to the bed, "Are you sure you wouldn't just have me stay invisible? It might make things easier for you."

"Or just make me look crazy," said Elissa, "The Council already thinks I am, why give them actual proof?"

"Good point," said Kasumi as she sat down on the bed, "Anything from the brass?"

"Not since your last visit," sighed Elissa, "They all spoke to me about how much of an outrage my dismissal from service was and how the Council and the other generals had no right to remove me without speaking to them first, now not a damn peep."

"The Council's been intercepting their messages to you," said Kasumi bitterly, "Liara's been monitoring what comes to you, mostly data pads with messages from supporters, we all figure that the Council is trying to break your spirits. I'll try to smuggle some in for you next time, give you something to read."

"Thanks, Kasumi," said Elissa, smiling for the first time in days, "So how's the Normandy holding up? She still running?"

"Yep," said Kasumi happily, "Major Alenko's biotics aren't able to penetrate the kinetic shields. He tries nearly every day to pry the doors open, it's rather amusing to watch his face when he doesn't get the result he wants. We still have that bet going for how long his attempts are going to continue, so far the pool is up to five hundred credits, want to contribute?"

"I told you, Kasumi, if he keeps trying after a month then I'll give two hundred credits to the pool," said Elissa, brightly, "Any news about the crew? How are they all holding up?"

"Pretty well all things considered," said Kasumi, "They've all recovered from the shock of being locked in the Normandy, having EDI explain the situation was a good idea by the way, Shep. What else? Oh yeah, Garrus and Tali are starting to flirt again, I guess being locked in close quarters really brings people together. Speaking of which, how's the future Mr. Shepard?"

Elissa gave Kasumi an exasperated look, "How many times have I asked you to stop calling him that?"

"About as many times as times as you've asked me to stop calling you the future Mrs. Moreau," replied Kasumi calmly, "So how is Joker doing?"

Shepard lowered her eyes, "I don't really know, it's been days since I've seen him. Our exercise schedules don't match up, those three times they did were probably flukes, I wish I knew how he's doing."

"I'll find that out for you, Shep," said Kasumi, patting her friend on the shoulder, "When do you think you'll be released?"

Elissa sighed, "Nine years, three hundred forty-four days, not that I've been counting."

"Of course not," said Kasumi sarcastically, "By the way, our suppliers have been contributing less, they say it's bad for their business if they just give us stuff for free."

"Shit," mumbled Elissa, "Take some credits out of my private account and pay them each a flat fee of one hundred credits, that should take care of delivery and the merchandise, I've got discounts at each of those stores."

"I'll task that to Liara," said Kasumi, stretching her legs, "Is there anything you need, are they treating you right?"

"I've got a decent room, three meals a day, and guards who could give a fuck less that I'm innocent," said Elissa harshly, "there is not one human guard here who is sympathetic to me or to Joker, as far as they're concerned, we're traitors and aren't worth the credits spent keeping us locked away in comfort."

"I'll see what I can do about the guards," said Kasumi, getting angry that Elissa was being treated badly by the guards, "and I'll try to get Liara to change your schedule so you and Joker can at least talk to each other."

Elissa leaned over and hugged Kasumi tightly, "I really appreciate all that you and the crew are doing, keeping the Normandy out of the hands of the Council and bringing me these reports."

"Shep, I just wish I could do more," said Kasumi as they released each other, "it really sucks seeing you here, you should be out in the galaxy, not stuck in a prison cell."

"Don't I know it," laughed Elissa softly, "it's about time for the guards to do their sweep, you should get going."

"Alright, Shep," sighed Kasumi, standing, "I'll be back same time tomorrow." Then she activated her cloaking device and was gone from sight in an instant.

Elissa sat back on her bed and sighed, even with Kasumi's visits to look forward to, this place was still hell. She was sure her friends were trying to break her out or find someway to change the ruling, she only wished they would work faster to get her and Joker out, but she knew they had their own problems to deal with. There was probably only one person in the whole galaxy that could make her feel like everything was going to be alright and he was currently in another cell unable to talk to her.


"How's she doing?" asked Joker the second Kasumi was uncloaked, he had been pacing waiting for Kasumi's arrival, getting more and more anxious the longer it seemed to take her to get there.

"She's holding in there," replied Kasumi, sitting on his bed, "I can tell she's starting to go stir crazy, she really hates being out of the loop."

"I know the feeling," sighed Joker, sitting down at the desk chair, "Is Major Asshole still trying to get onto my ship?"

"Indeed," said Kasumi, "He's there almost everyday trying to tear the doors off, we're lucky the shields are holding up, otherwise we'd all be in deep shit."

"That shouldn't happen so long as the maintenance is kept up," said Joker, relieved that he had made sure to upgrade the shields beforehand, "Have there been any problems with the Normandy, aside from the crazy biotic trying to tear into her hull?"

"Nothing so far," said Kasumi, "we've all been looking for the signs of distress you mentioned, it's been pretty quiet all things considered, Garrus has actually run out of things to calibrate."

Joker laughed, he could imagine how depressed Garrus was now that he had finally made everything perfectly calibrated, "Never thought that day would come."

"Neither did he, apparently," said Kasumi, grinning.

"Maybe you should go and mess them up so he has something to do with his spare time," suggested Joker, still chuckling.

"He has Tali to fill that void," said Kasumi and then she blushed when she realized how that had come out and Joker roared with laughter again.

"So Garrus and Tali, huh?" asked Joker once his laughter subsided, "I always thought they were good together."

"Yeah, they like to argue," said Kasumi, "mostly about Tali's term for a straw, not sure why, I guess it's just one of those weird couple things."

"You could say that," chuckled Joker, "I wouldn't know, straws didn't really come up between me and EDI, maybe it's a Turian-Quarian thing."

"Well, I'd rather hear them argue than hear Tali sing," remarked Kasumi, Joker gave her a confused look, "She watched this musical about a Turian and Quarian that fall in love when she was a kid, and ever since she and Garrus have been spending time together, she's been singing the songs from the movie. It's not like she's bad at singing or anything like that, she's just doing it relentlessly, and as loudly as she possibly can."

"Man, I wish I could hear that," said Joker, grinning, "sounds about as funny as when she was doing imitations of the Normandy's vents."

"That now has amassed quite the following," said Kasumi, wickedly smiling, "There are videos of other people imitating her, along with a fan club, it was a stroke of brilliance when I posted that vid."

"I'll say," smirked Joker, absentmindedly playing with his dog tags.

"I thought those were taken away from you when you arrived here," said Kasumi as she watched him twist the silver chain.

"Our discharge papers still haven't gone through," replied Joker, "guess wherever Hackett is, he's managing to prevent that from happening."

"Liara still hasn't found anything on him," said Kasumi, mentally kicking herself for not telling Elissa, "It's like he completely disappeared after your psych evaluation."

"He'll be back," said Joker, firmly believing that their old friend would indeed return.

"On a happier note, I'm going to try and see if we can fix your schedules so you and Shep can see each other," said Kasumi, quietly standing up from the bed.

"Thanks, Kasumi," said Joker, also standing, "I hope you can."

"I know," said Kasumi, hugging him, "I'll see you tomorrow, keep yourself out of trouble until then."

"Will do," said Joker, laughing softly and he watched as she cloaked herself again, disappearing entirely.

He sat back down and stared out of the widow, smiling to himself as he thought about the prospect of seeing Elissa again, he missed her more now than when she had died. It had been hard to watch the woman he loved die, but at least there had been some finality to it, allowing him to grieve his loss. Now, with her just a few hundred feet away, it was even more painful since he knew where she was but was unable to touch her or speak to her and all he could do was wait which to him was the worst way to spend his time.


Elissa was surprised when she heard her door open and guard stepped through, the last time this had happened, Emily Wong had been there to interview her but it looked like there was a different silhouette behind the guard.

"You have a visitor," said the guard and he stepped out of the doorway, only to have his place filled by Major Kaidan Alenko.

Elissa jumped up from her bed, ready for a confrontation, a fight, anything at this point, "What are you doing here, Major?"

"I need to speak with you," replied Kaidan calmly, "May I sit down?"

Elissa nodded and he sat down on the desk chair, and she resumed her spot on her bed, neither of them looking away from the other. There were a few moments of tense silence before Kaidan spoke.

"How have you been doing, Ella?" asked Kaidan and Elissa clenched the blanket on her bed when he spoke his name for her.

"Just peachy, Major," said Elissa coldly, "which is probably pretty good for someone that's been stabbed in the back."

Kaidan let out an audible sigh and lowered his head, "Ella, I'm so sorry about what I did, it was stupid and foolish if I could I'd go back and change—"

"Who are you trying to fool, Kaidan?" interrupted Elissa, "You wanted to be the one in charge of the Normandy, as the only human Spectre and you saw me as an obstacle, so you did everything you could to remove me without getting yourself too caught up in the mess in the process."

Kaidan did not say a word and she knew she was right about his intentions.

"Ella, please, there's more I want to tell you," said Kaidan, his tone imploring her to listen, "it's kind of a confession."

"I'm not a priest," said Elissa, crossing her arms.

"True, but you deserve to hear this anyway," said Kaidan resting his hands on his thighs, "I'm really not sure how I want to start this."

"Kaidan, just tell me," sighed Elissa, getting more and more annoyed at him the longer he sat there looking at her.

"Alright then," said Kaidan taking a deep breath before he started, "Do you remember when I told you that I went out with a doctor for drinks after you died?"

Elissa nodded, already not liking where this conversation was headed.

"Well," said Kaidan, rubbing his neck nervously, "I wasn't being entirely honest about her identity, she was a doctor but it was Rahna, the girl from Jump Zero."

Elissa stared at him in shock, this was indeed news to her, since she had been told that Rahna hated him after what happened at BAaT when he killed their instructor.

"She told me that she had finally forgiven me for what had happened at Jump Zero," said Kaidan, "She said that looking back, although it was the wrong way to do it, she could understand why I reacted like I did. We started to see each other more after that night, eventually she moved in with me, I thought my life was finally going somewhere."

Elissa wanted to hit him as hard as she could, what she was hearing was unbelievable.

"We were going to get married, she found out that she was pregnant so we wanted to be a proper family for our child," said Kaidan, his voice getting thick with emotion, "we had a name picked out and everything, then one day, Rahna came back from a doctor's appointment and told me that the baby died in the womb. I felt like my world had been turned upside down, I was there for her when she had to deliver the dead baby, he was seven months gestation when she had him and then we buried him. After that, we kind of started to fall apart, she was thoroughly depressed as was I and neither of us knew how to help the other so when I got the offer to go to Horizon I jumped on it. I just wanted to get away from the grief and the pain, feel useful again, distract myself and Rahna understood so we ended our relationship."

"Then you ran into me on Horizon," spat Elissa bitterly.

"Yeah," said Kaidan quietly, "I did, and I felt that the universe was giving me a second chance, but I was just so upset that you were with Cerberus that I nearly screwed that up."

"Why are you telling me any of this, Kaidan?" asked Elissa trying not to jump across the room and kick his ass.

"I thought you deserved to know the whole truth," confessed Kaidan, "that I ran to you to feel like I used to before the baby died and Rahna fell apart, I'm sorry I used you like that, Ella."

"Have you spoken to Rahna since the war ended?" asked Elissa, not satisfied that he was telling her everything.

"Yeah," said Kaidan quietly, "she told me that she had gotten help and was able to work through the baby's death, then she said that even though we had ended, she wanted to give our relationship another try."

"She told you this while you were with me?" asked Elissa, defensively, "Did she know that you were already seeing someone?"

"Yeah she did," said Kaidan, "I think she sent out that message just to let me know what was going on with her and that she still loved me, and I had to admit to myself that I still loved her as well. When I looked at my relationship with you, I felt like there was something missing, something that I had with Rahna so I started looking for ways to end our relationship."

"Kaidan, you proposed!" shouted Elissa, now on her feet, "If you hadn't wanted to be with me, why did you ask me to spend the rest of my life with you?!"

"I don't know!" shouted Kaidan, now standing himself, "I guess I liked the idea of being with you, liked the status and notoriety that came with you. I knew I could never get the same respect as you on my own, so I thought that making you my wife would automatically give me what I deserve!"

"So I was just some kind of status symbol to you?!" exclaimed Elissa, "I was nothing more than a stepping stone for you, some kind of trophy, is that what you're telling me? So Rahna is your true love but you denied yourself that happiness so you could get the respect and admiration you thought you deserved by being with me? Can you possibly get any dumber, Kaidan, is that possible?"

"I also came to ask you to command EDI to unlock the Normandy for me," said Kaidan firmly, trying to sound like the leader he was not.

"And it is possible," said Elissa, "No Kaidan, I'm not going to do anything for you, you're just going to have to figure out how to get into your own damn ship yourself. How can you earn any respect if you run back to your former commander asking for help? That certainly wouldn't look good for your reputation, now would it?"

Kaidan glared at her, she did not care, the faster he got out of there the better she would feel.

"Answer me one thing though," said Elissa, "Why were you jealous of Joker when you were just using me in the first place? Were you worried that you were going to lose your status symbol to someone else who might have actually cared about me?"

"Partly," sighed Kaidan, "I really did care about you, Ella, and I didn't want anyone else to have you even though I was using you for my own gains. It's really complicated and stupid and I'm sorry that I hurt you."

"No you're not, but you will be," said Elissa, "Is that all or are you going to tell me something else that will make me question the intentions of men all over the galaxy?"

"No, I'm done," said Kaidan moving to the door, "I hope this works out for you, Shepard, I really do."

"Stop lying, Major, it's very unbecoming," said Elissa, smirking at him as the guard opened the door for him and then he was gone. She threw herself back on her bed and cried, she felt so incredibly stupid for having given him her heart, for thinking that he actually loved her, not seeing his actual intentions. All she wanted right now was someone to comfort her, tell her that she was worth something more than just some kind of icon to be worshipped, that she could be loved as a person and not as a persona. Right then, sitting in her small cell, she wondered if she really was a person and had not morphed entirely into the untouchable Commander Shepard, that underneath it all she was still a woman with the same desires as any other woman to be loved and protected by someone.