A/N: Don't hate me for taking so long! I'm really sorry about not updating this sooner, but here it is. There's been a small time skip so Elissa's now 4 months pregnant instead of 1. We're nearing the end. Enjoy!


Elissa stared up at the window above her bed, thinking of nothing in particular as she ran a hand across her swollen abdomen for the countless time, a smile ghosting her lips. The novelty of being an expectant mother had yet to wear off and though she knew it would as she progressed through her pregnancy, for now she reveled in it. Her body was no longer a weapon, meant only for carrying out orders and righting wrongs done by others, now it was the vessel for two separate lives. She was carrying, what were to her, the most precious treasures in the entire galaxy and she was going to make sure that nothing happened to them even if it meant the end of her own life in order to give them theirs.

Suddenly her omni-tool went off and she pressed the button to allow the message through.

"Shepard," said Quaes, his face popping up on the screen. "Have something to show you, when have chance. Meet me in medbay. Bring Joker too."

"Alright, Quaes, see you soon," said Elissa with a slight eye roll. While she missed Mordin a great deal, something she did not miss was his unique pattern of speech, which seemed to be a family trait if Quaes was any indication. "EDI, connect me to Joker, please."

"Yes, Shepard," said EDI overhead.

"Hey Ellie, what's up?" asked Joker, his voice filling the cabin.

"Quaes wants to show us something, he said to meet him in the medbay at first chance," she relayed, her hands still lightly dancing over her larger belly. "Are you available now or should we do this at another time?"

"No, I can meet you there in five or so," he said and she could practically see his head shaking at the thought of leaving his post. "You know, we have to work on his timing."

Elissa laughed as she carefully got up from her bed. "Maybe, but that'd be like telling Grunt not to mix ryncol and police cars. He just wouldn't understand."

Joker laughed. "Okay, I see your point. See you soon, my beautiful wife."

Elissa smiled widely as she walked out of her cabin, replaying Joker's words again and again as she briefly wondered what Quaes had to show them.


Outside of the medbay, Elissa saw Joker already waiting for her a smile on his face when his eyes met hers. When she arrived at his side, he kissed her softly before putting his hand on the bump, his hand spanning as much of the surface as possible; this had been his typical greeting ever since they found out about the twins.

"You're in a good mood," laughed Elissa as Joker stroked her abdomen.

"I have many, many reasons to be," he replied simply as he wrapped an arm around her shoulders. "Come on, let's see what our resident mad scientist has concocted for us today."

They entered the medbay and were both astonished to see a tub of black goo sitting in the middle of the room on a kind of pedestal, Quaes was standing behind it, a bright smile on his face when he saw them. Without a word he directed them to come where he was standing, which they did though they hesitated a little, they knew how Mordin worked so they were both more than a little skeptical about being near this vat of mystery. Joker put himself in front of Elissa, that way if anything exploded he would get hit and not her or their babies.

"Good, you're here," said Quaes once they were in position. "Wanted to show you latest in armor technology."

Elissa peered into the vat, it was surprisingly odorless but still not something she wanted to stick her hand in without knowing its properties. "Uh, what exactly is this, Quaes?"

"Solution to your problem, Shepard," replied Quaes proudly.

For a moment Elissa was about to ask what problem but then she remembered a discussion she and the crew had had a few days ago regarding their rescue mission at Lazarus Station. While she wanted to go, many on the crew urged her to change her original plan and let James handle it due to her pregnancy; her suit of armor still fit but the plates had now shifted too much and in the process exposed a great many weak points that could get her killed. She had jokingly given Quaes the order to find an alternative, but she had not expected him to actually come through for her and in just a matter of hours before the mission.

"So this stuff is supposed to replace my armor?" asked Elissa skeptically. "How exactly?"

Quaes chuckled. "Simple really. Before mission, coat you in this mixture, exposure to your body temperature will allow mix to harden. Hardens to a flexible under armor, then put plates of your armor on top. Simple."

Elissa nodded appreciatively, she liked the idea but was unsure of how it was any different from what she was wearing now. "What makes this different from my weave?" she asked, now somewhat tempted to touch the mixture.

"Completely indestructible," replied Quaes and their eyes went wide. "Mix cannot burn, freeze, cut, tear, or dissolve in acid. Plus if you fall it will prevent broken appendages. Joker could wear and be as strong as Vega."

Joker laughed loudly. "Okay, now I have to try this stuff out."

Quaes nodded happily. "Joker, dip hand in mix. It is hot but must be kept so to retain liquid property, though will quickly cool once on skin."

Hesitantly Joker put his hand in the black mixture, it was hot like Quaes said but after a few seconds it felt much cooler, and when Joker extracted his completely coated hand he was amazed to not have not felt any of the heat from the surrounding mix. He smiled when he flexed his hand and saw it could still move despite the goo, he promptly punched the nearest wall and was amazed to find his hand intact but the wall damaged.

"Damn!" he exclaimed happily. "Now if you could make me a set of bones out of this stuff, then I'd be really impressed."

"Glad test run was successful," said Quaes and he looked at Elissa. "Mixture has no known carcinogens, so safe for offspring. Chakwas has approved use on you as well, so no fear, Shepard. Will be happy to put this on you when needed."

Elissa raised an eyebrow as she watched Joker hit a few more things. "How does it come off exactly?"

"Peels off," said Quaes astutely. "Then hardened pieces are added back to original vat and will heat up to become liquid once again. Reusable too."

"I hope you're confident about this stuff working, Quaes," said Elissa sternly as she looked in the vat once again. "The team's suiting up in a short while, and I really want to go down with them."

Quaes nodded. "Nearly ninety-seven percent confident, Shepard."


The shuttled bay was abuzz with activity when Elissa arrived there a short while later, now that she had her alternate armor, it would be a prudent use of her time if she polished and primed her weapons. She spotted James over at the workbench, where she had found him several times since Miranda had been sent to the AI core again, he never spoke when she came over which meant he was not ready to talk about it yet. This time he seemed intent on his activity, but that did not stop her from going over, her lancer in hand as she pushed past Garrus and Jack.

"Lola," said James without even looking up from putting some upgrades on his shotgun.

"James," said Elissa as she set her lancer down, reaching for a few upgrades herself. "Are you still good with this plan?"

James gave a small nod, indicating he was not really all right with the plan but was not going to argue with her about it, not that he was in any position. "Yeah, won't say I'm too happy about it but this might be what we need. It's good though that you're putting her on your squad instead of mine, I don't think I can look at her right now."

Elissa nodded. "We need her help on this one, even if Jacob knows the layout, she knows a great deal more. I know this isn't easy for you, Jimmy, and I'm glad you aren't letting your personal feelings cloud the mission."

"How could I?" he asked with a slight grin. "We're about to bring someone back from the dead, someone who was a good friend of yours. It would be incredibly selfish of me to put this mission at risk in any way. Just point me in the right direction and I'll reach the objective, Shepard, no doubt."

"Okay, James," she said kindly, not wanting to pry further as to why he was speaking somewhat oddly, she knew it was probably just a barrier to separate himself from the situation somewhat. She was trying to do the same thing, since they were going to be bringing Kaidan on this mission with them, she knew they needed the extra hands but she wished she felt better about allowing him to go. Sometimes she still thought he might draw a gun on her at first chance and shoot her, just to get her back for all of the trouble he went through for her. Casually she glanced at him and sighed heavily as she watched him prepare his weapon, Tristan not too far away. 'This is for Ash,' she thought sternly though she remained unconvinced.


Elissa looked at the small crowd of people whom had gathered around her in the war room, this needed to begin. 'We have a few weeks before we arrive at Lazarus Station, but I think we should start preparing now for the rescue mission.'

'That's fine but why is the Boy Scout here?' sneered Jack, pointing at Kaidan as if he were a mark on her boot.

'This involves him too,' replied Elissa sharply, her tone indicating that there was to be no argument. 'Anyway, thanks to EDI and our resident Shadow Broker, we now have a comprehensive map of Lazarus Station.' She brought the holographic image up on the console for everyone to see. 'From EDI's calculations, Ash is being held in this part of the station.' She threw up a small dot on a location near the top of the station. 'Our objectives are pretty simple: get in, get Ash, get out, and actually blow it up this time. Any questions?'

There was some collective murmuring around the table when Miya spoke up.

'So, who's going with who and to do what?' she asked, rolling her eyes at her friend's vagueness.

'I'm so glad you asked,' replied Elissa with a small grin. She then changed the screen to one of each active squad member plus some extra, it appeared they had already been divided but they could not say for certain. 'There will be three squads composed of five people, I've taken the liberty of dividing everyone up between the groups based on which task they are better suited for. I've also added Kolyat and Kal to the list as well, per their request.' She acknowledged the two men who were standing in the back. 'All right, first team to go in will be the distraction team, which will be led by Garrus. Your job will be to make as much noise as possible to draw their attention away from the other two teams; I know that you won't be able to distract everyone but you should get a majority of the people.

'Garrus, on your team will be Zaeed, Kolyat, Kal, and Jack. Of all my squad mates, you five are probably the ones who can make the most noise and cause the most damage.'

'Thanks, Shepard, didn't think you cared,' said Zaeed with a gruff laugh.

'At least I get to tear into Cerberus,' said Jack with a wicked smile.

Elissa smiled back though she was starting to feel a little faint from standing. 'Moving on, the next team will be the ones placing the bomb in the station. James, that's your job. You will lead Tali, Liara, Kasumi, and Jacob to an appointed destination where you will place a bomb that EDI and Quaes have been working on. This operation will be time sensitive for a reason, because once that bomb's set, we'll have maybe three minutes to evacuate before it goes. Jacob will act as your navigator and show you where to go, Kasumi will disable any and all security between you and the point as well as make sure the bomb cannot be hacked, Tali will arm the bomb and Liara will act as protection. Any questions?'

'How are we getting out once the bomb's set?' asked Garrus.

'I'm getting to that,' replied Elissa. 'The final team will be Miya, EDI, Kaidan, Miranda, and myself. We'll be responsible for locating and getting Ash back before the bomb goes. EDI can hack through practically anything, and we'll need her help to get through the security and she'll also be deploying a sabotage program that will blow up the station's servers. Miya will be necessary to watch our backs, and Kaidan's a skilled biotic who can help her. Miranda knows the layout better than anyone and can be of use when taking Ash out of the pod. Now as far as escaping—'

'Hang on, Shepard,' said Kaidan, surprising everyone by interrupting her, but she said nothing so neither did they. 'Can you actually trust Miranda not to betray you, I mean, ex-operative or not she's still been in communication with Cerberus.'

Elissa crossed her arms and raised an eyebrow. 'Yes, I do in fact trust her, as far as I'm concerned her only crime was not telling us this sooner. Everything else she did she did with Cerberus so I can't really fault her for those, though her admissions were shocking to say the least. If she does well on this mission, I will end her confinement, and she can return to a semi-normal existence. And next time, Alenko, I'd think twice before bringing up someone else's deceit.'

She glared harshly at him as he sat back down, his expression mirroring that of a kicked puppy but she did not care, his charms no longer worked on her. With that she looked over to James, her expression far kinder to him than it had been to Kaidan. 'Jimmy, I'll understand if you'd like to voice some objections about my selection of Miranda for this mission,' she said crisply.

James shook his head. 'No objections, Lola, I'm just going to hope this all goes well and we can get beyond this.'

'My sentiments exactly,' said Elissa brightly. 'Now, like I was saying about escaping before we're all burned to a crisp. Hilary will bring in the distraction team; she'll drop you off and pick you up when she gets the signal. Steve will be handling my group, and will bring us in a decent distance from where you all will be. Bomb squad will be brought in by the Normandy; the bomb's too big and too delicate to be brought in on a shuttle. When we all get the signal that the bomb's been set, we run like hell to our predetermined rendezvous points and leave before it goes off. Now, are there any more questions? If not, this meeting will adjourn and we'll meet again in a few days to go over the details. Dismissed.'


Elissa almost laughed as she recalled their initial meeting to discuss the rescue mission, Kaidan's outburst had been so like him that for a moment she had forgotten all he had done to her from the very beginning. The meetings after that consisted mainly of her talking and him listening, though he had brought up a few valid points regarding timing and everything, it felt strange having him back in meetings and giving input on plans; it reminded her of past days, but she stopped those thoughts every time she caught a glance of her wedding ring or her ever expanding abdomen. Those times with Kaidan were from a different life, and would remain there as far as she was concerned.

"Shepard, did you figure out a solution to your armor problem?" he asked when he saw her looking at him.

"Quaes came up with something for me," she replied, curious as to why he brought that up now. "I'll model it for the crew when we start to suit up."

"Can't be any worse than what you usually wear," laughed Zaeed and Elissa gave him a withering look that shut him up right away.

Elissa focused on putting a few incendiary clips together just in case, she wanted to make sure she had enough at her disposal that she could make split second decisions if necessary, and considering their mission that was a likely outcome. She tried not to think of what could go wrong, all it did was add unnecessary stress to her already worn out body and mind, when this was over she would be relieved. Suddenly she felt something tugging on her pant leg, like a small creature was trying to get her attention; glancing down she saw Tristan looking up at her, a big smile on his face.

"Can you show me you gun?" asked Tristan as politely as he could.

"Sure, don't touch anything," she warned as she leaned down and picked him up, carefully maneuvering him so he was in front of her belly. "What did you want to see?"

Tristan's eyes were wide as he took in the sight of her lancer, his tiny hand looked on the verge of reaching out several times but he stopped himself, apparently remembering her warning. "So nice," he said softly. "I want one!" He looked back at her excitedly and she smiled kindly at him as she put him back on the ground.

"Maybe someday, sweetie," said Elissa as she brushed a few curls out of his eyes. "You're going to need a hair cut soon, or you'll start looking like a Turian with bad fringe."

Tristan laughed like mad. "Then I'll be like Uncle Gar!" The toddler ran back towards his father just as Elissa turned to look at Garrus.

"Uncle Gar?" she asked with a smirk.

Garrus merely shrugged as he recalibrated the scope on his sniper rifle. "Well, the kid had a hard time saying 'Garrus' so I thought 'Gar' might be easier for him. I'm trying it out on him before I start teaching your kids, Shepard."

Elissa tried not to laugh as she finished with her gun. "You do know that when my kids arrive, they won't really be able to do much of anything except cry and sleep, right?"

"Well, they'll be your kids, Shepard, they might surprise you," retorted Garrus as Miya started to giggle. "Though they are also Joker's kids, so maybe they won't."

"I heard that, Garrus!" came Joker's voice over the comm. "Anyway, if you're done insulting my impressive progeny, we're less than an hour out from Lazarus station. EDI's on her way down now with Lawson, so remember to play nice everyone."

"Alenko's still alive, so I'd say we're in a forgiving mood," Miya shot back as she deliberately aimed her unloaded Black Widow at the back of Kaidan's head. Elissa saw her mouth the word 'bang' and then smile, she was probably imagining what it would look like when Kaidan fell or if she did it just to scare him. Either way, Elissa did not want to know what she was actually thinking.

"And Ellie," said Joker and she looked up. "Quaes is on his way with your goo suit, so be ready for that. I think Chakwas is going with him to assist in getting it on."

Elissa barely repressed a groan. "Thanks, Joker." She had nothing against Chakwas, if anything she owed her life to that woman several times over, but since diagnosing her pregnancy, the doctor had been insufferable. She was always asking questions, scheduling multiple appointments, and constantly checking up on her. Elissa's mother had been less nosy after she was told about the pregnancy, though she could have been much worse.


'EDI,' said Elissa as she stood in front of the QEC. 'Connect me to Rear Admiral Hannah Shepard please.'

'Of course, Shepard,' said EDI overhead and the platform in front of her lit up blue then Hannah stepped into view.

'Hi Mom,' said Elissa with a small smile. It had been almost over a month since she last saw her parents but it felt like much longer than that. 'How're you doing?'

Hannah smiled back at her only child. 'I'm doing well, and your father is too. Marriage to each other seems to agree with us.'

Elissa nodded. 'Well, Jeff and I are married now too.' She raised her left hand so her mother could see the metallic band that now graced her ring finger.

'That's fantastic news, honey,' said Hannah, her voice full of so much joy Elissa thought for a second that she was going to start jumping up and down. 'I'll make sure to let your father know once he gets back from a meeting; we've been meeting with the families you sent here almost daily to make sure things are working out well. So far everything's fine, but we want to make sure nothing slips past us like that mole did.'

'I understand, Mom,' replied Elissa calmly though her heart was pounding. The last thing she wanted to think about now was losing her parents or endangering the innocent lives of her crew's families. 'Anyway, that's only half of the reason I called. The other half is to tell you that I'm one month pregnant with twins.'

Hannah looked shocked, her blue eyes wide as she stared at Elissa, her jaw a little slack as she tried to wrap her head around the monumental news that she was going to be a grandmother. 'Jackie!' she finally said after a period of silence. 'That's incredible! I can't believe it, I'm going to be a grandmother and you're going to be a mother! My baby's having two babies, that's the best thing that's ever happened to me! Besides marrying your father, of course, and the day you were born; but this is up there with both of those days. When did you find out?'

'About an hour ago,' replied Elissa a little nervously. 'I would've told you sooner but the crew insisted on a small celebration and this was the soonest I could get away.'

'That's fine, sweetheart,' said Hannah, waving her hand dismissively. 'Your friends are just excited for you, that's all. So tell me, how did Jeff take the news that he's going to be a father?'

'Pretty well actually,' said Elissa with a laugh. 'He was really excited when Chakwas told us, and still is I think, he hasn't stopped smiling or touching my stomach since.'

Hannah laughed. 'Steven was the same way; he wouldn't leave me alone at all once I told him! He would talk to you and rub my belly every time you kicked or something. I swear he was more excited than I was, and I was the one who was feeling the miracle of life moving around inside of me! Your father was so excited to meet you, circumstances aside, and he insisted on being present when you were born.'

'That's funny, he said you demanded he be present,' laughed Elissa.

'Whichever it was, the point is he was there,' said Hannah jokingly still smiling. 'Honey, you couldn't have given me better news than this. When you . . . when . . . I just . . . for a while I didn't think this day would come. Those years when you were . . . I thought that was it . . . that I would be alone, without you or anyone else. Now I have you, Steven, and two grandchildren to spoil soon. Never forget, Elissa, that I love you more than you'll ever know.'

'I love you too, Mom,' replied Elissa and she felt tears stinging her eyes as she closed the channel, wondering for a brief moment what would have happened to her mother if she had not come back. Then her hand fell to her abdomen and she let out a shaky breath, realizing not for the first time what this world would have been like if not for her resurrection.


Elissa released a shaky breath yet again as she finished loading her pistol, she was about to confront the place where she had regained her life, where she had been granted almost everything she could have ever wanted. And she was going to destroy it once and for all.


Joker frowned deeply as he watched the shuttles fly away from the safety of the Normandy, carrying on them the members of the crew assigned for this mission. The one he cared about most was the one that had his wife and unborn children onboard, a situation that did not sit well with him whatsoever. If anything it made him even more anxious.

Logically he knew Elissa would never do something to deliberately put their children in danger but he could not help but think that this was probably the single most reckless thing she had done to date; and that was certainly saying something. Despite Quaes' reassurances that the liquid goo armor she was wearing would stop anything from harming her or the babies, he still wanted to call the whole thing off if just to have her back on the ship. He worried his lower lip as he looked over at the new ultrasound holo Chakwas had given him just a few days prior. The babies were now looking like little humans rather than tiny blots on a screen, and his heart lurched every time he looked at the image. To think that he and Elissa had created those two lives still blew his mind, and to know they would not be born with his disease was an even bigger relief; they had agreed to the testing since the pregnancy was now more stable and when the results came back, he had almost fallen to his knees. It was during this same appointment that they learned they were having a boy and girl.

'My babies,' he thought as he gazed longingly at the holo. 'I can't wait to meet you, Malcolm and Felicity.'


'One of each!' laughed Joker as he rubbed Elissa's belly. They had just returned from their latest appointment and were basking the knowledge that they were having a boy and girl. Elissa laughed and covered his hand with hers.

'Now I don't have to get pregnant again,' she said with a smile. 'I'll have the perfect family once these two are born. One for you and one for me, then we can swap when we get too tired.'

Joker nodded as he stared at her belly. 'I like the sound of that, it's something I never thought I would have in my life.'

Elissa smiled gently as she carded her free hand through his hair. 'Well, just remember that when neither one of us has slept or had sex in weeks.'

'I'm sure we'll manage that last part,' he said with a grin. 'So, now that we know what they are, shouldn't we name them? Or are we going to let the crew decide?'

'I don't think 'Badass' and 'Kickass' are appropriate names,' said Elissa, sighing as she thought of the nicknames Miya had given the twins that the entire crew had now latched onto. 'I think we should come up with them now.'

Joker smiled. 'Well, I think our baby boy should be named for someone as badass as you are, Ellie.'

Elissa raised an eyebrow. 'And who exactly qualifies for that position?'

'Dixon,' said Joker quietly, watching as a dark shadow crossed Elissa's green eyes. 'He was our friend and we should honor him the only way we can, by naming our son Malcolm.'

'I agree,' replied Elissa, her voice soft as she thought about the Marine whom at one time had meant so much to her. 'Malcolm Moreau certainly has a nice ring to it.'

'He'll need a middle name,' said Joker kindly. 'What about after our fathers?'

'Malcolm Steven Moreau,' supplied Elissa with a warm smile. 'I like the sound of that, I think all three men would approve.'

Joker reached up and tucked some hair behind her ear. 'Now, for our little kickass daughter. I know you mentioned using my mom's name before, but I would prefer that to be her middle name, I still have a hard time hearing it.'

'I understand, Jeff,' said Elissa and she thought for a moment, wracking her brain and memories for the perfect first name. 'Why don't we name her 'Felicity' for my grandmother?'

'Felicity Roseana Moreau,' recited Joker, the name bringing a wide smile to his face. 'Sounds perfect, Ellie. So we have Malcolm and Felicity Moreau, rather than Badass and Kickass.'

'Though I'm sure they'll be called that regardless,' laughed Elissa as she rubbed her belly fondly. 'After all, they are our kids.'

'That they are,' said Joker happily.


Something touched his shoulder and shook him violently from his thoughts, looking over his shoulder he saw Chakwas watching him with a concerned light in her eyes.

"Hey Doc," said Joker casually, trying to keep the worry out of his voice as he turned back to the monitors, now seeing the inside of the Lazarus station. "Something wrong?"

"No, but I had a feeling you needed someone to be with you," she said gently as she moved away and sat in the co-pilot's seat next to him. "I'm not going to leave, Jeff, no matter how much you protest to my presence."

Joker laughed as he switched on a monitor that projected Elissa's bio-feed. "Wouldn't have it any other way, Doc."


Blood sprayed the walls as a Cerberus worker was torn apart by Jack's biotics moments before Kal's grenade went off, sending pieces of building and mech all over the room. This was probably the second or third wave of Cerberus reinforcements that had entered the large atrium trying to stop them, but they would end up like the first: destroyed.

"Hey Garrus!" shouted Jack as she picked up another mech and shook it like a doll. "What's the score now?"

"You're winning by a slim margin, Jack!" replied Garrus as he took out a three mechs in quick succession. Inwardly he was glad that there were so few humans on this station, otherwise they would be dealing with a bloodbath rather than a scrap heap, and Jack would probably be taking more pleasure in this carnage. "Kolyat, on your nine!"

The Drell looked to his left and fired, the mech tumbling to the ground in a heap. "Thanks, Garrus," said Kolyat as he fired at two other mechs as they entered the room. "And Jack, I'm winning now."

"Bullshit!" exclaimed Jack as she Threw a YMIR mech against several smaller LOKI mechs, the sound of metal crashing against metal filled the room and was enough to make Garrus grit his teeth in agony.

"Shepard, we have the station's attention," said Garrus on his comm, trying desperately to get the sound out of his head. "What's your position?"

"We've just made it through to the main holding cell," replied Elissa and he could hear gunfire in the background. "Few mechs in the area and one or two human personnel, but nothing we can't handle. We have eight minutes before the bomb squad deploys, keep that in mind before you get too caught up in playing target practice."

Garrus laughed as he fired his pistol just beyond Kal, nailing a mech in its head. "Don't worry about us, Shepard, we have things well in hand here. How are the babies doing?"

"Seriously, Garrus?" asked Elissa. "They have no idea what's going on, they probably think I'm dancing or something, not in a battlefield."

"Well, considering how you dance, they wouldn't be too far off," said Garrus with a smirk.

He could practically hear Elissa rolling her eyes over the comm. "Garrus, please refrain from making anymore comments about my dancing, they aren't as appreciated as you may think."

"Whatever you say, Shepard," remarked Garrus in an amused tone. "Oh, and Shepard? Be careful."

"I will be," said Elissa and the line closed.

Garrus sighed heavily as he leaned his head against the temporary barrier they had hidden behind earlier; he knew Elissa had put him here for a reason but he wanted to be with her. She was his best friend and he knew what this place represented to her, he wanted to make sure it did not get into her head anymore than it had. An explosion behind him told him that now was not the time to be thinking about this, right now he had a mission to carry out, even if he felt obligated elsewhere.


"Shepard! Straight ahead!" shouted Kaidan as he Pulled a mech into view.

Elissa took aim and fired, her disruptor ammunition hitting the mech and scrambling its brain before it went limp in Kaidan's biotic field. For a moment she remembered when they were fighting Geth on Noveria, how they had done something similar in order to clear an area so they could get the Mako through. She was more than a little amazed that they were able to work together so well, as if nothing had happened.

"Nice shot, Shepard," said Kaidan as he moved from out of cover, joining her and Miya on the other side of the room, EDI and Mirada coming up from behind.

"Thanks," she said lightly then she looked at EDI. "How much further until we're at Ash's holding cell?"

EDI was quiet for a moment. "Four hundred and twenty two feet, Shepard."

"Not too far then," laughed Miya as they started running down the hall, the sounds of their boots against the ground the only indication that they were still there.

Miranda looked around and realized that they were headed towards the central control room of the station, where all of the data for Project Lazarus had been housed. "Shepard," she said suddenly. "Go on ahead, I'm going to make a stop someplace. I'll meet up with you before the bomb squad arrives."

Elissa nodded though she did not stop running, watching as Miranda rounded a corner disappearing from view. She then saw Miya glaring at her.

"What?" she asked, wondering what she had done to upset her friend.

"You're way too damn trusting," huffed Miya and she then ran up ahead, stopping only when they came to a large door.

EDI stepped forward without being asked, her omni-tool already activated as she attempted to hack through the door. Her grey eyes went wide as a line of code ran across her visor. "Shepard, mechs incoming!" she shouted, barely pulling Elissa out of the line of fire as three YMIR mechs entered the hall, firing rapidly at the door where they had just been standing.

"Thanks, EDI," said Elissa a little breathless as she pulled up her assault rifle, edging herself to the very corner of the wall she was pressed up against. The mechs were still firing as they approached, the rounds bouncing off of the door but they were shielded enough not to be hit by too much, if anything she could just throw a few grenades before jumping out and firing at them herself.

Kaidan looked over at her from his position across the hall with Miya. "What's the plan, Shepard?"

"A few grenades and a whole lot of gunfire," she said as she readied two of her grenades. Sliding to the ground she threw the grenades right in the path of the oncoming mechs, waiting two seconds before pressing the button on her omni-tool to detonate the explosives. She heard the unmistakable sound of a mech going down and as she stood up she peered around the corner and saw that the middle mech had been blow up but the other two were still approaching uninjured. Cursing silently she readied her assault rifle, this time with incendiary rounds, and prepared to jump out from around the corner when she felt something like fear fluttering in her abdomen.

Looking down at her heavily protected baby belly she felt the sensation again, this time realizing that it was one of her babies moving around inside of her, not fear at all. Suddenly she grasped what she was doing and how stupid it was; she was a pregnant woman, carrying the lives of two humans within her, she was not a soldier anymore. She then felt incredibly guilty and scared at the thought of jumping out and firing at the mechs, even though moments before she had been ready to give her life for the objective. 'But it isn't just my life anymore,' she thought as she put a hand to her belly.

Miya looked over and saw Elissa hesitating, she knew something was wrong, her friend never hesitated in situations like this if anything she thrived in them. She saw where Elissa's hand was and knew it had to do with the babies, though she could not tell by her expression whether it was good or bad. Without waiting for orders, she jumped out from behind Kaidan and fired her shotgun, the round missing but took off one of the mech's weaponized arms. She reloaded and fired again, hitting its leg before she had to go to cover, summersaulting over to where EDI and Elissa were.

"Well, I took care of one of them," said Miya happily as she stood up and dusted herself off then looked at EDI. "Why don't you and Canadian Bacon take care of the last one? Lizzie and I have done our share of the work."

EDI nodded then looked at Kaidan. "Can you Lift it?"

"That I can do," replied Kaidan as he activated his biotics, he then came out from behind the wall and Lifted the remaining mech as high as he could, maintaining his hold on the synthetic being as EDI came from around the corner and unloaded her pistol into its head and torso. Before long the mech exploded, sending pieces all over the hallway. Kaidan looked at the mech that Miya had destroyed, it was still trying to crawl to them but it was no longer a threat, he then shot it in the head without a second thought.

"Shepard," he said as he came over to them. "Shepard, what happened back there?"

Elissa did not want to face the accusing expression she knew he wore but she forced herself to, she had already shown more weakness than she intended. "I felt them," she said simply and he looked at her questioningly. "One of the twins moved and I felt it."

Realization dawned on Kaidan as well as Miya.

"You mean, it kicked you?" asked Miya as she tried to put a hand on Elissa's belly, the armor plates impeding her progress.

"Yes, several times," replied Elissa, her heart thundering in her ears. "Come on, we can do this after we rescue Ash."

Miya nodded and went over with EDI to the door that was now considerably less well guarded than it had been before the mechs showed up. Kaidan refused to move and instead put a hand on Elissa's shoulder.

"Are you sure you're going to be okay, Shepard?" asked Kaidan, some concern evident in his gaze. "We can call for backup, make sure you don't have to be put in a combat position again."

Elissa shook her head as she tactfully pulled away from his grip. "I'm fine, Alenko. If I didn't think I could do this, I wouldn't be here in the first place." Her words sounded honest and confident but she felt weak and cowardly as she uttered them; in truth she was beyond fine. The moment one of her babies moved she knew in that instant what it meant to be a mother and she realized how poorly she had been acting this whole time.

"We're in!" cried Miya as the door to the cell opened.

Without another word, the four of them moved inside, guns at the ready in case there were more undesirables waiting for them when they entered. Elissa scanned the room, searching for any indication that someone was about to ambush them or trip an alarm, but she saw nothing that would give that away. Instead her eyes rested on the stasis pod in the middle of the room, even through the clouded glass she could make out Ashley's face, her eyes closed as if she were sleeping rather than having been dead for over two years.

"EDI, can you get her out without waking her?" asked Elissa as she holstered her weapon.

EDI nodded as she worked methodically at the controls. "Brain activity appears normal and she seems to be in great health, no harm will come to her if we open the pod without waking her."

"How will she wake up afterwards?" asked Kaidan, remembering when his son was released from his pod, they had needed EDI to activate it so he would be up and moving after they drained the pod.

"She'll wake up on her own," replied EDI. "The pod has simply been keeping her asleep, preserving her body and mind as if it were still 2183. This pod is different from the one Tristan had been grown in, this was designed purely for preservation whereas his had ben designed for creation."

Elissa grit her teeth. "As long as it won't hurt her, get her out of there."

"I'll go find a blanket or something for her," offered Kaidan as he went to search the room.

Miya walked up and nudged Elissa with her elbow. "It's kind of weird isn't it? Not knowing that she was here this whole time. I mean, I was here more often than I'll admit and I never thought to look, it just didn't make sense that they'd take her."

"The way Miranda explained it made sense to me," replied Elissa sadly as she watched the fluid drain out from Ashley's pod. "Physically Ash and I are similar, almost the same height and body type, and apparently we had similar injuries when we arrived here. They needed someone to test out their experiments on before they killed me to make sure they worked, or at least they had started to when I died. No wonder it took them two years."

"It'll look great when it's in a million pieces," said Miya with a small grin and Elissa smiled back at her.

EDI stepped away from the console and the pod door opened, Kaidan appeared just then and rushed to cover Ashley's nude body from the rest of the world with a tarp he had found in the room. He then gently lowered her and situated her in his arms, making sure that the tarp stayed in place before walking back towards Elissa, EDI, and Miya.

"Radio Cortez and let him know we're done," said Kaidan, his voice thick as he gazed down at Ashley's unconscious form.

"We found her," breathed Elissa as she brushed some wet hair away from Ashley's face. She looked the same as when they last saw her, which only hurt them both more.

"He's ready for us," announced EDI. "James has also set the bomb. We have three minutes to rendezvous."

"Then let's go!" shouted Elissa and they took off from the room, heading for the emergency hangar Steve had been instructed to wait in after dropping them off. It was not that far away from their current position, but with the time limit on their backs, it was almost as if they could feel every second tick by the longer they went without seeing the end in sight. The door then came into view, it was already open and she could see the shuttle waiting for them, its doors opened as well. Suddenly she remembered.

"Miranda!" she shouted and then turned around on her heel, sprinting back towards the direction they had just come from, ignoring the shouts and pleas of her companions. She headed down the hall and towards the corner she had watched Miranda disappear around, only to almost collide with the raven-haired ex-operative.

"Shepard!" exclaimed Miranda as they steadied themselves. "What in the world are you doing here?"

Elissa stared at her in shock. "I was coming to get you. James and his team set the bomb, we have to leave."

"Then let's leave!" said Miranda sharply and she took Elissa's hand, the pair practically flying to their escape as the station shook around them, EDI's sabotage program now taking effect since the bomb was in place.

They reached the shuttle and saw Miya waving at them, they sprinted hard one last time before diving into the shuttle, landing in a heap on the floor as Miya shut the door.

"Go!" shouted Elissa as she disentangled herself from Miranda.

Steve's hands flew across the console and the shuttle jumped to life just as the hangar doors opened, revealing the Normandy waiting for them a short distance away with its bay door opened. With a small sigh of relief, Elissa pulled herself onto a seat as Steve flew them away from the station, which then blew up seconds later; debris littered the area in space where it had once been. This time she knew it was rubble.

"Well done everyone," she said, looking at the others. "We've got Ashley back and Lazarus Station is now cosmic dust."

Miya let out a jittery laugh, the adrenaline in her system now subsiding. "For once something went according to plan. Never thought I'd see the day."

"Of course, we didn't plan on Lawson taking off," snapped Kaidan, whom was still holding Ashley on his lap, though he was now glaring at Miranda. "Care to explain?"

Miranda gave him a haughty look as she stood up and faced Elissa, pointedly ignoring Kaidan. "I purged Lazarus Station of its files, after making copies of everything, of course. Now we can be sure that Cerberus can't recover anything from this place, no matter how hard they try. When we get back to the Normandy, please give my omni-tool to Liara, she can download the files directly."

"How can we be so sure that you haven't already sent those files to Cerberus?" asked Kaidan, his voice sharper than a blade.

"Miranda's onmi-tool is linked to my systems," supplied EDI. "She can't send or receive anything without my approval, and she didn't even try to send the contents to anyone else. Rest assured, Major, Cerberus is no longer in possession of these files."

Miranda grinned at the AI before looking at Ashley. "I'm glad she's alright, I was worried that Cerberus might have done something to her since I was no longer present to protect her."

"We don't know if she's completely fine," said Elissa grimly. "We know her brain is functioning and her body is in decent shape, but we don't know who she'll be when she wakes up. For all we know she could be programmed to kill us all on sight."

Miya shook her head. "I doubt that's the case, if anything she might just be a clean slate without any memories. Either way, we have to be there for her, she's one of us after all and we did the same for Lizzie. Well, almost all of us."

All eyes turned to Kaidan who squirmed uncomfortably in his seat.

Elissa looked away and gazed out of the shuttle window, her thoughts wandering to Miya's words about Ashley being a clean slate. For all intents and purposes she was, her memory only would go to Virmire, moments before her death. There would be nothing after that, no knowledge that a war had happened, that the Reapers had indeed been real and invaded the galaxy. She would have to learn everything secondhand, and that alone might be more difficult than just letting her live in ignorance. Elissa knew when she did wake up she would be angry and full of questions, just like she had been when Miranda revived her. This mission was not over, the hard part was only beginning.