Sorry for the delay. I had a couple papers due for my classes, and unfortunately they take precedence (just barely). Hope everyone enjoys!

3 Days Later

He wanted to get up and do something. He was tired of lying in this bed with nothing to do but think. After talking with Liara a small sense of relief set in. Now he felt like he wasn't constantly on edge, but it wasn't getting easier to ignore the questions and visions that haunted him. His saving grace came in the usual form of a nubile asari genius. "Miranda is going to give you your last check up and if everything is good you'll be released for rehabilitation. I also have a plan, but we can't do anything until we get you out of here."

"Great, what are you thinking?"

Just then a blue, shifting orb popped out of the thick steel and concrete wall. "Everything is in order Dr. T'soni. It's good to see you Commander."

"Glyph! When did you get him up and running?"

Liara smiled at the hovering orb, "Just the other day. I wasn't even cognizant of what I was doing when he just powered up. I sent my repair data to Tali. Hopefully it can help with EDI." She looked over at Shepard and saw the sorrow in his face. He still felt responsible for EDI even if everyone told him he wasn't.

"Okay Shepard, let's get you out of here." Miranda came forward and started to scan him with her omnitool. After a few minutes she looked up, "Everything looks good. I believe we can get you out of here. Some precautions: your skin grafts are healed but they can still be sensitive. If you are out in the sun you need to be wearing some protection. Your eye is healing quicker than we thought but you still need to keep it covered. Finally, the trauma your body went through was severe. That being said, no strenuous activity." She gave Shepard a pointed look that she also aimed at Liara. "Understood?"

Shepard smiled and agreed. Liara mumbled something as she blushed furiously. Miranda left and Liara helped him get his clothes on. He had swung his body around to sit on the edge of the bed. With the blankets pulled back Shepard looked down. This was the first time he had seen what was left of his leg. His thigh had a calico pattern where the skin grafts were placed. He still had a defined knee but where a muscular calf would be, there was a small remnant of leg and air. The amputation sight was covered with mediwrap and Shepard could see where the tight seam of stitches were almost healed. He stared transfixed at the sight. Then he saw her standing before him. She placed her white-gloved hand on his mottled knee. When he looked in her eyes he saw that she wasn't revolted by his leg or pity for his condition. All he could see was reassurance.

They were careful as she helped him pull the soft workout pants over his left leg, and with the help of a guard he was placed into a wheelchair. He watched as she walked ahead with armed guards surrounding them. There was no one in sight and as they made their way out of the glass doors and onto a familiar Alliance shuttle he started to feel a little panicked. "Where is everyone?"

She sat down across from him as the Marines started to secure the chair. "Hackett ordered a quiet exit."

"Why?"

"Because I asked him."

She watched as the Marines left and closed the door. "Because the plan I have requires some discretion, and it would be hard to accomplish that with news that the Savior of the Galaxy was being released from the Alliance government's super-secret hospital today."

He cracked a smile at her dry tone. "So, where we headed?"

The shuttle's Situational Response screen showed them moving through the London streets. As they went far into the most decimated ruins of London down the Thames River from the Hilton Pier. The shuttle landed and Liara started communicating with someone on her omnitool. His chair was unlooked and he felt a strong hand rest on his shoulder. He looked up to see James standing above him armored and loaded with weapons. "Come on Shepard. I've got your back." The door opened and he could see a couple of Shadow Broker soldiers approaching the shuttle. They stopped and saluted as James was pushing him out of the shuttle.

"It's nice to see you again Commander. Your contact is inside, we'll escort you through."

Shepard recognized them as the Wet Squad he saved on Dranek for Barla Von, or really for Liara. James pushed him up a loading ramp to a warehouse that overlooked the river. Liara was off to the side talking to the leader and he could hear snippets of the conversation that included "Cerberus", "pockets", "infiltration" and "Sect". He tried to listen closer, but was stopped abruptly as they reached the back office. There were three Alliance Officers there guarding a small woman with a pack strapped to her back. She was in plain clothes and looking a bit nervous. At seeing him the officers saluted. A tense moment occurred when the Shadow Broker Agents hesitated to leave and the Alliance Officers gripped their weapons. It took Liara's clear voice to break the standoff. "We need the room. Thank you for complying with our wishes."

The agents left with no qualms and the officers shuffled off. The woman took off the pack and opened it to reveal the Leviathan orb. She left it hovering on the table and walked out. James went to stand guard of the door as Liara pushed him to the table. "Okay, let's see if this works." She locked the chair in place and sat on his lap. She took off her gloves and held his face in her hands. He watched as the pupils in her blue eyes contracted and took over the blue. He felt her presence at the edge of his consciousness and heard her soft voice. "Embrace Eternity." He surrendered willingly as everything turned black. He was warm in this shared space with her. He was facing her with billions of stars around them. She smiled at him sweetly as a feeling of comfort over took him. It was quiet and soothing.

Just then everything turned cold. He could hear water running close by and heaviness settled in the atmosphere. He saw Liara's gaze shift behind him. "Commander Shepard, I thought to never see you again."

He turned around and saw a face he hadn't seen since he was 7 years old. The eyes were the same as Shepard's, as well as the ears, but he seemed so much taller and bigger than he remembered. Yet, as he stood there staring into his father's familiar face he knew it wasn't really him. "I need answers."

The voice vibrated in the deep baritone that bespoke of something beyond any plain of reality. "You require answers for which you already possess."

"Tell me. Was I indoctrinated?" The desperation in his voice elicited only an impassive stare. "When I approached the beam I was shown a vision that I thought was real."

The leviathan walked slowly by Shepard to Liara, "I cannot touch you and yet you are here. Do you know why that is?" She gaped at the figure, looking back and forth from Shepard and Leviathan. She shook her head confused, and the creature looked back at Shepard. "Your will is indescribably strong. I may impose my will and speak to you, but in the end your mind rejects it. Your species has perfected this power over time. You are no different."

"What do you mean, there were thousands of humans indoctrinated."

The figure smiled and reached up to grab a star. He pulled it down and tossed it towards Shepard. It expanded to reveal a whole cluster of DNA strands. He could hear Liara murmur. "Oh my, that is intriguing!"

Shepard looked between the two, "What is it?"

She hesitantly reached up to point at a section of a DNA strand when it rapidly expanded, "This is a human DNA genome but that doesn't look quite right. There is a deformation that I have never seen before."

"Your species has hidden for centuries as we have, only they were able to hide in full view. When I had searched your mind I had found this anomaly. That is why you were released. We had encountered your species long before the first harvest. They disagreed with our use of thralls, and had waged war against our kind. It was only when a concordance was made that the fighting had ceased."

Shepard felt the coldness waver. "So everything I saw—"

"Was an attempt. Your line was weakened through time but you still possess the strength to resist, as you have always done."

Shepard's eyes opened and Liara was relieved to see them clear of doubt. There seemed to be a new light in his that she had missed. "I take it your satisfied with the answers you got."

"Yes"

"Good. Lets get you home."