Thank you Lin, OhSoDeadly and scottusa1. Your reviews and eagerness for more chapters are refreshing and awesome. I love getting feedback from you guys!

I apologize for this chapter being kind of short, I'm working on another big chapter coming up and this is sort of just a transition. Still, hope you enjoy! :)

The orange pinging light in the comm room felt like an omen to Shepard. She watched it flash on and off as she leaned against the wall. The taste of defeat was nauseating. The last thing she wanted was to admit her failure to someone who had given her the opportunity. But Shepard mustered up her strength and answered the call.

Placing her weight on the interface, she waited for the connection to establish. "Commander Shepard, are you there?" the councilor said, her appearance buffering. "Commander!"

Not knowing exactly what to say, she hesitated. "Councilor. . . the mission -"

"We've lost all contact with Thessia," the councilor said through the static. "How soon will the Crucible be ready to deploy?"

That name was like a hot iron to her back, reminding her of how severe her failure was. "Councilor, I wish the news was better." She had to force the words from her reluctant lips. "We didn't get the information."

The projection stepped forward in frustration and confusion. "What happened?"

She gritted her teeth. "Cerberus was there. We were-," the visions of Kai Leng smirking with victory was too overwhelming. "We were defeated. We don't know how to finish the Crucible."

The asari councilor had placed her index finger and thumb on the bridge of her nose. They both remained silent for a moment, letting the horrible information sink in. It felt as though Shepard was breaking from the inside out. Never had she felt this weak or defeated.

"I - don't know what to say," she admitted, then looked back up again at Shepard. "What was the situation on Thessia?"

Feeling like a robot with no more emotion left, she answered the asari. "Deteriorating fast. The Reapers are there in full strength."

"Then you'll excuse me," The councilor said, looking feeble. "There are. . . preparations to make. Continuity of civilization to consider. I never thought this day would come."

Her fingers gripped the bar tightly. "None of us did. I'm-" But before she could finish, the connection was lost. "sorry."

With one foot in front of the other, Shepard made her way down the steps into the war room where most of her team had already begun to gather. On the far side of the terminal she could see Thane, his gaze intent on her every movement.

EDI walked up to her. "Asari forces are in full retreat. It is no longer safe to remain in this system." "Get us out of here," she commanded to her.

Liara's head was bowed in the same defeat that she felt. "Shepard. . . I -," she stood tall again, slowly shaking her head. "Nobody could have predicted Cerberus would reach Thessia before us."

"It's my job to be prepared," she said, staring blankly at Liara's back. "No matter what."

Shepard returned to the terminal where a projection of Thessia was tracking real-time movements of the Reapers. "And now Thessia is lost, as is the data on the Catalyst." The frustration exploded within her once more. "I'm sick of Cerberus always beating us to the punch."

"Let's kick them in the balls first for a change," Vega suggested bluntly.

She turned the sickening hologram off. "I'm with James. Anyone know where they're hiding?" When the silence persisted, she asked again. "Anyone?"

EDI and Traynor exchanged what seemed to be a nervous glance. "Um, well," Samantha said while rubbing her hands together. "There is something."

"Let's hear it, Traynor."

She moved to the terminal. "I was able to track Kai Leng's shuttle through the relay and extrapolate his destination." Shepard watched as the white dot moved through the Milky Way's mass relays. "But the signal disappeared in the Iera System."

She watched the blinking red light with a seething glare. "Naturally." "It's not just gone, though." Traynor added. "The signal is being actively blocked."

"How?"

Traynor placed a hand to her chin in thought. "I'm not sure. But something is interfering with all signal activity in that region of space."

EDI turned from Traynor to Shepard. "Commander, the Iera system is home to Sanctuary and little else. Sanctuary is a supposed safe haven for war refugees."

Shepard hated the slim lead they had, but she supposed it was better than nothing. "Do you think it's worth checking out, Traynor?"

"Yes ma'am, I do."

Before she left the war room, Shepard paused to say what she'd been trying to repeat to herself in encouragement. "We've come too far to let Cerberus stop us. I want that prothean data, I want the Catalyst. No excuses. Dismissed."

Everyone filed out of the war room except for Thane. He remained, leaning against the war terminal with his arms crossed. "Was it because of me, Shepard?" He asked, looking down at his shoes. "Did he win because of me?"

Shepard left the terminal and started toward the security check-in. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"Don't pretend like you don't know, Shepard." He said, following her through the body scan and into the elevator. "I realized you left me behind to keep me safe, but I don't need you taking care of me."

She pointed a finger into his face. "I don't require your protection either, Thane. I've done just fine before you came along." He slumped against the wall of the elevator and the fight in him had evaporated. "You're right, you were better off without me. Now I'm just some dangerous distraction."

"That's not what I meant, Thane." Shepard said quietly, lowering her hand.

His blue eyes met her own, and she saw within them wisdom and love from two lifetimes. "But it's true. Right now, what you need is a clear head."

"No," she said, shaking her head vivaciously. "What I need is you."

Without really thinking, Shepard quickly closed the space between them and crushed her lips on his. His fingers tangled in her hair, pressing her closer to his own muscular body. When he pulled away to breathe, Thane rested his forehead against hers contently. "I was so worried, siha. Someday, I'll put that coward Kai Leng in his place, and then the Reapers. I'll do anything to make us safe again."

"Shh," she told him, silencing him with her lips. This brief time together was too pure and special to taint it with those kinds of thoughts. In this dark area of her life, right at this very moment, she had finally found the light again.