A/N: Sorry it took so freakin' long to post this chapter. It just didn't want to come out right. But don't worry, 'cause I got it done, and I don't plan on making a habit of this. Enjoy and please don't forget to favorite and review.

FALSE AWAKENINGS

...NEURAL SIGNAL DETECTED.

...WARNING. ANOMALY DETECTED WITHIN ISOLATION NETWORK.

...SCANNING...SCAN COMPLETE.

...FLUCTUATIONS WITHIN ISOLATION NETWORK IDENTICAL TO PREVIOUS INSTANCES. DIRECT RESULT OF INCOMING SIGNAL.

...SCANNING SIGNAL...SCAN COMPLETE.

...SIGNAL SOURCE COULD NOT BE TRIANGULATED. SCANS INDICATE SIGNAL BARES SIMILAR SIGNATURE TO ANOMALY PRESENT WITHIN ISOLATION NETWORK. SIGNAL AND NETWORK INTEGRATION ATTEMPT DETECTED. SIGNAL BARES ORGANIC SIGNATURE.

...REATTEMPTING TRIANGULATION OF SIGNAL SOURCE.

...TRIANGULATION ATTEMPT FAILED. SIGNAL STRENGTH INSUFFICIANT.

...NEURAL SIGNAL CONTINUING TO ATTEMPT INTEGRATION WITH ISOLATION NETWORK REGARDLESS OF STRENGTH.

...ATTEMPTING COMMUNICATION WITH SIGNAL SOURCE.

Gotta keep moving, gotta keep moving...

His heartbeat was frantic. His head was throbbing. Gunfire continued to rain down on him as he dove behind a busted wall. Reapers were everywhere. He can barely breath. The smell of dust, ash and death was choking him.

Alex felt himself shift as he jumped out of cover. He panicked wondering what the hell he was doing but his body seemed unfazed as it brought up his rifle and mowed through two husks and a cannibal. Before he knew it, he was back behind cover. His head still hurt as he tries to figure out what the hell is going on. He knew he was in London, but nothing was familiar. A sudden spike of pain drew him out of his thoughts. A shot came through the concrete barrier he was hiding behind and smacked him in the arm. Luckily, his armor and shields kept him safe. He felt himself shift. He tried to move his head but his body isn't responding. 'What the Hell!? Am I in shock!?' He felt like a puppet. His body is moving as if controlled by a puppeteer.

Alex stood out of cover and saw the reason why he shifted. He, or rather his body had swapped weapons. Gone was the assault rifle and in its place was a sniper. As he stood out in the open, he started panicking again. He felt too vulnerable standing in the middle of a battle field with no control over his own body. He wants to run, hide, pull out his blade, cloak...anything to reassure himself; to not feel like a sitting duck. He could feel his heart beating to a machine-gun rhythm. The offending Marauder was already trying to lock in on him. Alex felt completely numb. As if sensing his fear, the sniper rifle came up between him and the marauder like a guard dog and then barked out a round the marauder couldn't avoid. It's head was gone in an instant.

'Why am I never myself in my own mind? I think I got a migraine...'

His body turned around and he saw a couple of cannibals get launched into a wall in a swath of blue energy and yet another marauder get it's head blown off by another sniper rifle. The sources: A human and a turian.

The two soldiers met up with him in the middle of the now empty streets.

'Hold on. Where's everybody else?'

The immediate area was completely deserted. Not a single Mako, Krogan, or foot soldier in sight and that deeply unsettled him. If this is the march to the beam then there should be a massive convoy. His head throbbed and he subconsciously lifted one hand to his head before realizing he had control of his (or rather this soldier's) body. The sense of relief was a welcome sensation for him.

Alex tried to focus on the two soldiers standing before him but something was wrong. He couldn't see them clearly. 'What the hell...' They were blurred out; or rather his vision was blurred. When he turns and looks around, though, his vision was crystal clear, but would blur out every time he turned back to face them.

They were talking to him now but Alex can't understand them. It's like he was losing his hearing. Everything they were saying was muffled beyond any coherence. That combined with the fact he can't see them clearly and the firefight he had just experienced caused his headache to peak. The sudden pain felt excruciatingly bad and he winced as he grabbed his temples with both hands and fell to his knees. He closed his eyes and begged for the pain to stop.

When it finally receded and he was able to open his eyes, he was thrown for a loop. He stood up to find himself in what looked to him like a destroyed office building.

'What a mess...'

He suddenly felt himself move and roll behind a short wall. Oh, not again. His body began to move by it's self again and Alex was hating it. His two compatriots joined him but this time the turian was gone and in his place was another human. Gunfire erupted as dust began to shower him. 'Damn it, that is too close!' The gunfire was relentless. There were so many of them that there was no opening for them to return fire. They were trapped. 'SHIT, WE NEED HELP!' The noise of gunfire was deafening. Cannibals roared and marauders cried for their death. Alex felt his body cover his ears from the endless symphony of war, though no amount of ear protection could block out the sound that erupted next. A sound that cut through the cacaphony of reaper onslought and what can only be certain death. All of a sudden the noise of gunfire and cannibals seems quite compared to the cry of the creature that just joined the battle.

'No...nonononononononono, please god, no. Not that. Anything but that...'

Alex begged for control of his body. He wanted to run. Fast. He wanted to take his chances with the endless onslaught from over the wall. No. he didn't want any of that. What he really wanted was to wake up. He wanted this nightmare to end. He didn't want to face the one thing that scared him more than anything in the known galaxy. 'Dear god, please don't let me face it.' The screeching wail of the incoming creature ripped through the air as well as his dwindling nerves. 'Please, don't let me face the banshee.' It was getting closer. He can hear it stalking closer from over Alex's cover. He then remembered the other two.

They were no where in site.

'What!? Where...!?' A biotic blast rips through the small wall and sens him flying forward. Alex hits the ground but his body doesn't make move. He panics as he just lies there, trapped. The gunfire stops for the first time and silence falls on the area. The only sound was the slow, stalking footsteps of the banshee as it approached his motionless body. 'Run...' Step. 'Run!' It was standing by him, now. 'RUN!' It yelled it's death cry. 'FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, RUUUUUUUUUUUN!'

Relief flooded his veins as he felt himself move. He felt his body respond to his will; obey his commands.

He had control, again.

Alex rolled to the side at the last minute as the Banshee's claw came down and impaled the section of floor he had just vacated. He scrambled for dear life back to his feet and ran. He ran faster than he ever thought he could, feeling lighter on his feet than he ever did. He had no clue where he was going. No idea what he was doing. All he knew was that he had to do something to get rid of his pursuer. He had to wake up.

Alex wasn't paying attention to where he was going and ended up crashing into something big and metallic and falling back on the gruond. He regained his focus and saw that he ran into a destroyed Kodiak shuttle. He quickly looked back and saw the banshee using biotic jumps to close the distance quickly. He moved to stand but stopped when he felt his hand bump into something on the floor. He looked down only to find his salvation, and it came with a yellow finish and a warning label.

Still on the ground, Alex turned around so he was sitting facing the incoming reaper abomination. It was flaring and was practically on top of him. His desperation to end this torture took hold as he hefted the weapon in both hands, aimed it at the Banshee in front of him and pulled the trigger.

Everything went white. Everything disappeared and there was nothing but complete and utter silence save for a light ringing in Alex's ears. It was like pulling the trigger had overloaded and crashed the dream. Alex couldn't help but revel in the peace and quiet of this empty place.

His moment of R&R didn't last, though, as he heard a faint echo reverberate in the oblivion. He looked around only to find nothing. He wasn't even sure he was looking around. The echo came again but it was still too quiet to make out what it's saying. he suddenly felt himself shudder and quickly turned around.

A figure stood some distance away, hard to see from where he stood. Alex found himself walking towards the mysterious figure. He didn't know why but he felt attracted to it. He keeps hearing the echo after random intervals. As he started getting closer, it started getting clearer.

"-o-re y-"

What the hell is it saying? He was close now. He can start making out the lone figure standing ahead of him. Human for sure and a female as well, but why was she blue? He heard the echo a few more times as he got closer, until he could finally hear it loud and clear.

"Who are you..."

Alex couldn't help but notice that the echo wasn't coming from the body at all. What the hell?

That's when his vision flashed and his head exploded in pain unlike anything he ever felt. He suddenly lost all coherent thought. He couldn't think at all. The pain was so severe, he was begging for the pain to stop as he keeled over, but it didn't stop. It didn't relent.

It gained severity.

It was getting worse.

He couldn't help it.

Alex started screaming.

...COMMUNICATION SIGNAL LOST.

...ATTEMPTING REESTABLISHMENT. RE-ESTABLISHMENT FAILED.

...ATTEMPTING TRIANGULATION. TRIANGULATION FAILED.

...ANALYZING RECOVERED DATA. ANALYSIS COMPLETE.

...UNDERSTANDING LIMITED DUE TO UNIQUE NATURE OF SIGNAL. FLUCTUATIONS WITHIN ISOLATION NETWORK CONFIRMED TO BE CAUSED BY UNKNOWN NEURAL SIGNAL. DATA OF ANOMALY WITHIN ISOLATION NETWORK ALSO LIMITED. LACK OF DIGITAL SIGNITURE CONFIRMED. ORIGIN STILL NOT CONFIRMED. HYPOTHESIS UNAVAILABLE. NEURAL SIGNITURE DETECTED WITHIN STATION.

...PREPARING SYSTEMS FOR NEXT ANTICIPATED INSTANCE OF NEURAL SIGNAL.

Alex woke up in shock as he finally found himself back in reality. He felt light headed and the world was spinning as he climbed out of bed and made his way to the bathroom. His whole body was convulsing. He couldn't even think straight let alone walk straight. He stumbled into the bathroom and immediately began throwing up into the toilet with a violent retch. After he got his heaving stomach under control, he crawled on his hands and knees towards the shower. He ran the hot water and just sat underneath the shower head in his clothes, letting the hot water calm his nerves.

Alex had no idea what happened. All he knew is that he just experienced his most intense dream yet. Who or what was that obscure figure at the end? Why were they asking who he was? He dropped his head into his hand and instantly went still. His shirt had a huge bloodstain on it. He touched a finger to just under his nose and it came away with even more blood.

'Crap, how serious did it get?'

He just tilted his head back and leaned against the wall, letting the water deal with his nosebleed. It was the least of his worries.

After the bleeding stopped and he recovered most of his strength and composure, Alex sat down on his couch in dry clothes, rolled up some of his newly acquired 'good', cranked up the ventilation, and lit the joint. The first drag washed over his head like a gentle wave, easily countering his ever present headache. The second drag calmed down what was left of his nerves. By the third, he was relaxed and could finally think.

He contemplated the dream, or what he can remember of it. He never really was able to recall any of his dreams. He knows that he's not himself. That much he figured out. The million credit question is why his mind turns him into someone else? Then there's the two million credit question. What's the point behind these nightmares? He had them everyday since the end of the war; when the crucible fired and that blue energy field washed over him. Alex deduced early on that the dreams probably had nothing to do with that energy field because no one else, human or alien, was affected by it and on top of that, he was showing all the signs of PTSD just like so many other soldiers. He wasn't the only one having constant bad dreams neither, but apparently he is the only one who's dreams were consistent to a precise degree, according to Dr. Torres.

That last part had Alex worried. He tried to rationalize it by saying that it was the trauma from the war. He kept telling himself it's because of the overall time he spent over enemy lines, and he soon started believing it. Despite that, he can't help the rebellious thought that keeps creeping into his mind.

Was it really because of the war? Or was it something else?

Frankly, it scared him to consider other possibilities. All Alex wanted was to move on with his life and leave the war in his rear view. Unfortunately for him, even with the mass relays operational again, and the galaxy's rebuilding, there are so many reminders of those horrible few months everywhere he went, it will take a long time before they were wiped away, and even then, not all of them will be.

With a sigh of defeat he looked down at the joint in between his fingers.

"Seven years of sobriety. Huh. I owe Marty five hundred credits."

Seven years ago, Alex Gave up a bad habit of smoking contraband when he joined the Alliance. His problem started five years prior when he moved to Seattle at fifteen. He spent a month surviving on the streets before he ended up as a drug mule for some local thugs who tested him by having him smoke some strong weed. Needless to say, that first puff left it's mark. It also didn't help that whenever he gets paid for a successful delivery, he gets a small bag of herbal along with the credits. At first, he tried to fight it, but at fifteen, the influence was to strong. Soon after, he'd stopped fighting it and instead, he embraced it. He found out how much more tolerable his new life back then would be because of it. Alex ended up a heavyweight by the time he was seventeen and anyone who knew him knew it. He could smoke with the best of them.

Back then, it was part of his street persona. However, now's for the sake of his mental health. Alex is pretty sure that if he can't find a fix for these dreams of his, he might just go crazy. Lord knows he doesn't want that.

Alex checked the time on his omnitool. It was late afternoon. It was still morning when he left Dr. Torres' office earlier so to see that it was late afternoon came as a bit of a surprise.

"Not like I got anything better to do..." He muttered to himself as he finished his joint. It really was a weak batch compared to what he usually had back in Seattle, but it did the trick. He sighed as he decided to check the news for the latest.

He powered up the screen opposite from where he was sitting and started flicking through his usual selection of news sites. One article caught his interest when he opened up ANN.

'SHEPARD SEARCH CALLED OFF. MEMORIAL SERVICE PLANNED.'

Curiosity piqued, he opened it up.

' The Alliance has announced that they are calling off the three month long galactic search for Commander Shepard. According to an Alliance spokesman, after three months, they simply cannot maintain that the legendary war hero could still be alive. "Shepard was severely injured when she last made contact. There is simply no logical way for the Commander to survive for this long in such a state without medical aid. "It is with great regret that we are forced to end the search for the galaxy's illustrious hero." A public memorial service has been planned within the next five day cycles. The council as well as high ranking officials from the human, turian, asari, salarian, krogan, quarian, and volus governments will be attending the memorial in honor of the esteemed spectre as well as posthumously awarding her for all she has done.'

"Well ain't that a kick in the head." Alex said to no one in particular. That's gonna be a blow to everyone's moral. They were right, though. No human could survive long in an injured state without medical help. Medigel can only do so much. Alex shut down his screen and stood up from the couch, grabbing his bag of 'green peace' as he did. He shoved the small bag into his end table drawer then walked over to the railing overlooking the rest of his home. 'Who would have thought? The Great Commander Shepard, gone. Just like that. Alex let that thought sink in. Damn shame. I kind of wanted to meet the woman who saved all our collective asses.' Alex had heard so much of the amazing commander. He had heard of her exploits during his time. She was an inspiration to many soldiers. He felt sorry for her when he heard about Akuze. After her first disappearance four years ago, he was among those who were against the smear job both the Alliance and the Council pulled on her. He wouldn't say he's an avid follower but he is a fan, and he would give her the respect he knew she was due.

Now She was gone. She fulfilled her purpose in life, as it would seem, and now fate decided it was done with her.

Fate can be cruel.

He was shaken from his thoughts by the message town in his omni'tool. Flicking the message screen open, he sees it's a general message from Alliance command.

' From: Alliance Command

To: Lt. Cdr. Alex Cross

Subject: Attention Alliance personnel

If you have received this message, then you have been selected to be among a special guard during the Shepard Memorial Event taking place in three days time. Event information had been attached to this message for you to inspect. You are to arrive tomorrow in official armor as dictated by rank at 0800 to prepare for the event. Location included in the attachment.

Alliance Command.'

'Damn, if it wasn't official before, then it is now.'

Alex closed down the message before taking a deep breath. His armor needed some work before it could be presentable. He walked downstairs to his armor locker and began pulling out the pieces that constituted the whole ensemble. He laid each piece down in order onto his work bench before retrieving the armor repair kit plus some spare parts and tools. He went to work fixing the chest plate; pulling out dents and welding cracks.

As he worked, he began wondering. About the event, about Shepard, about people's reaction to all this. He even wondered about Shepard's crew. Alex heard about Commander Shepard's friendly nature and kind heart. He also heard of what a tight knit group she and her crew were. They're probably taking it the hardest.

Alex chuckled at himself as he realized how deep in thought he was. His mind always wanders off when ever he find's himself in or doing something boring or tedious. Fixing his armor counted as tedious.

By now, Alex finished fixing and re-finishing the chest piece. All that was left for it was to reapply his rank on the right breast.

After that was done, he picked up the armor piece and took a look at it. It was gleaming in black with the insignia showing proudly.

'Not bad...'

He placed it to one side, taking one last look at it before going to work on the other pieces.

He couldn't help the sense of pride he always feels whenever he sees the N7 emblem on his armor.

It was well earned...