Alright, there was a lot more demand for a follow up chapter, a lot more than I expected anyways. So here it is. Feel free to offer critique and I'll make some changes.


Shepard expected it to happen at some point. If he didn't hear the rumours then Anderson definitely would have told him. They never saw eye to eye regarding her but Anderson at least respected her father enough to tell him when she was dead and then subsequently resurrected.

Regarding her death, she pictured seeing him at her grave once a month, exact same time, exact same day, grieving for 5 minutes before going back to work and never talking about it to anyone. The same way he visited her mother's grave. Anderson confirmed that was exactly what he had done. Shepard could even manufacture the energy to feel hurt. She never really expected more of him.

Regarding her resurrection... truth be told, she wasn't sure how he would react to it. She didn't even know how she would react if someone was resurrected 4 years after they had been killed. Knowing her dad, he would read the report then nod in approval and go about his job as per normal.

She wished that were the case at least.

"He is demanding to see you." Anderson said via the hologram.

"Tell him I'm busy." Shepard said. The last thing she wanted to deal with was her dad. Their last encounter had her in tears clutching him like a small child. By her calculations that was 4 months ago, not counting the 4 years of her death.

She needed to get the Collectors and her dad would just slow her down at the moment. It was a sidetrack that she didn't want to follow for more reasons than she cared to think about.

"I did." Anderson replied. "He is insisting."

Shepard hid her sigh well. "What did he say, exactly?" Shepard asked, hoping that she could just give a message for Anderson to send directly. Unfortunately the good captain had seen her plan.

"Shepard, I don't particularly enjoy playing middleman for you and Admiral Mendez." Anderson said. "Meet with him, what's the worst that could happen."

Shepard let a smile come to face as she listened to those famous last words. "With him, anything is possible. Including the destruction of the universe."

"The same could be said about you." Anderson pointed out.

"It's a bad idea, and you know it." Shepard said with finality in her voice, crossing her arms in an attempt to end the argument as her father usually did.

She caught her reflection in a nearby window and realised she looked like a pouting 6 year old girl. It was times like these she was sad that she took after her mother.

"He deserves to see you." Anderson said, giving her a pointed look.

This time Shepard groaned, grimacing. It took a moment but she finally caved. "Fine, patch me through, I'll talk to him." She allowed.

"It's not that simple. He's already on his way." Anderson said before his hologram blinked out of existence.

Shepard only had time to blink before EDI's voice carried over the loudspeakers in the room.

"Shepard, the SSV-Infinity is approaching our starboard bow." The disembodied AI said. "They are asking for you to land and meet with Admiral Mendez immediately."

Shepard groaned inwardly and fought the urge to command EDI to run to the nearest Mass relay.


The SSV-Infinity was one of the largest and most impressive ships in its class. To Shepard's knowledge there were only 3 competitors and one of them was the Destiny Ascension, flagship of the Citadel Council.

Watching it grow larger in space as her shuttle zoomed towards gave her the same feeling as one walking to one's own hanging.

Since the last time she had seen him they had returned to the groove of not speaking rather easily. Little was solved in that confrontation other than she knew he was, at the very least, proud of who she had grown into. A pretty big step, all things considered, but she hardly considered their relationship on par with what it was meant to be.

She wagered they would need two years and possibly several psychiatrists to solve all the problems that existed between them.

If it ever did come to that she swore the first problem she wanted solved was that he left her in jail for four days as a punishment. Granted she had been caught stealing but still.

As her shuttle entered the hanger, Shepard idly wondered why she didn't just get Joker to land the Normandy inside instead. It would have been a snug fit but it would have fit. The amount of fighters inside would scare most aircraft carriers and to complete the collection there were even several tanks and Mako's ready for service.

In a way she couldn't imagine anyone except her father in command of this ship. They were very much alike in many ways. Both were born to serve the military, both were large, powerful and intimidating, both commanded a great respect and neither of them would ever smile.

There were 2 marines waiting for her but no sign of the Chief himself. If anything, it only made a cold chill run up her spine. It just meant he was angry.

Being led down out of the hanger and down the hallways upon hallways felt eerily similar to that one time she was arrested on earth. He was pretty angry then too.

Finally, they made it to his cabin. Shepard entered but her escorts simply walked away.

The cabin was bare of most of the things she had in her cabin. There was no fish tank for one, no hamster, no trophy case, no armour case, no couch, just a small ensuite bathroom, a desk with a single monitor, a pair of chairs and a double bed.

He was there, seated at the desk typing out reports. He gave one glance at her and she snapped to salute.

"You wanted to see me, sir." She said calmly.

He looked back to his terminal and kept working. She resisted the urge to fidget and held her salute.

Several long moments passed before he finally shut off his terminal. He reached into one of his drawers and pulled out a piece of paper that she recognised. It only cemented her idea that this was not going to be a pleasant conversation.

He came to stand in front of her. "I received this letter via courier some time ago. I want you to read it." He said handing her the paper.

Shepard took the page, dropping her salute, and scanned it silently.

"Out loud." He added.

Shepard's heart picked up a few beats as she licked her lips and began from the top. "Dear Admiral Mendez." She began. "It is with great regret and sorrow that we inform you that your daughter, Commander Jane Shepard, was killed in action last week. Please understand that her death was a shock to us all. She was one of the greatest soldiers to ever serve the alliance navy. Her work and achievements were an inspiration to us all. As her father, and high ranking military officer, we could only imagine the high regard you held her in." Shepard took a breath to read further but her eyes outran her mouth and she saw what it said before she spoke it.

Her eyes widened slightly and she looked up at her father. He only crossed his arms. "Keep going." He said straight-faced.

"With this in mind, we offer our deepest apologies that you will not be able to attend her memorial service as you are needed elsewhere." Shepard stopped reading and held the paper back. "You've made your point, dad."

He made no move to take the paper. "Finish it." He ordered.

Shepard averted her eyes to the ground. "I don't want to." She said.

He snatched the paper away. "Then I will." He held the page in front of him and continued in that deep baritone voice of his. "Again, we offer our most sincere apologies and hope that you understand that your position cannot allow such luxuries. Shepard was a great soldier, friend and possibly the greatest daughter a man in your position could ask for. Her death was unneeded and too sudden. We will do everything in our power to ensure that the killers are brought to justice. Sincerely, Alliance High Command."

He stopped reading and looked at her.

"Well at least it wasn't your fault you didn't attend my funeral." She said.

"Was that meant to be a joke? You think this is funny?" He snapped. "Because I'm not laughing!"

'You never laugh.' She thought silently. "Sorry." She muttered out loud.

"What is going on? First I get this scrap sent to me." He crumbled the paper in his hand and tossed it aside, landing perfectly in the trash can without any effort on his end. "Then I start getting reports of Cerberus activity at your ships crash site." He began pacing. "Four years after that, I start getting reports that our outer rim colonies are going dark. I hear from Anderson that you are suddenly alive again. I get a call from Aria T'loak, of all people, telling me that you're killing mercenaries on her station. I start getting calls that a gun runner named Alison Gunn murdered Donavan Hock. Guess who she turned out to be?" He asked rhetorically while Shepard sucked her lips between her teeth. "I get a distress call from a prison ship that you're tearing it apart. On top of that I have over 17 reports of you going around the galaxy and causing trouble, most of them from Illium. Then, during all of this, I get a report from gunnery Chief Williams," Shepard raised her head slightly at that. "that you're working for Cerberus and kidnapping colonists"

He stopped and took a deep breath before looking at her.

"Isabelle, what the hell have you been doing?" He asked. His eyes suddenly narrowed. He lifted a hand to grab her face and examined the scars on her cheeks. "and what have you done to your face?" He demanded.

Shepard's shoulders sagged slightly. "It's a long story." She murmured as his hand fell away.

"I am very eager to hear it." He said gesturing to his desk.

Shepard let out a deep sigh and decided to take a seat.

She told him everything. Like most things where he was concerned he was a hard man to impress. Nothing she had told him seemed to faze him in the slightest. She told him everything, from the start where she had first touched the beacon on Eden prime all the way through her adventure after Saren, her death, her resurrection, the Illusive man, Miranda, as much information she could manage, she told him.

She told him because, despite all his faults as a parent, there were two things he was more than anyone else. He was trustworthy and dependable.

He listened in silence, rarely even asking a question. It didn't really matter, she knew better than to lie to him.

Finally, when she was done, it was almost 30 minutes later.

He remained silent taking in the information.

"How much do you trust the Illusive Man?" He asked at last, seemingly a lot more calm.

"I don't." She said instantly. He accepted the answer.

"And this Reaper threat." He began. "How legitimate do you think it is?"

"You were there. You were on the front lines when it attacked the citadel." Shepard argued vehemently. "How much more legitimate could it be?" She asked.

He, again, accepted the answer silently.

"The location of the collectors." He mused. "You know where it is."

"Beyond the omega 4 relay, in the galactic core." She said.

His finger tapped the table a few times. "So let me get this straight: You plan to go into one of the most dangerous places in existence, with equipment and soldiers given to you by a man you don't trust, to fight what could potentially be a threat large enough to destroy every sentient life form in the known galaxy."

Shepard shifted in her chair. "Well, when you say it like that." She began.

"Please tell me there's more to your plan than just flying headlong into certain death." He interrupted.

Shepard became eerily silent and Chief hung his head with a sigh.

"Do you have a death wish?" He asked staring at her again. Shepard shook her head minutely. "Do you enjoy seeing me angry and stressed?" Again she shook her head. "Then please explain to me the part where you thought this was a good idea. I want to understand." He said.

Shepard deemed it wise to remain silent.

"This is not what it means to go above and beyond the call of duty, Isabelle." He began with a sigh.

"Can you please stop calling me that? I had it changed almost a decade ago." Shepard interrupted.

"Don't interrupt me." He snapped and her mouth clamped shut. "I cannot understand what is going through your head. I can understand if you didn't want to talk to me but why didn't you contact Anderson or Hackett and ask for help?" He said. "Hell, I'm sure Udina would have given you a gun, if only to spur you on your mission to get killed... again."

"Dad, you've made your point. I'm an idiot. Can I please go now?" She asked.

"You're far from stupid, Isabelle." He said almost dismissing her question outright. "These are things that an officer like you should have and would have thought of. Why didn't you?"

Shepard remained where she was and stared at a nearby wall. "I did." She said.

"What are you talking about?" He asked quickly.

There was a beat of silence. "I did ask them for help." She repeated. "I sent a formal request to the council and to alliance high command for equipment and resources. They refused."

"On what grounds?!" He demanded.

"The Council thought that the Reaper that attacked the citadel was an isolated incident and high command didn't want to argue with them just because one soldier was crazy." She said.

She had never seen her father move so fast. In an instant he had his hand on his terminal, opening communications to someone.

A fairly handsome man answered. A captain if his uniform was to be believed.

He confirmed her guess. "Captain Lasky, get me Alliance High Command and admiral Hackett immediately." He demanded.

In that moment, to Shepard, it felt like she was in high school again. Her principal was about to get a thrashing originally meant for her.


Truly it was exactly like high school. She stood at parade next to her dad while he shouted at high command who, to Shepard's amusement, seemed very speechless at the moment. Hackett was there and, true to form, was onboard with Shepard and her dad.

Chief was very thorough in his words and even angrier than when he was talking to her in private. It turns out Hackett had been fighting for this for some time and hadn't been able to convince high command of much. Except now they had to deal with Admiral Mendez. It was a sight to see.

"... now I hear from my supposedly deceased daughter that you refused to assist her in a matter of, not only alliance security, but galactic security, on grounds that someone on an alien council thinks she's crazy." He said. Looking to all the world like a man on a mission.

"Admiral." On the members found his voice. "We sincerely apologise."

"No more apologies!" Chief snapped making the man silent. "No more sincere talks and calm thinking. Something is going to be done about this. Now!" He almost shouted. "And I am going to make sure it happens."

"Please be reasonable." One of the members went on. "Shepard was seen in the presence of known Cerberus agents. We have hundreds of reports and even video footage of her working with them. The overwhelming evidence led us to believe she was working with them in abducting the colonists and acting as an enforcer."

"I would work for them if this is the excuse you give to a galactic war hero who has served loyally for over 15 years and given her life in the line of duty." Chief snapped and the council became eerily quiet again. "This is no longer a discussion because there is nothing left to discuss. Admiral Hackett and I have given you the facts, all contradicting reports are officially null and void. We are personally approving the commander's requisition order. You will bring her weapons, shielding and armour for her mission and you will do so with a damn smile on your face." He said, Hackett nodded his consent showing he was with them.

"And if we refuse." One of the members found his spine.

"I dare you to try." His challenge was met with silence. "I will expect the cargo at my location within the week and will personally see that it is installed correctly." He nodded to Hackett then cut the connection before turning to Shepard.

She was trying her best to hide her smile but was failing somewhat miserably.

"Wipe that smug grin off your face." He ordered. If anything it only made Shepard smile wider. "Contact Anderson and tell him I want a meeting with the Citadel Council."

That made Shepard's grin drop.


The earliest date that could be scheduled was almost a month later. During that time she had not seen or spoken to him. He was always busy with something else and she barely had a glimpse of the man until they arrived at the council chambers.

Shepard was not allowed to attend the meeting and neither was Anderson. The captain didn't seem too worried but Shepard couldn't stop pacing with worry that her father would cause an interplanetary incident.

"You don't give him enough credit." Anderson said as he watched her pace.

"If you knew him like I knew him you wouldn't say that." She said coming to a stop. "All it would take is Sparatus to say something stupid and my dad would pop his head like a grape."

"If you think that then you don't know him very well." Anderson said seriously.

"Of course I don't." Shepard said without hesitation. "I know his name, his rank and I know he doesn't like to smile, but that's about all there is to him. Maybe in some deep dark corner of his soul there's a decent human being but I haven't seen it yet." She said crossing her arms and glaring at the door that led to the council and her father.

Anderson let the subject drop knowing that convincing Shepard otherwise would be moot.

Silence reigned for almost 15 minutes before the door opened and the sound of Tevos' voice called.

"Commander Shepard, Councillor Anderson, please come in." The councillor said.

Shepard entered with her shoulders tense and Anderson followed a slightly more leisurely pace. Her dad was standing there at parade as he waited for her to approach. The council looked a little less important standing beside him but Shepard felt it wise not to say anything on the subject.

She stopped beside her dad and saluted for a lack of a better thing to do. Anderson stood beside her, clasping his hands behind his back.

"At ease commander." Tevos said. "We have spoken to Admiral Mendez at length regarding a lot of things, most of them concerning you." The Asari paused. "We would like to begin by saying, we are sorry."

Shepard's eyes widened despite her best efforts. Anderson hid his surprise a lot better and may have even looked a bit smug if Shepard didn't know better.

"We knew you were obsessed with Reaper threat and, to be perfectly honest, it sounded like complete nonsense." The Asari went on. "However, we based most of our assumptions on the simple fact that we didn't know how much we could trust you."

'I'm sure Udina would love to hear you say that.' Shepard thought privately, though if her father weren't there she might have said it out loud anyways.

"Admiral Mendez pointed out several important facts that we feel were abhorrently overlooked." The councillor went on. "The first of which is, we owe you our lives commander. When the choice came down to it, you chose to save us over your own people. We, who distrusted you over a war criminal, you chose to save us. This should already have been an indication that you should have been trusted and we apologise for not doing so."

Shepard glanced at Anderson then turned her head to her dad. "What the hell did you say to them?"

He narrowed his eyes at her. "Don't interrupt." He ordered then looked back at the councillor. "Councillor Tevos, please continue."

"The second is that we had not considered at length why we should have helped your colonies in the rim." Tevos said. "In this regard Udina was right. Had it been any of our colonies we would have acted and we apologise for not doing so."

Shepard's brow was almost in her hairline as she listened.

"These two facts combined should provide more than enough reason for us to take your word to heart or at the very least consider them in a realistic fashion." Tevos said. "We will not go into specifics at the moment, but as of this moment you have our full support in the coming days."

There were several beats of silence as the words digested into Shepard's head.

"I believe that's all that needs to be said for the moment." Chief said, suddenly looking at his watch. "I have a patrol to return to and you." He said pointing to Shepard. "Have reports to deliver to both the council and high command on earth, I want copies of these reports. Be sure that they are completed by week's end." He ordered.

Shepard fought the urge to snap back to attention as she answered. "Yes sir."

"Excellent." He said before bowing his head the council. "Thank you for your time councillors."

"It was no trouble." Tevos said giving him a kind smile. "Thank you for bringing this matter to our attention."

He acknowledged it with another nod before heading for the door. Shepard blinked, staring at the council wondering what she was supposed to do now. Everything that had to be said had already been said.

"Shepard." Anderson whispered. She turned to look at him. "Don't you have somewhere to be." He said giving her a pointed look.

It took a moment for the words to register. "I guess I'll get started on those reports then." She said. "Councillors." She dismissed herself before turning and running after her dad.

She caught up to him some distance away. He was walking with purpose and his long strides didn't help her shorter stature to keep up with him.

"Admiral!" She called as she came to his side. He stopped and looked down at her, calm as a monk.

"What is it commander, I have work to do and I'm late as is?" He said in greeting.

Shepard hesitated for only a moment. "Thank you, for helping me."

Though she would never be able to confirm it she swore his eyes softened the slightest bit.

"It was no trouble commander." He said. "If that is all." He made to continue walking but Shepard jumped in front of him again.

"Sir." She said holding her hand to his chest to stop him from walking.

"Commander, I don't have time for this." He said. "If you have something to say, out with it."

"Dad." She snapped, getting his full attention. "Thank you. I mean it." She said softly.

He gave a casual look at his surroundings before speaking quietly. "Whether you believe it or not, Isabelle, I would do anything for you."

Shepard smiled cheekily. "How about calling me Jane?"

"Don't push your luck." Shepard would have rolled her eyes if he weren't there. "What type of asinine name is 'Jane Shepard' anyways?" He asked seriously.

"I thought it sounded cool." She defended.

He could only shake his head down at her. Shepard debated while the pair stood in silence for a few moments before she decided it was worth a shot.

"If not that then what about a late lunch in the presidium then? On me, as a proper thank you." She asked.

"Isabelle, I don't have time, I'm late." He said, glancing at his watch again for emphasis.

"And I'm on a suicide mission that is more than likely going to get you another condolence letter." She replied quickly. "Are you really going to have, "I'm late" as the last thing you say to me?" She asked.

His eyes narrowed. "That's emotional blackmail. Don't think you're too old for a hiding or that I'm too old to give it." He said, pointing an accusing finger in her face.

Shepard smiled anyways. "Is that a yes?" She asked tilting her head to the side of his finger.

There was a beat of silence before he nodded silently and lowered his hand.

Shepard quickly fell in beside him and slid her hand into his own. She led them on their way and he stayed by her side.

It didn't matter that his hand was as rough as sandpaper, it just meant he was a hard worker. It didn't matter that his hand was almost four times as big as hers, it just meant that she was still his little girl. What mattered was that he accepted it and closed his hand gently around hers, because that meant he cared.


And that's chapter 2. Feel free to leave an emoji if you don't have anything to say, criticism is welcomed so long as it's constructive (Cannot make bricks without clay). Depending on how this goes, I'll consider a Chapter 3 but I never got around to finishing Mass Effect 3 so feel free to leave me some ideas in the comments.

Shout out to RedShirt047 for giving me a little courage to actually post this.