I find myself running again. Running, that's what I do in my dreams now. That's all I do! I'm either running from something or running toward something. Everything is so dark but so fluid, it looks like ink drops in water. Even though the shadowy figures are terrifying, it's the voices that truly scare me. The cries for help, calling my name, are what terrify me. I can't save them all so I run I don't know where but I run. I'm trying to find that damn kid. It seems that this hell only ends when I reach him. When he bursts into flames, every time I can't save him he dies. I've tried just running from him, but then I'm just stuck with the voices and they get louder and louder. That's worse. I'd rather see the freaking kid burn. When I see a flash of white I take of running after it, it's him – the little kid – I know it. I see him just up ahead but then he vanishes. I throw my head around looking for the little bastard.

Only when I turn around I don't see him, instead there He is. I haven't seen him in my dreams before and I'm frozen. I know my lower lip is trembling but I can't stop it. Tentatively I reach out my hand toward him taking shallow breathes unable to really take a breath. If I can touch him, talk to him, be with him I would deal with this hell and stay here forever. He stares at me solemnly, those dark eyes watching me intently. He lets out a sigh and smiles before saying one word that destroys me. "Siha" Just as he says it, I'm about to touch him and just like the boy he bursts into flames. I stare in horror, watching the man I love burn in front of me. I try to move but I can't I'm stuck and then the flames disappear and the darkness swallows everything.

My eyes snap open; I can feel my heart racing I know my hand is on my gun under my pillow. I know I'm not in that inky forest, I know I'm safe but I can't help but feel that I'm being watched. I jump up from my bed and look through my quarters, gun in front. I sweep the cabin and even poke my head outside. I see nothing. Once I finish my paranoid sweep I slink back into my cabin and slump to the couch. I place my gun on the table and run my fingers through my hair. I don't dare too close my eyes, for fear that I might see Him burn again. Instead I stare at the grey cold metal floor. "He was there. Why was he there?" I whisper to myself before shaking my head.

I lift my head to stare at the fish; He always liked to watch them swim. I used to like to watch as well. But now they just remind me of Him. With a grunt I stand and get dressed for the day. "EDI! What's the time?" I ask in a brisk manner waiting for the AI to respond.

I don't have to wait long for her calm voice to blare into my cabin. "The ships time is 05:19AM, Shepard."

"Thanks EDI." I grumble not really carrying about the answer. I'm already pulling on my uniform and shoving my boots on. Before I leave I note the fishes one last time before leaving the room. And I'm thankful for the machine that feeds them, if it was up to me they'd be dead by now. I can't really keep anything alive right now. But I move on and groan when I realize how badly I'm sleeping. I've probably had about four to five hours of sleep if I'm lucky. But I'm wired, can't ever seem to go back to sleep once I have one of those dreams.

I make my way to the bridge only to have Specialist Traynor start hounding me, like a small dog nipping at my heels. "Commander you have messages for you at your terminal. You should really check them." My mood is sour; I have no time for her harping about my damn messages.

"If they are so damn important Traynor then you look through them. Give me a summary of anything not personal and I'll address it." I growl out at her before doing some quick scans in the area.

I see her cower and start reading the messages. I feel a little bad about being too hard on her after all she never asked to be here. She isn't used to the front lines I can't blame her for that. And so many in this war are being forced onto front lines, and places they never dreamed of being. Those damn machines are destroying so much right now. I should give her some slack, but then again I'm pissed and I hate being nagged. And quite frankly I don't give a damn about my messages. I know I should apologize, but I just can't. Not now. So I run, like I always seem to do nowadays. I run from the awkward situation I find myself in, I'm running from the Reapers, I'm running in my dreams, and I'm running from everything else. Running, it's all I do now.

Liara woke in a more relaxed manner than her commanding officer did. But then again she also woke up earlier and wasn't plagued by nightmares. The Asari sat at her desk, quietly eating her breakfast whilst watching her Commanding officer snap at Specialist Traynor. With a sigh Liara made a mental note to apologize for the Commander later on. Seeing that she was on her way to the shuttle bay, where some primitive exercise equipment could be found. Liara quickly shifted her cameras to keep an eye on the Commander while responding to some urgent messages.

Her contacts were not doing as well as she had hoped during this war. Mostly they were running, to either find safety or to get data. Managing the Crucible was taking part of her time as well. If you had asked her to be a part of such a big Prothean project years ago she would have jumped at the chance and relished in every moment of it. But now, there was a war. And like it or not the scientist was in the thick of it. With a sigh Liara read another request for her to come and supervise the build in person. But once again she declined; she was needed on the Normandy. Not just for her expertise in Prothean information, or her contacts as the Shadow Broker, but also because Shepard was her friend. And Liara couldn't justify leaving her on the edge, when she constantly she looked like she would break. No leaving wasn't an option.

Garrus slowly made his way to Liara's office. Why? Simple to check on Shepard, ever since she clocked him he hadn't been able to get close at all. The Turian came into the office giving a glare at the floating ball of light. "Dr. Tsoni, Mr. Vakarian is here to see you." The AI chimed in its happy tone and floated back to its own terminal.

"Thank you Glyph." Liara said with a smile, actually enjoying the little AI as it helped her. In some ways it could be rather cute, while Garrus seemed to only regard it with disgust. "Good Morning Garrus."

The grumpy Turian came to stand by her seat and bowed his head "Good Morning Liara. So what is the little human doing now?" He asked getting straight to the point. While Liara just rolled her eyes at his code name for the commander. However watching Shepard running on a treadmill brought back the memories of last night. With a sigh she leaned back in her chair, she pondered if she should even tell Garrus of last night. But looking up at her friend noticing the worried expression on his face compelled her to inform him of the most recent events. Sure he was trying to make light of all this, but she knew it was just so he could get through it day by day.

Noting his blue friend seemed to be chewing on some information Garrus turned his attention from the human running on the treadmill to the Asari staring at the screen. "What's on your mind, Liara?"

With a sigh Liara bent her head 'Always to the point, eh Garrus?' She thought to herself with a small smirk before raising her head to stare at her friend's blue eyes. He looked so worried; she hoped this wouldn't make things worse on him. But he deserved to know, not to mention she could use a confidant right now.

"Shepard got drunk last night." Liara said in a soft tone as she turned back to the screens

"Did she destroy something?" Garrus asked remembering that Shepard was a happy drunk, but a major klutz when drunk as well. He watched Liara intently wondering what the point was.

"No, she was depressed. Angry. She smashed a bottle on the life support door." Liara took a breath not looking back to Garrus. Only because she simply didn't want to see her friend's spirit fall just a bit lower at the news. So she continued not bothering to give him the chance to speak or ask questions. "Vega saw her, he cleaned it up. After that Kaiden took care of her, he and I put her to bed after a bit."

"What do you mean take care of her? What did Kaiden do?" Garrus asked a bit tense knowing the past between the two and how much anger there was in that relationship on both sides.

Liara hearing his indignation turned back to face him, to assure him. "They talked that's it. He didn't try anything. I was shocked quite frankly but he didn't try anything." She looked back to the floor for a moment. "Oddly enough he knows more about her current situation than either of us ever will." Hearing Garrus scoff and click his mandibles in frustration and disbelief.

Liara looked back to him with sad eyes. "Garrus, he loved her and she died." She reminded him of that sad time where they had all lost her and it pained her to do so but it was needed. Garrus ceased his clicking and grew silent at the memory.

"Fair point." Garrus grunted out and looked back to the screen trying to shrink away from the uncomfortable memory. "Do you think it helped any?" He asked watching Shepard's face as she ran at full speed.

Liara looked back to her friend as she ran on screen. "Maybe, I don't know." She let out a brief sigh and slunk back in her chair. "Maybe he reminded her that her pain isn't anything new. That she's not alone."

Garrus nodded and crossed his arms before letting out a sigh as well. "Spirits, I hope it helped some. Even if it's just a little."

A silence hung over the two as they watched the human run, red faced. After a moment or two Liara let out a small breathless laugh, the larger alien turned incredulously at her. For a moment Garrus wondered if she finally broke. "What?" he asked.

Liara turned to him and smiled "She snapped at Traynor today for nagging about her 'damn messages'."

Garrus relaxed and looked to the floor uncrossing his arms and nodded. "Better, she's doing better." Lifting his head to look at the screen as Shepard finally finished her workout he continued. "She's not at her best yet. But she's getting there." Liara looked to her friend in a sidelong glance. The Asari wasn't sure if the Turian was correct or just spouting hopeful thoughts. But for now she had to believe that Shepard was taking a step. Simply because the alternative was too awful to even think about.