Chapter 3

"I'm afraid I've never heard of it," Miranda said, a frown tugging her lips downward.

Shepard leaned her elbows on her knees. "I figured as much. That would be too easy." She sighed, scrubbing her fingers back into her hair. "Project Lazarus… Project Persephone… "

"The names aren't that unusual," Miranda pointed out. "The Illusive Man has a flair for the dramatic. Likely it refers to a weapon – perhaps something another cell was working on. I knew of many assets, but not all of them."

"I feel like there's a connection that I'm not seeing," Shepard insisted.

Miranda shrugged, looking back at the paperwork she had been working on when Shepard walked in. "I think you're caught on the word 'project', Commander. I was head of several other missions with codenames starting with Project, and none of them were related aside from the fact of my presence."

Shepard sighed. "Maybe I'm over-thinking this. Still, I wish there was something more that Aria could have told us."

"Have you learned anything that might help us from the intel she sent?"

"Not yet. Most of it, as she said, we already knew. It may be useful, though, so we'll hang onto it. Want me to forward it to your console?"

Miranda nodded. "Please. With my background, I may notice patterns that others may not."

Shepard nodded and took her leave.

Kaidan was standing at the water cooler in the mess when she exited. "Hey," he said, brightening.

"Hey yourself," Shepard said, smiling. "What are you looking at?" She stood beside him, sliding her arm around his waist, enjoying the warmth of his arm coming down around hers in response.

Kaidan nodded at Miranda's office door. "I still have difficulty thinking of that as… not yours," he chuckled. "It helps that there's no buggy systems board right next door to fiddle with, but still… memories like that are hard to rewrite."

"Memories like what?" she said, teasing, and laughed when she was rewarded with a blush across his cheeks.

"Good memories, Shepard," he said, his voice growing husky as he looked down at her.

Their faces moved closer, Kaidan lifting his hand to touch her cheek.

"There's a captain's quarters for a reason," said a familiar sarcastic voice. "Just sayin'."

Joker limped into the mess out of the medical bay, tugging his hat on.

"Joker, I've waited two years for this," Shepard said with a grin. "Not even you are going to spoil my fun."

Joker grunted and slid into a chair at the table, resting his chin on his hands. "Alright then. Carry on." He stared at them.

"Um, I need to check with Garrus about something," Kaidan muttered and fled down the hall to the main battery.

Shepard raised an eyebrow and looked at Joker. "You."

"Heh," Joker grinned. "Yeah. Me."

Shepard shook her head. "Back to your post, lieutenant, before I haul you there myself."

"Aye, aye," he said, giving her a mock salute, and limped toward the elevator.

#

They arrived at the Citadel after a couple of sleep cycles. The newest member of the team, James Vega, needed armor upgrades that the Normandy's armory couldn't provide.

Shepard, Vega, and Kaidan walked through the Wards, looking for the best place to shop. It seemed a little fuller than she was used to seeing the Citadel. But every species by now had heard of the attack on Earth. Not even the average citizen could deny the Reaper threat now. Evidently everyone figured that the Citadel was the safest place to be for the time being.

Shepard hoped that would be the case.

"Ma'am?" Vega's voice brought her up short. He gestured to a store just ahead. "That looks like the right place."

Shepard nodded. "Go ahead and start browsing. My Spectre requisition fund can cover what you need. Make sure to look for shield upgrades."

Vega straightened, just short of giving a salute and entered the store.

"What Spectre requisition fund?" Kaidan murmured in her ear.

"They owed me a lot of back pay."

Kaidan followed Vega into the store, his eyes on the displays. Shepard smiled at his barely hidden enthusiasm. He'd always loved to tinker with his hardsuit, making the settings more personalized than the default, fine tuning them to get optimal performance in conjunction with his biotics.

Shepard waited at the front of the store, idly watching the crowds. It felt strange not to be in a hardsuit right now—she'd all but lived in hers since Earth. She swallowed at the memories, still vivid when she closed her eyes. Earth survived the first onslaught of Reapers—barely. The ruin and devastation to countless cities as they were leaving was like a slug in the gut. Knowing that millions of people died and even more would if they didn't do something soon made bile rise in the back of her throat.

One thing at a time, she reminded herself when worries and pressures seemed to fill the air, making it hard to breathe. You're only one person.

To take her mind off her anxiety, she scanned the crowds, noting the healthy mix of asari, turian, salarian, and human and a scattering of elcor, volus, and hanar. There weren't as many volus—she supposed that most of them had retreated to their home worlds for safety. There were more than just military personnel among the humans too; civilians were milling around, talking, shopping, and laughing. Even with the threat of extinction hanging like a cloud over the galaxy, people were trying to have fun and live their lives the best they knew.

Shepard found herself smiling in response. This was what she had to protect—what her whole team was fighting for.

Her eyes fell on a woman standing still in the crowd, numerous people flowing around her like water around a stone in a river. She was staring at Shepard, her dark eyes intense.

Shepard felt all the breath in her body leave with one breath. Her body went rigid and her mouth dried. This… can't be happening.

The apparition moved, walking toward Shepard with an easy grace born from years of combat training and hand-to-hand fighting.

Kaidan appeared at Shepard's side, tucking a package under his arm and looking very satisfied with himself. He saw Shepard's white face and frowned. "What's wrong?"

At that moment, the woman arrived and smiled at them both, an achingly familiar smile revealing white teeth and a hint of mischief. "Hey LT, Skipper. Been a long time."

Kaidan felt the package he'd just spent so many credits on slip from his arms to hit the floor, unnoticed.

Shepard found her voice, raspy and choked: "Ash."