AN: Apologies for the lack of Kasumi's LM, but this story needed to come first.

From: Cerberus Command

To: Commander Nicolas Shepard, Normandy SR-2

Subject: Intercepted correspondence

We intercepted the following communication between Admiral Hackett and Alliance Internal Naval Affairs. The Illusive Man thought it was in the best interest of the mission to pass it to you.

To: Admiral Steven Hackett

Subject: Taking Action on Commander Shepard's return.

Sir,

We've confirmed sightings of Commander Shepard on Omega, and that the Commander is now working for the terrorist organization Cerberus. Several Alliance officials have let it be known that they consider it crucial that we interrogate humanity's first Spectre on his apparent desertion of the Alliance and the Citadel. There is some concern about the possible political and strategic ramifications of what is possibly desertion and treason. If we bring Shepard in now, the possibility still remains that the affair can be handled quietly and without the need for a public investigation and possible trial. I'm sure you would agree the Alliance can ill afford such an embarrassment in light of our increased role on the galactic stage. I'm formally requesting that you rescind your order against Alliance contact with Shepard.

Rest assured that our department is committed to Commander Shepard's safety. Providing that the commander is cooperative regarding his previous whereabouts and current work with Cerberus and that we determine that no charges are warranted, we anticipate being able to release Shepard from custody within five to seven months from the date of acquisition.

Respectfully awaiting your reply,

Major Antella

Department of Internal Naval Affairs

Nick stared at the email in disbelief. Treason. They were talking about charging him with treason. Was this some kind of joke? He read the letter again. It wasn't a joke. He could feel a quiet, simmering fury coursing through him. After everything, he'd done for the Alliance, this Major Antella—who had never even met him as far as he knew—wanted to bring him in for interrogation. He wasn't the only one. How many others believed he was a terrorist and a traitor because he had been forced to work with Cerberus?

And he had been forced. At first it had been a matter of simple survival. He had still been recovering from whatever Lazarus had done to him, and he hadn't trusted himself to be able to take out both Jacob and Miranda. He'd been planning to escape as soon as he could manage it. And then he had seen what had happened on Freedom's Progress. The Council and the Alliance were too busy playing politics and sticking their fingers in their ears to do anything about it. He'd hold his nose and work with Cerberus if it meant saving lives. Wasn't that what the Alliance was supposed to do? Protect humanity?

He had no illusions about Cerberus. They were a pack of racist terrorists who had murdered two squads of marines and an Alliance admiral, no matter how Miranda tried to pretty it up. The Illusive Man probably planned to throw him under the bus the second he'd served his purposes. Nick could name at least two high-ranking Cerberus agents. It would be too risky to let him run around. And now the Alliance was out for him too. He needed leverage. Some intel he could upload to Alliance command to prove he wasn't a traitor. He was on a Cerberus ship and he'd always been good with computers. He could find something to placate Antella while he saved the colonists.

"Commander?" Kelly's voice crackled to life on the intercom. "Operative Lawson requests to see you in her office immediately."

Nick schooled his features into a neutral mask - or at least the closest he could do with a face that seemed designed to scare the hell out of everyone not named Miranda Lawson - and stepped into the elevator. A few of the off-duty crewmen sat talking quietly in the mess. They looked up as he passed before hastily returning to them conversation. Nick gave them a perfunctory nod. He wondered how long it would take them to stop reacting to his scars. How long it would take him to stop reacting to the scarring?

Miranda sat at her desk, leaning forward slightly and with her hands clasped together. Her gaze was cold and professional, as if she were sizing him up and searching for weaknesses she could exploit. She probably was. "We've received a report that one of our operatives has been captured by Eclipse mercenaries. The Illusive Man wants us to investigate and free him if possible."

Nick folded his arms and raised a skeptical eyebrow. "Aren't you the one who always says that nothing can sidetrack us from the mission?"

Her eyes seemed to harden the smallest fraction. "Whether you like it or not, Cerberus is funding your mission. That means assisting us in closing any possible security leaks is in your best interest."

"No. I already have enough trouble without saving Cerberus from its own mistakes."

Understanding seemed to dawn in her eyes. "Is this about certain members of the Alliance wanting to bring you in for treason?"

Nick fought the urge to gape at her. "You re reading my mail?" He shook his head. "Of course you are."

She arched a single eyebrow. "I usually skip the many, many messages from people thanking you for everything that you've done for them." Something that might've been bitterness crept into her voice. "The Alliance is full of idiots. They hate you for working with us when we're the only people who are willing to do the job they should be doing and protecting humanity. What do you think would have happened had you survived the destruction of the first Normandy? They would have patted you on the head and given you your medals and sent you very far away from anything with even a whiff of Reapers. You may not trust me or Cerberus yet, but what makes you think you can trust the Alliance?"

A small, rational voice conceded that she was probably right. Nick remembered how furious he and Joker had both been that they were assigned to track down the remnants of the geth. It was like going after the driver of the get away car instead of the man who had actually robbed the bank. The rest of him was too angry to care. "It beats wondering when you're going to shoot me in the back. We both know you're here to stop me if I do something your boss doesn't like. I guess not having the control chip makes things harder for you."

Color appeared on her cheeks. Her eyes darkened. A muscle worked in her jaw. When she spoke her voice was as cold and sharp as an ice pick. "I have no intention of harming you, Shepard. I put two years of my life into bringing you back to life. Everyone on this project sacrificed a lot for you. I intend to make sure that those sacrifices were not in vain." She took a deep breath. "I'm the best friend you have right now. I gave up far too much to discard you. So as long as you don't do anything stupid, you'll be fine."

Bitter about spending two years on that station, are we? Not that she seemed to have many friends or a life beyond her work. "And helping you rescue this operative would prove that I'm not stupid?"

"Something like that. Mostly I'm concerned about the data he was carrying. Mercenaries are, well, mercenary. There's no telling where the data will end up."

"Did you say data?" Nick allowed himself a small smile. He had a plan.

The interrogation room smelled of stale blood and various fluids that Nick preferred not to identify. Rawling's body lay on a metal table on the near side of the room. His face was twisted into a permanent grimace of pain and his arms were covered with track marks from repeated injections. Nick frowned. Not even Cerberus agents deserved to die so painfully.

He moved to the computer and switched on his omni-tool. Streams of random numbers flowed down the screen. Top level encryption. Wonderful. The mercs had been right. It would take months or years to decode this without a cipher. "EDI, can you give me something?"

"It is beyond my processing power to decrypt this immediately. However, documents addressed to Operative Rawlings suggest that the data could incriminate Cerberus if it were ever circulated publicly."

Nick stared at the screen. EDI said it was what he needed, but there was no way to verify that. Even if he uploaded the data to the Alliance, he doubted that they would take his word on faith. Or they might be so desperate to bring down Cerberus that they would believe him. Anderson would almost certainly trust him.

"I know what you're thinking." Miranda's voice was quiet. Someone who didn't know her would almost mistake her for sympathetic. "Even if that data did help repair your relationship with the Alliance, do you really think they would take the Collector or Reaper threat seriously? Don't spite the only people willing to take you seriously."

He chuckled, but it was a hollow and halfhearted sound. "Because it would be stupid?"

She didn't smile. "Because I know you. You spared the only surviving rachni queen even though you knew the Council would be furious. When you thought we were an Alliance black ops organization, you turned down what could have been a very lucrative and useful association with the Shadow Broker rather than turn on the Alliance. You went out of your way to save Feros. Whatever you may think of Cerberus, I know that you won't allow the Collectors to take any more colonists if you can help it. And harming Cerberus is harming the people who want to help them."

Damn it. It would've been different if the data was more obviously damning. The admirals might've been grateful enough to at least investigate the possibility that the Collectors were behind this. But still-unknown information wouldn't help. It might deflect suspicion from him for a little while, but the rumors would continue to persist. And yet, he couldn't just hand the data back to Cerberus Command. Then he really would be a traitor. Toombs and Kahoku would never forgive him.

Perhaps there was a way to placate both Miranda and his conscience, and maybe get himself a little breathing room at the same time. He pressed a button on his omni-tool, and it beeped reassuringly. "Making personal copy. EDI, I want you to upload a second copy to the Normandy's databanks. He looked at Miranda. "I can't stop you from accessing the data, but Emily Wong and a whole bunch of admirals really want to talk to me these days. If anything ever happened to me, I might just have to arrange for a copy of the data to be sent to them."

Miranda's voice was somewhere between exasperated, furious, and impressed. "Someday, commander, I'll prove to you that Cerberus is not your enemy."

"Someday, Ms. Lawson, I'll prove to you that Cerberus is wrong."