When the N6s return from Torfan, Kyle's given a promotion to Major and quietly retired. She's court-martialed.
They throw her in the brig at the Rio de Janeiro base. They take away her rank, her uniform, her guns. They take away her amp, too, but she could make mass effect fields before she'd even had one. It doesn't exactly disarm her.
So they keep her in her own cellblock.
They call Anderson to testify on her behalf, because he's the officer that recommended her to the program. They're unsure how much to tell him though, because he's a newly-ranked Captain. Some of the higher-ups aren't sure that he'll keep a professional attitude towards his favorite soldier. The lower-ranked officers are afraid of the same thing, but for different reasons. So they give him the outline without any of the details. Top-secret, they say.
She's not allowed any visitors, but one of the Admirals pulls some strings. Hackett, he thinks. The Brass knows she's a powerful resource. She ruffles a lot of god damn feathers, but she's got some friends in high places that she doesn't know about. They respect her talent. He has to visit under supervision, but he's not planning on telling her any secrets, so it doesn't matter.
The first time he visits, she's smoking. It's the first time he's ever seen her do it, but he knows she's had the habit for years. The detail only sticks out to him because he knows she's not allowed any possessions in her cell besides her clothes and the mattress and the toilet.
They chat, small talk while the members of her trial take a break from throwing accusations her way. Nearly everyone's willing to call her a war criminal and see her kicked out.
Lieutenant Shepard is a disgrace to the uniform, they say. She's not a marine, she's a butcher.
When he mentions the rumors, her hand shakes so badly she drops her cigarette. It bounces outside the cell bars, and her guard steps on it to put it out. It's the first time he's seen her show any response to her situation. The guard reaches into a pocket and passes her a new cigarette, then a lighter. He's got the balls to not even look guilty when Anderson watches him.
The second time he visits, she's lying on the bare concrete floor. Because it's cold, she tells him. She's drenched in sweat from whatever workout she's managed to do in a six by eight space. The scar on her cheek stands out even more when her face is flushed.
The next time, she's reading a book. It's worn, missing the covers and pieces of its pages, and it has HUDSON written in large letters on the title page. He thinks it must be someone's favorite; you don't see many paper books anymore. She hands the book back to her guard when she sees him approach, and he tucks it carefully into a breast pocket after he marks the page she's on.
Anderson's at the villa for just over three weeks, in total. The last testimony is given by her N7 instructor, the same one who taught Anderson's class, thirty years ago. He's got a reputation as the hardest hard-ass in the entire Alliance military. He tells them that if every soldier was like Shepard, they would've exterminated the turians. The humans sure as shit would never lose another war, he says.
Anderson laughs so loud he gets reprimanded by the panel.
He tells her the news himself, when they reach a verdict.
When he finds her in her cell, her guard's sitting on a stool just outside it. They're arguing about something, and they're not speaking English. Or the Earth common. French, maybe, he thinks. They gesture with their hands, but they aren't in each other's' faces, and he gets the impression they're in a debate. Her guard stands up and salutes when he notices Anderson. They speak for a few moments. Philosophy, he learns, and he thinks it's just like her to discuss philosophy with her jailer.
He nods a dismissal to the guard before offering his hand to Shepard.
"Congratulations, Commander," he says, not-so-subtly emphasizing her new rank.
The surprise in her eyes is clear before she manages to blink it away. She grabs his hand and shakes it.
Anderson grins. He knows it's unprofessional, but there's only the guard here to witness it. He hopes it's not the last time he gets to throw the new N7 off-balance.