A/N: Sorry about the repeat. Life's gone a bit nuts recently. Anyways, here's the right chapter. -MN1

John woke up in Lynn's bed, and, seeing a note on the bedside table, read it.

'Good morning, love. Hannah won't be back home until Sunday, so I didn't wake you. Don't forget we have a therapy session at two, though.

-Lynn.'

John smiled, then noticed that two suits were left out for him. One was the suit he had been wearing yesterday while the other was one John had never seen. It had black pants and a black vest with a dark purple shirt and yellow tie.

"I'm going to look like a pimp," John said, but put the suit on nevertheless. It fit exactly, and John noted to hug Lynn very tightly next time he saw her. John opened his omni-tool, seeing that he had many hours until his therapy session, so he went outside and smiled at the perfect weather. Suddenly, two men stepped in front of John, looking none-too-pleased.

"You met Haku and Michael." One of them said. He was a white human, and looked angry. It sounded like a statement, though it should've been a question.

"She's my teacher's aid and he's my newest student." John said.

"Do you remember anything?" The other asked. He was African-American, and seemed calmer. John immediately began thinking of him as the more experienced one.

"I don't think I have to tell you anything," John said. "Now, if you'll excuse me-!" The white man took a pistol out, and John grabbed his wrist and shoved an elbow into his stomach, knocking the wind from his lungs. Then, John grabbed the pistol in one hand and the white man's collar. "Get away!" John shouted, holding the pistol towards the other man. His hand was shaking, and John had no idea if he could kill him or not.

So Shepard stepped in. Immediately, his warm blue eyes froze over, and his terrified stance changed to the stance of a calm, battle-hardened man's stance. Shepard stopped shaking, and shot the man in the hand, keeping him from pulling a gun on him. Then, he moved his hand from the white man's collar to his hair, grabbing a handful of hair, and pulled the man up so that Shepard was looking down at him, directly into his eyes.

"Who the hell sent you?" Shepard asked.

"Don't say anything!" The other man said, holding his bleeding hand. Shepard shot the other man in the knee, causing him to scream in pain.

"C-Cerberus." The less-experienced man said. "T-The Illusive M-Man's been w-watching you."

Shepard nodded, and put the gun up to the man's stomach. But, a millisecond before he pulled the trigger, John took hold. Immediately, John let the man go and threw the gun away, seeing more blood than he ever had in his false history.

"S-Sorry." John said. Suddenly, the experienced man grabbed the pistol Shepard had thrown towards him. It was true he couldn't aim well with his other hand, but John was a large target. But, before the man could raise the gun up, two shots went off, and both of the Cerberus employees were dead. John looked around, but couldn't see the sniper.

Shepard forced himself through John's control, and, once again, Shepard's traits appeared. He said "Haku, Michael, come here."

Haku and Michael stood, turning their camouflage off. They were hidden in the forest beside Lynn's house, a forest that ran almost completely around the colony.

"Are you back, big guy?" Haku asked.

Shepard shook his head. "Not for long. I can feel the other personality under me coming back. I know Cerberus will attack me once again, though. Let them come at me. Maybe something they do will bring me back."

"Alright." Haku nodded, and kissed Shepard on the lips. "Please come back to me."

"I'll try." Shepard said. Haku and Michael quickly camouflaged as Shepard ran from the bodies. An hour later, John would resurface sitting on a bench, with no memory of what had happened.

At one-fifty, John walked into the mental hospital, hands in his pockets.

"Hello." John nodded at the secretary.

"Hello Mr. Mason. Lynn wants to see you now." The secretary said.

John, finding nothing suspicious about this, said "Alright." and walked into the hallway, going to room 101. John touched the doorknob and a tingle grew on the back of his neck.

'That's odd,' John thought, and opened the door. That tingle was, of course, Shepard's soldier sense telling John about the danger. John looked in the room and took a moment to realize what was going on. A human wearing scrubs had a gun to Lynn's head. Lynn looked at John, desperate to let her lover escape.

"G-" Lynn got a single letter out when the man pulled the trigger, the silenced gun making no sound. Lynn's head fell, limp, and John watched, horrified. Then, John and Shepard joined, eliminating Shepard's multiple personality disorder.

"For C-!" The man began when Shepard grabbed his wrist and snapped it, turning it a full 360. The man fell to the floor in pain, screaming, and Shepard put his foot on his neck.

"See you in hell." Shepard said, and applied all of his weight to his foot, snapping the Cerberus Operative's neck. Then, Shepard fell to his knees and cradled Lynn's body, his face dark. Shepard closed her eyes, put her hands over her chest, and moved to the Cerberus Operative's body and took the gun and put it to his head.

'Life is just one trial after another. I've been running after a goal for years, and the Illusive Man isn't any closer than before.' Shepard thought. Then, 'It'll be easier this way.'

But, then, Shepard remembered what his father had said to him after his uncle had committed suicide.

'Killing yourself is selfish,' His father had said. 'If you fight through it, though, that's what really shows how strong you are. Even if you can't shoot a gun or lift five pounds, sticking through difficulties is true strength.'

Shepard had remembered that moment because it was the only time he had seen his father cry. Shepard took the gun away from his head and shot the Cerberus Operative's body until the gun would shoot no more. And even then, he kept pulling the trigger until his finger bled. Shepard dropped the gun, opened the door, and walked out, leaving behind his happiness.