A/N (9/30/2011): With the posting of the last chapter (Chp 38), I reached over 10,000 hits for this story. Thank you, everyone, for reading! I greatly appreciate it, your feedback, and hope that you enjoy what's to come in the future!

Disclaimer: Mass Effect is copyright of Bioware. Many of the characters contained herein—Shepard included—are property of Bioware. Shepard is partially of my forging, since I am able to choose many of his reactions to events within the parameters of the game. The sequence of events and their outcomes are property of Bioware. The interpretations of and reactions to the events are largely my own. Ci-Ci is mine. Please do not repost this story or any parts of it herein. Always give credit where it is due. I owe the Mass Effect Wiki a great deal for helping me figure out timelines, details, and other such things that I did not pick up during the game.

I welcome constructive and/or encouraging reviews/critiques. Thank you for reading. Enjoy!

22 May 2185—Horizon, Iera System, the Shadow Sea

Grunt inhaled deeply. After all that time in the tank, hearing about the warrior's life, he was finally going to live it.

Next to him, Shepard sat, calm, leaning his head against the back of the shuttle. He looked asleep, but he was meditating… preparing for the battle to come.

Garrus checked his sniper rifle. "Are you sure that the swarms will only affect humans, Commander?"

Shepard nodded, not opening his eyes. His blood was still boiling from his argument with Miranda, but his heart beat was calm and breathing steady. He was determined to remember every Collector he killed. He was going to cut out their heart—if they had one—and make them watch it stop beating.

Grunt shifted in his seat, eager to get on the ground. "Can't this thing go any faster?" he growled. "I want… I need…" He shook his head, unable to find the words. He'd been out of the tank for six hours. Okeer had spoken words to him, but they hadn't meant anything. He had images of battles from the past, of krogan warlords destroying rachni, of prying up the faceplate of a turian… It was beautiful.

Garrus shied away from Grunt. "Shepard, are you sure that it was a good idea to let this guy out?"

The Illusive Man had sent Shepard to find a krogan scientist named Dr. Okeer. The krogan had died at the end of the mission, but his work to make the perfect krogan—namely, Grunt—had survived. Much to the crew's chagrin, Shepard had let Grunt out.

Of course, releasing a blood-thirsty krogan into the wild was probably not such a good idea. Grunt had tackled Shepard, named himself, and threatened to kill the Commander. Shepard, in a surprising bout of calm, simply put his pistol in Grunt's stomach and talked the krogan down, earning Grunt's respect.

The shuttle landed. Shepard jumped out the doors as soon as there was enough room for him to get through. Grunt and Garrus came out directly afterwards.

Horizon looked to be in the middle of a drought. The grass was yellow and brown, the sky was dusty, and everything smelled dry.

"Where are all the people?" Garrus murmured.

"The Collectors must already have gotten here," Shepard answered angrily.

"Commander, I'm still getting readings from the surface," Joker radioed.

"And I can see the swarms up ahead," Garrus added.

Shepard took out his assault rifle and put his finger on the trigger. "It's going to be a good day."

Shepard put his foot on the Collector's throat and emptied his pistol magazine into its head.

Grunt smirked. "That's what I'm talking about."

Garrus holstered his sniper rifle. "You alright, Shepard?"

The Commander didn't answer. His blood was pumping the need for violence through his veins. The edges of his vision were tinted red. The world pulsed in time with his heartbeat, his focus on the Collector's decimated head. It wasn't enough. Every dead monster just made him want to kill ten more. He was drowning in his desire for revenge, sinking into an abyss from which there was no return.

"I think that's all of them, Commander," Garrus continued. "Our work is done here. Do you want me to call Joker?"

Shepard reached for another thermal clip and loaded his pistol again.

Grunt chuckled. "I don't think he's done here, yet."

Garrus understood what Shepard was feeling. Garrus's ten-man squad had been betrayed by a fellow turian named Sidonis. Garrus had killed all those mercenaries on Omega to avenge his team; Sidonis was the last one. But Garrus was after justice, not just revenge. Shepard wanted only the latter. He'd taken the time to make the Collectors' deaths slow and painful (if they even felt pain, because they didn't act like it). Garrus couldn't say something as trite as, "Killing them more won't bring her back" because Garrus thought that killing Sidonis would end things, just like Shepard thought that killing the Collectors would end things.

Shepard suddenly holstered his pistol. He shook his head, like a robot glitching, and blinked dazedly. "You say something, Garrus?"

The turian nodded. "Want me to get Joker to send a shuttle?"

"Yeah… Yeah…" Shepard ran a hand over his head and looked around like he was seeing everything for the first time.

It had been a slaughter. After going through the colony and wiping out every Collector they passed, they had reached the central control console, where EDI had made them activate the colony's newly-installed defense turrets. In the end, it didn't do any good because Shepard had already killed everything. Collector bodies were everywhere, not to mention those of husks and various other larger, fiercer monsters. If most of the colonists hadn't already been loaded onto the Collectors' ship, they would've died in Shepard's rampage. Hell, he'd almost killed Garrus and Grunt with a casually aimed shot from his grenade launcher.

They were in the docks, leaning against the various cargo crates and trying to catch their breath. They'd been fighting for hours on end (as was usual, with Shepard leading the way). Grunt seemed to be completely at ease, grinning as he reenacting his favorite kills. Garrus opened his omni-tool to hail Joker for a shuttle. Shepard walked a bit away from them in an attempt to gather his thoughts.

The Collectors were ugly bastards. Every so often, one would start glowing orange and call itself "Harbinger". It had sent chills up his spine, just like Sovereign's voice had. There was something bigger going on than abducting colonists. Shepard had been too fixated on revenge to care, but the fact was that he felt even emptier than he had before. He wasn't so blinded by rage that he couldn't tell when enough was enough.

Besides, if the Reapers were behind the Collectors, then he'd hunt down and destroy every last one of them.

On the other side of the docks, Kaidan Alenko couldn't believe his eyes. Shepard was alive. He was still up to his old tricks—doing what he did best, annihilating things and accidentally saving everything else.

Alenko had been sent to Horizon to set up defenses for the colony. Neither he, his team, nore the colonists had been prepared for the Collector swarms. He'd been stung, putting him into a paralyzed state where he was conscious of everything around him but couldn't move. Shepard's timely arrival had stopped the Collectors in their tracks, but they still managed to leave with three-quarters of the colony. Alenko had never felt so useless in his life.

Still, it was good to see Shepard again. There had been rumors circulating that he'd been spotted in the Terminus Systems, every so often on the Citadel as well, and Alenko had seen that Shepard's Spectre status had been reissued, but it didn't lessen the shock of actually seeing the man. He looked nothing short of evil.

"You know, most people wouldn't look so grumpy after stopping an invasion," Kaidan started.

Shepard turned, smirking. "Alenko."

"I thought you were dead."

"I may as well be."

Alenko raised an eyebrow. "So you heard about her…"

"And you know me well enough to know how I reacted."

"I thought I did, but this…" Alenko gestured to the insignia on Shepard's armor. "Cerberus?"

"I don't have a choice," Shepard growled. "They're the ones that brought me back and they're the only ones that are doing a damned thing about the Collectors."

"Hey, I was sent here to take care of them."

"And you walked straight into a trap. They were using you as bait for the Collectors."

"And for you."

"You knew?"

"I suspected." Alenko crossed his arms. "The Council stopped caring about the Reapers and Collectors when Ci-Ci died. I've been dragged across the galaxy from assignment to assignment, half-trying to follow her tracks. This is the first time that the Alliance seemed to want to do something about the threat, and then you show up. Figures."

"I saved your ass. You should be grateful."

"I might be if you weren't working for those bastards."

"I'd kill every last one of them if I could, but I can't afford to, not yet."

"Sure you can't."

"The second they cross the line, it's their heads."

"I wish I could believe that."

Shepard narrowed his eyes. "So why the hell don't you?"

Alenko sighed. "There's no point in arguing because I'm not going to change my mind about Cerberus and you're more stubborn than I am."

"Agreed."

They stood in awkward silence for another moment. "You should leave," Alenko finally said. "I'll cover for you."

"Are you going to at least try and make the Alliance see the threat?"

"I'll see what I can do. I was good to see you, Commander."

"One last thing."

Alenko raised an eyebrow. "What?"

"Did Ci-Ci ever say anything about… me?"

"What do you mean?"

"Did she have any idea that I would be coming back?"

"I don't think that anyone did, and she sure as hell never mentioned it. I think that sif she had any idea you were coming back that she would never have let herself get killed. You know how optimistic she was… Then again, she kinda lost that after you died." Alenko shrugged. "It was like she was trying to be you, sometimes. She was pretty good at it, too. The Alliance tried everything to get her back. They were going to make her a full Commander or a Captain, let her have her own ship—you know the drill. She ignored them all and just disappeared into the Terminus Systems. The only thing she told me about was that she was going after Cerberus because they were doing something else that was inhuman or immoral. I can't even remember the reasons, but I'm sure you know what I'm talking about."

Shepard flexed his fingers. "Yeah… And I bet every last experiment they were doing was to bring me back, too."

"I wouldn't put it past them."

"Neither would I. But are you sure that she didn't… dismiss me?"

"What are you talking about?"

"Did she find someone else?"

Alenko laughed. "Are you kidding me? The one time I managed to get her to go get a drink with me she broke a guy's arm when he hit on her, and he wasn't some punk. I mean, half of the women in the bar were staring at him. That was nine months ago. She never got over you, Shepard. From the way she stared, I sometimes wonder if she let herself get cornered and killed."

Shepard clenched a fist. "Did she ever try and find me?"

"I think it would've killed her. Burying you once was hard enough."

Shepard would believe Alenko any day over the Illusive Man. "Thanks, Kaidan. If you'll excuse me, I have someone else to kill."

Unknown Location, the Terminus Systems

The Illusive Man triple checked his findings. If he wasn't so angry, he would've smiled. Corinthia had convinced the galaxy, including the Shadow Broker and the Illusive Man, that she was dead without actually dying.

She was good.

But now the Illusive Man was looking at Ariadne Enig and unable to believe how he'd missed it. Though a little bit of make-up and a new haircut could do wonders for a woman, Corinthia had managed to create an entirely different person with new mannerisms, past, family, friends… But she hadn't changed her face, beyond removing the scars, and anyone who knew her well would be able to figure the truth out.

The Illusive Man could only hope that Shepard wouldn't.

Telling the Commander that Corinthia had, in fact, survived would cause more problems than it solved. Shepard would inevitably leave Cerberus and join her. If she was still responsible for destroying the Cerberus Cells, she would use Shepard's resources and, in all likelihood, track down the Illusive Man himself, put a gun to his head, and kill him without batting an eyelash.

However, letting Shepard know she was alive could also gain the Commander's trust. The Illusive Man had underestimated Shepard's dedication to the woman once, but he wouldn't do it again. Miranda's reports had been nothing short of shocking. The Commander Shepard, motivated by revenge for a woman? Inconceivable.

There was also Corinthia herself to keep in mind. She had once said that she would work for Cerberus if they brought back Shepard. They had done that. The Illusive Man could send Shepard to recruit her… but would she accept? Or would she use the opportunity?

The Illusive Man couldn't read either of them anymore. Not once had they acted in accordance to his guesses. Shepard would act ruthless and then do the merciful thing. Corinthia would giggle before putting a bullet in someone's head (she'd done it plenty of times, according to the reports). They were loose cannons and the Illusive Man wanted to be in control.

To his surprise, his communication line with the Normandy beeped. He opened it. "Yes?"

"You're a fucking liar," Shepard growled dangerously. "You said that she wanted nothing else to do with me."

"I had no way of knowing her actual feelings, but I assumed based on her actions," the Illusive Man answered, thinking quickly.

"Did she know about the mission to recover my body?"

"I—"

"And don't lie to me again or I will come and kill you."

"She never gave me the opportunity. She pointed a gun at my head."

"She should've killed you."

"I know better than to show myself in public, especially to someone who's been known to kill my operatives. She did try to kill me, but we were communicating much as you and I are now." The Illusive Man reached to the arm of his chair, took a cigarette out of its pack, and lit up. "Even if I had told her, I don't think that she would've accepted. She doesn't compromise."

"If she didn't want to work for you, then neither do I."

"You don't have a choice, Shepard. I made you. If you leave, you lose everything—your squad, your crew, your ship…"

"And you can't afford to lose me, either. I'm your best pawn. If I go, you've got nothing."

The Illusive Man took a deep drag from his cigarette. True, Shepard was a pawn. Everyone within Cerberus was. "We're working towards the same goals, Shepard. You did well on Horizon. It won't be long before I have another lead on the Collectors."

"You do this on purpose."

"What makes you say that?"

"Leading me on, never telling me shit until after the fact. If you want my help, you'd better start talking."

The Illusive Man had to make a decision and he had to do it immediately. He bought himself time by sipping his drink and smoking contemplatively. "Fine. I have one more lead that you can look into now."

"What is it, this time? More people to recruit?"

"I've already sent Miranda the dossiers. This is something different, about the person hunting us. I have evidence that the Lazarus Cell is next. That means that they're coming after you." He tapped ash off the end of his cigarette. He was lying (as per usual), but this time it would work. It had to. "We have to act while we still have the upper hand. They don't know that I've discovered their identity."

"So do something about it."

"They already took out my best teams. That leaves you."

Shepard rolled his eyes. "Are you fucking serious? I'm not your errand boy."

"You won't regret this, Commander. I can guarantee it. I don't know their actual identity, but I know that they use an art gallery on the Citadel as a front."

Shepard couldn't believe the nerve of the Illusive Man. "Oh my God..."

"It's owned by your friend, Dr. T'Soni."

Shepard froze. "What?"

"You heard me. She invested quite a bit of money into expeditions to recover Prothean artifacts. This one in particular is managed by someone named Ariadne Enig. She may know more. Just be your usual charming self and I'm sure that this will come to a hasty conclusion."

"What makes you think I'm going to even bother doing this?"

The Illusive Man leaned forward. "My research also uncovered something else that might interest you: Ariadne and Corinthia were close, though how close I can't be sure. It would seem that Corinthia created that entire identity a year ago, though as to why we can't be sure, but Ariadne has been in near constant contact with Liara and Corinthia ever since—or, at least, until Corinthia disappeared."

"Died."

"Her body was never found, Commander. That could mean anything."

"This is a waste of my time."

The Illusive Man smiled. "I'll send you the information I have on Ariadne. She could very well be the one we're looking for."

Shepard wanted nothing more than to kill the Illusive Man, but shooting out the holo communicator wasn't going to make him feel better.

"If anything," the Illusive Man continued, "Ariadne can tell you what happened to Corinthia between when you died and when we brought you back. Don't you want to know?"

"Fuck you," Shepard breathed, ending the transmission. "Joker?"

"Yes, Commander?" the pilot answered.

"Take us to the Citadel."

"Aye, aye, Commander."

25 May 2185—Ariadne's Apartment, the Citadel, Serpent Nebula

Corinthia stared at the ceiling. She was lying on her bed, replaying her last mission over and over again in her mind.

She knew she wasn't going insane, even though she had all the symptoms of schizophrenia (mood swings, voices in her head...). Worse, Harbinger's words kept ringing in her ears as clearly as he'd said them to her. No matter what she did, she couldn't make them stop. She could ignore them, usually, but they kept gnawing at the back of her mind.

Still, they hadn't convinced her that everyone was doomed. At least, they hadn't yet. She was going to fight. The dreams of glory still floated around, but she changed them to be of her leading a victorious army of… of… krogan warlords and asari justicars and velociraptors (because she could). Yeah, that was more like it. With a giant deep-fryer to cook up the squid-like Reapers into calamari. Maybe some gratuitous shirtless boy-toy hotties for the hell of it… And, of course, Shepard. She couldn't forget him. He made everything better… And awesome... And epic. If she was going to fantasize, she was going to do it right: hero with big gun, torn tight shirt, and sexy five-o-clock shadow. She could cling to him—or something—and get swept off her feet, saved… Nah. That didn't work. She liked kicking ass and surprising him. Oh, the look he'd have on his face when he'd walk into the room to save her and find her smiling in the middle of a pile of baddies' bodies… He'd probably kiss the hell out of her and ravage her in celebration. If she'd let him. Well, this was a fantasy, so they could be married and she'd let him…

Her tactics worked. The voices dimmed a little. She smirked. "Never underestimate the power of an overcreative mind and attention deficit disorder," she murmured.

Her omni-tool beeped. It was sitting on her work bench, open and installing a new hacking module she'd created. She rolled out of bed, opened the communication line, and answered as Ariadne. "Hello, Kasumi."

"Ariadne," the thief answered. "I have a referral."

"This can't be good…"

"Don't worry. He isn't a thief."

"Sure…"

"Don't look at me like that. His name is Solomon Gunn. He saw one of your pieces in my collection and wanted to get some for himself."

"I thought you were on a mission."

Kasumi shrugged. "That doesn't mean that I don't have a social life."

"You're a thief, Kasumi. You're always cloaked."

"Are you going to meet him or not?"

"Fine. Just let me open my calendar…"

"He's just going to walk in there, you know."

"Yeah, well, I have other things to do." She flicked her fingers through the omni-tool interface until she found what she wanted. "I'm booked all the way through next week…"

"He's already on the Citadel. Can't you stay late tomorrow?"

Ariadne tapped her fingers against her teeth idly. "I guess…" She narrowed her eyes suspiciously. "What are you up to?"

"Nothing."

"Are you trying to match make? Again?"

"There wasn't a first time."

"I beg to differ. This is the fourth time you've called in the last two weeks to try and get me to come meet you somewhere. You kept telling me there was someone I had to meet."

"Okay, okay. You got me. It's Solomon. I thought you'd like him, that's all."

"You already know the only man that does it for me."

"I think you'll make an exception." Kasumi smiled mischievously. "Trust me."

"I was afraid you'd say that…"

"What's wrong? I just want to see you happy."

"We're friends, Kasumi, but you're pushing the boundaries."

"You can't just sit and mope for the rest of your life."

"Watch me."

Kasumi sighed. "I know how hard it is to move on, but you can't have a future if you don't give yourself a chance to have one."

"I haven't seen you trying."

"I've got my eye on someone."

"Oh? Who's that?"

"His name's Jacob Taylor."

Ariadne frowned.

"You know him?" Kasumi asked.

"I… Nevermind." Ariadne had heard his name. Jacob had stopped a terrorist plot and saved the Citadel Council, but because he was Cerberus, the entire thing had been hushed over. Corinthia had, at the time, been in the process of destroying a Cerberus faction, but even one man's bravery hadn't convinced her to stop her work. "Well, I'm happy for you," she added with a smile. "Does he have any idea?"

"No. We haven't even talked, yet. I just watch him work out. Mmm, those abs…"

"Stalker."

"What can I say? I'm a shallow woman. So, you'll meet Solomon?"

"Yes, yes. I will. As a favor."

"You won't regret it. I promise." Kasumi hung up and turned to Shepard. "It's done."

They were in her observation deck on the Normandy. She was sitting on her couch with her omni-tool on whilst Shepard sat at the bar, out of the connection's video feed, but within earshot.

He crossed his arms. "What was that all about?"

"What?"

"Jacob?"

Kasumi blushed. "Well, you'd bite my head off if I did it to you."

"Damn right. Are you sure this is going to work?"

Kasumi had, being her sneak self, overheard Shepard's conversation with the Illusive Man and offered to get Shepard into Ariadne's gallery a bit more tactfully than he might have otherwise.

"Of course it will. Ariadne is as well connected as the Shadow Broker. She would know if anything was happening in her gallery."

Shepard nodded absently. He couldn't help but feel like Ariadne was familiar, somehow. He'd only been able to see the edge of the holo, but the voice… The only English woman he knew was Dr. Chakwas, and she was sitting in medical, but Ariadne's still did something to his stomach, making it tie up, float around… He recognized the feeling as something Corinthia had done to him in his weaker moments (or when he let himself stare at her ass) and it unnerved him that a total stranger could do it, too.

He dismissed it from his mind. "Fine. Let's just get this over with. I have more important things to do."

Kasumi shrugged. "Suit yourself. Speaking of which, there's a present for you in your quarters."

"What?"

"You can't go into that gallery in your armor. It ought to fit you nicely." Kasumi winked. "Just remember that you're a vicious mercenary."

"I am vicious."

"I gave you a background and everything. It's all on a datapad by the suit."

"Whatever." Shepard poured himself another drink. "What did you mean when you said that she knew how she felt?"

Kasumi's face darkened. "I lost someone. My partner. Keiji…" She whispered the last word, almost reverently.

He recognized the pain in her voice. "I'm sorry," Shepard answered, his voice surprisingly soft. "Is there anyone on this fucking ship that hasn't had something they cared about ripped away from them?"

"Joker."

"That was the first Normandy."

"Dr. Chakwas?"

"Most of the few friends she manages to make."

"Jacob?"

"He hasn't said, but he acts like he's been hurt."

"Miranda, then."

"That bitch doesn't have a heart."

"What about Jack?"

"She's got 'tormented' tattooed to her forehead. If not there, then somewhere else, at least."

"Grunt can't count; he only just came out of the tank."

"And he doesn't care about anything but killing, but he technically lost his father with Okeer."

"Zaeed's just full of old stories, too, but something probably happened to him, too."

"Garrus lost his team."

"That leaves Mordin…" Kasumi and Shepard locked eyes before they snorted with laughter.

"There's no way that son of a bitch would even care," Shepard said.

"But he might regret something… but that would only be if something didn't go according to plan, I guess. He doesn't seem like the type to do something without having weighed all the consequences, though."

Shepard drained his drink and reached to pour another. "We're all just fucked-up, aren't we?"

Kasumi shrugged. "I like it that way. It keeps things interesting."

"Tell me about it…" Shepard toyed with his glass. "How do you know Ariadne?"

"She caught me stealing something from her warehouse."

"I thought you were too good to get caught."

"It wasn't any fault of mine. She just happened to walk right into me and disable my cloaking device. She actually thought the whole thing was really funny. She's let me take stuff ever since, so long as I pay. Eventually. She's really nice. You'll like her."

"Don't push it, Kasumi."

The thief shrugged. "I think you'll see what I mean. I was surprised you weren't trying to get a look at her."

"I'm not interested in other women. Not like that."

"Of course you aren't." Kasumi smirked.

"Stop that," Shepard growled. "You're making me paranoid. I don't like it when people don't tell me things."

"I'm not hiding anything. You just have to ask me the right question."

He rolled his eyes. "I'm done with this shit. Just don't follow me tomorrow. I don't trust that you'll keep your eyes to yourself."

"I'll only follow if you take Jacob."

"If you do, I'll tell him why he keeps thinking that he's being watched."

Kasumi paled. "You wouldn't…"

"Watch me."

She crossed her arms, pouting. "Fine. I'll stay here. I promise I'll be good." She waited until he left to add, "…Mostly."