A/N 13 February 2012: So, some of you may have noticed that I am re-posting chapter 57. I was HIGHLY unsatisfied with the last chapter, to the point that I regretted posting it and felt embarrassed that I had. So, here is the new one. PLEASE RE-READ! There is literally NO overlap with what happened in the previous version of chapter 57. Thanks!

Disclaimer: Mass Effect is copyright of Bioware. Ci-Ci is mine.

I welcome constructive and/or encouraging reviews/critiques. Please leave feedback!

Thank you for reading. Enjoy!

16 September 2185 — Omega, Sahrabarik System, Omega Nebula

Corinthia instantly regretted stepping out of the Normandy the moment the doors hissed closed behind her. She desperately wanted Shepard to come charging after her and beg her to come back — No, not even beg her to. Ask, drag, order... something. Anything.

Worse, she knew it wasn't a mistake to leave. He had been right: she was immature. She couldn't handle the relationship. She was just... He was her first, in almost every way, and her desperate clinging to him had ruined everything. They weren't even really friends anymore. A chill ran up her spine as she realized Shepard was, in all likelihood, thinking the exact same thing. She was too weak for him... Not even worthy of him. He had enough of an ego to think something like that, but it'd be justified because he'd be right.

The Normandy pulled away from the dock. Her omni-tool flared to life. "Ci-Ci," EDI radioed, "Ms. Lawson has asked me to establish a link to you."

Corinthia wiped her eyes. "I'll let you through the firewalls..."

"If you would like, I will submit updates regarding our progress."

"Yes, please... Thank you." Corinthia took a deep breath, closed her eyes, and tried to think of anything but what had just happened. Almost instantly, Ariadne's coolly detached personality surfaced. Her stomach plunged. That wasn't right. Ariadne was just a figment of her imagination, a fake woman with an accent...

"This isn't good, Rufus," she muttered, stroking the varren's head.

Rufus whined plaintively and looked off towards the Normandy.

"Don't worry, buddy. You'll be able to annoy Joker before much longer," Corinthia lied.

Rufus growled happily and trotted a bit ahead of her.

With little other choice, Corinthia wandered into Omega. Everything felt disjointed, and the chaos of the station didn't help one bit. Her vision blurred and she felt faint. For a brief moment, she thought Imreas was going to surface.

Damn it, girl, you're better than this, Imreas hissed. You're acting like a fucking coward. Pull yourself together or I'll do it for you.

"But..." Corinthia breathed. She looked around, eyes falling on Imreas, leaning against a wall and looking more dangerous than ever. "Oh, shit..."

"'Oh, shit' is right," Imreas answered coldly. Though her features were identical to Corinthia's, Imreas was the incarnation of everything dark within her soul. Her clothing, make-up, and hair even reflected it. "Didn't ever expect to see me, again, did you?"

Corinthia looked away guiltily. Imreas had stopped being something Corinthia saw since she and Shepard got back together. "I thought..."

"You thought? You thought? The only thought going through that fucking immature head of yours is how Shepard is going to fuck you next," Imreas answered angrily. "I could deal with you not being able to handle the goddamn Reapers, but this? Fucking insulting. I've kept my mouth shut, but not anymore."

Corinthia knew that anyone looking at her would think she was insane, especially for yelling at a wall... but, then again, she had no idea if she was Imreas right then or not — meaning, if she was Imreas looking at Cassiopeia or Cassiopeia looking at Imreas or Ariadne looking at them both... Her mind warned her that it would shut down if she thought about it too hard.

"What the hell was I supposed to do?" Corinthia replied desperately. "I'm not like you! John was the only thing I had. I didn't want to lose him again."

"You were supposed to handle it like an adult, not some pussy for hire."

"Oh, really? YOU were the one telling me to seduce him every single time he came into our room!"

"So I like seeing him naked. So what?"

"This is..." Corinthia gritted her teeth. "You are not taking over. Period. I'm not going to let it happen."

Imreas's lips twitched into a smirk. "Is that so? Prove it. Prove you can survive without me."

Corinthia glanced around. "What do you want me to do? Start a fight? Blow my own brains out? I know that I can't get rid of you without getting rid of myself, so let's make this look as sane as possible, shall we?"

"I can always go find Ariadne, if you want," Imreas taunted. "Have some kind of fucked-up girl fight."

Corinthia rolled her eyes. "If you are my id, then I am definitely going to start seeing a therapist."

Imreas straightened. "And what if I were to say that Shepard needs me more than he needs you?"

Corinthia opened her mouth to argue, but no words came out. An hour before, she would've laughed the comment off, but it was an hour later and she didn't know the answer anymore.

"I know you're already thinking about how to go back to him. Fact is, you can't," Imreas continued darkly.

"No..." Corinthia breathed, shutting her eyes.

"You may not want to listen, but you don't have a choice," Imreas hissed. "I let you have control, just to see what would happen, and you turned into a pet. I didn't even like Ariadne and at least she could handle the pressure. But you... you're weak. Insignificant. Obsolete. You can't fucking save a galaxy when you're busy nailing him. 'Ci-Ci' doesn't have a place anymore — not here, not anywhere, and sure as hell not inside you — and you know it." Imreas grabbed Corinthia's collar. "So you'd better listen to me, kid. You're better off getting fucked sideways by the Reapers than you are aboard that goddamn ship."

Corinthia opened her eyes, staring Imreas down. It wasn't easy. As a matter of fact, it was probably the single-most frightening thing she had ever done. Imreas was Corinthia, so she was seeing the darkness within herself that she had been too afraid to admit to.

"So you expect me to change just like that?" Corinthia whispered.

"I expect you to let him go."

Corinthia threw Imreas off. "Fuck you."

"That's more like it..." Imreas cooed. "But it doesn't mean I'm wrong. You were stronger without him. Remember all that shit you did after he died? How it was your name people feared? It's still in there. Just bring it back. You know as well as I do that you're stronger by being half-bad than you ever were being all good."

"No..."

"Cold, withdrawn, alone... Trusting only those you must and thumbing your nose at all the rules... You're a fucking Spectre. About time you started acting like it again."

"If you're so desperate for me to act like you, then why aren't you in control?" Corinthia screamed.

Imreas froze, unable to answer.

"That's what I thought. Fact is you need me to even exist," Corinthia muttered, clenching a fist. "A bit less giggling isn't going to change anything, bitch. But you were right about one thing... I can't do this without you."

Imreas's face lit up. "Good..."

"And by that I mean that I'll put a bullet in my brain before I ever, ever let myself become you," Corinthia finished, drawing her pistol and levelling it between Imreas's eyes. "So fuck off."

Shepard's Quarters, SSV Normandy SR-2, Sahrabarik System

Shepard stared at his computer monitor, trying to find the strength to bring himself to call Corinthia. It didn't come. Outside, he could hear Garrus practicing what to say. No doubt the turian thought that everything was his own fault. Shepard was pissed, but he wasn't in denial. He knew very well that the problem was between him and Corinthia, not anyone else. Garrus and Morinth were just catalysts.

Finally, Garrus came in.

"Commander, I —"

"Not your fault," Shepard interrupted.

"No, it is. If I hadn't said some of that stuff..."

"She's not your girlfriend, Garrus."

"But she is my friend and I'm yours. I should've told you to go to her."

"I did, didn't I? It was just... not what I expected."

Garrus eyed the near-empty bottle of bourbon on Shepard's desk. "I recall you being a happy drunk."

"Not this time. I'm just... Christ, what the hell have I done?"

"You know she'll be fine, Shepard. She can take care of herself."

"Yeah... I know..." Shepard rubbed his eyes. "I was just too stupid to realize that it wouldn't work. I'm still in love with her. I wasn't for a few minutes back there, but I am again now."

Garrus shifted uneasily. "You know this isn't my thing, Shepard, but if you need to talk, I'll listen."

"Thanks, Garrus." Shepard opened his communication link and closed it after a few seconds. "I just don't think I can ask her to come back. It'd mean that I'm apologizing... Not that I wouldn't, anyway, but the fact is that I wasn't wrong."

Garrus didn't have an answer. Human relationships were confounding, as Mordin kept projecting. No doubt the doctor would already be looking for some kind of drug to fix Shepard before everything went to hell.

Shepard sighed and got to his feet, gripping the desk for support as he swayed. "Fuck... Don't I have something else I should be doing?"

"I'm not the best one to ask. Miranda usually keeps up with that."

Shepard fumbled for the intercom. "Randy! Take us... somewhere. Do something. But not for that sneaky rat bastard fuck you call a boss."

Garrus raised his brows. "Alright, I think you've had enough to drink for tonight, Commander. Good thing your bed's right here..."

25 September 2185 — Liara's Offices, Illium, Tasale System, Crescent Nebula

Liara looked up as Corinthia (and Rufus) entered. For a moment, the Asari wasn't sure that she was seeing correctly. Corinthia was usually dressed up like Ariadne or "grunging" as herself, but this... Liara had no words. Corinthia looked like she hadn't slept in days, had been in a fight every half-hour, and, for probably the first time that Liara could remember, had absolutely positively no semblance of a smile on her viasge.

Liara immediately got to her feet. "Ci-Ci... You look... What happened?"

Corinthia shook her head vaguely. For a moment, Liara thought she was talking to Imreas, but then Corinthia simply shut the office door and collapsed onto the floor. "Shit..."

Liara ran over. "Are you alright? What's wrong?"

"I'll explain in a second, but for now..." Corinthia closed her eyes and fell backwards onto the floor with a groan of relief. "That's much better."

Rufus nuzzled Liara's elbow expectantly. Liara waved him off. "You look sick."

"You don't know how right you are..."

"Should I call a doctor?"

"What? Oh, no. I'm not that kind of sick." Corinthia propped herself up on her elbows. "I've just been... dealing with some things."

"Garrus told me."

"Garrus? Not..."

Liara shook her head. "He said that Shepard can't bring himself to contact you."

"Yeah, I thought as much." Corinthia lay back again. "Make it stop..."

"Ci-Ci, I can't help you if you don't tell me what's going on."

"Corinthia."

"What?"

"Call me Corinthia. Or Cassiopeia, if you have to, but not Ci-Ci or Cassie or anything like that."

"What's gotten into you? You're not yourself."

"There was never a self for me to be," Corinthia replied irately. She rolled onto her stomach and got to her knees. "Fact is, I've been finishing up some of that Spectre business I'd put off to be with Shepard."

"That would explain why you look like you've been in a fight..." Liara murmured.

"I have been. Non-stop. Some idiots on Omega thought they could hustle me, then I had to get Rufus back from a krogan thinking it was his varren... Long story short, I've got the Shadow Broker and Eclipse after me right now."

"So you came to me?" Liara asked, blinking. "Ci — Cassiopeia, you know how important my work is!"

"Don't worry, Liara. I thought through that already." Corinthia straightened, stretched, and opened her omni-tool. "Fact is, they're hunting Ariadne."

"Oh, no. Not this again..."

"What?"

"I am not going to help you kill yourself," Liara stated firmly, taking a seat behind her desk. "It was difficult enough to hide you once."

"I'm not running this time. I'm taking a stand."

"You're going to ruin your entire business."

"Already took care of that. You bought me out six months ago."

"I... I did?"

Corinthia smirked, her devious self surfacing a little beneath her wan features. "Pretty soon the entire galaxy is going to know that I'm still alive and everyone is going to know that I was Ariadne."

"I am confused. Perhaps you skipped something in your explanation."

Corinthia sat down, scratching Rufus's chin. "I have the Eclipse tailing me on purpose. I've got it all planned out. Uh... Remember how I kinda mentioned that I bought myself a really, really, really big toy?"

"I do remember you asking me for money afterwards, yes."

"I actually bought a Mass Relay..."

"You must be joking..."

"The one to Ilos. It's the only way I could secure it so that we have sole access to the goods there. And to keep Vigil as intact as possible, but that's another story that's mostly irrelevant now. Anyway, I'm going through there and taking out the baddies on the other side."

"So, this trap... Are you the only one springing it?"

"Yep."

"How do you even know it's going to work?"

"I picked up a few things from EDI."

"Ah... That is the Normandy's AI, correct?"

"Mmhm."

"I don't like this, Ci — Why can't I call you 'Ci-Ci' anymore?"

"Too childish," Corinthia answered vaguely, waving a hand in dismissal.

"I see... So why have you come to me?"

"So that you can tell Shepard where to find me as a backup plan in case I botch it. Which is possible. Probable. Anyway, just tell Shepard, alright? In, like, a week or something. I've already given EDI access to the Relay, but he'll need to come get me, though."

"And just how will your enemies get through?"

"I'll let them in... and trap them there, but that's their own problem, now, isn't it?"

"You've gone insane..."

"Thanks for noticing."

Liara narrowed her eyes. Corinthia's last line wasn't even sarcastic. "You know I was exaggerating."

Corinthia shrugged. "Whatever. Oh, well, alright, there is another reason why I came here."

"Which is?"

"Take care of Rufus for me, will ya? I don't want to leave him alone on my ship for God knows how long."

"I will. He can scare off my enemies."

"Yeah, about that... If he gets aggressive, his safety word is 'Schnapps'. Don't ask why, but it'll stop him from biting someone. And make sure you reward him for attacking. I like my guard baby trained. Yes I do! Yes I do!" she cooed, petting Rufus's head.

Liara raised her eyebrows. Corinthia had gone from half-dead to her usual self in only a few minutes. Though certainly capable of such dramatic changes, it was unnerving. Something about her was still off, but Liara couldn't quite place it. It was as if Corinthia's focus hadn't actually been in the room, but somewhere else... on something else.

With a final cheerful goodbye, Corinthia left. Liara sighed. Being Corinthia's friend was getting more confusing by the minute.

3 October 2185 — Mess Area, SSV-NormandySR-2, en route to the Citadel

Shepard, Garrus, Jacob, and Ken nearly fell out of their seats laughing as Zaeed and Grunt faced off at arm wrestling. It wasn't that the match was funny, but rather the insults that they were throwing at each other:

"That the best you can do, you hunchbacked turtle?"

"Keep talking like that and you'll lose your head, you one-eyed rundown."

"One-eyed rundown, is it, you motherless soft-shelled crab?"

"You heard me, you over-compensating windbag."

Even Thane was smiling. No one really expected the drell to have a sense of humor, but at least he was out and about on the ship rather than lapsing into solipsism in the life support area.

Miranda came out. "What on earth is going on?"

"A competition, you sweet-hipped big-bosomed succubus," Zaeed growled, not breaking his gaze from Grunt.

"We're proving who's the stronger species, you interfering black-haired witch," Grunt added.

Miranda crossed her arms. "Unbelievable."

Shepard stopped laughing for long enough to say, "We already know the answer to that: homo Shepardien."

"What was that?" Zaeed growled, putting up another hand to fight Grunt. "Argh! Slimy, shiny-skinned bastard!"

Jacob scratched his head. "I think you lost them there, Commander."

Shepard shrugged. "I thought it was funny."

"I think only Ci-Ci would've," Ken muttered so that only Garrus could hear. Shepard was still testy when her name came up, though he had been blessedly more calm than they'd expected. As a matter of fact, they'd accomplished more in the few weeks than they had in the previous two months. Even Shepard was loathe to admit that they were almost ready to face the Collectors. The Normandy was fully upgraded, he'd finished every possible mission that had come up, and he was doing everything in his power to avoid talking to the Illusive Man. The Commander wanted Corinthia back, but he didn't know how - or even if - he could convince her to return. The crew liked having her around, certainly, but, now that Shepard actually talked to people, they were discovering that he wasn't as bad as he'd led them to believe.

Miranda put her hand on her hips. "Commander, I need to talk to you."

"Not now," Shepard answered, waving her away.

"I've heard from Ci-Ci."

He stiffened, not answering. It was a long moment before Miranda was sure that he wasn't even aware of his surroundings any longer.

Miranda tapped her foot. "So are we going to talk out here or in my office?"

After a moment, he got to his feet and went with her. "What the fuck does she want?" he muttered. As apathetic as he tried to sound, his heart was racing in anticipation.

Miranda sat, putting her fingertips together. "You may want to have a seat."

Shepard's stomach plummeted. "Is she dead?" he blurted before he could stop himself.

"Missing."

Shepard took a deep breath, preparing for the worst. "When?"

"A few hours ago. This time we know what happened." Miranda continued at Shepard's indication. "The Shadow Broker has a sizable bounty on her head. This caught the attention of the Eclipse, not to mention his own agents, so a contingent formed to hunt her down."

"And they cornered her."

"It isn't that simple. She trapped them as well."

"Where?"

"On the other side of the Mu Relay."

Shepard's eyes narrowed. "Ilos."

Miranda nodded. "Whatever she was planning, it isn't what happened."

"EDI!"

"Yes, Commander?" the AI answered.

"Change of course. Get us to the Mu Relay. Now."

"As you wish, Commander."

"What the hell's going on?" Joker demanded. "We can't just stop!"

"The Commander has ordered a new course, Mr. Moreau."

"I heard. Doesn't mean you can just take control like that."

"Stop bickering and get your asses into gear!" Shepard snapped at the pilot(s), heading out the door of Miranda's office. "Not you guys. I've got credits riding on this competition and it's going to finish," he continued, as if nothing had happened.

Miranda muted the intercom before turning back to her computer. "It seems I didn't need to reveal you as my source, Ms. T'Soni."

"I understand, Ms. Lawson," Liara answered. "And you're certain that I will have Cerberus's cooperation?"

"Though perhaps not all of Cerberus, you will of the Lazarus Cell. I may be the head in Cerberus's eyes, but we follow the Commander. All of us."

"That's good to hear. From what I understand, he is going to need all the allies he can find."