A/N: Due to very fervent demand, all Chinese will now have a linked translation at the end of the chapter.

"You bastard!"

Shepard had rarely heard Liara truly angry, but somehow the gentle asari had managed to put so much raw fury into those two simple words that the very ground beneath them seemed to tremble with it. Had his image not been holographic, she might have thrown a punch…or put a bullet in his brain.

"Dr. T'Soni-"

"You took that sweet, gentle woman and held her prisoner for…for insurance?" Liara accused, tears standing in her eyes though her expression was that of wrath embodied. "You let Shepard believe she was being tortured, that she was…was liquefied-"

Shepard half turned, draping an arm over Liara's chest and holding her shoulder. Miranda, though still reeling from the news herself, could not help but note the odd change in dynamic. For once, Liara was the one losing her grip on her temper, and Del was the one restraining her.

However it was clear, Shepard's legendary temper was not even remotely idle. "Cào nǐ zǔzōng shíbā dài!" she snarled venomously, turning her head to glare at the man even as she held the asari back.

"Shepard, all the insults in the galaxy won't change what is. I had hoped it wouldn't come to this, that you would come to see the truth of things," he told her. "My intention was never to harm Mrs. Salgado. In fact, I am the only reason she is alive, just as I am the reason you are alive. Had I left her on the colony, she would have suffered the same as the rest of them. You are as aware as anyone that sometimes, a hard line needs to be taken. All I ask is for you to leave this station intact…and she will be waiting for you with arms wide open the next time you dock at the Citadel."

"You taking Nan shows you knew that colony was about to be hit!" Shepard spat. "You didn't warn the rest of the people there? Just took her as bait to dangle in front of me the moment I became too much of a problem, and left the others to die in such a horrific…?"

"I do what is necessary for the greater good. As I said, I had hoped it wouldn't come to this but this was too important to leave to chance and your impetuous temper-"

"Oh, I'll show you my temper-"

"It is best for both of us if you simply walk away," he said sternly. "Just turn around right now, and go back to the Normandy. Mission accomplished, crew safe, Nancy safe, and you will have done the impossible once again…it's your choice, Shepard."

Most of Del's expression was invisible behind her face-plate but her eyes were clear, as was the doom and fire flashing within them. Those eyes held promises of retributions even Satan Himself would never have contemplated.

Without a word, she turned back toward the console, crouching painfully and picking up the two grenades. Timers were both set, they just needed to be placed and started. Each of the small devices felt like thousand pound weights.

"Shepard…?" The Illusive Man said warily, even as Shepard glanced up at the open console access. Unseen to anyone, her lower lip trembled, her dark eyes swimming a moment.

I am so sorry, Nan…

"You do this, Shepard, and I promise you, you will never see Salgado again," he threatened, his voice hardening even more. Shepard clenched her jaw until she could feel her teeth creak. "And I won't just kill her. I promise her no end of pain-"

His voice cut off as Miranda deactivated the feed. "Bloody bastard…"

Shepard almost mechanically set the first grenade in its spot. She vaguely felt a hand touch the shoulder of her hard-suit as she regarded the second grenade. Liara knelt beside her, her touch travelling to Del's wrist instead. Shepard looked at her, unsurprised to see the tears on the asari's cheeks behind her face-plate.

Tears…but also, firm resolve. Liara said nothing, only nodded once.

Shepard placed the second grenade.

"EDI, this is Miranda. We've just set the charges and are heading back to the Normandy now."

"Acknowledged. We have implemented sufficient repairs to return through the relay. The rest of the crew has just arrived," EDI responded.

"Injuries?" Shepard demanded, loud enough the AI heard it over Miranda's comm.

"Several, but no casualties," EDI told her. "Kasumi was the most seriously wounded. Chakwas is tending to their needs now."

"We should be there in just under six minutes. Lawson out."

Shepard's leg was blank agony, barely wanting to move, let alone support her. Seeing her struggle and knowing it wasn't all due to her wound, Liara stepped to her side and lifted her arm, draping it around her shoulders to help her.

Shepard glanced toward her in mute thanks, when motion behind her caught her eye.

"DOWN!" she barked, throwing herself toward the ground and using her grip on Liara to haul the asari with her. They both hit the floor hard, air barking from their lungs at the impact. Above them, an enormous hand swiped through the air. Surging up, Shepard hauled Liara to her feet, then shoved her toward Miranda.

"Run!"

The Reaper abomination had, apparently, not been destroyed in its fall and had managed to claw its way back up the chasm wall. Badly damaged, the thing was flailing at them like a wounded animal striking out in sheer mindless instinct. Shepard turned, whipping out her rifle and falling to her knee as her leg buckled beneath her. Letting out a spray of shot she stitched a pattern across its broken eyes and gaping mouth, ignoring the wrenching tear of her wound as she forced herself up again.

The abomination recoiled a bit, and Shepard limped frantically toward Miranda and Liara, who had made it to one of the final platforms. Liara opened fire over Shepard's shoulder, trying to drive the thing back again as Lawson attempted to access the control console.

Shepard dove forward onto the platform, tumbling in a roll. A huge arm crashed down. The platform broke free.

She thought she heard someone scream.

Then the world seemed to slam into her, and everything went to black.

A numb ,soupy haze broke apart around her. Feeling weight, a wait that pressed her air into a thin, heated tube, she instinctively shifted, pushing it off. Her pulse sounded red in her ears and behind her eyes as she tried to orient. Her helmet HUD was flashing madly, displaying various damage to her hard-suit. Turning into, a sit her head momentarily dipped forward like a marionette with its strings cut.

The platform they had made it to had crashed into the wall, wedging in the opening of a tunnel. Debris was scattered everywhere. Gripping a nearby beam that had been torn free of the structure in the collision, she hauled herself to her feet.

"Li..." she coughed, looking around. "Miranda?"

She saw a form in the dust and stumbled over, nearly collapsing beside them. Miranda coughed, then gasped, hand plastering over her wounded side as she went to sit. Shepard grabbed hold of her.

"How bad?"

"Added a few broken ribs I think," she said. "Nasty knock to the head."

Still looking around, Shepard helped the woman to sit, then forced herself back up to her feet. "Li? Li! Report!"

"Shep…Shepard…"

"Li!"

Catching sight of motion she shoved some debris frantically out of her way. Liara was half-buried in it, her hard-suit clearly damaged, the pain in her tense breath more than evident.

"Liara…"

"I will be…all right," the asari assured. "I believe my arm and wrist are broken and…and perhaps my collar bone. I-"

"Shepard! We only have five minutes to make it to Normandy!" Miranda suddenly called out, stark alarm plain in her voice, the reflection of her omni-tool painted over her helmet.

Hauling Liara up Shepard demanded, "Have we got a path from here?"

"Yes…it will take just over three minutes-"

"Then run! Let's go!"

"Shepard-"

"MOVE IT!"

She urged Liara ahead of her again, pursuing the two women deeper into the tunnel. Ignoring the roaring pain in her leg she forced every ounce of speed she could out of her body, unshipping her rifle. Miranda and Liara, both moving faster, soon opened fire as some drones closed in. Not daring to stop, the women only mowed a path or knocked them back enough to get by, and continued on, Shepard covering their flank.

"There! There it is!" Miranda pointed down the last length of hallway. The Normandy hovered just past an open airlock. A field shimmered over it, keeping what atmosphere the station had intact, but Shepard knew as soon as she passed through it every hole in their armor would be open to vacuum. It would not be pleasant.

Survivable, but not pleasant.

"Go!" Shepard barked when she saw Liara seem to hesitate. "I'm right behind you!"

She turned to take down a few drones that had appeared, gunfire snapping and hissing past her like a stream of hornets. Spraying shot over them enough to make them duck for cover, she turned to make the final dash.

Miranda was in the airlock. She saw Liara hit the edge of the field and halt, once more turning back. Grunt, as well lurking in the lock, leaned out dangerously far, reaching right through the field and grabbing the asari. She let out a surprised cry of protest before he all but threw her inside, then held out his hand toward Shepard.

The last of her reserves were fading. She was drawing out every scrap of energy she had, all but dragging her leg behind her. From somewhere above Normandy, gunfire began, aimed toward the airlock…drones, perhaps, clustered at another exit. Sparks flashed off the shielding.

"We're under fire!" Miranda cried, and seeking to protect those exposed in the lock, Joker pulled Normandy further away from the edge, opening a sizable gap between station and ship.

Shepard had no time to pause. She dropped her rifle even as more snaps passed her, bullets cutting through air and making the shimmering haze of energy ripple like waves in a pond. Passing through it she felt the immediate burn in her wound, cramping, twisting, rising to insane heights. Her good foot planted on the edge of eternity. Taking hold of every last ounce of energy and determination left to her, Shepard didn't hesitate, pouring all of it into a final, desperate leap.

SHEPARD. WE WILL HAVE YOU.

Life focused, tightening like a string, stretching out until the space from one heartbeat to the next was an ice age to itself. She could see Grunt's face, Miranda's…Liara's. She could feel her body stretching toward them, her hand out in front of her, her arm a mile in length. She could see the faint sparks against the bulkhead, like tiny flowers blooming and then fading, each flash as defined and perfect as any classic painting.

SHEPARD. YOU CANNOT ESCAPE US.

Too short. Too short…

She crashed into the edge of the airlock, hand desperately scrabbling for a hold, her body dangling free. Something snapped against the back of her armor, whining away. Then another, this one bringing heat, biting fire, forcing the air from her lungs even as it shoved the gritted cry of pain through her lips.

IOVINO.

She was being hauled upward and inward, light dying as the airlock door closed. Miranda's voice was shouting from a thousand miles away. Joker's reply was a nonsensical moan of syllables. Her helmet was torn away. Someone was gasping thick, wet, burbling.

IOVINO.

Get Dr. Chakwas, she tried to say. Someone's hurt.

The words would not come, lost in a pair of blue eyes, a hand on her cheek…and then a final echo escorting her down into the black.

IOVINO.

"Shepard?"

Fingers passed over her eyes, there and darting away like fish again. Pain swallowed her into its arms. Her voice was ragged in her throat. Then cool, the fog of medication.

Then sleep.

"Shepard?"

Her lips moved faintly, weakly, thoughts drifting beyond capture. "Kasumi…ok? Miranda…"

"Sleep, Commander. Stop being so stubborn."

"Liara…"

Fog. Exhaustion. Drugs. Sleep.

Shepard's dark brown eyes shifted and focused on the back standing nearby. Lab coat, short gray hair…licking her dry lips she murmured. "Helen?"

A familiar face turning, then the doctor was by her side, a smile on her lips. "Well, good morning…again. You are a stubborn woman, Commander…even pumped with enough drugs to keep a krogan down."

"Wh-what?"

"You kept waking up…once during surgery, twice thereafter. It seems your tolerance for sedation is only increasing, as is your sheer petulant will. Didn't think that last part was possible."

Shepard was too weary to give the woman the withering look she deserved. "Report," she mumbled again, pressing her eyes shut tight, then blinking rapidly in an attempt to focus better.

"We're back in home space," Chakwas told her, sitting by the bedside. Her cool hand as it landed on Del's was comforting, soothing. "The Collector station is gone. We barely got the Normandy to safe distance in time."

"Crew…"

"Physically, everyone had at least one hole to patch. Kasumi was the worst off…took a shot to her hip. If it hadn't been for Legion she would have died. From what Thane tells me, it shielded her with its own body and carried her the rest of the way at speed. If it hadn't, she would have bled to death long before she reached me."

"She ok?"

"She's just fine. Going to be a bit recovering but she'll get full use of the hip back. She's resting only two beds away. There were a few broken bones, bruises, and scrapes distributed liberally among the others. You came off with the worst of it…as usual."

"Liara?"

"She's all right," Chakwas reassured. "Desperately worried about you. We couldn't allow her in here with both you and Kasumi in surgery. She's been parked out in the mess for two days now…refuses to move."

"I was out for two days?"

"That's what happens when you take three bullets, Shepard. The shot to your leg was bad enough. It struck your reinforced femur and shattered…sent shards as far up as your hip and some lodged in your knee. You also took a shot to the back that punctured your lung."

Shepard focused upward, looking away from the doctor and toward the warm lights overhead. "I only remember being hit twice…you said three?"

"Yes. I'm not surprised you didn't feel the last one. It was in the same leg that had already been wounded so with that pain and a strong dose of adrenaline, it would all have blended together. Well, no, that's sort of a lie. It…wasn't technically in your leg."

Shepard's brows knit as she looked at her friend again. Chakwas looked amused, and said nothing. Shepard's confusion turned to a scowl.

"No…"

"Yes."

"You mean right in the…"

"Yes."

She groaned. "You do realize I'm never gonna live this down."

"Be glad that you live," Helen said gently. "I have some water for you, and then I want you to sleep some more. When you wake up, if you're feeling up to it, I'll let Liara in for a bit."

Shepard nodded, knowing better than to argue…though right now the only thing she wanted to see was Liara.

See her, hold her and know that she was all right. That they were both all right.

When Shepard opened her eyes again, however, it wasn't Liara standing there. Nodding a little, she shifted on the bio-bed with a wince. "Hello, Miranda."

"Shepard, you shouldn't be moving, not for at least another day," the woman warned.

"Ehn. This isn't anything I can't handle," Shepard gave her a tired, pained little smirk. "What brings you down?"

"We're on our way to the Folly. Should be there in about six more hours," Miranda told her. "The Normandy needs some extensive repairs. Wilcher contacted us from the Broker ship shortly after we returned from the Omega Four Relay. They were able to trace the computer tampering…as you already knew, it was Sydney."

"How is she?" Del asked quietly.

"Devastated," Miranda admitted. "She claims she has no memory of the tampering and does not recall when or where she could have become indoctrinated. I questioned her-…"

At the look on Shepard's face, Miranda inclined her head a little. "I just questioned her, Shepard. It wasn't an interrogation. I promise I was gentle."

"What did she say?"

"She seemed very forthcoming, eager to outline everything she remembered. Her story has gaps, however…nearest we can tell, whatever occurred to cause indoctrination happened when she was pursuing Thane. She is unable to account for a three month gap in her absence. She seems as troubled by it as anyone. She has no conscious memory of tampering with the Broker's defenses, but she does recall the confrontation with you on the Collector's base. She…as I said, she is devastated."

Shepard's eyes glazed as she looked at a point past the other woman, nodding wearily. "Yeah…"

After a long silence, Miranda ducked her head a bit, clearing her throat. "Shepard…about…about Nan-"

"Don't apologize," Shepard said sternly.

"Don't apologize?" Miranda asked. "After what he did-"

"Did you know?" Del's eyes shifted to fix on her face.

"No! Of course I didn't-"

"Then don't apologize," Shepard said. She was weak, and drugged, but her voice was no less firm because of it. "You've done more than enough apologizing for that man. I won't hear it."

Reaching out, Miranda hesitated a moment, then lay her hand momentarily over Shepard's. "Thank you," she said softly, then cleared her throat again. "I'll let Liara in. I know you want to see her and she's been all but clawing at the door herself."

Shepard turned her hand over, giving Miranda's a light squeeze before she nodded. "Yeah, that'd be nice."

Miranda stepped back, disappearing from view. Shepard heard the door open and soft voices for a moment, before footsteps moved over to her side.

"Del…"

"Hey, you," she smiled, reaching over toward the asari as Liara got to her side. Instantly her hand was clasped between her love's, shimmering damp appearing beneath sky blue eyes. "Hey…hey, none of that. I'm all right."

"You…you are a crazy, stubborn, impossible fool, Del Shepard," Liara gasped.

"You forgot gorgeous, fabulous, devastatingly charmi-" She broke off with a muffled sound of surprise as Liara cupped her face and kissed her. The asari drew back only a few inches, thumbs stroking lightly over tan skin.

"There," Liara smiled, her voice barely a whisper. "That is one way to shut you up."

Shepard grinned. Lifting her arms weakly, she hugged Liara as tight as she was able, the other woman lowering her head to her shoulder. "Goddess…Del…"

Struggling against the heat that wanted to rise in her own eyes, Shepard only held her love close. "I'm here…Tianlán. I'm here…"

Wilcher had returned to the Folly, and was there to greet the Normandy as she limped into dry-dock. Her sides were ragged, the new plating scarred and beaten and in some places gone altogether, revealing the shimmer of kinetic barriers.

The big man looked grimly stoic as Miranda, Garrus, and Tali moved down the ramp. The young quarian had suffered a mild infection and a raging fever from her wound on the station, and was still a bit weak. The turian and human woman themselves looked a bit ragged around the edges still.

"How is she?" He asked without preamble as they reached his side, work crews already moving in.

"Quiet. She insists we keep her locked up, but we can only hold her in that small brig for so long. It was made for transport, not permanent residence. Dr. Solus has some colleagues he thinks might be of some help. They started working on research into indoctrination after the attack at the Citadel. They're on Sur'Kesh. She has expressed an interest in going there, and they have a small facility in which they can keep her comfortable as well as secure."

"They believe in the Reapers then?" Wilcher asked, unable to keep the bitterness out of his voice.

"It seems not everyone was so easily taken in by the supposed 'geth conspiracy'," Miranda agreed. "It's not Cerberus and it's not the Alliance. It's her best hope of finding some answers without being dissected. Deeds, I suspect, will insist on going with her, and Liara has agreed to look into the forgotten three months and see if she can't at least track Rasler's movements during that period. Maybe find out where she could have gone or what she could have come into contact with that would cause this."

Wilcher nodded, blowing out a breath. "Poor Syd. I can't imagine…how's Shepard doing?"

"She's still down, but she'll make a full recovery," Garrus told him. "Give her another day and she'll be spitting like a hellcat that Chakwas won't let her get up. I figure by the time the repairs to the Normandy are complete, she'll be more or less herself again."

"I have a full manifest of the damages," Tali supplied, passing him a data pad. "It's going to take at least a week to get her back into fighting form. I hope you don't mind us as guests that long."

"Course not," he said, giving the quarian an affable smile. "She'll be running better than ever by the time we're done with her."

"At least it will give us enough time to figure out our next step," Miranda murmured, looking back toward the ship. Her dark brows knitted, a strange expression crossing her face.

"Something wrong?" Wilcher asked. The Australian straightened.

"While you're at it…give her a new coat of paint," she murmured. "The old one doesn't suit her anymore."

Moving gingerly, Shepard limped down the ramp of the Normandy to the work floor, Liara close at her side. The human woman was reluctantly using a cane Dr. Chakwas had provided until the soft tissue had finished mending enough to not risk re-injury.

"You'll use it or I'll beat you with it," had been Helen's exact words.

They had been in dry dock two days now and the repairs were well underway. Feeling Liara's hand slip into hers as they made level ground, Shepard smiled tiredly at her and gave her fingers a squeeze.

"Same rooms as before," Liara prodded gently. Her urge was to help a bit more, take some of Shepard's weight or insist on longer pauses as they went, but she knew that Del's pride would only be wounded at that. As it was, the human woman's mood was already dark enough. She wore tension like a blanket…a familiar suit of armor designed to hide the horrible helplessness deep inside.

Moving slowly, they entered deeper into the base. By the time they reached the door to the guest quarters, the corners of Del's eyes and mouth had gone tight, the only show of pain she would allow.

Liara gently urged her toward the low sofa and Shepard carefully sat, letting out a breath of relief as she settled. The door shut, the pair of them alone, the human woman let her head fall forward, setting her cane aside before her fingers threaded through her hair.

Liara bustled about the small kitchenette, making some tea before carrying the warm mugs to the low coffee table. Setting one aside she softly touched the other to Del's forearm. Shepard looked at her with reddened eyes, then absently took it, holding it cradled in her hands as she peered into its amber depths.

"Do you think we can find her before he can hurt her?" she asked after a long moment. Liara didn't need to ask to know who she was referring to.

"We can try," Liara told her softly. "I have already asked Feron to start looking into it. Cerberus security is not easy to access but it is not impossible. If a record exists of where he's holding her, we can find it."

She didn't add that she held out little hope. The Illusive Man did not make idle threats. If he was even telling the truth about having Nancy in the first place, it would only take him a single phone call to end the woman's life. He had probably made that phone call before they'd even managed to escape the Collector ship. The chances the woman remained alive now were…remote, at best.

Still, she did not vocalize this. Del was not a stupid woman, no matter how she might insist she was on occasion. She knew all this already…but vague hope was all she had to cling to right now.

Shepard's head sagged, and she lifted one hand and covered her face. Reaching out, Liara took the tea and set it aside, before she took the human into her arms. Shepard clung tightly to her, face buried in the asari's neck as she struggled against tears that would not be denied.

It was a vulnerability Del never showed to anyone but her. It was part of the bond they shared that others might recognize…but would never fully understand. Though they were not melding, being this close to her love, she could feel a hollow echo of Shepard's pain aching through her own chest. She fought her own tears and grief as they threatened to overwhelm her. Nan had been her friend too, a calming port in an impossible storm, when Shepard had been taken from her.

Right now, however, giving in to her own feelings would only be selfish. Del needed her, and she had to be the strong one for once.

"I killed her, Liara," Shepard murmured wearily against her neck after several long minutes…after the tears had given way to exhaustion.

"No…this was not your doing."

"He gave me a choice. I could have chosen to save her. Instead I blew that place knowing that he would-"

"It was the right thing to do," Liara insisted. "The technology there would have gone to help no one but himself. He would have raped the memory of every man, woman and child that had perished there. He would not have used it to advance the cause of your people, only to advance the cause of Cerberus…and from what I have seen, that cause is neither a kind nor a productive one. It is merely destructive, born on the pain of others and squeezed of every true ounce of humanity."

Shepard loosened her hold a little on the other woman, sitting back a bit. Her eyes were red from her tears, the brooding, exhausted look on her face instantly reminding the asari of the young Del…the child she had seen in their shared visions. Sweeping her hands over Shepard's damp cheeks she leaned in and kissed her softly, a mere reaffirmation of her affection, before they rested their foreheads together, each woman with her hands clasped behind the other's neck, as if in an odd form of prayer.

After a long moment, Shepard spoke again.

"Mordin knows some scientists that he think might be able to help Sydney. They have been doing some preliminary research on indoctrination. They have a small base on Sur'Kesh."

"Yes, he mentioned something of this to me. I know how horrified, how stricken she is that she harmed you."

"It wasn't her fault," Shepard said, drawing back enough to meet her eyes. "I don't blame her."

"I know you do not," Liara told her. "Neither do I. It is such a…a horrible thing. I cannot imagine the conflict, of being swayed by another's will, of losing yourself so completely…"

When her eyes cast down, Shepard lightly traced her jaw. "You're thinking of your mother," she noted. Liara nodded.

"Sydney is not quite to that point," she admitted. "Her indoctrination was clearly not complete or not so far advanced. Had it been, she would not have been able to resist. Her very first shot would have been…"

She broke off, unable to finish the sentence. It didn't need to be said aloud, anyway. Shepard was as aware as any of them that it was only Sydney's desperation not to kill her friend that had prevented that first shot from landing in her skull to begin with.

"I haven't gone to see her yet," Del mumbled. "I should…I should go to see her. Mordin wants to arrange secure transport to Sur'Kesh from the Citadel. I should talk to her, before she goes."

Liara nodded silently. There would be more than one good-bye when the Normandy was finally repaired. The mission was done with. The specialists would go their own way. Garrus would return to Palaven, Tali to the Flotilla. Mordin would be accompanying Sydney and Deirdre to his home world and turn his focuses then on helping Eír overcome her conditioning. Thane, Kasumi, and Jack would doubtlessly vanish into the crowd. Samara would go back to asari space, Legion would return to the Veil…in just a few days, they would all be light years apart once again.

"Do you know what Miranda will do?" she asked. Del shook her head.

"She intends to disappear for a while," she said. "The Illusive Man won't be very happy with her, and she needs to drop off the radar."

"He does not take rejection well," Liara agreed. She, herself, would have her hands full.

She felt her heart waver, her stomach sink as the reality that she and Del would be parted once again fell upon her. There was no helping it. With Shepard's destruction of the station, the Illusive Man would not just be taking steps to harm Nan. The mission was over. Neither held any illusions that one of his very first actions would be to seize the Broker ship and its bounty of information contacts…and if he could, he would harm Liara were he able to get hold of her.

The Normandy itself would also be a target. EDI had informed them that almost immediately upon their return to home space, Cerberus had attempted to remotely re-implement her shackles and take control of the ship. She was able to thwart them but they would not be easily dissuaded. The only way to protect the ship and EDI was to put the Normandy into hands even more powerful than the Illusive Man's.

When the repairs were complete, Liara would be returning to Hagalaz with a large compliment of Thanatos - now under Wilcher's command with Syd out of commission – to salvage everything they could and destroy the ship before Cerberus arrived. The Normandy would proceed directly to the Citadel to offload those who wished to leave. Shepard would remain and surrender both herself and the ship to the Alliance via Councilor Anderson. Though her Spectre status did protect her if she desired, her honor demanded she do no less than submit herself to Alliance justice. In her heart, Shepard was and always would be a marine, a soldier, her very guts colored the blue and gold of the fighting force she had sworn her oath too.

She would be arrested, even if just as a formality. She would be shipped to Earth, face uncountable debriefings and interrogations with the Alliance Brass, endure the examinations, the questions, the scrutiny she had feared would tie her up and prevent her pursuit of the Collectors. With that threat now gone, she had no excuses…and wanted none.

With herself and the Normandy in Alliance hands, the Illusive Man would have to gnash his teeth impotently and chalk up his losses for the time being.

In the end, however, it would mean they would be apart once more…and the Goddess only knew for how long.

Will this never be over? she wondered. Will we never have peace?

Drawing Liara back into her arms, Shepard murmured softly, "I love you, Tianlán."

"I love you too, Shepard," Liara whispered back without hesitation. "I love you too."

Chinese translation: cào nǐ zǔzōng shíbā dài = fuck your ancestors to the eighteenth generation