Shepard's chest was burning miserably, and it felt vaguely like teeth were sinking into her side. Kenson's team had done a good job at patching her up but her wounds had clearly been severe…up and running and fighting two days later was probably not on the list of recommended recuperative activities. Also, her 'borrowed' hard-suit was for guard work, not front-line combat, and didn't have the on-board medical programs that administered medi-gel and painkillers as needed.

Still, Shepard was no stranger to pain and never one to let it stop her. To be honest, the shortness of air was the bigger nuisance. Having already suffered one lung-puncture fairly recently, a second had hardly done anything to improve matters. She felt like a goddamn asthmatic only partway through the station, and time seemed to be blowing away like sand between her fingers.

It didn't help that every single person in the station was fighting them, not just the trained soldiers. Mechanics, engineers, even the goddamn cooks were shooting at her or trying to box her in. With each civvie that fell the self-hatred in her gut only tightened, but she had no choice. Trillions more would die very quickly if she failed, and these people had nothing to look forward to save death, or being mindless slaves to the Reapers.

Kelcik was doing his best to keep up, but he was also slowing her progress. She'd managed to find some bottled water which he'd guzzled swiftly enough to make himself ill, downing a second with a little more decorum. With hydration some of his strength had returned, which helped a little.

They managed to reach the main control room, and Shepard quickly accessed the Project's databases. Tired as he was physically, Kelcik's hostility had seemed only to gain strength. When he realized what she was doing, he grabbed her arm.

"I can't let you," he snarled. "I won't let you kill my people!"

Shoving the boy off of her, Del easily sent him sprawling to the ground. "Don't," she warned. "This Project has to be initialized. We have an hour now until the Reapers are here, and they'll mow your people down without hesitation!"

"Liar! They're not real! They don't exist!"

"I've seen them, Kelcik!"

"And I'm supposed to believe you? The bitch that shot all my co-workers at the jail to break out a terrorist? The Butcher who murdered fifty unarmed batarians on their knees?"

Her eyes narrowed in fury behind her face-plate. "Is that what you believe?" she demanded. "That I killed fifty unarmed men on Torfan?"

"So what? There were fifteen? Five? How small a number does it have to be, before it's all right?" he snarled. Shepard blinked, then stiffened.

"Just…shut the fuck up and sit still," she growled. Turning back to the console, she began to activate the programs.

"Now you'll just add three hundred thousand more to the number," he noted bitterly. "Who cares, as long as they're batarians…they're not your family, are they? They're just animals-"

"My girlfriend's sister and her bondmate are on that colony," Shepard retorted furiously.

"Oh, really?" he asked sarcastically, clearly not believing her. Shepard's teeth grit until she could hear them creak, and finished activating the program.

"Project initialized," the VI announced. "Impact with Alpha relay in T minus 55 minutes. All personnel, to your evacuation points. All personnel, to evacuation points."

"I hope you burn for eternity, for what you've done," Kelcik murmured, his voice thick. Ignoring him, Shepard pulled up the communications program and accessed the colony's main emergency grid. "Aratoht colony, start emergency evacuation procedures! This is Comm-"

The console suddenly hissed with static, making her hands snap back as the connection was lost. Kenson's frantic, furious image appeared in place of the VI.

"Do you know what you've done? You'll ruin everything!"

"Get off the goddamn line and free up the comm," Shepard raged. "I have to warn that colony! We can still save those people-"

"No one can be saved, not now! I-I won't let you do this, Shepard! I'm activating the station's self-destruct…the asteroid will be destroyed before it can reach the relay. We will all die but the Reapers plan will still succeed!"

"Kenson, stop and think about what you're doing!" Shepard urged desperately, even as the woman's image shimmered and vanished. "Kenson!"

The console had gone dead. Slamming her fists into it, Del thought frantically.

I have to stop that self-destruct. There has to be a way, there has to be a comm tower I can reach to warn that colony.

Turning she unceremoniously snagged the boy by his collar and hauled him to his feet. "We have to get moving if we're going to save your people."

"Just leave me here, let me die with them," he said, trying to pull away from her weakly. "I'm just a batarian, what do you care-"

"Look!" Del whirled on him. "I haven't got time to fucking argue with you! I don't want your people to die, and I don't want you to die. I'm trying to save a goddamn galaxy you little shit! If you've got a better plan then let's fucking hear it! If not, stop being deliberately stupid and open your fucking eyes! You're not dying on this rock if I have to carry your fucking annoying ass all the way to an escape pod, do you hear me?"

He blinked at her in shock, but didn't resist as she urged him forward. "Now move it while there's still a colony left to save!"

Del had always kept superb time in her head. It was an unconscious talent, one that normally served her well. She was a survivor, and survival sometimes depended on precise timing.

Right now, that internal clock was spilling downward faster than she liked, an almost ominous weight ticking swiftly in her brain while everything else around her seemed to slow to molasses. Twice, she'd managed to activate a communications array. Twice, Kenson somehow managed to cut off the signal before she could get out a full warning to the colony.

It wasn't until the final time that Kelcik began to believe that Shepard might be telling the truth. He could not see her whole face behind her helmet, but the expression on the part he could see after the third time Kenson cut her off was so raw, so frantic, it gave him pause.

They managed to shut the self-destruct off, which only incited Kenson to more desperate measures. They chased her into the station's energy core itself, the wild-eyed woman now standing between them and the pulsing field of dark energy with a detonator in her hand. If she got close enough to it and depressed that trigger, they were all dead.

"Kenson, listen to me," Shepard warned. She had her sniper fixed on the woman's forehead. The only reason she hadn't taken the shot was because the woman's thumb was on the trigger of the detonator. She so much as twitched, and that thing would go off. While Kenson wasn't close enough yet to compromise the core, the explosion would still be less than…pleasant.

"You don't understand," Kenson wailed at her. Her iron gray hair was damp with sweat, her eyes darting, her cheeks both ashen and flushed. Del imagined Sydney someday looking like this, and her heart ached. "You'll never understand! This has to be done! The Reapers are not our enemy!"

"They want to kill everyone!"

"No! No, that's not true! You won't listen! You had your chance to join us, Iovino, but you won't listen! And now I will die, never having known the Reapers' blessings…and you will just die!"

"Kenson!"

She saw the woman's muscles bunch as she started to turn, ready to sprint at the core. Shepard snapped her finger down on the trigger and the iron gray hair seemed to split apart in a wash of blood, brain and bone. Kenson's feet tangled in each other and she fell forward, crashing to the ground. Shepard lowered her sniper, eyes catching on the detonator as it tumbled from Kenson's limp hand, rolling across the floor.

It was flashing.

Whirling, Shepard ran toward where a gaping Kelcik was watching from near an equipment bank. Grabbing hold of the boy she flung him to the ground, dropping over him even as the world lit up behind her.

She felt debris skip over her pads, felt the wash of heat, the push of concussion…but no new pain. After the ground stopped trembling and she realized they were still alive, she pushed herself up, taking hold of the boy.

"You ok?"

He coughed, blinking at her, then nodded weakly. She got to her feet, helping him to his.

"We've got fifteen minutes before we hit that relay," she told him. "Escape shuttles are outside as well as that last comm tower. There should be an atmo-suit at least outside the airlock…get suited up and let's get our asses in gear. If we can reach a shuttle or that comm tower in time maybe we can still save some of the colonists."

The view outside was beyond spectacular. In the distance far to their right and slightly above, the planet Aratoht was a small ball of greens and golds, the crimson fringes of a distant nebula almost making it appear it had rings from this vantage. The rocky, uneven surface of the asteroid made ragged hills and mountains curving away from them, and beyond them the thick black of space alive with stars.

Directly ahead, the mass relay was drawing swiftly and inexorably closer, the blue pulse of its core seeming to time the final moments till its death.

A scattering of the Project members was without, some driving Shepard and Kelcik back with almost half-hearted gunfire as the rest tried to make it aboard the remaining few shuttles. It wasn't the humans that served to be the problem in the end, but the heavy mech they had dragged onto the surface. By the time Shepard was able to disable it and clear it from their path, the last of the shuttles was departing, vanishing into the black, velvet eternity that surrounded them.

Reaching the comm tower, Shepard quickly accessed it. The countdown in her head had reached seven minutes.

Eir, Shrive…all those people…

Powering up and finding the proper channel she barked, "Normandy! This is Commander Shepard, I need immediate extraction! Fix on this signal, ma shang! Normandy, do you read?"

{Commander, Miranda,} came the welcome reply. {We're on our way.}

"Open a communication with the Aratoht colony! See if you can't get anyone to evacuate! This asteroid is about to hit the mass relay and this entire system is going to go. Send out a general warning to all ships in solar orbit to leave the system immediately!"

{Understood, Commander.}

Immediately switching lines, Shepard accessed the colony system as well. "Aratoht colony, all citizens evacuate immediately! To any ship in range of this transmission, depart the system now! The mass relay is about to go supernova! I repeat, evacuate the Bahak system immediately!"

Kelcik, standing behind her, looked worriedly up toward the mass relay, so much closer now. He saw it spark twice, and his heart thudded in his throat. Two ships, at least, seemed to have heeded the warning and departed…but it was so few. Tears were hot in all four of his eyes, his chest aching.

He knew…all too well…that even if ships were to launch instantly from Aratoht, it would take them the better part of ten minutes at FTL to reach the relay. There simply was not enough time left.

All those people…my family…

Then something seemed to pulse a moment…not so much through the non-existent air, but through his very being. Shepard stepped back as a massive hologram appeared, floating overhead.

Kelcik had seen footage of the attack on the Citadel, of course. Anyone with any extra-net access had been inundated with it. He knew the geth army had been lead by a huge dreadnought they'd called Sovereign. This thing now hovering in shimmering light above looked identical to that ship.

When it spoke, the voice belonged to a God.

SHEPARD. YOU HAVE DONE NOTHING BUT DELAY THE INEVITABLE.

Shepard knew that voice. Harbinger. She, as well as Miranda and Mordin, had assumed Harbinger was a Queen or some other hive mind belonging particularly to the Collectors. It seemed that wasn't so. She'd been talking to a Reaper the whole time.

The yellow outline of the beast reflected in her dark brown eyes as she growled. "Get used to it, because I'm going to do that a fuck of a lot, Harbinger."

YOUR FIGHT IS FUTILE. THIS IS WHAT MUST BE. YOU WILL NOT STOP US.

"Maybe, maybe not. What I guaran-fucking-tee that I will do is fight you with every last drop of blood and sweat I have…and I won't be the only one. We will take every last one of you down if we have to."

FOOLISH. WE WILL PREVAIL. WITH YOU, OR AGAINST YOU.

"I can't wait to shove those words down your throat," she grinned ruthlessly, muscles knotting as she pointed at the image. "I will bring you down. You will pay for every life that's been lost, for this and every cycle that ever came before us. You tell your friends I'm coming for them. I don't care if there's a hundred, a thousand, or a goddamn million…I'm coming for them."

The image faded as the Normandy suddenly appeared, flashing in the reflected light of a mass relay that now looked almost close enough to reach out and touch. Grabbing Kelcik's arm she pushed him in front of her, urging him to run, even as she saw the airlock slide open.

"Go! Move!"

Following the boy, she gripped his belt as they reached the lock and all but hefted him in before jumping in herself. "We're clear! Move!"

The lock slid closed, the ship turning and sailing for the relay. Hauling off her helmet, striding past Miranda as if she wasn't there, Shepard hurried over to Joker, gripping the back of his seat with one hand as his fingers flew over the controls.

The mass relay flared with fire, lashing out with dark energy and capturing the Normandy, whipping it into ultra-light speeds.

"Were you able to warn anyone?" she demanded.

"We sent out the warning but there was no official response. We did read two or three launches from the colony but only a couple of ships already in orbit made it through the relay," he told her. Turning, she jogged for the CIC, tossing her helmet aside as she did.

Maybe Kenson was wrong. No one knows what happens when you destroy a relay, or even if they can really be destroyed. Maybe it won't do anything. Maybe it will explode but not to the extent she had calculated.

Clinging to hope, Shepard reached the galaxy map. Time had already run out. They had made the relay with just seconds to spare, but it always took the map several moments to correlate real-time scan data into a cohesive image.

She could feel her hands trembling, and gripped the edge of the promontory railing as she watched the swirling stars. Then, a flash, centering in the Bahak system. The flash rippled outward, consuming Aratoht and its moon and slowly eating away the rest of the system before it faded. The map put up a flag that flashed, 'warning, critical cosmic event detected' over the site.

Three hundred thousand. The number echoed in her mind, drowning out even Kelcik's poor, ragged sobs.

She hung her head, her entire body feeling hollowed out.

"My God," Miranda murmured from somewhere close by. "All those people…"

Shepard grit her teeth, steeling herself as she straightened. Seeing the expression on her face, her XO shook her head. "It wasn't your fault, Commander. I know you. You would have done everything you could to stop it."

"No," Del murmured softly. "No. I was doing everything I could to ensure it happened."

Ignoring Miranda's shocked, disbelieving expression, Shepard stepped down off the promontory, gently gripping Kelcik's arm.

"Put us on course for the Citadel," she said distantly. "We'll be down in the infirmary."

The rain clouds that had formed a dreary, heavy ceiling over the colony for the last week had finally broken up and lifted. Shrive stepped out of the prefab, turning her face up toward the sun with a smile, reveling in the warm rays for a long moment. The fresh, morning air was just crisp enough to fill one's lungs with energy.

There had been so much worry lately, so much sadness and turmoil and disquietude…it was nice to have just a moment for life and peace, even if it was found in nothing more poignant than a lovely sunrise.

Lifting the tea in her hand, she sipped at it, motion drawing her eyes. She lifted a brow as she saw two of her neighbors bustling into the street. They seemed alarmed, and one of them pointed. Turning curiously, Shrive looked back up toward the sky just in time to see a brilliant, white flash of light flare through the azure, momentarily brighter than the sun.

Her hand lifted automatically to shield her eyes from the illumination, her brows knitting in confusion as she blinked.

What could that have been? she thought. Behind her, her neighbors began screaming. Whirling, she dropped her tea, staring at the couple as they hugged each other, clinging and sobbing and dropping to their knees.

In the heartbeat before everything ended, Shrive had time for one last thought, a face appearing in front of her eyes for a moment.

Eír…

Then, everything ended.

The throbbing, heavy bass was meant to drown everything out, to pound all thought and feeling from her head.

So far, it wasn't working.

Shepard strode across the floor of the Nest, the crash bringing with it thin lances of pain as she slammed her hand into her small table, shattering the shot glass she carried into thick, biting shards. Remnants of whiskey burned at the cuts, brown mingling with pats of crimson as she then gripped the bottle and whirled.

The boom as it hit the wall of her quarters was like a mortar shot.

Three hundred thousand people.

All my fault…I couldn't stop it. Why couldn't I stop it?

Eir and Shrive. Liara's own sister.

I couldn't save them. Their lives were in my hands and I failed…I killed them all.

Dropping into a sit on the floor, knees drawn up, Shepard looked at her hands. Thin pebbles of glass were still embedded in her skin, lazy slicks of blood tracing their way through the lines on her palm.

Blood. Blood on her hands. Her ears echoed with Kelcik's ragged sobs, his angry accusations.

"Now you'll just add three hundred thousand more to the number. Who cares, as long as they're batarians…they're not your family, are they? They're just animals-"

She heard the door to the Nest slide open. She lowered her hands, ignoring the pats of blood that dripped over her trousers. "Go away, Kelly," she warned.

The redhead ignored her, of course, stepping down into the living space and going to her side. Crouching, she took Shepard's wrists gently to examine the damage, only to oof as the Commander shoved her away, landing her on her backside.

"I said go away!"

"I'm not going too," Kelly replied evenly, looking at her as she pushed herself back into a sit. "You may as well accept that."

Shepard said nothing, glaring at her floor. After a moment Kelly eased back over, and took her hand again. Silently, she began to pick the bits of glass out of the skin.

"Have you spoken with Liara?" she ventured after a moment.

"No," Del mumbled. "What would I say to her? I killed your sister and her bondmate? I murdered three hundred thousand helpless batarians?"

"She will hear of it soon herself, if she has not already," Kelly told her. "Does she deserve to learn of it over a news burst or the extra-net? Or should she hear it from you?"

Shepard growled, raking the fingers of her unwounded hand back through her hair, before pushing herself up to her feet.

"Let me be, Kelly," she said wearily. "Please just…just let me be."

"You are not a bad person, Shepard," Kelly said softly as she got to her feet. She lightly touched the commander's arm. "You fought hellfire to save your crew, to bring us back. I know that you did everything in your power to warn those batarians, to try and save as many as you could. This is too big a thing for someone to carry alone…even for someone like you. I will go…but call Liara. She is going to need you as much as you are going to need her."

Shepard said nothing, and after a moment, Kelly slipped out again. Going over to her desk, Shepard slapped the control for her computer with the heel of her hand, cutting off the music with a blaring jolt.

Her messages were flashing at her. Her aching eyes landed on one from Hackett, and she reluctantly selected it.

Text only, it read:

Received report. Will speak to you in person at Citadel. Will board when you dock.

Adm. Steven Hackett.

Hanging her head, her dark hair in muddled curtains around her face, Shepard took a deep breath. Ignoring the other messages she opened a private comm channel, and called Liara.

A few moments later, the call flashed as accepted. She transferred it to the room's holographic projector and the asari appeared on the lower floor of the Nest. She turned as Shepard came down the steps, puzzled confusion turning into alarm.

"Shepard, your head-!"

Self-consciously, Del reached up and touched the naked line along the side of her skull, where the bullet had grazed her. Dr. Chakwas had examined all her wounds and declared them adequately treated if not yet sufficiently healed. A few steroid-inhalant treatments had helped to ease her wounded lung and speed up healing.

The wound on her head would scar, of course. Helen told her that the follicles within it were damaged but not irreparably so. She was able to stimulate them for hair re-growth…which would take a week or two, but the hair that grew back in would likely be off-color, possibly even white.

Dropping her fingers, she shook her head. "How…your evacuation – I…shouldn't have called," she mumbled, and started to turn away. Though she could not actually touch her, Liara moved forward after the human, one hand extended.

"No, Shepard, please…what's happened? The evacuation of the Broker base is going well and we are on the cusp of departing. I can spare a few moments. Are you not at the Citadel?"

Shepard halted, then took a deep breath, her shoulders squaring. Looking back at her love, she said, "I can't tell you everything that's happened, Liara," she said softly. "You are a very good information Broker and…I know that whatever I say or don't say, you will eventually discover the whole story but…"

She broke off helplessly. Seeing only concern and love on the other asari's face wounded Shepard's heart more than she could say. Her brown eyes shifted a little.

"Is…is Wilcher or Ori there with you? Feron, or Garrus…someone?"

"I am alone in the room for now," Liara told her.

"Someone needs to be there with you. Call someone to be there with you."

"Why?" Liara asked, alarm now spreading on her features. "Shepard-"

"Liara, just…get someone in the room with you, now, ok?"

Stiffening, the asari nodded, touching a nearby console that was invisible to Del. "Ori, could you please come here a moment?" she asked. As she looked back at Shepard, Del was unable to meet her gaze.

Only moments later, the redhead appeared, materializing across the bedroom floor.

"What is it, Liara?"

"Shepard has something to tell me and thought it proper I was not alone," Liara told her, then looked at her love. "Del…?"

The human Commander straightened again, every trace of emotion seeming to vanish off her face under a coat of stoicism and resolve.

"The Normandy was called to a mission in batarian space," she said evenly. "I was given evidence of an imminent Reaper arrival in the system. I was not able to prevent them entering the system but I was able to delay their entry into the rest of the galaxy by destroying the local mass relay."

"You destroyed a mass relay?" Liara asked, surprised. "I did not think that was possible."

"Apparently it is if you drive a big enough asteroid into one," Shepard said tightly.

Slim blue brows knit. "The energy released from such a collision must have been astronomical-"

"The same as released with a supernova," Shepard replied. "Yes. The entire system was destroyed. The Normandy barely made it out in time."

Blue eyes searched her face. "Shepard…?"

"Liara, it was the Bahak system," Shepard said. "Aratoht is gone."

Liara blinked, then slowly her face transformed from confusion into horrified shock. "No…" she whispered.

Shepard clasped her hands behind her back tightly. "I did my best to warn the colony, to effect an evacuation but events…I failed, Liara. The long and short of it is, I failed. I wasn't able to save them, to warn them in time."

The look on her love's face was like sending a dagger straight through her heart. Liara's struggle to maintain her composure was obvious, but her eyes were welling with tears that could not be halted. As they started to fall, Ori stepped up and gently took her arm. Liara sucked in a sob, lifting her chin.

"Eír and Shrive…?" she whispered. Shepard said nothing. She couldn't trust her voice enough to say anything. Liara's face fell and she lowered her head, covering her mouth. Ori put her arm around her, then looked at Shepard.

"How many people were on that colony?" she asked, wide-eyed.

"Three hundred thousand," Del replied roughly. The redhead looked stricken. Liara looked simply devastated. Shepard wanted nothing more than to hold her, to beg her forgiveness…but she couldn't.

After a moment, Liara composed herself enough to speak again, lowering her hand. "What happens now?"

"We're en route to the Citadel," Shepard told her. "From there the plan remains the same. I surrender myself and the Normandy to Anderson."

"Del, do not spare me," Liara said heatedly, her eyes still damp. Her lower lip trembled, further breaking Shepard's heart. "You know exactly what I am asking!"

"My arrest won't just be a formality anymore," Shepard admitted. "The batarians are not going to understand why this happened. They'll consider it an act of terrorism, of war. I will likely be escorted back to Earth, tried and convicted as a war criminal. I will probably be thrown to the dogs in an effort to stave off a horrific war with the batarians that we can't afford right now. Most likely I'll be dishonorably discharged and sent to a hard-labor internment camp for the rest of my life. If that doesn't appease the batarians it is possible I will be executed."

Liara moaned faintly, covering her mouth again momentarily, before she shook her head. "I will not allow that to happen. Anderson, and Hackett…they won't-"

"They may not have a choice, Tianlán!" Del said sternly. "They have to live by the law just as everyone else. They can only bend it so far, and if it comes down to me or a war with the batarians while the Reapers are knocking on our door…then they are not going to hesitate in making the right call."

"Then I will do something about it," Liara said furiously. "I have contacts, friends-"

"You aren't going to do anything, Liara, besides finish scuttling that ship and getting yourself somewhere safe," Shepard ordered.

"I will not stand by and-"

"What are you going to do? Take on the entire Alliance?" Shepard was getting heated. Anger had always been easier for her than grief and misery. The stricken expression in the asari's eyes, however, quickly deflated her. She sagged. "Liara…just…I'm just so sorry for everything I've put you through. I tried to warn them, I swear…I tried to save her…"

"Del, I know you did everything in your power," Liara told her. "You are always trying so hard to save everyone else. Please…let me save you."

"Don't…" she sighed, sagging a bit more. "Just…try not to worry for now, ok? That's all worst-case scenario. I've got the Fleet Master on my side, the human Councilor, a well respected Admiral…I stopped the Collectors, I stopped the Saren and the geth…that's got to count for something. It won't be easy or smart for them to hang me too high. We just…we just have to see what happens."

Stepping away from Ori, Liara drew closer. Shepard could see the shimmer of moisture on her cheeks, and felt her own eyes heating. "It just does not seem fair, does it?" Liara murmured softly. "You do all that you can and still…"

"Yeah," Del replied quietly. "Please be safe, Liara. I'm…I'm so sorry about Eír."

"I pray she has found her peace," Liara whispered sadly. Then her eyes met Del's and steeled a little. "I will be following the news bursts as closely as I can, Shepard. Do what you must, but understand this. They will not take you from me."

Her lashes dipped, another tear tracing down her face before she turned, striding away. Ori glanced at Shepard, inclining her head a little. "I'll keep an eye on her," she promised. "Commander…good luck."

Del nodded faintly, watching the small redhead scurry after the asari before the holographic feed faded away.

They dropped Legion on an uninhabited moon per its request. It reassured Shepard that its people would be able to retrieve it, but felt it best that it went nowhere near the Citadel. Shepard could only agree.

Outside the airlock, just before it departed, she once again shook its hand. "We could not have made it without you," she told it solemnly. "You got those doors opened, and you saved Kasumi's life."

"We were glad to be of service, Shepard-Commander."

"And we were glad to have you, Legion," she replied, lifting her hand and saluting. The geth's flaps shifted a little in surprise, before it lifted its hand as well, and returned the salute, before disappearing into the airlock.

The others took their leave when they finally docked at the Citadel. True to his word, Anderson gave them an hour to allow those that wished to discretely disperse. Thane, Jack, Samara, Zaeed and Jacob each bid her their farewells before departing, fading into various parts of the crowd. Though she had grown to like and respect them all, a few were harder to watch walk away than others. Kasumi, for instance.

"I'm not gonna cry," the thief vowed to herself, before taking a deep breath and grasping Shepard's arms. "You are the biggest bad-assiest hero I know, Shep. Don't ever stop doing what you do."

"I…don't think 'bad-assiest' is actually a word, Kasumi," Shepard smiled. The thief winked.

"You made it a word just by being you. It's the only one that fits. I mean it…take care of yourself. I'm going to miss you."

"I'm going to miss you too, Kas," Del admitted. "Don't steal anything that ends up getting you shot, ok?"

"Hey, I never got shot before I joined up with you and your crazy suicide mission," she protested. "I'm just going to stick to nice, safe kleptomania and leave you to all the explosions."

Gathering her things, she gave Del one last hug before turning and literally vanishing, fading into thin air before she'd gotten halfway across the ramp.

Miranda left with Mordin, the pair escorting Deirdre and the shackled Sydney off ship. They were only going two slips over, to a hired vessel that would take them to Sur'Kesh. Miranda had decided she was going to at least see them settled there before disappearing. She wouldn't even tell Del what her plans were, insisting it was safer if Shepard didn't know.

The normally collected XO actually teared up as she gave Shepard an abrupt, brief hug…almost seeming embarrassed by it the moment it happened. Shepard didn't let her off that easy, drawing her back in and hugging her tightly.

"Watch yourself," Miranda murmured. "Cerberus is nothing if not persistent."

"Goes for you too, Lawson," Shepard told her, finally releasing her. "It was an honor to work with you."

The Australian inclined her head before she turned and joined the others. Shepard met Sydney's eyes a moment, the blonde nodding slightly before Deirdre lightly touched her arm and guided her along with Mordin and Miranda.

"This is stupid," a voice rumbled behind her as the group vanished. "I should go with you to Earth."

"Grunt," Del smirked, looking affectionately at the boy. "You belong on Tuchanka and you know it. Besides, Earth is boring. Everyone there is soft and pathetic and no one can head-butt right."

He huffed. "You can."

"I'm an aberration. Kind of like you, but less ugly."

He rumbled a laugh. "Yeah, well…you know if you need me, just call. I will always come, battle master."

"I know you will, Grunt," she replied. "Right now, though, Wrex needs your plates on Tuchanka. So get moving, boy, before I have to slam some sense into you."

He snorted, then bobbed his head. As he strode away, shifting his pack on his shoulders, Del felt her aching eyes heat all over again.

"I'm going to miss you, big guy," she murmured softly.

Taking a deep breath, she strode back into the Normandy. Though not everyone had gone, the ship felt hugely empty, vastly lonely.

Joker was one who had chosen to remain. Even knowing he'd likely be arrested too, he was set in his decision. Chakwas, unsurprisingly, remained on board as well, as did Gabriella and Kenneth, and a handful of the rest of the crew. As she headed toward the CIC, Del saw Helen waiting for her, and nodded.

"Doctor?"

"Commander," Chakwas smiled faintly. "So…this is it. Hackett will be here soon and we'll be heading back to Earth. I don't know if they'll give us much of a chance to talk to each other before then so…I just wanted to say…I'm going to miss patching you up."

"Well, I'm not going to miss getting shot," Shepard replied with weak amusement. "Are you sure you don't want to go, Helen? It's not too late…"

"And be a fugitive?" she shook her head. "No. I'm not cut out to be a fugitive, and I do not hide from the consequences of my decisions, Shepard. I'm not worried."

"Commander, Admiral Hackett is boarding," EDI stated. Shepard nodded, glancing at the blue orb even as she turned.

"VI, EDI."

"Of course, Commander."

Shepard drew to attention as Hackett crossed toward the CIC. He seemed to have aged some, but otherwise was as collected and straight-laced as always. She saluted, and he returned it.

"Doctor, if you'll excuse us," he said, eyes shifted over to Helen. She nodded and stepped past, lightly touching Del's arm as she did, before heading up to the helm.

"Shepard, do you want to tell me what the hell happened?" he asked the moment the older woman was out of hearing range. "I sent you in for a simple rescue and the next thing I know relays are exploding and an entire batarian system is wiped out."

"Have you read my report, sir?" she asked.

"I don't want to read the report, I want to hear it from you," he replied. "What happened?"

Never relaxing further than parade rest, Shepard related the events as dispassionately as possible. She told him of Kenson's behavior, of discovering Object Rho out in the open, and what had happened. She told him of her attempts to warn the colony and Kenson's constant efforts to thwart her. She told him of Kelcik and her wounds and Harbinger's appearance. When she finally fell silent, Hackett looked grim, and far from happy.

"You are positive this artifact was of Reaper origin," he asked at last. "You really thought the Reapers were an imminent threat?"

"Yes, sir," she replied without hesitation.

"And this batarian boy. He is still on board?"

"He is. He recovered his strength thanks to Dr. Chakwas but declined arrangements to send him back to batarian space."

"I want to speak to this boy."

"I understand, but that will be his decision, sir. He is down on the lower levels at the moment."

Hackett hmmed under his breath, then nodded. "I don't have to tell you how bad this is, Shepard. The batarians are going to be howling for blood, and we cannot risk war with them if the Reapers are on the verge of full-scale invasion."

"I understand, sir, and I will accept any consequences for my actions."

"Good to see your sense of honor is still intact," he mused, then straightened with a nod. "Councilor Anderson and the relief crew are waiting deck-side. We may as well get this done."

"Yes, sir," she agreed. "And…sir?"

Hackett paused, looking at her. She lifted her chin slightly, her voice softening. "I'm so sorry, sir…about Dr. Kenson."

"She was a good woman," he agreed. "A good friend. However if she was indoctrinated, you made the right call. I can't imagine she'd knowingly choose that over her own free will, given the option. You probably did her a service."

Shepard lowered her head a little, and he reached out, taking her shoulder. "All right. Come on."

As Shepard strode off the Normandy with Hackett at her shoulder, a solemn crowd was waiting for her at the end of the dock. Anderson stood, his face a mask, his shoulders square. Several other Alliance personnel in full uniform waited with him – the crew that would pilot Normandy back to Earth. There was also a visibly armed escort, and one face she had not expected to see.

Ashley Williams looked just as stoic and blank as Anderson did, standing at parade rest with one hand resting on the butt of a pistol on her hip. As Shepard neared the group she drew to a halt, drawing herself up with a snap, casting a perfect salute.

"Commander Delilah Shepard," Anderson rumbled, returning the salute.

"Councilor Anderson," she replied. "I hereby surrender both my person and the Normandy into your possession. I submit myself to the Alliance and any justice it seems fit to administer."

"Accepted, Commander," Anderson replied, dropping the salute. "Crew, you may take possession."

Most of the group moved past, up the ramp and into the ship. Clearing his throat, Anderson waited until they'd gone before continuing. "Commander, you are hereby stripped of your rank and are under arrest pending charges of desertion, terrorist association, and malicious acts of war…namely, the destruction of a mass relay resulting in over three hundred thousand batarian casualties. You will be granted all rights of an Alliance prisoner under Code 345-2, including right to free counsel. You will be returned to Earth and held in a detention facility pending psychological evaluation and dispensation."

He gestured with a nod, and Williams came forward, removing a set of bind-cuffs from her belt as she moved up behind Del, drawing her arms back and snapping the restraints on her wrists.

"Sorry about this, Skipper…" she murmured softly as she fastened the bindings. Shepard said nothing.

"Williams, escort Shepard onto the Normandy and secure her in the brig," Anderson ordered. "You are in command of the ship until its return to Earth."

"Yes, sir." She saluted, then gave Del's arm a gentle tug. Turning, Shepard allowed herself to be led back to the Normandy.

For good, or for ill…she was finally going home.