Okay I'm back. I've been away from civilization for a few weeks getting my head cleared in Tibet. If you ever have a chance, don't forget your iPhone. Glad for the experience, just don't plan on doing it again. Anyways, back to the story.

"Two Years."

The Cerberus woman's words seemed to hover in the small cabin. Had it really been two years since the Normandy had been destroyed, two years since he had…died? None of what the woman said had made since. He remembered the sounds of the alarms, the panic in Joker's voice as screamed at everyone to assume battle stations, the inevitable call to abandon ship. He recalled the desperation in Liara's voice as she begged to stay at his side. Liara. Had he known that he was minutes away from death, would he have told her the truth? The truth wasn't as simple as their last few seconds together had allowed. The truth was that while he did care for her, he didn't love her the way that he knew that she loved him, the way that she deserved to be loved. Would he have told her that his love belonged to another, a woman who selflessly gave her life to save the rest? A woman who reminded him that the mission must always come before the individual? It had nearly broken him when Ashley had died. He did his best to swallow his feelings, to ignore the throbbing pain he felt at the loss of someone he held so dear. Miranda gave a small cough, pulling him away from his thoughts of Ashley Williams.

"Commander, I was hoping that I could ask you a few questions? Just to get an idea at how much you remember."

Jacob scoffed. "Tests Miranda? I told you, we ran roughshod over everything those mechs threw at us. If you ask me the Commander is better than ever." Shepard liked the bravado of Mr. Taylor. When he had managed to escape the examination room, he'd come across Taylor. The two of them, with the eventual assistance of a man he knew only as Wilson, managed to fight their way through the base and meet Miranda at the shuttle bay. The woman had then executed Wilson on the basis that it had been he that was responsible for unleashing the terror on the research station. Shepard looked at Miranda.

"What kind of tests?"

He was a little surprised at the look of empathy in the woman's eyes. When she had killed Wilson, he had seen nothing but anger and cold calculation. But now it seemed that she regretted having asked any more of him. Miranda answered, seemingly looking to appease the looks from both men.

"I was hoping to ask, what do you remember? I just want to gauge the levels of your brain function?"

Shepard gave her a small smile. "So you want to make sure that I still remember that I'm human and not some mindless undead monster?"

She smiled, "In a manner, yes." She turned to her partner. "Jacob, if you please."

The man gave a quick glance to the data pad Miranda had handed him. "What can you tell us about your background?"

Shepard looked at the man confused. "My background? What kind of question is that?" He glanced over at Miranda, she remained stoic waiting for his answer. "I am John Vincent Shepard, second of three children to Alliance Naval Commanders David and Hannah Shepard. My father is retired and currently resides on Titan where he spends all of his free time growing roses. He has about as much knowledge of roses as you'd expect from someone who lived their entire adult life as a marine. My mother is the first officer on the Alliance ship Kilimanjaro. In between deployments, she enjoys sitting at their home and pestering her children about the prospects of becoming a grandparent." Shepard paused, Jacob was working hard to try and confirm his story, while Miranda sat emotionless taking it all in. "My older brother Gregory is a lawyer with a small practice on Mars. He has yet to have children for reasons obvious reasons. For what it's worth his 'roommate' Harold, couldn't be a nicer person. My sister Elena," he tried to remember how his mother used to describe the youngest and most rebellious of the Shepard children. "Elena is…a free spirit. The last I heard of her she was studying holistic medicine in Tibet." He looked at the Cerberus officers. "Is that background enough?"

Jacob snickered before Miranda answered annoyed. "Well as enlightening as that was, can we move on." It gave Shepard a small amount of pleasure knowing that he'd annoyed the woman. Jacob, still amused continued.

"What can you tell me about Akuze?

Shepard's moment of levity quickly evaporated. "You want to know what happened on Akuze? You people know exactly what happened on that goddamned planet." He saw a look of confusion on the man's face. Miranda flinched briefly, but long enough that he'd taken notice. "She knows what I'm talking about." He looked back at Jacob. "My unit got a distress call from a downed colonial supply freighter. We were a scouting ship, but we were the only Alliance vessel in the system. When we arrived we found that there was no freighter. We were ambushed. The distress beacon was coming from a thresher maw nest. What I later found out was that it was Cerberus that was behind the ambush. It seems that some people within your organization," he glared at Miranda, she quickly broke off his stare, "Some people thought it would be beneficial to study the affects of maw acid inside the human body." He growled at two. "How did go by the way?"

Sheepishly Jacob answered. "I-uh, I didn't have anything to do with that. It was before my time with the organization." They sat in silence for several minutes before Jacob continued. "Commander, can I ask you about the mission on Virmire?"

Shepard laughed out in disgust. "You're just full of fond memories aren't you?" He felt fidgety. He wanted to talk about anything else. He didn't want to be reminded of her, it hurt too much. Begrudgingly he asked, "What do you want to know?"

Miranda, having joined the conversation, answered. "You managed to destroy Saren's cloning facility. In doing so you left one of your own to die, Gunnery Chief Ashley Williams. Can you tell me your reasoning?"

He felt the air being sucked out of his person. Quietly he answered the woman. "What do you want me to say, that Ash died a hero? She died protecting the nuclear weapon used to destroy the base. We were spread to thin. I had too make a choice. Go back and save Ashley or save Kaidan Alenko and a salarian STG team. I sacrificed one to save the rest. The woman I loved is dead because I left her to die."

Miranda was taken aback. None of the research or intel they had on Shepard made any mention of a relationship with Ashley Williams. She vowed to kill the brokers that had neglected to share that small bit of data. There was info that there had been a brief relationship with the asari T'Soni, a fact that she had confirmed when the woman had been so reluctant to give Lawson the commander's body. She could see the pain in the man's face. "I'm sorry Commander. We didn't know."

He lowered his head and stared at the floor. "It's bullshit you know. Nobody dies a hero, they just die." Miranda fought the urge to reach out and take his hand. She wanted to comfort the man that she knew so well. When in reality, she thought to herself, she didn't know him at all. Even more disturbing to her was the fact that she felt that needed to provide some sense of succor to the man.

Shepard straightened up. "It doesn't matter. Let me ask you something." He stared out the portside window, watching the pink waves of the jump fields. "What happened to my crew? I guess what I'm asking is…"

"Are you alone?" Miranda leaned forward handing him her datapad. "Of the forty-two Alliance crewmembers, thirty-one have been declared dead. Thirty-two if you count yourself. The turian, quarian, and krogan can also be counted as survivors. As well as the asari, Dr. T'Soni." When Miranda had envisioned herself having this conversation, she had expected to have the news of Liara's well-being be comforting to Shepard. However the revelation that Shepard had loved Ashley Williams and not the asari had proved to be surprising to say the least. A surprise that she was curious as to why it pleased her so.

Next it was Jacob that provided the answers for Shepard's next questions. "Their whereabouts are unknown, but we have had sightings from time to time. Urdnot Wrex was last seen in the Krogan DMZ. Garrus Vakarian returned to C-Sec for approximately six months before leaving the Citadel altogether. Tali'Zorah returned to the Migrant Fleet, it's presumed that is where she remains." Shepard took it all in. Jacob continued to read the names of the few that survived. He didn't recognize many. A surge of regret welled inside of him. He was embarrassed that he hadn't taken the time to get to know many of the crew. If he hadn't known many of the survivors, it was safe to assume that he would know even fewer of those that had perished. On name however didn't appear on the list of the dead that Miranda had given him or the names of the survivors that Jacob was reading.

"Where is Joker? Lt. Jeffrey Moreau, he isn't on either list. Did he…? Is he alive?" Jacob gave Miranda a nervous glance. "I need to know, is okay?"

"You ask a two part question Commander." Miranda took her datapad back. "Mr. Moreau lives. Whether Mr. Moreau is okay or not proves to be the topic of many discussions between he and his therapist."

Jacob rolled his eyes. "Jesus, Miri. Commander, Joker had a rough time with your death, survivor's guilt I guess. He blamed himself for your death. It wasn't long before the Alliance washed him out. Even Udina and the council went out of their way to see to it that he was as far away from the limelight as possible."

"Why?"

"Because those who flew with you knew the truth. You all knew the truth of the Reapers. Sometimes I wonder if the council regrets that whatever hit your ship hadn't just killed everyone on board." Shepard could hear the anger in the man's voice. Miranda echoed his sentiment.

"It was months after your death that the Council even acknowledged that you were in fact gone. Months that they had taken to do as much of a smear campaign as they could. They spread lies and rumors that you were crazy, that the claims of an impending Reaper invasion were delusional attempts to raise your position within the Spectres. It was actually quite brilliant."

"I'm glad you were such a fan."

Miranda gave a smirk and a small nod before standing. "Commander, I promise there will be plenty of time for more Q&A., for now though do try and get some rest. We are preparing to make the final jump."

Shepard watched as the woman crawled into the shuttle's cockpit. "Final jump to where?"

With a small smile that he found strangely enticing, she answered. "You did say you wanted to meet our boss, did you not?"

~o~0~o~

He'd been a family man once. An average person making average decisions, living an average life on Earth. He left for work everyday at the same time. He carpooled with the same group of coworkers. Twice a month he took his wife out to a nice restaurant. Every day of his life was the same. Each week bled into the next. There was nothing special about the man. That changed after Shanxi. The Turians had killed countless humans before the rest of the Citadel had negotiated a peace between the aliens and humans. It was during the aftermath that a certain concern began to nag at him. What was to stop the Turians or any other of the Council aliens from deciding that humanity didn't fit into the galactic community? He began to voice his concerns with his friends and the people he worked with. Most wanted to believe that the aliens were truthful in their claims for peace. Others told him that he needed to be more open to the idea of cooperation between humans and their new galactic neighbors. He understood their attitudes. The truth was that he had never been a confrontational man. He had served in the military, but that had been a long time ago and only under the promise of having his college education paid for. Still, he couldn't shake the feeling that the aliens were not to be trusted. At the very least he felt humanity couldn't afford to count on the Citadel species for support. Humanity needed to be strong. It needed to show the resolve and strength to stand on its own.

The letter began as a simple entry into his personal journal, a way of preserving his thoughts to record. His family had gone for the week to join many in the witnessing of the ceremonial treaty signing. As much as he had been against going, he could not deny his family the historical significance of the event. It was while they were away, that he found himself in front of his computer. He wrote about his fears of alien occupation. He wrote of his concerns for the well being of humanity's future. It wasn't long before the letter began to consume him. He took the next couple of days away from his job to continue to outline his vision. As a curiosity, he reached out to a couple friends he still had in the military. He was pleasantly surprised to find out that many shared his opinions and concerns. It wasn't long after that the letter had been circulated through several outlets.

After another day of failing to go to work and to even sleep for that matter, he reached an epiphany. Humanity needed a powerful symbol on which to hang its future. A strong presence that had its best interests at heart. In order to achieve this it would need a leader, someone willing to sacrifice all for the greater good. He realized what he needed to do. He cleaned out an account that he kept as "rainy day" funds. He'd always had an uncanny ability to understand the global markets. He had simply never been daring enough to risk his own family's money on a whim. Within hours he had managed to turn the ten thousand credits into two million. He then created a ghost account that would slowly deposit that money into his family's account foe the next several years. After his decision had been made, he simply got into his car and made his way to the nearest space port. He had made plans through a few of his contacts to leave his life behind and start anew as the head of his new collective.

The man sat in near darkness, the only light coming from the slow deep drags of his cigarette. He was still awaiting Lawson's report. It was seven minutes past due. Any other operative and he wouldn't have given the tardiness much thought, but when it came to Miranda and Project Lazarus he was never kept waiting. The Illusive Man touched one of the panels on his chair, several screens powered up. One of the screens displayed the results of Lazarus' latest tests. It seemed as it would only be a matter of weeks before they would be ready to "activate" Shepard. He smiled to himself. When the project had first been proposed amongst the Directors, he hadn't expected it to have been this successful. The door buzzer sounded. He pressed a small button allowing the person entry. A young man entered the room.

"Sir," he looked extremely nervous. "We have received a security dispatch from Operative Lawson. The base has come under attack."

"What type of attack?"

"We don't know. Lawson was in one of the personal shuttlecraft. She was only able to send a message to one of our encrypted comm buoys. All we were able to ascertain was that during the attack she was forced to activate Project Lazarus."

"And what is the current status?"

The young man answered. "We were able to track the ship. It looks to be headed to communications substation twelve. It seems that Shepard would like to meet you."

The Illusive Man looked out at the nearby star. "Well this should get interesting now."

~o~0~o~

It wasn't long before Miranda was able to hear the deep relaxed breathing coming from the rear cabin of the shuttle. Glancing back to ensure that Shepard was in fact asleep; she reviewed the answers to the questions she had posed earlier. She rolled her eyes at the glibness of Shepard's answers regarding his family. Despite the attitude, she was pleased that his memories seemed to be in full response. She debated on when the proper time to tell him that the Shepard's want for a grandchild had ended over a year ago when Elena Shepard had married and given birth to a son. It seemed the family's black sheep was now living the stereotypical housewife lifestyle. Miranda had always been puzzled by women who sought no other fulfillment than to live as a wife and mother. The way she saw it, it was a life lived in servitude. She also thought that it would have been a terrible waste of her talents and abilities. No part of that had ever appealed to Miranda. She supposed it came from the fact that Miranda had never had a mother. A sound of shuffling brought her out of her thoughts. Jacob stood in the small doorway.

"Care if I join you?" Miranda didn't answer but motioned to the adjoining bucket seat. "Yeah Shepard's out like a light. You'd think after being asleep for two years that he could at least stay awake for a few hours while we make our way to…just where are we going?"

Miranda turned one of the monitors towards Jacob. "Cerberus station twelve. It's where the second half of our project is."

The two sat in silence for several minutes before Jacob asked. "Miranda, what happened at Akuze?" She had known that the question would be asked eventually but she'd still as of yet to find what she considered the appropriate response.

"I was there. It was one of my first assignments with Cerberus. I was simply there in a liaison role, but I witnessed the whole entire event. Let's just say that the experiment didn't go exactly as planned or at least as I was briefed that it would go. The Alliance marines never stood a chance. There was one however," Miranda took a moment and glanced back at the sleeping Shepard. "One marine that absolutely refused to die. Never mind that it wasn't my place, but all I wanted to do was stop the carnage." She became quiet. "It was me that alerted the Alliance to Shepard's survival and location. Originally The Illusive Man had determined that there would be no survivors, it took some convincing on my part to get him to allow Shepard's survival."

Jacob had a look of shock on his face. "Wow, thank God for small miracles, huh?"

Miranda smiled. Jacob had always had the ability to make her smile. Even though the relationship between the two of them had ended recently, he was still the closest thing to a friend that she had. She also felt safe in revealing to him her role in Akuze. Unlike many of the other people that they worked with, Jacob was a very moral individual who put a premium on honor and duty. She knew that anything she shared with him would never escape his lips. "Jacob, did you know Ashley Williams?"

"I knew of her." He seemed to be thinking back. "Eden Prime was one of the larger settlements, but even then it was still pretty small. I knew who she was, but I can't say if I ever had a conversation with her or not." Miranda nodded. She made a note of it to learn more about the woman. When researching Shepard's history, she'd learned everything she could about all of the women in his past. It started out as a way of finding if there were any offspring known or otherwise that she could get a DNA sample from. The search for a child had proved fruitless but in finding the women in Shepard's life, she felt as if she began to understand the man. Something that she noticed was a line of powerful women, strong personalities that saw themselves as equals to the Commander. That made Miranda laugh. While a handful of these women were 'alpha' females, Shepard was an N7 marine with an exceptionally brilliant mind. No woman would truly be able call herself his equal. Miranda thought of one woman, but quickly pushed the thought away. Once again Jacob pulled her away from her thoughts.

"Miri, why station twelve? Why not Central Control?"

Miranda smiled. "The Illusive Man may not give all that much thought to his safety, but I do. Shepard's previous experiences with our organization have all been…less than pleasant. I would much rather the first time they meet be through the communicator and not face to face."

"So you're worried about The Illusive Man's safety?" Jacob laughed. "Somehow I feel like the boss man can take care of himself."

Miranda looked at the man and then glanced back at the sleeping Shepard. With a serious voice, she answered. "The Alliance made him a perfect weapon. With my upgrades and enhancements, I made him the perfect weapon. And against my wishes, we are about to unleash that weapon to his own accord and just have to pray that he chooses to help us."

~o~0~o~

Shepard was met with numerous stares and murmurs as he walked through the corridors of the Cerberus space station. He had to admit that the looks from the Cerberus crew were far less hostile than he had been expecting. The truth however was that he hadn't known just what to expect. The last time he had run into any Cerberus types, there had been plenty of bullets fired. However Jacob and to a lesser extent Miranda, both seemed to hold no hostilities towards him. Miranda led him down a series of steps to a set of large doors.

"The Illusive Man is waiting for you inside."

Shepard looked at her. "Anything I should know?"

"I doubt he will have as much patience for your glibness as I have shown."

He raised an eyebrow. "If I remember right, you were actually pretty short with me." Miranda refused to display the smile she felt approaching. "Oh I see. Touché Ms. Lawson, Touché." Miranda turned and walked back up the stairs. Shepard felt a small rush of blood run to his cheeks when he realized that he had been watching her walk away. "Sorry." he muttered.

Miranda turned back around. "Sorry for what, Commander?"

"N-Nothing. " Embarrassed he turned back to the large doors. He entered a deceptively dark room. "Hello?" A small circle illuminated near the center of the floor. Cautiously he stepped onto it. Suddenly a series of scanners came from the walls. Within seconds he was standing face to face with the hologram med image of a well dressed man. "Illusive Man?" The man took a slow drag from his cigarette, before putting out the butt and rising from his chair.

"Commander Shepard, it is a pleasure to meet you. How do you feel?"

Shepard kept Miranda's warning in mind. "Let's just cut to the chase. Why am I here? The last time I ran into Cerberus, a lot of your people ended up dead. Don't tell me you brought me back just so you could kill me yourself."

The Illusive Man let out a small chuckle. "No Commander I don't plan on killing you. I find myself in an unfamiliar situation. I need your help."

Shepard looked at the man suspiciously. "What kind of help?"