~Author's Note~ Sorry for the wait on this one, I've been home over a break from grad school. I've also got everything sorted out as far as this story goes, so I do know where we're going finally. :P

Enjoy the chapter and thanks for the reviews!

It took them nearly a full day to reach the rendezvous point. Hackett thought it was very clever to have it in the Widow system, next to the one where the Citadel used to be. After all, there was nothing left for the Reapers to take, at this point, not in this system. Bekenstein was a burning husk of a world, its beauty destroyed in the aftermath of the Reaper invasion. The fleet hovered in orbit around it. Or rather, what was left of the fleet.

As the Normandy approached the allied ships, Shepard gasped at the damage. Nearly every one she could see had scorch marks of some kind, or holes blown open that showed the ships' interior. They had fought long and hard, and all for nothing. Because she had failed to reach the Citadel and open its arms so that the Crucible could attach. It had all been one giant trap. The Reapers had never had any intention of letting her anywhere near the Citadel. They only left the beam open to try and turn her. It would certainly have made this cycle end a lot faster if Shepard, the hero of the galaxy, and savior of the citadel, was suddenly the one fighting against galactic civilization.

But, the cycle would end in their defeat nonetheless. It would simply be a slower, more drawn-out process. Their secret weapon was not so secret after all, and it relied on a piece of technology that was in the hands of their enemy.

The preliminary reports estimated that less than two dozen Reapers had fallen to the combined might of the entire galactic armada.

If their combined strength could only bring down a fraction of the Reapers total forces, what chance did they have of winning this war? Harbinger didn't waste his time trying to indoctrinate her because she was actually a threat. He simply wanted to end it faster so he could return to dark space. An interesting thought. What exactly did the Reapers do between cycles? Hibernate? She shook her head and returned to gazing out the window as they approached the Atreus. Then she saw the Crucible.

If the rest of the ships had looked bad, the Crucible looked... completely untouched. That was odd. If the Crucible really was a threat to the Reapers, why had they not attempted to destroy it? They should have been focusing fire on it, attempting to blow it out of the sky. The massive amount of resources the Allies had put into building it would not be easily replicated, if it was even possible at all. Obviously, they believed the Crucible was no threat.

But was that because they knew Shepard would not reach the Citadel, or- and this was a very dark thought indeed- was the Crucible simply not a threat period? The Allies knew it was not the Protheans that had originally come up with its design, what if this was yet another thing planted by the Reapers that the ancient civilizations had found? What if the Crucible was simply a means to get everyone into one place? To waste their time and resources? Shepard shook the thought off. If she began ascribing omniscience to the Reapers, then she might as well give up now. If they had planned all this out, then they really couldn't be beaten.

A very wise man once wrote, "Do not underestimate your enemy, for it will be your undoing. Do not overestimate your enemy, for it will defeat you as surely as the former." The Reapers could be beaten. She just had to figure out how.

They had managed to destroy some of them. The Reapers were not invincible. She simply did not have enough firepower at her disposal to destroy all of them. She needed to level the playing field. But how?

The Normandy pulled up close to the Atreus, the command vessel of the Allied forces. Hackett had sent out a message fleet-wide, requesting a meeting of whomever was in charge of their respective fleets. Several had, of course, lost their commanders, but new ones had been appointed in the interim.

Shepard had intended to head in and get her team working on repairs, when Hackett had contacted her and asked that she be present at the meeting. She protested, but to no avail.

"You're an icon, whether you like it or not, Shepard. The mere fact that you're still alive will boost morale over here. And the soldiers need to see you, so they know it's not just Alliance propaganda."

"Sir, I really don't see how my presence is going to help negotiations here. The Batarians will be at this meeting, and my simply being there will cause all sorts of problems."

"The Batarians will just have to fucking deal with it, Commander."

Shepard looked a bit taken aback, to the best of her memory, Hackett had never sworn in her hearing.

"You're coming on board the Atreus, and that's an order. We need you here. You've beaten these things twice before-"

Shepard interrupted. "I just slowed them down, sir. Never actually stopped them." Her voice trailed off, becoming far more quiet than usual.

Hackett studied her for a minute. "If it weren't for you, Shepard, none of us would be here. The Reapers would have already won this war. Don't give up on us yet, Commander."

She looked up, startled. "Never, sir."

"Good. I'll see you in half an hour. Hackett out."

Shepard stood there, in the silence, staring down at the console. This was not going to be a pleasant meeting. She sure Bavak would be just thrilled to see her again.

"He's right, you know." Garrus' voice cut into her thoughts. "Without you stopping them, stopping Saren, then the Collectors, then in the Aratoht system, we most likely would have already lost this war."

"Without us stopping them, you mean." She turned to look at him, her voice soft. "I couldn't do this without you, Garrus."

He smiled. "Yeah you could, just not-"

She stopped him with a finger on his mandibles. It was one of their shared jokes, but she needed him to know she was serious right now. "No. I could not have done this without you by my side. I could not have done this if you weren't here, watching my six every time we go into battle."

He said nothing, just looked at her, his mandibles flaring. She leaned in towards him, and then- "And what a nice six it is," he whispered, smirking.

She laughed. "Ass. Way to ruin the moment."

He took her in his arms, and she returned his hug, just for a brief moment.

Then she straightened, sighing. "Well. Let's get this over with."

Garrus cocked his head and looked at her. "Are you actually nervous about meeting these people? They've got nothing on you, Shepard."

She shook her head. "Not them." She took a deep breath. Better he know now. "My mom is on the Atreus. I haven't seen her in... a very long time. I've only talked to her for all of five minutes since. God. Since after the attack on the Citadel. I mean, we exchanged emails and such over the extranet, but actually speaking with her in person? It's been a long time, Garrus."

Garrus looked confused. "Won't she be happy to see you, then?"

Shepard grimaced. "Yes... but, I'm pretty sure she's picked up on... us."

"Oh."

"Yeah."

He avoided her eyes. "And you think she will disapprove?"

"She won't like the fact that I wasn't the one who told her." She smiled, remembering. "The first guy that ever took me out, she scared the hell out of him. Dad had already... passed on, so it was almost like Mom took it on herself to take his role."

She glanced over at Garrus, and saw he was still avoiding looking her in the eyes. "Hey. Garrus." She laid a hand on his shoulder. "She's not going to disapprove because you're a Turian, if that's what you're worried about. She's just going to give me a hard time about not telling her, that's all. Most probably in front of everyone, if I know her."

He met her gaze, the worry gone from his features. "Well, that's good then. I was afraid that she- well nevermind. Good luck, Shepard."

She arched a brow. "Good luck? What do you mean?"

He gestured towards the front of the ship. "On meeting your mother again."

The grin that spread across her face was almost predatory in nature. "Oh ho, no. You are coming with."

The worry immediately returned to his face. "What? But Hackett didn't say anything about bringing-"

"I could care less what Hackett said. He didn't forbid it, either. You're my second-in-command, and as such, you're coming."

"I thought one's second-in-command remained on the ship?" He was grasping at straws and they both knew it. She had taken him with her groundside in the mission on earth, after all.

"I'm making an exception. Just this once." And whenever else she needed to go on a mission.

Garrus groaned. "Of course you are."

She punched him in the shoulder. "What, you'd follow me into hell, but not to meet my mother? It had to happen sometime, big guy. Especially,"- and her voice lowered, taking a seductive tone- "if you ever want to see what a turian/human baby looks like."

"I thought you said biology wouldn't cooperate."

"Well. Not like we can't try."

He rolled his eyes. "Great. Now I'm just in a perfect state to go meet your mother."

She threw a parting shot over her shoulder as she left the room, heading for the shuttle bay. "Just imagine her glaring at you. That should fix the problem."

Garrus groaned again. "Spirits, Shepard. That was low." He shook his head, trying to clear the images that she had conjured up. "Let's get this over with."