~Author's Note~ Sorry for the delay with this one. Finals intruded, but I've got two of four done and the other two are cake, so next chapter should be this weekend, like normal.

Also, the next chapter will most likely be an interlude giving more details on Jack and Liara's escape from Earth, so there will be more detail given that what is mentioned in this chapter.

I haven't forgotten about Miranda, Zaeed, Samara, Kasumi or Jacob either.

Thanks for all the reviews guys, and glad you're enjoying the story!

Stunned silence greeted her statement. Bavak sat back, a glint in his eyes, watching her. He was obviously re-evaluating her- instead of someone with a grudge against the Batarians, she was simply someone who would do whatever it took to stop the Reapers.

Garrus was staring at her, a shocked expression on his face. Probably because of that little speech she gave him about having to be better than the Reapers. But this was no longer about her morals, this was about their very survival.

Her mom's mouth was drawn in a grim line, but she met Katelyn's gaze and nodded. Hannah knew this was their best chance.

Surprisingly, it was Aria T'Loak who first broke the silence. "So, we've got a plan then."

And then everything exploded. Hackett said nothing, he just sat there, obviously thinking things over. But the rest of the human admirals in the room all started talking at once.

"We can't abandon our citizens still on earth!"

"Mass murder in the billions!"

"Destroying our home is not the way to-"

"Enough." Hackett's voice cut through the din. "Shall we think this through from a military standpoint, and not as scared civilians might react?" He glared at the other admirals and they subsided. He turned to the Geth Prime. "Kerath. You are sure this will work? That we will disable the Reapers FTL drives? If the virus doesn't take hold, then as soon as they see the explosion, they'll just get out of there. We might catch a few, but the vast majority would escape. I am *not* sanctioning the destruction of our home system for nothing."

"100% certainty is not possible. As stated, there is a 95.2% chance that this will shut down the Old Machines FTL systems, and approximately a 98% chance that they will not conclude it is a threat and destroy it within 1.3 seconds. However, the collective will be able to tell if the virus has taken hold. All that is needed is one platform on whichever ship you wish to send to activate the virus. Should it not take hold, we can inform you of this event, and further steps can be taken on this basis."

Hackett nodded. "Does anyone else have any other suggestions?"

Silence greeted his question.

One of the human admirals spoke up, quietly. "Stephen, just because we can't think of a way right now to stop them doesn't mean we have to use this plan. We don't have to destroy Earth."

Bavak answered her, and the Batarian's voice was scornful. "How much longer do you think we can keep this war going, Admiral?" He almost sneered the man's title. "The Reapers have been on earth for how long now? Three months? Do you really think you can reclaim it if you wait any longer? The damage done to the planet will be irreparable. The people there are as good as dead, anyway. Let their sacrifice mean something." He was looking at Shepard now. "Let their lives be used to stop the Reapers and save the rest of us." She met his gaze. Like Aratoht was, he meant.

She swallowed the lump in her throat. She had had many interactions with Batarians over her career, but none of them had been good. Bavak was looking at her as if he actually... admired her.

There was one other thing she had to do.

"Admiral. Send the Normandy to deliver the virus. We'll take Kerath with us."

Hackett shook his head, dismissing it out of hand. "Absolutely not, I will not risk-"

The Salarian councilor, Velarn, interrupted him. "The Normandy has the best stealth drive in the entire fleet."

Shepard nodded. "And no one else is going to command my ship. We're the logical choice, Admiral."

He looked up, meeting her gaze, his eyes hard. She saw the gaze of a man who had lost far too many soldiers already. His eyes were already haunted by the ghosts of those he had ordered to their deaths, and now he was the one who was going to order the destruction of their home system. History would undoubtedly not look on him kindly. But if there were enough people alive to look back at his decision at all, then it would be worth it. She knew it and so did he.

Hackett sighed. "Very well. You have your orders. Take Kerath and deliver the virus. We will send a second ship in behind you with enough of a payload to destroy the Charon Relay. Theoretically, at least."

Velarn stood. "I shall have my top scientists working on how much force we need. We should be able to give you an answer shortly." He nodded at Hackett, then turned and exited the room.

The meeting began to break up, the tone subdued, mostly whispering. Shepard turned to Garrus, who was looking at her carefully. "You okay?"

She took a deep breath. "This has to be done, Garrus. We just don't have enough firepower to take them."

"I know, but that wasn't what I asked. Are you okay?"

She met his gaze for an instant. Her eyes were soft, on the verge of tears. "What do you think?" was her quiet response. "It's Aratoht all over again, but a thousand times worse."

An unfamiliar hand was laid on her shoulder. She started, and turned to look into the four eyes of the Batarian admiral, Bavak. "We have misjudged you, Shepard. Know that whatever the outcome of this, I shall see to it that you are not held liable for Aratoht in the eyes of the Hegemony." He didn't wait for a response, but straightened, suddenly formal, and then he saluted her. "Good luck, Commander." She was still staring after him in shock when Garrus nudged her. "Shepard?"

"I think I was just saluted by a Batarian admiral."

He snorted. "First time for everything. Look who's late to the party."

"What?" She turned and followed Garrus' gaze. The sinking feeling she had had in her stomach ever since proposing the destruction of her home, vanished the instant she spotted who Garrus was looking at. Liara T'Soni and the Asari councilor were exchanging greetings. Liara was talking to her, but her eyes were looking over the people gathered in the room. When she spotted Shepard, she grinned, and said something to the Asari councilor before pushing her way through to Shepard.

She paused, probably unsure of human protocol while in the midst of so many people, but Shepard engulfed her in a hug. Liara returned it, laughing.

For just an instant, things were back to normal.

To say Kerath reminded her of Legion would be false, mostly. Sure he was a geth, but his speech patterns were nothing like she remembered Legion's stilted phrases. He reminded her more of Legion in the moments before his death, when the geth had begun referring to himself as an individual.

But still. There were those times when she realized that Kerath wasn't simply an individual. Like now, when he was in communication with the entirety of the geth consensus and yet not speaking a word. They were currently en route to the Widow relay.

Having Liara back on the Normandy seemed to fill a hole. She had thought they would lose Tali, as she had fully intended to turn her over to her own people for treatment, but the quarian had absolutely refused to leave. Her reasoning was that the quarians had just as much of an idea how to treat an amputated limb as did Dr. Chakwas, her life was in no danger, and the quarian's specialists should be focused on people that were in danger of losing their lives. Shepard wasn't entirely ready to follow that reasoning, but when Tali threatened to let her drones loose in the medical lab, (and when Shala'Raan informed Shepard that Tali was mostly correct, the quarians had very little idea what to do for an injury like Tali had sustained), she relented.

Liara had also brought more good news: Jack had gotten off-planet with her, although she had been seriously injured while doing so. Liara spoke of her in glowing terms, which was odd- the two of them had not really gotten along, from all that Shepard knew. She was sure there was a story there.

She glanced around the Normandy's command deck. Nearly all of her squadmates were on the deck, the sole exception being Garrus. He was undoubtedly making some last minute calibrations to the Normandy's guns.

She checked her console for any messages, and found one from Grunt that appeared to have been sent just after the assault on earth. He was so excited at how many Reaper troops he and his squad had killed that his message was difficult to comprehend. Not that they were normally easy on the eyes, in any case. Still, it brought a smile to her face.

Joker's voice came over the comm. "30 minutes out from the Widow relay, Commander."

The quiet voices on the bridge ceased for an instant as the crew took that in, and then picked up again, even more subdued.

The elevator doors wooshed open and Garrus stepped out onto the bridge, and instantly made his way towards her.

Tali, who was only on the bridge under the condition that she remain seated and under the watchful eye of Chakwas, made some comment to him that Shepard couldn't quite catch. Garrus slowed and answered her. Tali's smirk at his response was a welcome sight. She knew the quarian insisted she was completely back to normal, (except for her right arm ending at the elbow, of course), but if she was joking with Garrus it meant she was probably in good mental health as well, which, when recovering from the type of injury she had, was nearly as important as her physical well-being.

She met Garrus' gaze as he strode up. "What was that about?"

His mandibles flared. "Tali was wondering why I spent so much time 'calibrating my gun.' I think there was some sort of double meaning there I didn't catch."

Liara, who was bent over the galaxy map and thus within earshot, let out a rather undignified giggle.

Shepard smirked. "Ah yes. Lots of alliance soldiers spend quite a bit of time calibrating their guns while on missions."

Garrus glanced at Liara and then back at Shepard. "Yeah. I'm definitely missing something here."

Liara looked up at him. "You should get Shepard to help you with those calibrations."

"She might be able to help. She is a really good engineer. For a human."

Shepard rolled her eyes. "Please, Vakarian. You're going to have to do better than that."

The banter was normal, helpful in keeping her mind off of what they were going to do. She didn't want to dwell on that. Hell, she didn't even want to think about it.

Joker's voice came over the comm once again. "We are approaching the relay, Commander. Entering in sixty seconds."

Already? It didn't seem like 30 minutes had passed. She glanced over at Kerath, who was just standing on the bridge. She hoped the geth was ready to do his part, whatever that was exactly. The talk on the bridge had ceased, and the crew were all standing around, quietly, lost in their own thoughts.

This had to be done.

Garrus laid a hand on her shoulder. She looked at him, no words necessary between the two of them.

There was a slight vibration along the ship, the only evidence that they had entered the relay. Only an experienced soldier would even feel it.

They were in the Sol System.

But this time, they hadn't come to save the Earth.

They had come to destroy it.