The interior of the tube echoed with the scraping of boots on the metal surface, but none escaped to the expansive room beyond the threshold. The two individuals currently trapped inside paced all around, scouring the place for a slight tell on how to open the damned thing. After half an hour had passed, prognosis was looking bleak.

"Damn it!" Tali nearly shouted, close to tears. She frantically turned in all directions, desperate to escape her confinement. "I can't…I can't believe it!" she cried. "I need to get out of here…I need to get out of here…"

"Tali, relax," Liara sighed, her hands on her hips as she too showed her frustration. "We're not going to get anywhere by panicking."

"I'm not panicking!" Tali shot back. "I can't stay here, Liara! I have to get out! I have to save John from that monster, Liara!"

The tube was not particularly cramped as it contained enough room for each person to have their own personal bubble of space, but it was the very notion that they had been sealed in a place where they had no escape from which was upsetting. If no one bothered to check up on them, they would suffocate to death before they could even hope of being rescued.

"Please calm down, Tali," Liara said quietly. "I'm in the same boat as you, remember? We can't just- what are you doing?"

Tali had drawn her shotgun from the holster on her back, her eyes wild behind her visor. She glanced at Liara for a second before she sidestepped to the middle of the tube. Seemingly finding a spot that looked good, she hefted her gun and aimed it at the top corner, where the surface had split apart previously.

"Tali, no!" Liara yelled, but it was too late. Tali squeezed the trigger and a hot burst of fire erupted out of the shotgun's barrel. Liara dove to the ground as the bullets ricocheted around her, harsh pings from the impacts on the metal. The noise itself was like thunder had clapped directly over her head, causing her ears to ring uncomfortably.

Tali was still standing in her spot, oblivious to the danger she had just put herself and Liara through. Before she could fire again, Liara rushed forward and grabbed the gun out of the quarian's hands, tossing it behind her so that she wouldn't be able to reach it.

The quarian whirled to face the asari as she found herself inexplicably disarmed. "What the hell was that for, Liara?!"

"Me?" Liara blinked, astonished. "What is wrong with you, Tali?! Were you even thinking when you fired that gun in an enclosed space? You could have killed the both of us!"

"I had to try something!" Tali defended. "I haven't seen you do anything to help us out here, Liara!"

Liara blanched at the quarian's nerve. To even insinuate that she was not at all concerned with where they were at the moment… "And what exactly would you propose that I do? Use biotics to blast our way out of here, through an enclosed tube made of steel a couple feet thick?"

"Why don't you just get out your information drone and have it hack us out?"

"You need a clear line of sight to activate the drone which means I wouldn't be able to get it outside for it to do some good. You know this, Tali! That's why I need you to calm down so that we can think about this intelligently!"

"Well, what can I do that I haven't already tried?" Tali said mournfully. She leaned her back against the wall and slowly slid down, her legs splaying straight out in front of her. "I just can't think of anything else to do, Liara! We can't shoot our way out or even think our way out. I…want to get out of here…but I can't, Liara! All I have left is the notion that John is hurting out there and I can't even get to him!"

Liara's face was a mask of amazement and disbelief. She snorted a laugh, hoping that what she had just heard was not true. "This is unbelievable," she muttered as she ran a hand along her scalp. "You're giving up already, Tali? You're just going to lie down and accept everything?"

"Of course not, but considering the circumstances, what choice do I have?!" Tali yelled. "I want to get out of here and kill that bitch Grevel with my own hands, but what can either of us do in our current position that we haven't already tried before?"

"That sounds a lot like giving up, actually."

"Whatever! I can't do anything! What do you want from me, Liara?! An unlimited display of new ideas? I'm sorry, but I happen to be fresh out of those at the moment!"

The asari slowly shook her head, completely incredulous to the quarian's sarcastic and desperate comments. "And to think that you're who Shepard ultimately fell for…"

Tali's head snapped up to face Liara so quickly that the movement should have strained her neck. "What did you just say?" Tali asked, her voice a deadly whisper.

"You know what I'm talking about," Liara snapped. "There was a reason why things worked out like this, why you still feel something for the man. After all this time apart, he still chose you. The man named you his sole recipient for everything he owned which showed that he had been waiting for you! Shepard still loves you, Tali! Are you going to repay him by sitting down and moping helplessly in your position?"

Tali jumped to her feet, causing Liara to retreat a few steps. "Do…not…talk about John like that to me!" Tali hissed. "You don't know what he wants, Liara. You haven't for years! Why do you think that you can tell me what is right and wrong between us? What, do you think that you'd rather cozy up to him again and try to win him back? Is that what's going on?"

Liara frowned, her expression ice cold. "You woefully silly girl," she sighed.

"Do not call me a girl!"

"You're acting a lot like one, from what I'm seeing," Liara snarled. "Why the petty attitude, Tali? Is this…is this about the fact that he got with me first? Is that why you hate me so much?"

"This isn't about you at all! This is about saving John, but you just had to bring this conversation into the mix so I guess we can't avoid this topic now, can we?"

"No," Liara sighed. "You're right, Tali. But it needed to be brought up because I'm involved now, same as you. And you can't rid your prejudices against me like I had managed to do for you, so I agree that a discussion between us is warranted."

Tali laughed bitterly, throwing her arms up in the air. "Oh, so noble of you, Liara! You think that you are so much better than me, able to casually disregard your attraction for John just as easily as it probably came to you. You asari probably think of flings like those as seconds ticking off a chronometer! Did you really think that I could forget as well? That I would be as forgiving?"

Liara resisted the temptation to give the quarian a harsh lashing with her tongue, but flared her nostrils instead. "Tali, whatever Shepard and I had ended when Cerberus brought him back. Something was different afterward and, although there was some friction, we severed our ties to the other. Already, he was falling for you, Tali, and I agreed to step aside. I still love Shepard very much, but I knew that he would be better off with you because he loved you more."

"And that's the problem right there!" Tali indicated. "What assurances did I have that John could turn casually from me back to you or even someone else? Whenever you were in the same room with him, even after he said he wanted me, I always felt sick to my stomach because I had no indication that you weren't going to continue to pursue him regardless!"

"But I gave no indication that I was going to do such a thing! Tali, why would you think of something like that?"

"I don't know!" Tali shrieked, her voice reaching almost the same volume as the gun blast. "Three years of not being able to see him gave me the idea that someone would try to take John away from me in my absence. All I could do was think helplessly in my position, waiting for a chance to look him in the eye and to tell him that I wanted everything to be normal again-"

"Which was all your fault when you left him in the first place!" Liara blurted before she could stop herself.

Tali's jaw dropped behind her visor, though Liara was unable to see it. With a shaking finger, she pointed at the asari, her bottom lip trembling. "That's…t-that's not true. I didn't leave John, Liara."

Liara blew air through her teeth in frustration. "Don't lie to me, Tali. You expect me to believe that you let three years go by and all you could do was wish that you were with Shepard again? You were just moping around in your bunk and feeling sorry for yourself? If you were so conflicted, then why didn't you go to him?"

"I…I had my duties…"

"That is another lie and you know it!" Liara outright yelled, scaring the quarian. "Now you're just shifting the blame so that everything is more convenient for you. Your people never asked for your duties just as Shepard's never asked any more from him. He only stayed in the military after it was apparent that you would be joining back up again. Not before, after! If you really loved him, then why did you do that?!"

Tali glared at her blankly, her expression one of confusion. Slowly she crossed her arms over her chest. "I don't know what you're talking about," she said flatly.

"Don't give me that!" Liara exclaimed. "Whatever you did, you did it for your own reasons, Tali. There had to be a logical explanation behind your actions because I know you to not be an impulsive person. You know that I would never have gone back to Shepard, not after seeing him fall hopelessly in love with you. I know that you love him so much as well, so what was it that made you leave? Did you two have a fight about something?"

"No," Tali said in exasperation.

"Did you honestly think that I would try to steal him away from you?"

Tali rolled her eyes and explosively sighed. "No," she answered anyway.

"Did you think that he wouldn't have had time to spend with you after the war was over?"

"No," Tali glared, but there was a slight hesitation in her answer.

"Well, what was holding you back? Did you fall in love with someone else?"

"Of course not!"

"Do you think that Shepard is in love with anyone else?"

"No, he told me so!"

Liara arched an eyebrow. "And…you believe him?"

Tali fumed, her cheeks burning. "He has never lied to me before. I have no reason to think that he would ever start."

"So if you know that he still loves you and that there's nothing else jeopardizing that for the both of you, why are you unable to move forward?"

"I…" Tali faltered as she altered her gaze. "I'm…not sure."

"No," Liara said firmly as she turned Tali back around. "You're hiding something."

"I'm not hiding anything from you," Tali spat furiously.

"I think that you're hiding something from yourself, Tali. Do you just not want to spend your life with Shepard?"

"I do!" Tali raged. "I would give everything for him, but I just can't!"

"And why not?" Liara persisted. "Is it because you think that you messed things up by leaving?"

"Well…m-maybe…"

"Is it because you need more time to organize your thoughts on what you think is best for you?"

"Stop talking…please, Liara…"

"Or is it because you can't help but imagine someone less messed up as his mate, Tali? Is it because you legitimately think that I'll be a better fit for him for the rest of his life? Tell me what it is, Tali! What is bothering you?!"

Something inside Tali finally snapped and she uttered a guttural scream as she dived across the tube to tackle Liara. The asari was caught off guard as the quarian's brazen move sent them both crashing to the ground. Liara grunted as her shoulder hit the metal floor painfully and coughed as Tali's elbow drove into her gut.

Tali was growling behind her visor and she raised one of her fists high as she remained atop the stunned Liara. The asari barely had time to blink before the quarian's fist smashed just over her eye, impacting hard and bruising the skin. She cried out in pain as Tali prepared another punch, her fists grasping at the asari's coat.

It was perhaps the painful reaction that the punch provided that now awakened something in Liara too. Realizing that this was slowly devolving into something serious, she snarled and kicked the quarian off of her. Tali, even with her enviro-suit, was seven kilograms lighter than Liara and the force of the asari's push, augmented by an instinctive biotic shove, sent her flying into the wall. Tali's back hit the metal and she dropped down, out of breath. Clutching her lower ribs, Tali found a quick reserve of energy, fueled by adrenaline, and raced across the ground to where Liara was still lying.

Liara, however, used the momentum of Tali's charge to catch her as she dived down once again. The force propelled the two of them in a roll and they started to bang painfully around the tube, neither one of them obtaining the upper hand at the moment. Liara was about to punch Tali in the chest when the quarian suddenly shot her arms out and clenched them tightly around Liara's neck.

There was no hesitation in Tali's actions. Her eyes brimmed with flame and her muscles were rigid. She hissed through the mask, watching the asari begin to choke before her eyes. But the advantage only lasted for a fleeting moment, as Liara bucked her hips which sent Tali crashing down to the ground, but her hands were still choking her. But, the quarian was no longer holding Liara down which made her able to snake her own arms forward and now wrapped her fingers around Tali's neck in kind.

Panicked, Tali squeezed Liara's neck tighter, but that only produced the same response from the asari. She could feel each cord in the quarian's neck vibrate as she tensed her muscles, but she sensed a rising sense of fear from the tremble that lay buried deep within her. Liara had no doubts about her own reactions for she knew that Tali could tell that she was just as scared as her.

Squeezing, both of their visions were beginning to darken as inky black tendrils began to wrap themselves forward. Slight splutters were the only things echoing in the area now, coupled with sour faces of hate.

But, just as Liara was about to black out, Tali's fingers twinged around her neck slightly. Very quickly after that, they loosened their grip at the critical moment, causing Liara to pry her own fingers from Tali and gulp in their precious supply of air while being interrupted from a few hacking coughs. Also convulsing with her own chokes, Tali sat up first and saw Liara next to her, gingerly rubbing her neck.

As if she was seeing the scene for the first time, Tali looked down at her hands then back to Liara. Staring at them numbly, she began to shake her head in disbelief.

"I…I…" she whimpered, on the verge of losing it. "I…didn't mean to…this wasn't…supposed to happen…"

Slowly scooting herself away, Tali pressed her back against the wall in a daze. Her motions were slow like she was underwater. Her eyes began to fill with tears as she saw the bruises begin to form on Liara's neck and she slowly drew her knees to her chest, set her head between them, and began to bawl uncontrollably.

Her eyesight all clear now, Liara still held a hand to her neck when she heard the sound of Tali's loud crying. She looked over to see that the quarian had tried to make herself into a ball, an invisible rock that no one would go out of their way to notice. Surprised at the sobbing woman, Liara, still rubbing her neck, stood up and considered Tali for a moment. Tali was shaking horribly with every labored breath, each one torturous on her. The quarian was only invested in her own sorrow so she didn't notice when Liara walked over and quietly sat beside her, a forlorn look on her face as she watched Tali cry.

With a trembling hand, Liara gently placed it on Tali's shoulder, who jumped at the contact. Pained by the amount of remorse coming from Tali, Liara shuddered in regret. "I'm…I'm sorry, Tali," she whispered. "I shouldn't have said that last part. Goddess, I…that wasn't true and I pushed you too hard."

"No…" Tali mumbled through her tears. "Y-You got one t-thing right, Liara…" She slowly raised her head and looked over at the asari, allowing her to see her watering eyes through her visor. "I am messed up," she said. "You w-were right…and I had n-no reason t-to attack you. P-Please forgive m-m-me…"

Liara grasped Tali's nearest hand, holding it gently so that the both of them could relax. "I'd understand if you didn't want to tell me, Tali. I was just so mad at you that I thought-"

"That doesn't excuse my behavior in the slightest," Tali said a little more clearly, letting her legs slide out a bit further. "I have no reason to think that you would ever try to take John away from me, Liara. I…I love him so much and I know he does too. And you, you've never done anything that would warrant behavior like this from me. But that doesn't mean that my conscience is completely clear." She sighed, about to burst into tears again. "It's…it's never been the same for me…for about seven years now."

"Seven years?" Liara's hand came to her mouth. "What do you mean seven years?"

"I mean," she gave a bitter laugh, "that I haven't been well for a…for a long time. I…I'm a mental wreck, Liara. I've never told anyone about it, not even John…except you just now."

"Oh, Tali!" Liara exclaimed in shock. She leaned over to embrace the woman in a hug and held her tight. Tali stiffened for a second before she accepted the gesture, sighing as the comforting feelings radiated through her body. "Seven years. Was it the time that Shepard got spaced that's been bothering you?"

"No," Tali mumbled. "Just before it. After the mission we had together."

"And you've never spoken to anyone about it?"

"I talked to a medic on the flotilla a few years back," Tali admitted. "I…I didn't give her all the details, but she told me that…" She took a breath. "…that I might be experiencing symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder."

"PTSD," Liara murmured, well aware of its significance. "But…but why? Why would you be stricken by that when I've known you to be one of the bravest persons I've ever met?"

Tali just shook her head. "Being brave doesn't mean that I'm perfect, Liara. I thought that…I could hide my fears after so long but…but maybe they were just…"

She broke down in another burst of sobbing and Liara held Tali closer. "Shh…" she whispered to the frightened quarian. "It's okay, Tali. You don't have to tell me if you don't want to."

"But…if I don't…" Tali mumbled in between horrid sniffs, "…who will I be able to tell?"

And so Tali laid it out to Liara the entirety of the events that occurred on Anhur after she took a few deep breaths. She described in unflinching detail the mission, her capture, her mental torture from Grevel, all of it. Meanwhile, Liara sat next to her, rapt with attention, never interrupting her for more information and never becoming impatient when Tali faltered at times when she got emotional.

Liara never changed her expression but her thoughts were becoming more and more wild as Tali continued. The notion that Tali had gone through so much in that time frame was devastating to her. She could not imagine someone having the gall to poison and torment the quarian that she had known for years. And to think, she had been keeping this bottled up the entire time.

At the end, Tali had slid down even further than she had before, her posture indicating the relief that had pushed her anxiety out like a balloon being deflated. Liara, on the other hand, felt like she had aged a few years after listening to Tali's harrowing tale. She stared into space, pondering what she had just heard.

"All this time…and I never knew," Liara breathed. "I didn't even suspect anything when you had arrived back from your mission. Nothing like that, at least."

Tali sighed as she closed her eyes for a long blink. "Now you understand why I've never been well, Liara. Even after the war ended, I…I didn't go back to John immediately because I was still haunted by Grevel in my head. I am was – still am – so broken inside that I didn't want to be a burden to John. He…he already has a lot on his mind."

"He would have understood," Liara assured her. "I bet that if you had told Shepard exactly what Grevel had done to you, he would have made sure that you were as comfortable as possible."

"And have him see me as powerless? As weak? If going through an entire war didn't clear my thoughts, then I was only going to be a liability for John. I don't want him to be constantly caring for me all the time. That's not what I want him to be doing…or feeling. I just…" she looked over at Liara helplessly, "…just want him to be happy…and not worried."

Liara squeezed Tali's hand firmly, but gently. "You and I know that he would do whatever you ask, Tali. If you made your thoughts clear to him, he would move mountains to make you feel perfect."

"But is that truly fair? If he does that, what could I possibly give to him?"

"Yourself," Liara beamed. "Just you being there with him would make it worth everything for Shepard. I guarantee that."

Tali nodded thoughtfully and Liara swore that she could almost see a hint of a smile from behind the smoky visor. The moment was not to last, as Tali shrugged and breathed out heavily. "Thank you, Liara, but it doesn't change the fact that we're still stuck here and that Grevel has John. I know that we aren't able to do much, but I now know what I have to do in order to get better."

"What's that, Tali?"

"I have to kill Grevel myself."

Liara gave Tali a sad smile as she patted Tali's shoulder. "One step at a time, Tali," she said, not wanting to already argue against such a foolish course of action brought on by grief. "We have to get out of here first before we can do anything."

"She won't kill John," Tali said, not listening. "That bitch likes to see others suffer in front of an audience. She's not going to kill him unless someone's…watching." Tali slowly stood up and winced as her strained joints ached. Liara stared at her and did the same, both stretching in the enclosed tube.

Tali steeled herself as she felt a glimmer inside her chest. "We're going to get out of here, Liara," she said fiercely.

Liara shifted her weight from one foot to the other. "And how exactly have you determined that?"

"Because she wants us to find her and meet on her own terms. She wants us to see what she is capable of doing. Because of that, I think she wants us to escape."

As soon as Tali finished her sentence, there was a faint squealing of gears and the container suddenly lurched, threatening to throw down the standing occupants to the ground. They barely had time to catch themselves and bend their knees so that they could anticipate and change in acceleration.

"Somehow, I have a feeling that you may be right," Liara conceded.

"Don't agree with me just yet," Tali growled, her sorrow now fully replaced by anger. "There's still more to come." Softening a bit, she hesitated a bit before she put her hands on her knee as she bent forward humbly. "I'm sorry that I hurt you back there, Liara," she said, "and I hope that you will be able to forgive me…as I have forgiven you."

Liara smiled right before she hugged Tali in the middle of the moving car. This time, Tali returned the hug, grateful to have found a friend in this dark place. "All is forgiven, Tali," Liara whispered. "Whatever is waiting for us at the end of this trip, I can promise you that we are going to get Shepard back."

"I wouldn't want it any other way," Tali said just as the traveling container began to slow. Tali's shotgun, still lying on the ground after Liara had kicked it away before, started sliding towards the two from the deceleration but Tali shot out a boot and halted its trajectory where she stood. She bent and picked it up, checking to see that there were a good amount of shots left in the clip as the sliding of locks produced a squealing sound of metal on metal and a faint sliver of light as the tube began to open.

Tali gingerly aimed her gun in the direction of the opening and Liara's fist pulsed with biotic energy in preparation. However, the force field surrounding the tube quickly snapped off as the container fully opened at the dock, revealing a very bemused turian glancing at them while he carried a long sniper rifle with his long fingers.

"Garrus!" Liara exclaimed as her and Tali gingerly stepped out of the tube to freedom. The turian shrugged at his faint moment in the spotlight but quickly made a squawk when both women threw themselves upon him in two enormous hugs.

"All right, all right!" Garrus said in a muffled tone, partly because Liara was squeezing his ribs pretty tightly. "Gerrofme! Can't…breathe!"

"I'm sorry, Garrus," Tali said as she stepped back, breathing hard. She gesticulated wildly, obviously caught up in the moment. "You just have no idea how good it is to see you at the moment."

Garrus blinked, somewhat amused. "You two were only missing for about an hour. Spirits, none of you could survive a night in jail without getting stir-crazy, it seems." He also took note of the brilliant shiner Liara sported over her eye and Tali's rumpled suit. "What the hell happened to you guys?"

There was a very pregnant pause between the two, which vanished after both scratched their heads at the same time and mumbled, "Nothing…"

"Well, never mind that," Garrus waved off, moving onto the next topic. "Shepard's been captured, you guys. I saw him being carted off by the mercenaries, along with a tall armored guy and Nela, from the looks of it."

"We know," Tali nodded. "We can explain everything on the way. But how did you not get captured like we did?"

"Hell if I know," Garrus shrugged. "I held back in my nest just like Shepard ordered me to. I guess they forgot to take care of me and bolted when they got their hands on him."

"How did you know where to find us?"

"Retraced your movements and found this console here," he gestured to the control panel, "still online and active, so I decided to check it out. When I booted it up, it was still on a cargo access diagnostic and your container was listed as the last recent movement. I guess I had a hunch that the bad guys either took something from that container, or put something into it. Either way, I called it back here and wound up finding you two."

"And we thank you all the same," Liara grinned. "Just so that we don't sound particularly ungrateful."

"I forgot to mention," Garrus added as he turned to Tali, "I found this next to the console when I arrived." In his hand, he held out pieces of what appeared to be a shining grey surface. Tali held out her hands and Garrus gently placed the grey gauntlet and glove from Shepard's armor into them, the deactivated diodes glinting from whatever light could be scrounged around in the area.

"Thanks, Garrus," she mumbled as she carefully slid the armor piece into a side pocket. Before she could get all misty-eyed again, she lifted her head back up hopefully. "Did…did you happen to take note of where they were taking Shepard? Did they say anything at all when they left?"

"I don't have a clue," Garrus sadly admitted, which caused Tali's heart to sink horribly. "But I might know someone who does," he added, which torturously caused her hopes to rise back up, only with the added urge to now punch Garrus in this very room.

Oblivious to the anguish he had inadvertently caused, Garrus gestured for Tali and Liara to follow him out of the room and back into the huge warehouse. "So who exactly do you know that might have an idea where Shepard was taken?" Liara asked, very speculative at the moment.

"Not too sure if he even knows," Garrus said in a breezy manner. "Trussed a CAT6 trooper up good after he got separated from his buddies about an hour and a half ago. With a little…persuasion, I might get him to spill his guts on everything. No promises, though."

"Interrogation," Tali commented, her determined mask now applied. "When do we start?"

There was a faint hum in the air, caused by the stress of FTL travel on the sides of the private vessel. It was a simple design, a cargo ship of the same make that Shepard had boarded in the past when he had first been assigned as a Spectre. He lay strapped on a chair, omni-bindings cuffing him down to make sure he didn't go anywhere.

His armor had been stripped off, carelessly discarded in pieces and left behind on the Citadel. Shepard now only wore his bodysuit, the black skintight surface clinging to his sweat-soaked body. The back portion of his right leg on the suit was torn and splattered with blood. A makeshift splint had been tied about the leg but the sliver of bone that had been pushed out was not back in his skin. It continued to jut out, gleaming white amidst the blood.

The pain from Shepard's destroyed knee was unbearable. He had been injected with some painkillers and an anti-shock cocktail, but his leg still throbbed. It felt worse than getting shot, worse than getting roasted alive by the beam of a Reaper. The only thing comparable at the moment was when he had gotten spaced by the Collectors, and even then he was having doubts over which was more painful at the moment.

He fought not to look at his destroyed knee, but the alternatives surrounding him at the moment were not pleasant either. More specifically, the two masked faces staring blankly at him right now were not exactly the kind of company he wished to keep. Not in a state like this.

Shepard turned from one faceless person to the next in shock, the final words barely imprinting themselves upon him. "A…a clone?" he asked to no one in particular.

"What, Shepard?" the quarian with Tali's voice snorted. "Is it really so hard for you to comprehend that I could possibly exist?"

Shepard clenched his teeth, refusing to give the clone any satisfaction. Grevel, meanwhile, just chuckled and stepped forward, her eyes shimmering wickedly from her mask. "I'm afraid it's true, Shepard. This quarian happens to be a perfect genetic copy of Tali'Zorah vas whatever-she-is-now. You can do so much with blood samples these days, but maybe it's the point that full-body cloning is technically illegal that is the astounding part. I'd probably have the same reaction too, if I found out that I had my own clone."

Shepard's leg twitched and he groaned as a spike of pain rammed itself deep. He somehow found the strength to laugh. "She's not even half the person that Tali is, you pathetic bastard. You're misguided if you think you can intimidate me with this."

"Wrong," the clone seethed. "I'm everything and more, Shepard. Tali'Zorah is weak and I am the stronger-"

"Shut up," Grevel silenced the clone before she slowly turned to face her, her deeply altered voice ringing dangerously. "Get out. Now."

"I'm not going to be cowed by him-"

"Leave the fucking room," Grevel hissed. "I need to talk to Shepard alone."

The clone huffed but complied, silently walking away with her gaze never leaving Shepard. He glared darkly at the quarian as she left before turning his attention to the huge turian that seemed to inhabit the entire room with her intimidating presence.

"That clone is nothing like Tali, Grevel," he taunted. "She doesn't even seem to be controllable."

"No, she is," Grevel assured as she grabbed a chair and sat down next to Shepard. If he hadn't been restrained he would have flinched away but in his current position he could do nothing but watch as Grevel patiently regarded him. "Although admittedly, despite her being a perfect genetic copy, the nature of her creation has resulted in a very different personality to be inscribed in her cortex." Grevel shrugged. "There was little I could do with that, seeing that I had to heavily implant her so that she could be a fully functioning organism when it was time for her to awaken. Biology is a fickle thing, it seems."

Shepard struggled against his bonds but they held fast. "And her purpose was simply to be used as a deception for me?"

"It worked, didn't it? There are actually a few more operations that I have planned for the clone before she outstays her usefulness. She is actually more naturally limited by time than you or I, seeing that she was flash cloned from the outset. In less than twenty years, you see, her organs will fail on her and she will expire, that being the nature of cloning organisms to reach a certain age very quickly. High organ deterioration is certain regarding her fate, one that is not reserved for the likes of us."

"You're not here to talk about the properties of cloning to me, Grevel." It was not provided as a question.

"Quite right," Grevel said, a little miffed by the interruption. With a bulky finger, she reached over and prodded Shepard's leg, making him yell as it felt like a million fire ants began to crawl underneath his skin. Grevel watched the human thrash in his chair for a bit before she continued. "I'm here to make sure that you properly realize the consequences of what you have sown in the past. I'm only here for the reckoning, Shepard."

Gritting his teeth in pain, Shepard considered whether he wanted to spit onto Grevel's helmet or not. "If I had made sure you were dead, there wouldn't be a need for a reckoning."

"True, which is why it has all boiled down to this, Shepard. Surely you must realize by now what awaits you."

"I'm just wondering why you haven't gotten on with it yet," Shepard growled.

"Revenge must be savored, not scarfed," Grevel said. "I have no need of going through the same song and dance back on Anhur as it will give me nothing. No questioning, no interrogation techniques, nothing of the sort. Rather, I plan on letting you fester for a bit before the time comes to be rid of you in a reasonably symbolic matter."

"And do I want to know the details of my undoubtedly elaborate demise?"

Grevel laughed raucously. "Shepard, I will assure you that when the time comes, it will be quicker than you could believe. I only intend to drag this on until the right opportunity presents itself. After that, the theatrics will be wholly unnecessary. Take for example, the vorcha I mentioned fleetingly to you before. When I found them years after my torture, I subjected them to the worst sort of pain imaginable. I chained them up in a dungeon for weeks, cut parts of their flesh off and fed them to varren. When I had tired of their pleas for mercy, I disemboweled them but let their entrails hang out so that they suffered for three more days. When the stink of blood and bile became unbearable, I loosed the varren upon them so that their intestines were slowly eaten, that their deaths took as long and painfully as possible."

Grevel smiled underneath her mask at Shepard's pale face and stood up, kicking aside her chair. "I don't intend to let you suffer through that, Shepard. What I can promise you is that the amount of pain will be negligible to the kind you're going through now."

"Your promises mean nothing to me," Shepard said as his clammy forehead suddenly felt cold, his sweat chilled. "I have no reason to believe that you'll do anything that you say to me."

"And you won't have to. But you'll cling to that hope regardless. In the end, that will destroy you more than I ever could."

She turned to leave until Shepard said something to her back. "I have something else that I hold hope for." Grevel turned around, gazing at a grimly smiling Shepard in amusement. "Tali," he said. "You didn't kill her and she will fight like hell to get to me just like I did for her. You made a mistake, Grevel, in letting her live for she will find me and she will put you down like you've always deserved."

Grevel looked at Shepard in curiosity for a moment before she gave a brief shrug. "It was no mistake," she simply said before she swiftly left the room, the door closing behind her so that Shepard could say no more in her presence.

The clone was leaning against the wall opposite the door and walked forward as soon as she saw Grevel approach. "You made me appear weak in front of Shepard," she accused. "That was not a good idea and I want to know-"

Grevel lunged forward and slammed the clone back against the wall in a savage push. Grevel then shoved the clone's shoulders so that she was forcibly pressed against the hard surface while the huge turian towered over her. "I don't need to explain myself to you," Grevel growled, knowing that she could snap the quarian in half if she so much as thought about the action. "You are weak, just like your progenitor. You were not created to question, you were created to obey, and the next time I give you an order, you will obey me completely!"

"I have every right to question you!" the clone hissed. "You would never have gotten this far if it weren't for me and you need to realize-"

The clone cried out in pain as Grevel yanked at the tubes that connected to the back of the quarian's helmet and pulled down. Enraged, Grevel knelt down to look the cowed clone in the eye. "What you need to realize is that you would not exist if it weren't for me! The Broker engineered you, I freed you! You would not be among the living if it weren't for my actions!" She leaned in closer to the shining mask. "And if you think that you will be better off without me, then I will kill you the second that thought pops into your worthless head. Am I understood?"

She gave another tug on the hoses to emphasize her point before she released the clone. The quarian stood, trying to control her shaking so that she could appear stoic in Grevel's eyes. "You are perfectly understood," she said clearly, with only the tiniest amount of rage embedded in her voice.

"Good," Grevel nodded with finality, her voice brimming with satisfaction as she helped the clone straighten herself. "I am glad to hear it."

At that very moment, the ship chose that exact moment to jump out of FTL. The automated cockpit began its docking sequence as the light glow from the icy blue planet filled the ship through the windows. With its thrusters engaged, the craft dove through the clouds to skim the subzero surface below, headed straight towards its destination.

The snow and the mountains hid the final objective, nestled in this wasteland. All that needed to be done had been completed. Now the waiting would begin anew.

A/N: The beginning of this chapter was one of the hardest passages that I've written thus far - not from an emotional standpoint, but from a decisive one on how I could approach such a dramatic scene like that. Hopefully I didn't screw it up too badly, even though I had to divert heavily from my outline to make it fit with the tone.

The next few chapters should be a little easier. Personally, I'm excited for what in store in the near future. Hopefully you'll enjoy the payoff!