A/N: Ahh, today marks the glorious start of two week vacation. Updates should be as frequent as normally for the first week, but then I'll drop off the grid for a week or so, taking a trip to a likely internet-less place. :)

Anyhow, here's another chapter for you. Enjoy!

Chapter 25 - Sowing Doubt, Reaping Loyalty

"You did what?" Liara's face on the vidcomm is creased with worry.

"Oh, just boarded a Collector ship to get some invaluable intel," Shepard replies flippantly, brushing off Liara's admonishing stare. "And wait till I tell you what we found out..."

"I have some big news for you too, Morgan," Liara says. "Wait till I tell you this..."

"The Collectors are actually repurposed Protheans," they both speak at once, then blinking and staring at each other with disbelief. "How did you find that out?" Liara asks. "Was there something on the ship?"

"Yeah, EDI analyzed some of the genetic tests they were making and found a connection," Shepard explains. "But how did you find that out?"

"You won't believe it, but the Shadow Broker actually knew this. It was in his files," Liara tells her. "His notes spoke of them being puppets of a Reaper that sought to make a deal with him."

"Harbinger," Shepard says. Liara nods grimly.

"The Shadow Broker knew a great deal about the Reapers, Morgan," the asari continues. "I think that is why he was willing to trade the intel that proved Saren's guilt. It is as if he knew what was coming and tried to do something to stop it. Or maybe he was just looking for a way to survive."

"He probably had a vested interest in a continued existence of organic life in the galaxy," Morgan remarks. "I doubt the Reapers and their fellow synthetics would have had much use for an information broker like him."

Liara nods in agreement. "He also has a lot of information about the Protheans. I have barely scratched the surface of his data, but it seems to me that the Shadow Broker thought that the Protheans had other plans to fight the Reapers, beyond what we found on Ilos. The Shadow Broker was looking for ways to acquire these plans."

"That could be significant, Liara. Shadow Broker has rarely been proven wrong... maybe even never," Shepard says, having thought for a while. "I think you should continue investigating in this direction."

"Don't worry, I will." There is a brief pause. "How are you, Morgan? Otherwise, I mean."

"Good. Good, much better, I think," Shepard smiles. "Missing you like crazy, of course, but good. You?"

"I have not had much time to think about how I feel," Liara confesses. "There is so much to do, I have little time to rest and ponder upon things."

"Don't try to bury yourself in this new job of yours, Liara," Shepard says, warningly. "I saw what it was doing to you on Ilium. Take a moment for yourself now and then, okay?"

"I... will try," Liara manages a small smile. "I just need to remember that I don't have to do everything alone anymore. Feron has been a big help, though I do not allow him to work as much as he wants to. I keep insisting that he takes it easy after all he's been through. And the little VI assistant probe that I inherited is also helping."

"It's good to know you're at least trying to be sensible about things," Shepard smiles in reply.

There is a small pause in the conversation. "I miss you so much," Liara finally admits, lowering her eyes. "If you should ever find yourself close to the Hourglass Nebula..."

"I will visit soon, I promise," Morgan says softly. "Until then, stay safe, Liara."

"Stay safe, Morgan," the asari replies, serene smile on her lips as the vidcomm projection fades.

Moved and uplifted by their conversation, Shepard then decides to go and speak with her two top Cerberus officers to gauge their reaction after The Illusive Man's betrayal lured them into the Collector trap, hoping to sow more seeds of dissent and turn them away from the terrorist organization.

Miranda surprises her by offering an unexpected apology. "The mission on the Collector ship proves that I was wrong to distrust you, Commander," she says earnestly. "I never should have questioned your ability or your commitment to the cause, Shepard."

"Well... you never did question it openly, for which I am thankful," Morgan replies.

"Cerberus needs more people like you, Shepard," Lawson goes on, steering the conversation in the opposite direction of where Morgan wants it to go. "Too many join us guided simply by xenophobia, or other wrong reasons. Someone like you, fighting for all the right reasons, you could help Cerberus to restore their name."

"But I would still be answering to The Illusive Man," Shepard remarks. "The man who just put all our lives in jeopardy on a very dubious pretext, when he could have chosen to be honest with us. How did you see that entire episode, Miranda?"

Operative Lawson is silent for a long while. "I... I must admit, even if I still trust that The Illusive Man had only the best intentions at heart, his approach was... no, I should not question him, Shepard, he has never lied to me..."

"Until now," Shepard finishes. Miranda looks conflicted, unsure what to say. "Miranda, this is the man who thought that experiments with husks, Thorian creatures and controlled rachni were all good ideas!"

"Damn it, Shepard, just because those projects were not successful does not mean the intention behind them was not with the humanity's best interests at heart!" Miranda explains, trying to sound convincing. "We were looking for a way to create expendable shock troops to limit human losses! Imagine how many soldiers on the Eden Prime could have lived if we could have sent rachni against Saren's geth."

"Replacing good Alliance marines with those monsters? Good luck with that," Shepard shakes her head. "And I don't think The Illusive Man is done playing us, Miranda. Keep your eyes wide and see for yourself, when the inevitable comes. Consider yourself warned, Miranda. The Illusive Man is not your friend. He's not anyone's friend."

"I hope... I mean, I still think you're wrong for distrusting him, Shepard," Lawson says. "But I will keep watching, both you and The Illusive Man. You warned me about him, Commander. Now, allow me to warn you. I sincerely hope that your words do not mean that you plan to betray Cerberus in the end, Commander. I would hate for us to end up on the opposite sides of the battlefield."

"Let's hope it won't come to that, Miranda. I would hate having to kick your genetically engineered perfect ass," Shepard grins, trying to defuse the situation a little bit.

Miranda shakes her head sadly. "And even with my genetically engineered perfect ass and everything else that was supposed to be... perfect," she says quietly. "I still have to face the reality that I could never have done the things you have, Commander."

"Perhaps because I'm not perfect," Shepard tries, but Miranda's expression remains sullen. "Ah, chin up, Lawson," Morgan grins, trying again. "Come on, you know you're pretty damn tough, and your biotics scare the hell out of me if I'm honest. You're really not so bad after all, and that's coming from someone who doesn't even like you very much."

Miranda finally allows herself a small smile. "Well... I thank you for your honesty, Commander. It is appreciated," she says as Shepard leaves her office, heading back to the elevator and selecting the CIC, hoping to catch up with Operative Jacob Taylor.

Quietly walking up to the ship's armory, Shepard unexpectedly bumps into Kasumi, who merely flashes her an innocent smile and quickly disappears. The reasons for such odd behavior become apparent when Shepard enters the armory to find Jacob busy doing pushups, naked from the waist up, sweat pouring down his broad back with sculpted muscles. Some time ago, I would have found that pretty... appealing. You know, before discovering asari, Shepard grins inwardly. Still, can't fault Kasumi...

"Commander," Jacob says, stopping his exercising. He jumps back up to his feet and grabs a towel, starting to wipe off the sweat. "So, The Illusive Man betrayed us, huh? Can't say I'm too surprised."

"If you're not surprised about your employer betraying you, isn't that a pretty good hint that maybe it is time to look for a new employer? Or consider self-employment," Morgan remarks.

"Maybe you're right, Shepard," Jacob shrugs, not looking completely convinced. "I'm still trying to keep the bigger picture in mind. The Illusive Man wants us to destroy the Collectors, that seems like something I can get behind."

"Not making any plans for after our mission against the Collectors?" Shepard asks.

"Please, Commander, we all know that our chances of returning from the Omega-4 relay are slim," Jacob smiles. "This is not the time to discuss future commitments."

"We'll come back victorious, I have no doubt of it myself," Shepard states with full conviction. "And when we do, I'd like you to at least consider options other than Cerberus."

"Maybe I will, Commander," Jacob remains evasive. "I know that I'm done with the Alliance. Privateering... I don't know, but we'll see. I know that Cerberus are a colorful bunch. Even this distress call from Hugo Gernsback... passed onto my personal log through Cerberus filters."

"Really? What do you make of that?"

Jacob shrugs. "I don't know, Commander. Someone's messing with me? Maybe fishing for favors? Hard to say, but it's definitely something to keep in mind..."

"We'll go check it out soon, Jacob," Shepard promises. "It's just that... some of the other issues appeared a little more time-critical. I hope you understand."

"I do, and I appreciate you taking the time, Commander," Jacob nods. "As long as we end up going there."

And speaking of time-critical missions, there is one thing that Shepard has been very concerned about ever since having learned of it. The Migrant Fleet accusing Tali of treason sounds like complete hogwash and she is determined to learn more about these, what she is certain to be completely false, accusations.

As always, Tali can be found down in the engineering, discussing some complicated schematics with Gabby Daniels, the latter excusing herself when she sees Commander Shepard approaching them. "Can we talk?" Shepard asks.

"Sure, follow me," Tali leads her a bit out of the earshot of Daniels and Donnelly, on the little bridge in front of the new Normandy's massive drive core, where their voices are absorbed by the quiet hum of the machinery.

"So what's this nonsense about the Admiralty Board and charges of treason?" Shepard asks.

"I don't know... but I'm scared, Shepard," Tali admits, her voice trembling slightly. "I asked for your help, but now I'm worried if showing up in a Cerberus ship won't make things even worse for me..."

"Well, they know that you're not working for Cerberus. And they approved of your leave to work with me," Shepard reminds her. "And it will be me accompanying you, not Cerberus. I'm sure we'll be able to deal with these ludicrous charges they have brought against you... whatever they are..."

"Yes, I... don't even know what to expect, but cases like these tend to be very serious," Tali sighs, then appearing a little angry. "You'd think I would remember betraying the Fleet!"

"It doesn't make any sense to me," Shepard agrees. "What can we expect once we arrive at the Migrant Fleet?"

Tali tells her of the usual procedure of what happens when charges like these are brought against one of her people. Standing before the Admiralty Board with its members acting like judges sounds very much like a trial back on Earth to Shepard. When Tali explains that the usual punishment for treason is to be forever exiled from the Migrant Fleet, Shepard has the good sense not to say that at least it is preferable to death sentence or long incarceration. To quarians, proud and highly social people with such strong attachment to their own kin, an exile would be particularly devastating.

Even if Tali seems to have calmed down a little during their talk, reassured by Shepard's support, she still agonizes about the charges, as well as about the reaction of her father, also one of the admirals on the acting Board. "Of course, he will have to abdicate from taking part in the trial," Tali explains.

I hope my mother will never have to witness me taking stand before a military tribunal. Morgan thinks, shuddering from the thought. Though considering this flirting with Cerberus... anything is possible. "We'll get through this, Tali," she says. "I promise, we'll think of something."

"Thank you, Shepard," Tali sounds very grateful. Before they part, she has one more thing to add for Shepard. "By the way, that distress call that has Operative Taylor looking so constipated? I know who passed it through to his personal log."

"Who? Tim, of course," Shepard says, convinced with certainty.

"It was Lawson," Tali replies.

"Miranda?" Shepard blinks. "Wonder why... ah, maybe it's not so surprising, after all." Now it is Tali's time to appear curious. "I think they've had some sort of... romantic connection in the past. Maybe she's just... I don't know, returning some old favor or something."

"That's Cerberus for you, eh, Shepard?" Tali shrugs. "Never know whether the offered hand is safe to shake or whether it holds a concealed knife to stab you with."

Shepard chuckles. "That's... very true, Tali. I'll go and pass the Fleet's coordinates to Joker," she says. "After that, we're wasting no more time. It's off to the Vallhallan Threshold..."