ACT V

Part 1

Captain's Log: Stardate 54212.7

With Mordin's help, the Doctor removed the foreign implants from Seven's body. Seven is expected to make a full recovery and the Doctor expects minimal scarring from the implants. I am also told Tali is making a full recovery aboard the Normandy. Mordin has informed me that had she not already been given antibiotics for her earlier episode she would have died as a result of the new infection.

I find myself indebted to Shepard and the Normandy. They have been a tremendous help in devising a way to get home, and without them we might not have been able to rescue Seven and Harry. This is a debt I would like to repay, but have yet to decide how best to do so.

The Doctor and Mordin stood in the med bay with Thane as Captain Janeway and Tuvok looked on from the sidelines. The Doctor had been working with Mordin on a way to cure this man for days, focusing almost exclusively on this project. Running simulations, developing cultures, and taking samples. Yes, in this short timeframe the Doctor wasn't expecting to be able to cure the disease outright. He is arrogant, but not so arrogant. Though, he did think that, at least, he wouldn't find himself looking Thane in his large black eyes and saying:

"I'm sorry, there's nothing we can do."

Thane didn't seem to react.

The doctor continued, "We weren't able to find a way to contain or even slow the spread of the disease. As it is right now, I am sorry."

"There is no need to be sorry, Doctor. I appreciate your efforts."

"Thane, you don't understand" Mordin started, "The disease is further along than we thought."

"What do you mean?" Thane asked.

"I'm sorry, Thane" the Doctor said compassionately, "at its current rate of spread, I don't see you living longer than three months."

Thane nodded and put his hand on the Doctor's shoulder, "Do not despair, Doctor. You've done all you could, and I am appreciative. I do not fear my death. I have reunited with my son, and I am helping to save the galaxy. This is more than I could have hoped for.

The Doctor nodded, unsure of why he was being comforted by Thane; he had planned it the other way around. He reached behind him and grabbed a small black plastic case, "Here, this should help with the chest pain. It won't stop the disease, but it will make it easier to endure." Thane took the case and held out his hand; the Doctor shook it and continued, "I'll miss you Thane."

"As will I," Janeway interjected, "It has been a pleasure having you aboard."

"Indeed," Tuvok continued, "I will miss our conversations. They have been…" Tuvok paused, looking for the right word, "interesting."

"Thank you Captain, Lieutenant Commander," Thane said, "I appreciate your hospitality. May I be dismissed? I need to grab some personal effects from my guest quarters before returning to the Normandy."

"Of course."

Thane nodded to both of the Voyager officers and left the sick bay. Janeway watched him leave, and then turned her attention to Mordin, "And, Mordin, thank you for all your help with the rescue, and with Seven."

"Of course. Ethical thing to do." Mordin said, and then leaned toward the Captain, "But, before I go, may I speak to you privately?"

Janeway nodded and walked with Mordin to a corner of the sickbay. Mordin whispered to her, "I just wanted to warn you. When removing the Reaper implants from Seven's body, I discovered something."

"What did you discover?" Janeway said, concerned for Seven's well being.

"While immoral. Unethical. Korvin was correct about one thing: the Borg and the Reapers are related. If I had to guess, based on what I saw, Borg are descendants of Reapers."

"Descendants?"

"Yes. It seems at one point, Reapers began synthesizing their technology with organic beings. Stopped destroying cultures, started assimilating them."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes. Technology too compatible. Only possible explanation. Borg are Reapers. Be careful, Captain. Reapers may still be out there in your dimension."

Unsure of what to say, Janeway nodded, shook Mordin's hand, and thanked him for his help again. She shot Tuvok a look, and the two of them excused themselves and left the sick bay. They walked to the turbolift and called for deck one.

"Computer, stop." Janeway said, and turned to Tuvok, "Something's on your mind and I want to know what it is."

"Captain, I have not indicated any discontent."

"Tuvok, after all these years I know you. Something's bothering you. What is it."

Tuvok sighed, "Captain, as you are aware, we have traveled through time on numerous occasions."

"Yes?"

"And on each of those occasions, We have encountered a federation timeship attempting to preserve the timeline."

Janeway nodded along as Tuvok continued, "Logic dictates that any civilization that masters time travel will have attempt to preserve the integrity of their timeline. Yet, we have not encountered any such attempt, which would mean that the people of this dimension have not mastered time travel. At the rate of technological development in this dimension, that is incredibly unlikely."

"What are you saying?"

"If allowed to progress without intervention, something will prevent the people of this dimension from achieving mastery of time travel."

"You think Reapers are real?"

Tuvok nodded, "While a galaxy-wide extinction is highly unlikely, this dimension not mastering time travel is even more unlikely. I believe we should assist Shepard in her mission."

"You think we should give the Normandy the weapons technology they're asking for?"

"I do."

"Now you're the last person I expected to come to me with this." Tuvok raised his eyebrow; Janeway continued, "This would be in direct violation of the Prime Directive."

"This is true. However, we have violated on multiple occasions the Prime Directive when people are in danger."

Janeway was silent. She never knew Tuvok to advocate breaking the law, in particular the Prime Directive. He must be very certain.

"Computer," Janeway said, "Resume turbolift. Deck Two."

"Deck Two?" Tuvok asked.

"Yes. I'm realizing I have to talk to Neelix. I'll be back to the bridge in a few minutes." The lift doors opened. Janeway started walking out, but stopped and turned back to Tuvok, "Thank you for talking to me, Tuvok. I'll keep it under advisement." She turned and walked away as the doors closed.

Part 2

"Your assistance is much appreciated, Agent LeJeune. You will find a substantial reward has been added to your account." Liara calmly said into a private channel.

"Liara," Shepard called as she entered her cabin. She was in a happier mood than she had been the past week. It could be because she was finally able to get off the ship and do something. It could be that, finally, there was a mission with no gray area: a straight up rescue. It could be that she hadn't shot anything in a while and tearing up mechs was her stress relief. Whatever the reason, she was happy, and she wanted to reconcile with Liara.

Liara was sitting on the couch, one leg crossed over the other staring at a datapad. "I'm over here." She said, looking up from the pad, "You seem to be in good spirits."

"I am. Don't know why." Shepard looked at the mass of datapads on the coffee table as Liara went back to her work, smiling. "No rest for the weary, eh?"

"None needed. I don't think I slept at all when defending my dissertation." Liara stacked the datapads in a pile by her on the table. Shepard plopped on the section adjacent to Liara's on the couch.

"I got a message from Voyager." Shepard started, "It seems that they want to thank us for our help."

Liara looked up in excitement, "They're giving us the tech you asked for?"

Shepard shook her head, "No. They're inviting us to a party." Shepard was only slightly facetious.

"A Party?"

"A celebration: something to mark the 'unprecedented interdimensional-intertemporal cooperation' or something along those lines. If it's one thing I learned growing up it's never turn down free food, and I figure the crew's earned a little shore leave, and this is as best as we're going to get." Shepard said with a chuckle. "You say I never take you anywhere. Interested?"

"When is this event to happen?"

"It's happening now." Shepard looked at the clock on her nightstand, "Not technically now, but basically now."

"Thank you, that would be nice. However, something just came up and I can't afford to…" Shepard put her feet on the coffee table. The impact of her boots on the metal shook the table, disrupting the top of the datapad stack and causing them to cascade across Shepard's floor.

"I'm sorry!" Shepard jumped up to help gather the datapads, Liara jumped with a start and quickly scooped up as many as she could.

"It's nothing. Really. Don't worry." Liara frantically said.

Shepard had picked up two of the ten-or-so. She looked at the one in her right hand; her good spirits began to fade, "Liara," she asked sternly, "what is this?" She held up the orange datapad so Liara could see its contents, tossing the other one onto the coffee table.

Liara wordlessly looked at the pad and back to Shepard. She was treading lightly.

"Is this what I think it is?" Shepard asked again, turning the pad toward her and exploring the material with her fingers.

"I don't know what you think it is." Liara said innocently, sitting straight on the couch, datapads now back on the table.

"It looks like a comm buoy. A comm buoy with a suspicious hardware upgrade," she looked at Liara, "Where did you get this?"

Nothing.

"Liara, where did you get this?"

"I had an agent in the area…"

Shepard, no longer in a happy mood, growled and paced to the other side of the cabin. "So you what?" she scolded, "You had some spy follow us into Korvin's base? Pick up the scraps?"

"No. When I left the bridge, I had the nearest able agent scan the buoy before Voyager could…"

"Liara, I ordered you to…"

"You are not my commanding officer." Liara tersely reminded, "You do not give me orders."

"You are a guest on my ship. How dare you go behind my back and…"

The women began shouting on top of one another. The fuse was lit long ago, and now the bomb had exploded. Shepard threw the datapad down on the table. Liara stood and paced around the room. Their voices were loud and their gestures large and forceful. They could no longer hear everything that the other said, but that wasn't the point now. The point wasn't to listen. The point was to make the other understand. The point had become to win.

"How dare I? Honestly. This technology has the capability to save lives. With the information I could gath…"

"It's just as likely to ruin lives! I am not okay with anyone having access to this sort of…

"Do you remember a week ago? You stormed onto Voyager and demanded advanced weapons tech…"

"That was different!"

"How?"

"I have always followed the rules of war! When I attack someone, it's to their face, and they are armed. This, the Shadow Broker, it violates every…"

"I will not be lectured on ethics by the commanding officer of a Cerberus vessel!"

"It's your fault I am working with Cerberus!"

"To save your life!"

"Ever since you've become the Shadow Broker you've been cutting yourself off. Hiding in your…"

"Oh, by the goddess, not this again!"

"Hiding in your little cave! Threatening your faceless agents! What's next?"

"With the tech from this buoy I wouldn't even have to utilize agents! I could do it all on my own!"

"Exactly! Do you remember the previous Shadow Broker? He saw no one. Trusted no one! He was completely cut off from the world! He was cruel and vicious and I...I will not idly stand by while thewoman I love turns into some sort of reclusive monster!"

The women took a moment to catch their breath. They were now both standing across the room from one another; their voices were tired and their limbs were shaking. Shepard could hear her heart in her throat, and she could tell she had crossed a line from the look in Liara's eyes. They had both gotten carried away.

Shepard looked earnestly at the floor, "Liara, I…" She paused.

"That's the first time you said you loved me since you died." Liara stated.

Shepard looked up, taken aback. She hadn't realized that she had yet to say it. She also didn't know Liara counted, "I should say it more often." Shepard sat on the floor at the foot of her bed, "Liara…I'm sorry. I just worry about you. I know you weren't happy as an information broker, and I've seen it change you. I just…" Shepard brought her hands up, tensed them trying to think of the right words and, giving up, relaxed them.

Liara walked to her, sat down close beside her, and bumped her with her shoulder before taking Shepard's hand. "I know." Liara said, "But it's what I have to do."

Shepard sighed and Liara leaned her head on Shepard's shoulder.

"Are you hungry?"

"I'm starving."

Part 3

"What can I get for you?" A smiling Neelix asked standing behind the bar of the Fair Haven pub, which had been converted to serve Neelix and Sergeant Gardner's home cooked foods. "Lets see what we still have: Basted Herulian beast with a leola root pate, Peppered Dinaali cabbage, A fine array of dextro cheese, Fillet of Nuu'Barian singing bass, some fine asari calamari gumbo, and Chocolate fudge ice cream for desert!"

"Yes." Commander Shepard responded, looking somewhat distant.

"Yes?"

"All of it." Shepard made a circling gesture with her finger around her plate.

Neelix was excited, "Why yes, ma'am!" He loaded up her plate, piling the different foods on top of one another, and handed the plate back to her with a bowl of gumbo and a bowl of ice cream. "And what would you like?" Neelix said to Liara, close behind Shepard. She pointed to three of the dishes.

"I must say, it's refreshing to see people with such healthy appetites! I promise, you won't be disappointed!" Neelix said as he loaded up her plate.

"Damn right she won't be!" Sergeant Gardner threw his arm around Neelix and pulled him in, "Neelix and I have been working on this all day, I've never seen such a professional, talented cook in all my days!"

"Look who's talking! Your cinnamon fritter recipe is simply brilliant!"

Shepard and Liara took their dishes and sat down at an open table together. Shepard hadn't been inside the holodeck yet, and was simply astounded by what she saw: the detail, the atmosphere. You would never need shore leave with this installed in your ship. You could instantly go wherever you wanted to, whenever you wanted to.

Janeway explained in her invitation that this was a program that was initially built as a permanent fixture. Like a community the crew could visit on a regular basis. A dry dock. It has since been used less, but it still held a soft spot in many of their hearts. Shepard had to admit, the local town holograms really knew how to throw a party. The music was exciting, the crews of the two ships were laughing and dancing together. The festivities had even spilled into the street, with more music, food, and drinking.

As soon as the Commander stuck a fork in what looked to be some sort of fish, Tom Paris stopped by the table, "I'm sorry, Commander," he said, stopping her fork in midair with his words, "I'd never forgive myself if I let you eat that." He pointed to the fish thing. "The rest of it's fine, just don't eat the fish."

"Thank you." Shepard said, saving the fish for later.

Tom turned to Liara, "It's good to meet you two. Officially."

"Yes," Liara said, "Thank you for the rescue." Liara had discarded the fish, "and my apologies for how we first met."

"None necessary. Water under the bridge. Though, that's a hell of a way to be introduced to biotics."

"You know about biotics?" Shepard asked, mouth full.

"We gained access to the Extranet. I figure: We're not going to be here for long, so might as well read up on it now."

"You find a vid called Vaenia?" Shepard asked.

"Shepard!" Liara jokingly scolded as Shepard grinned.

Tom took that as a clue not to search for Vaenia. He saw Harry wave from across the crowded room, "Have you two seen Joker?"

"Sorry, we just got here." Shepard said, fixated on her food.

"I think he may be sitting at a small table by the entrance?" Liara said and pointed.

"Thanks. See you around?" Shepard and Liara nodded. Tom waved to Harry and made his way across the room. When he came to Harry, he was standing by a young woman hologram; she was wearing Irish clothes similar to the other characters, had hazel eyes and light brown hair. Her face was bright and happy. "Harry, Is this her?"

"Tom, meet Eadan." She held her hand out to Tom, which was unusual for the women holograms in this program.

Tom shook her hand, she had a firm grip, "Hello, it's a pleasure to meet you."

"And you too, Mr. Paris! Harry's told me a lot about you."

"Nothing bad, I hope."

"Oh, of course not. Don't you have faith in your friend?" Eadan said jovially.

"Yeah, Tom, don't you have faith in me?" Harry Joked.

"Not for a second."

"Where's Joker?"

"Liara said she thought she saw him by the door?" Tom stood on his toes to look over the heads of people around him. "Ah, over there." Tom indicated by nodding his head over the crowd, "Eadan, would you like to meet our friend?"

"I would be delighted."

Tom took Eadan's hand, who took Harry's hand, and they pushed through the crowded pub. It seems the whole holographic town came out for the celebration, in addition to many of the crews of both the Normandy and Voyager. It was a welcome change from the suspicion and derision. The three walked up to Joker, who was on his own nursing a beer with a brown bottle and yellow label.

"Joker, how you doing? All by yourself?" Tom asked.

Joker looked up at him, "Yeah, I spend all day by myself on the bridge of the Normandy. I'm not really at home in crowds." He said, taking a swig from his beer, "And I don't dance. So…"

"You don't dance?" Eadan said through her melodic Irish accent, "That's a shame."

"No. I…I'm sorry, who are you? I don't think we've met?"

"Joker," Harry said, "This is Eadan. She's from Fair Haven."

Joker looked a little disappointed, but curious. "Oh, so you're a…" he looked back and forth between her and Harry, "She's a…

Eadan sat down without asking, "A hologram, Mr. Moreau?"

"Yes, and please, call me Jeff."

"Sure, Jeff." She said with a giggle, "and yes, I'm a hologram."

"And you know you're a hologram?"

"Yes. Is that so odd? You know you're a space man?"

"No…I, uh…good point." Joker looked at Eadan up and down. He knew she was not real, but she was definitely attractive. He looked at Tom, "Seriously, how do you get any work done?" Joker and Eadan started talking and Tom and Harry quietly stepped back, chuckling.

B'elanna came up behind Tom and put her arms around him, "So here's where you've been hiding."

"Who's hiding? I'm not hiding."

"Come on, Cupid, you promised me a dance."

"Sorry, Kids. Duty calls." Tom said, being dragged away by B'elanna.

Harry looked at Tom as he left, "What am I supposed to do now?"

"Isn't there a cow somewhere around here you had a thing with once?" Tom said, disappearing in the crowd.

"That's not funny!" Harry pointed at the disappearing Tom. He looked around the room, and decided to catch some air outside.

Part 4

"So, what's it like," Eadan asked Joker, "Flying through space?"

"It's not bad. I can think of worse ways to spend an evening." He joked, "How about you? What's it like…uh…being a hologram?" Joker asked as awkwardly as possible.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, you know you're on a ship, in space…"

"Uh, huh."

"And you know you were created…by these people…"

"Uh, huh."

"Isn't that weird to you?"

"Why would it be?"

"I don't know. It's sort of…how do you know they aren't going to erase you? Or edit you? Or something like that?"

"If they try to edit me, I'll just break into their computer system and take over the ship until they change me back." Joker squinted his eyes. Eadan laughed, "I'm just kidding you, Jeff. For someone called 'Joker,' your mightily high strung." There was a brief pause in the conversation. Joker wanted to retort, but couldn't think of anything to say. He wasn't used to being at a loss for words.

Eadan was the one to break the silence, "Come on," She stood up, "Let's dance!"

"Oh, no. I would love to, but I can't. See, I've got this note from my doctor…"

Unfortunately, Dr. Chakwas was standing just behind Joker, drinking with Chakotay and eavesdropping on the couple, "Don't you let him get out of having a good time on my account. His doctor says he's fine to go dancing." Joker glared at Dr. Chakwas who was smirking and sipping on an Irish whiskey on the rocks.

"See, your doctor says it's fine! Let's go!" Eadan gently grabbed Joker's arm and pulled him to the dance floor. Joker wondered how much Tom and Harry told her about him, since she was being so gentle. Did she know about his condition? Did he really care? She wasn't even really real anyway, right? He thought, Tom and Harry might have even programmed her for him. If her purpose was to hang out with Joker, than who was he to keep her from that? His ego inflated, and he decided that he might as well play along. He followed her to a corner of the dance floor and took her lead.

Outside the pub, Tuvok approached the party to find a gathering of crewmembers from the two ships. They were chanting and cheering. Tuvok decided to investigate what was happening before walking into the pub. As he approached, the Voyager crew noticed him and stepped aside, letting him to the center of the group. There, he found a small table commandeered from the inside of the pub with two chairs on each side. In one sat a member of the Voyager crew, in the other sat Grunt, the large krogan from the Normandy. The two were arm wrestling. After Tuvok arrived in the center, Grunt slammed the crewman's hand on the table, which resulted in cheers and jeers erupted from the crowd as Grunt shouted "I am KROGAN!"

"Tuvok! You're here!" Said Harry, who joined the crowd after leaving the pub.

"Yes. The captain requested that I…"

"Tuvok, now that you're here, you gonna arm wrestle Grunt?" A crewmember asked, The Voyager crew erupted in encouraging cheers.

"I have no plans to…"

The crew cheered again. "Come on, Tuvok!" "You can do it!"

"You've got to do it!" Harry said, "Grunt's beaten everyone who's gone against him so far. You can't let him do this on our home turf!"

"I don't have to do anything, Ensign."

Tuvok turned to leave the crowd when he heard Grunt chuckling, "That's right, human. Run away."

Tuvok stopped and looked over his shoulder, "I am not human. I am Vulcan."

Grunt laughed, "Vulcan, human, doesn't matter. No one here measures up to pure krogan!" He laughed some more. Tuvok looked at the faces of his fellow crewmembers and, with an exasperated sigh and no words, he sat in the chair across from Grunt and places his elbow on the table.

Part 5

Even through the music and people talking, Shepard and Liara heard an eruption of cheers from the Voyager crew coming from outside. Loud enough that it actually startled Liara, who was nibbling on Shepard's ice cream. Shepard was busy finishing off the fish that Liara had discarded. Soon after the cheer had died, Captain Janeway and a hologram came to their table. Janeway was unlike Shepard had seen her, laughing. Jovial. Happy. She sat down in the third chair at the table with the hologram standing behind her, and even though he wasn't her cup of tea, Shepard noticed that he was very attractive.

"Hello Commander," Janeway said through a chuckle and a smile, "This is Michael," she gestured to the hologram, "Michael, this is Commander Shepard and Doctor T'Soni." The hologram held out his hand for Shepard, who looked up from her plate to shake his hand. He then held his hand to Liara, who took it as well. "Commander. Doctor. It's a pleasure to meet you both. Katy has told me a lot about you."

Shepard looked at Janeway, "Katy?"

Janeway smirked, "Yes, well," she looked at the attractive hologram, "Michael, I need to speak to the Commander for a moment."

"Of course," he said and turned to Liara and held out his hand, "Doctor, may I have this dance?"

Liara shot a look at Shepard who smirked and nodded, "Of course. And call me Liara." She took his hand.

"Liara." He and Liara walked to the dance floor as the musicians switched from one song to another.

"Katy, huh?" Shepard joked. "You two, uh…can you with a…"

"That's classified. Suffice to say that it would be improper for me to feel any sort of romantic attraction to a member of my crew."

Shepard laughed, drawing a puzzled look from Janeway. Shepard did her best to wave it off, "You've really been out here a long time, huh?"

Janeway smirked and nodded, "We have." Janeway shifted her weight, growing more serious, "Did you mean what you said earlier?"

Shepard was confused, "Earlier when?"

"On the planet, when you said you wouldn't sacrifice who you were to survive."

"I did."

Janeway leaned in, "And who are you?"

Shepard thought for a moment. She looked at Liara who was now dancing with the hologram. She was smiling, which made Shepard smile. "Something here"

Janeway smirked again, "Good." She reached into a hidden pocket and produced a PADD, which she slid to Shepard. Shepard picked up the PADD and looked at the screen, the UI was different than on one of her datapads, but it was similar enough. Shepard activated the PADD and looked at the schematic. A schematic of…

"Is this?" Shepard asked.

"It's an older model. We don't use it anymore, but it should help in your struggle with the Reapers."

"What changed your mind? Wy are you helping us?"

"Captain's prerogative."

Shepard stared at the torpedo schematic. She could tell it was much older than anything else on Voyager, it wasn't as powerful, but it was still better than anything Shepard had seen. An armada armed with these could hold it's own against a few Reapers. It wouldn't be easy, but they could defend…

Shepard looked back up and saw Liara dancing again. The two briefly made eye contact before Liara focused again on the hologram.

"I can't take this," Shepard said and slid the PADD back to Janeway.

"What do you mean? I thought this is what you wanted?"

"It is, it's just…" Shepard gathered her breath, "If I've learned anything from this mission it's that I can't trust anyone on my ship with data. Our computer was hacked, and I may have a couple of spies on board. I don't trust who I am working with and I will not be responsible for them gaining access to this advanced weaponry. Give me this data and I can't guarantee it stays with me."

"What would you have done with it if you kept it."

"There's an admiral in the Alliance that I trust. Anderson. David Anderson. He's the only one I'd trust with this." Shepard handed the PADD back to Janeway, who begrudgingly received it.

"I understand."

"If you had some of these laying around, I would be able to securely deliver them to Anderson, but it sounds like you don't, and I wouldn't ask you to."

"We can replicate them easily enough. Are you sure you could keep them secure?"

Shepard perked up a bit, "Yes. I could keep them under guard in the cargo bay. While I don't trust Cerberus, not everyone on my ship is Cerberus. There are two that I trust to keep people away until I could deliver them to Anderson."

"And this Anderson, what would he do with it?"

"He's a good man, and he knows the Reaper threat is a real one. He would probably get a team working on reverse engineering them. He would recognize how powerful these are. They would stay within the Alliance; I know it."

Janeway nodded, "Very well. We'll transport two of this model directly to your shuttle bay. We'll contact you when the transport is complete."

"Don't." Shepard was serious, "I don't want some of the people on my ship to know something's up. I'll have the two guards I have in mind standing by in the shuttle bay. I'll tell them something's arriving, and I'll tell them it's confidential. No one is to know about this except the two of us."

"Understood."

"And, Captain, thank you. You may have saved my galaxy."

Janeway nodded as the song ended. Liara and the hologram returned to the table. Janeway greeted the hologram and the two went off together. Liara sat down at her seat and looked into Shepard's eyes, "So, what did you two talk about."

"She wanted to thank me for my help extracting Seven of Nine."

"That's it? It seems odd that she would want to discuss that with you privately."

"That's it."

Part 6

The tavern was now dark and orange with flickering candlelight. The Normandy and Voyager crews were now gone, and the Fair Haven citizens had all but left, except the tavern workers who were sweeping up the floors and washing tumblers. Neelix gathered his cooking supplies in a messy jumble in his arms. The party had been long, but fun, and Neelix enjoyed getting out of the mess hall's kitchen. Harry came up to Neelix, who looked like he was struggling, "Neelix, do you need help?"

"No, no, I've got it. Thank you though, Harry." Neelix walked past Harry to Tom, who was standing by the holodeck door, "Brilliant party, Mr. Paris. I had a wonderful time!"

"And no one got sick." Tom quipped. Neelix smiled and chuckled at the joke at his expense, "I think this is just what the crew needed. Next time you want to plan something like this, let me know. I would be happy to lend my services!" Neelix nodded and walked out of the holodeck back to the grey hallways of Voyager. Harry approached Tom, "So, time to shut it down?" Harry asked.

"I think so," Tom respond, "Computer: End Fair Haven program." The tavern and tavern workers disintegrated, leaving only Tom, Harry, and Edan in the empty holodeck. Edan stood silently, with perfect posture, analyzing the empty holodeck.

"So," Harry said, approaching Edan, "Did you enjoy yourself?"

"Yes. Thank you for this opportunity." She responded, her melodic accent gone.

"Where'd the accent go?" Harry asked.

"The accent was derived from subroutines through the Fair Haven program. When the program was deactivated, I lost access to them, along with many of Edan's other mannerisms and understanding of human custom."

"You transferring back to the Normandy now?"

"I cannot leave the Normandy, but if you're asking if I will disengage my connection with Voyager, yes. I will do shortly. Again, thank you for suggesting this. I…had fun."

"No problem" Tom said.

"Take care, EDI." Harry waved.

Edan nodded and dissipated, leaving only Tom and Harry in the room.

"Should we tell Joker?" Harry asked Tom as they walked out of the holodeck.

"Nah. We'll let the two of them figure things out."

Part 7

"I want to thank you for all your help, Commander." Captain Janeway said to her viewscreen. She saw the bridge of the Normandy, with Joker sitting at the helm and Shepard and Liara standing behind.

"Think nothing of it," Shepard responded, politely yet formally, "It's nothing you wouldn't have done for me, I'm sure. Do you have everything you need?"

"Yes. Do you?"

"Yes."

She thought it was an odd question from the captain. Voyager hadn't given the Normandy any supplies. They had even outright refused to. So why ask if we needed anything now? What was the point. Liara looked at Shepard for a clue; she gave none.

"Once you start your approach it is essential you do not deviate from your course. A ship that big without a mass effect core traveling in the wake of a shuttle that does…you only get one shot at this." Shepard reminded them. Tom's eyes rolled as if to say "You don't have to tell us."

"Good luck, Commander." The Captain said.

"You too, Captain. Promise me that you'll hello to Earth for me." Shepard smirked.

Janeway smirked back and nodded, "I promise. And, Commander, kick some ass."

Shepard nodded, and the signal was cut off. Voyager moved away from the Normandy and positioned herself in line to enter the Relay. Joker turned to Shepard as the Delta Flyer exited the Voyager shuttle bay, "So. Where to now, boss?"

"We'll wait here until they enter the relay. See them off. Then we'll drop off Liara at…"

"Shepard, we have an incoming ship dropping out of FTL," Joker interrupted. With a "pop," a large, dark ship with a smooth, reflective hull appeared beside them, and moved in the way of Voyager, which had started it's run toward the Relay.

"Shepard!" Tali called over the comm, "That's Korvin's ship!"

Korvin sent a message to the Normandy, "You can't stop me, Shepard! I would rather die than let the Galaxy fall!"

"Joker, take him down!"

"No good, Commander. We don't have anything that would knock him out of the way before Voyager would get there."

"Didn't we JUST upgrade the canon?"

"We did, just before Voyager got here," Garrus joined the conversation from the shuttle bay, "But the targeting computers haven't been fully calibrated yet. There's no guarantee we'd actually hit Korvin's ship, and we may actually hit Voyager or the Flyer."

"The targeting computer isn't calibrated?" Shepard asked aggravatedly, "Garrus, what are you DOING down there all day?" Shepard yelled.

"I've been a little busy on Voyager!"

"Shepard, 45 seconds until point of no return" EDI reminded.

"Contact Voyager, tell them to take that ship…"

"No good." Tali called, running to the Main Battery, hoping she could calibrate the canon in time, "Voyager's course is already laid in. Weapons fire may disrupt the tachyon field emitted by their…"

Shepard shut Tali out. After "No good" Shepard didn't need the details. She thought, her eyes darted around the cockpit. She turned to Liara, "Get to the shuttle bay. NOW!" Without words, Liara nodded and ran down the hallway.

"Jack, get to the shuttle bay now! Joker, get us as close as you can and open the shuttle bay doors." Joker did as he was ordered.

"30 seconds."

Shepard yelled into the comm, "In the shuttle bay there are two boxes guarded by Garrus and Samara. This is our ammo. Jack, Samara, you're our cannons. I want you to shove these out the door as fast as you can. Liara, you're the targeting computer. Make sure they hit their mark."

"I don't know if I can do this, Shepard" Liara said, not meekly but plainly.

"Garrus?" Shepard asked.

"Better than the canon right now."

"You've got this, Liara," Shepard ordered.

"20 seconds."

"Joker?" Shepard asked.

"In position and shuttle bay door open."

"Jack, Samara, Liara?"

"We're in position."

"FIRE!"

Jack and Samara threw the torpedoes out of the Shuttle bay as fast as they could. Liara stood as far forward as she could with her arms out. She groaned and sweat, trying to alter the course of the torpedoes. They were quickly out of her range, and she fell to her knees, panting. She looked up through the barrier to see if her efforts were fruitful.

"10 seconds."

The torpedoes sored through space toward Korvin's ship for what felt like an eternity. Jack's torpedo made first impact, knocking Korvin's ship away from Voyager's path and devastating the starboard side of the ship. The Samara's torpedo came shortly after, smashing into the impact wound of the first, resulting in the decimation of the ship, leaving only debris.

The Flyer zoomed through the debris field with no problems, with Voyager following close behind. The shuttle reached the relay and was struck by an energy bolt, shooting it and the vessel behind it into the relay.

"Voyager's away." Joker said.

"Korvin?"

"There are no signs of life from the debris field."

"Good. Set course for Hagalaz, and get Garrus on that canon."

"Yes ma'am." Joker said to an empty room. He turned back and saw the Commander walking down the hallway, "Ma'am?"

"I'll be in my cabin." The commander said, deflated. As if she let the key to the salvation of the entire galaxy slip through her fingers.

Part 8

"Warp drive is back up and running," B'elanna reported from her seat in the conference room, "I have a team working on removing the modifications to the Flyer. They should be done in a day or so."

"It's not like you to not be specific?" Janeway asked.

"I told them to take it easy. My whole team is exhausted between the folding-space drive and mass relay drive conversions."

"Give them my thanks."

"It's a shame we didn't get more out of it," Tom said, "After all that, relay popped us back where we started, when we started. All in all, all we got was a lost few days."

"I don't think that's true." Janeway responded, "We saw a whole new galaxy. Don't you see the possibilities that gives us? They can traverse the entire galaxy in a matter of days, not decades. They can communicate in real time with anyone in the galaxy. No, we may have not gotten anything tactile. And we may not have gotten the boost we were looking for, but anytime we meet a civilization that has a new way of living, a new way of thinking. That is something." She snapped back to official mode, "Let's get back on track. Everyone back to your posts. Tom, lay in a course for home."

"Aye, ma'am," Tom said as everyone started to stand and file out of the room, everyone, that is, except for Chakotay and Janeway.

"So, what changed your mind?" He asked, standing beside her.

"Do you disagree?"

"I don't know. Don't get me wrong, it's a good thing you did. Sensor logs indicate the weapons used to stop Korvin's interference were the torpedoes. They must have found a way to fire them. I was actually just curious: what changed your mind."

"Well, I was approached by a couple of unlikely sources for one. And there was what she said to Korvin on his base, that she wouldn't sacrifice who she was to save her people. That she was going to 'do it right."

"Sounds familiar" Chakotay said with a smile.

Janeway smirked at him, stood, and walked to the screen on the wall of the conference room, "But, I think the last straw, the fact that pushed me to make the decision, was this." Janeway activated the screen and, with a few keystrokes, activated an old personnel file, "She designed them."

Chakotay looked at Janeway, "What?"

"Their universe was another dimension, and was not completely alien from our own. I decided to try and look up a few of the crewmembers of the Normandy in our universe, just to see what their doppelgangers were like in this dimension." She gestured to the screen.

Choktay read out loud, "Vice Admiral Janette Shepard: April 11th, 2154 – November 20th, 2260."

"She served on the USS Horizon as a tactical and security officer, rose up the ranks and eventually took command of another Daedalus class ship. After a few years she started working at the academy, teaching cadets on weaponry and command. She was chosen by Starfleet to help design the weapons systems of the Miranda and Constellation class starships. Including those torpedoes we gave them, and even our current torpedoes have her fingerprints on them."

"It looks like she didn't have too long of a career, considering her rank and accomplishments."

"Which is probably why we didn't recognize the name. She met her wife while working on the Constellation and retired soon thereafter."

"Anyone we know?"

Janeway shook her head, "No one we met on the Normandy." Janeway leaned against the table, gazing at the picture of her universe's Shepard. She looked like the Shepard she met, yet less battle-worn. Her eyes didn't have the same fire.

"You're worried about her?" Chakotay asked.

Janeway shook her head, "No. She'll find a way."

Part 9

Tali hugged Liara on board the Shadow Broker's base on Halagaz while Garrus and Shepard looked on, "It's been nice seeing you again, Liara," Tali said through her squeeze, "It's a shame you can't come with us."

"Yes, well," Liara and Tali let go, "This is where I am needed. I'll help you however I can."

"Well, don't be a stranger." Garrus said, giving Liara a brotherly punch on the arm, "Now that I know you have the most complicated communications array in the galaxy on this ship, there's no excuse to not drop me a line from time to time."

Liara chuckled, "Of course, Garrus." The two exchanged a brief hug before Tali and Garrus turned their heads toward Shepard.

"We'll, uh, give you some privacy," Tali said as she grabbed Garrus' arm and pulled him away. The two waited by the door of the Shadow Broker's main office.

"So. This is it." Shepard said, standing in front of Liara.

"Yes. It is." Liara blankly responded.

"Liara, I don't know what's going to happen inside the Reaper. And after that we're going to the Omega Relay. I'm not sure…"

"You're coming back." Liara took Shepard's hands in her own, "I know you're coming back."

Shepard nodded without energy, "…yeah."

The two stood there, without moving or talking for what seemed like an eternity. They were both looking for the right thing to say, the right way to walk way. "You know, you could come with us. We could definitely use you."

"You know I can't."

"I know. You can't blame me for trying." Shepard chuckled, which caused Liara to chuckle.

"You have to save the galaxy, Shepard. You don't need to try to save me too. I'm a big girl; I'll be alright here."

Shepard squeezed Liara's hands one last time and their arms bounced slightly. She took in a heavy breath, "I should go."

Liara nodded and the two let go of each other's hands. "Remember, Shepard. If you need anything, you know where to find me."

After a few more heavy moments, Shepard turned and walked away from Liara toward the door and a surprised Garrus and Tali. "What?" Garrus asked, "No goodbye kiss this time?"

"No." Shepard remarked, "Not this time."

Epilogue 1

"Damn it!" The Illusive Man slammed his fist on the arm of his chair as his comm link was destroyed. His agent had gotten greedy, and paid for it with his life. This was not the cause of The Illusive Man's distress. Agents come and go. What can't be replaced is the data. The Illusive Man saw an opportunity that couldn't be passed up, and he took it. He gambled.

Miranda walked into the large, admittedly beautiful room, "Is everything alright?" She asked.

"Yes, Miranda." He said, calming himself down and taking a long drag on his cigarette. "I've been working on a side project for the past few months. We had a breakthrough but it seems that breakthrough was somewhat short lived.

"Anything I could help you with."

"No. I need you working with Shepard. I appreciate you bringing me the scans of Voyager from Shepard's omni tool, but I get the feeling she will be calling you back shortly. Get back to the shuttle bay and have the pilot take you back to Minuteman Station and contact Shepard for a Rendezvous point. While you're at it, press her to get the IFF. If she waits too long, we'll lose this opportunity.

"Yes sir." Miranda started walking back to the entrance to the room.

"Oh, and Miranda?" Miranda stopped and turned back to him as he activated a series of screens several meters long, "Make sure when you do go through the Omega-4 relay that you stick with Shepard. I want to make sure she doesn't do anything to hasty."

"Hasty?"

On the screens appeared what looked like medical scans. It looked like scans of a woman with considerable cybernetic implants. Not Shepard, they didn't match. Who was it then?

"Yes. I'm afraid Shepard's instinct will be to destroy whatever she finds on the other side of the Relay without thought to the practical applications of Collector technology. I need you help her keep that instinct in check, to convince her to salvage what she can and bring the data back with her."

"With all due respect, wasn't her instinct the reason you wanted to bring her back as is?" Another set of medical scans faded over the already existing ones on the screen. These with more cybernetic implants; implants with clearly reaper origins.

"At one point we must conquer our instincts, Operative." He turned back to Miranda, "Remember that."

Miranda nodded and turned back to the door of the room, wondering if she would ever be back.

Epilogue 2

"Are you hungry?"

"I'm starving."

"I don't get it." Shepard continued after the pause, "After Voyager arrived, you're the one who encouraged me to help them. To 'do it right.' So why…" Shepard gestured to the stack of datapads.

Liara took a deep breath, "Shepard, since we've met, I've always tried to give you what you need: at first because you were helping me find my mother, then as your soldier, then lover. I always wanted to know that you were taken care of. You need your humanity, Shepard. If you are going to lead us through this war, you need kindness and mercy. I saw that you were suffering; your heart and your surroundings were in conflict. You needed help resolving that conflict."

Liara squeezed her hand and turned her head to face Shepard. She continued, "But, if we're going to win this war, you also need the Shadow Broker. You need the intel I provide, and you need to not know where I get it. You need to be the hero. We need you to be the hero. The only way I can help you is if I…" Liara trailed off.

"I need you on that line." Shepard said with feigned intensity. Liara looked puzzled, "Old movie." Liara nodded. Shepard chuckled lightly and came back from her bad joke to the heavy room.

"Shepard…I…I don't know how to..." Liara tripped over her words.

"I know." Shepard let her off without saying it. She knew what Liara was going to say, and didn't want to make her say it. She didn't want to hear it, but she agreed. If only The Collectors hadn't attacked two years ago. If only Liara hadn't visited at this moment or Voyager had never crossed their path. A hundred different paths led to other realities. Better realities. Realities where she and Liara could be happy together.

Shepard told herself these lies, but she knew. This had been unraveling, since when, she wasn't sure. She hated it, but it was inevitable.

Liara picked up her spare hand, and with her thumb wiped the bottom of her eye. She knew Shepard understood her. She hated it as much as Shepard, but she knew it was for the best. It had to be done. It's what the galaxy needs. The galaxy needs a focused, determined, heroic Shepard. The galaxy needs a talented Shadow Broker. Shepard needed a Shadow Broker, and so did Liara.

"Maybe…" Liara began, wiping her other eye, "when the war is over…"

Shepard closed her eyes, "…we could just disappear."

"If only."

"If only."

The now former lovers sat on the floor, holding hands and resting their heads on one another. Part of them thought that if they didn't move, than the galaxy would freeze. They'd never have to move on from this moment. They could stay there, happy and together. It was an illusion, a cruel illusion, and both the warriors were strong enough to know it.

Shepard took a deep breath and lifted her head, "Come on, let's go." She stood up, Liara holding onto her hand and standing up with her.

"Where are we going?"

"One last dance."

Epilogue 3

"Very funny, Hopkins." Samantha Traynor said, her right arm submerged in a piece of machinery to her shoulder. She winced as she searched with her fingertips for the right part.

"7.482 now. I'm just saying," said her lab partner, who was monitoring the console just above the machine, "There was a time when women's military uniforms involved pencil skirts, why is it so ridiculous?"

"James, you have no idea what a pencil skirt is." Samantha made the adjustment she looked for, "how about now?"

"4.827. I do so know what a pencil skirt is. It's the, like, this one." He made a gesture encompassing the area of his body from his stomach to just above his knees, "And, come on. I know you're a butt girl."

"Just 4.8?." Samantha pulled her arm out of the machine and closed the hatch, "4.8…4.8…"

"Uh, Sam?" James pointed to Samantha's hand, which was covered in orange muck; discharge from the malfunctioning machine. Samantha's heart started racing. Her mind went back to Horizon. Back to that ship. Back to…

"You have got to be kidding me. Damn it." Samantha kicked the machine, unable to keep calm.

James looked at the console, "Hey! 1.224"

Samantha tried to calm herself down, and was not placated by the new reading, "Great. Unfortunately, you can't replicate 'kick the damn thing.' Ugh, we're going to have to take the panels off and figure out where this is coming from." She held up her right hand. She sighed, "Speaking of, can you get started on that while I clean this off?"

"I don't know if I want to encourage your habit."

"My habit?"

"Washing your damn hands. Ever since you got back from Horizon you've been washing your hands like crazy."

"Maybe I'll just wipe it off on you?" Samantha reached out her hand, causing James to jump back.

"Okay, okay. Fine. Go." Samantha smirked and turned to walk to the restroom. She was stopped in her tracks by Lieutenant Hefner.

"Traynor. Major's office."

"I'll be right there, I just have to…" Samantha held up and pointed to her dirty hand.

"Now, Traynor."

Samantha groaned and turned away from the restroom, making her way through the equipment of the lab back to the Major's office. She tried to not think about the mess on her hand. It's fine. It's just dirt. It's just…

She walked up to the office, deciding to apologize before getting chewed out, "If this is about the other day, I just want you to know that…" She reached the threshold of the door, not seeing the Major, but a man she'd never seen before. He was tall and imposing. He wore an admiral's uniform and had a large scar across his face. Even though she'd never met him, Samantha recognized the man immediately. She snapped to attention and saluted. "Sir."

"At ease, Specialist." Admiral Hackett waved off her salute with a swift motion of his hand. He was reading a datapad and standing beside the Major's desk. Samantha adjusted her weight and moved her hands behind her.

"I've heard good things, Specialist. I've come here to…" Hackett lowered the datapad to his side and looked up at Samantha for the first time, "Uh…Specialist?" He pointed to his eyebrow.

"What?" Samantha turned to a mirror in the office, and could see an orange smudge on her forehead. "Oh, I'm sorry, I…uh…" Samantha looked around the office for a towel or rag. Hackett stepped toward her and pulled a handkerchief from his pocket, he wiped off her eyebrow before putting it back in his pocket. "Thank you, I was working in the lab and sometimes…"

Hackett cut her off with another motion from his hand. Later, Samantha would think on how impressed she was with his ability to control a room with the slightest gestures. Right now, though, she had trouble thinking much of anything.

"I'm here to inform you of your transfer."

"Transfer?"

"Do you recognize this?" Hackett handed Samantha the datapad, which was now displaying the image of a ship. A very familiar ship.

"That's the Normandy, isn't it?" Samantha said, holding the pad in her left hand.

"You're close. It's a Cerberus copy. They're calling it the SR-2."

"I recognize it, sir. I saw it on Horizon."

"I see." Hackett held his hand out for the pad, which Samantha returned. "Long story short, it's coming to Earth. The ship's commanding officer, Commander Shepard, is turning herself in to the Alliance and this ship is too important to pass up. We'll be retrofitting the ship to comply to Alliance standards and I want you heading that project."

Samantha was dumbfounded, "But, sir, why me?"

"The ship has an incredibly advanced QEC. Admiral Anderson would like to take advantage of it to turn the ship into his mobile command center. You wrote your thesis on quantum entanglement, and as an expert in the technology, you're the best suited to take on the project."

"Admiral David Anderson?"

"Yes, he'll be setting politics aside for a while. Are you up to the challenge, Specialist?"

Samantha was excited. Excited enough that she all but forgot about the mess on her hand, "Will I be meeting the crew of the Normandy?"

"Negative. As members of Cerberus, the crew will be tried for treason. I'll do what I can for them, but they won't be the crew of the new ship. As soon as they arrive they'll be detained."

Samantha was a bit disappointed, "I see."

"We leave for Vancouver in two hours. You'll have until then to pack your things and get to the shuttle bay."

"Yes sir!" Samantha saluted. Hackett saluted back and Samantha started to rush out of the room.

"Don't forget your toothbrush, Specialist." Hackett called.

"You don't have to worry about that!" Samantha called back as she jogged down the hall.

Hackett sat down at the desk and activated the console on the desk. He established a secure channel and leaned back in the chair.

"She's on board." He said, "My end of the deal is done. Now, how long do I have to wait for you to hold up your end?"

The face of the person Hackett was talking to was obscured. He saw only shadow and static. His voice was deep, inorganically deep. Hackett knew this was due to an ID scrambler. He didn't like not knowing to whom he was speaking, but he had little choice left.

"Well done, Admiral." Said the smug Shadow Broker, "I will ensure Doctor T'soni will be on the next available transport to Mars to assist with your archives research."

"Thank you. I have to ask, though, I thought you and T'soni were on the outs. Last I heard she was attacking your bases and agents. How'd you get her back in the fold?"

"Leverage, admiral. Most problems can be solved with the right leverage. You of all people should know this."

Hackett nodded. He leaned in, "One more question, if you'll allow."

"You may ask anything you wish. Whether or not I answer is another matter."

"Why Traynor? Of all the communication specialists in the Alliance, in the galaxy, why do you want her on the Normandy project?"

"Because, Admiral…" From the other side of the terminal screen, Liara glanced at her framed picture of Commander Shepard by her desk, "it is where she is needed."

I know it's been a long time since my last update. I'm in the middle of my thesis, so things like this went by the wayside. Thank you for reading!