A/N: First, thanks again for the follows and reviews! Gracie, you have made my day. I will be taking your ideas into consideration! This is a long chapter for me. Sorry for so much in-game dialogue. I did my best to change things up. Kaidan's half is much better, IMO. Please enjoy anyway!
HERS
"Hey Rachel! Glad to hear your voice. What's your ETA?" Kaidan's husky voice piped through Shepard's omni-tool. She could see the Citadel from the cockpit window.
"ETA about 30 minutes. I've missed you."
"I missed you too. I'll be going on my lunch break soon. Have lunch with me. There are a few things I need to talk to you about."
"I would, Kaidan, but I have some really important business to take care of. In fact, I need to tell you about this too afterward. It could involve you. Could you postpone your break? Give me an hour past ETA."
"Sure, meet me…" Kaidan's voice dropped out. Shepard looked down and her tool had lost the connection.
"Alliance Control this is SSV Normandy. Are we cleared to descend?" Shepard could hear Joker as she tried to reconnect to Kaidan.
"Hey, uh, Shep? Let's try this again. Alliance Control this is Normandy. We are headed to bay 1-4 Zakera Ward. Are we cleared to descend?" He paused. "I'm still getting nothing, Shep."
"What's going on?"
"Hell, if I know. If there was a station malfunction, they'd at least have the backups online." Joker turned and looked at her with concern. "I've got a bad feeling here. I'm going to check emergency channels."
Joker moved his hands swiftly over the comm interface. He stopped when he seemed to make contact. "Hey! Yeah, this is Joker…. Uh huh…. Yeah, no kidding." Joker looked back. "Commander, there's a communication from Thane. He says it's important. Think you'll want to hear this."
"Put him through."
"Shepard, the Citadel is under attack. Cerberus troops are everywhere and they are in control of the docks." The drell's deep voice reverberated in Shepard's ears.
"Are you safe?"
"No, I had to evade their commandos at the hospital. I'm currently in a Presidium storefront."
"Do you know where Kaidan is?"
"We got separated. He was visiting me right before the commandos hit. You started talking to him as he was with me. When you were cut off, Udina called his tool, asking him to protect the Council."
Shepard absorbed the news. "Ok, Thane, can we meet you somewhere?"
"I'm headed for C-Sec headquarters. Find me there."
"Sure, why C-Sec?"
"It's been compromised, and their response depends on it. As long as Cerberus holds their headquarters, they have the station," explained Thane.
"Joker, get us away from the docks and take us in close to C-Sec headquarters. We'll get in there by shuttle." Kaidan, I hope to God Cerberus doesn't do anything to you.
"Aye-aye, Commander."
"Garrus, James, meet me on the shuttle! Now!" Shepard ran toward the elevator.
As the shuttle jetted through the surprisingly empty Presidium airspace, Shepard could see smoke rising in numerous areas as well as scattered fire fights between Cerberus troops and apparently well-outnumbered C-Sec officers.
"Damnit, I feel like such a tool! How could I have ever worked with them? What the hell are they doing?" Shepard exclaimed in frustration.
Garrus answered in a calm, low voice. "You couldn't have known, Shepard. We all thought we were doing the right thing, and you were doing the right thing."
"Maybe, but now Kaidan's in danger, and I'm the one who put him there!"
"Alenko is a capable soldier. He'll be fine."
"I hope so…shit! I forgot about Councilor Valern and Udina!"
"What about them?" James asked.
"Valern contacted me not long after we left Tuchanka. Said something about Udina moving large amounts of money for unknown reasons. We were supposed to meet."
"Do you think Cerberus has anything to do with that?" said James.
"I don't know…but he'd better hope to hell he just has a damn expensive asari mistress."
The rest of the trip was a silent one as each took in the destruction. Landing near C-Sec headquarters was difficult as a major battle was being waged there. Cerberus commandos seemed to be streaming into the area while a smattering of C-Sec officers fought bravely.
James put the shuttle down and Shepard barked her orders. "We have to get to that doorway. Garrus, we need you to help us navigate the area. Cerberus does not keep C-Sec, understand?"
Both men grunted their acknowledgement and everyone jumped into the firefight. Battling their way through a swarm of the Cerberus soldiers, Shepard caught sight of her old ally, Bailey, slumped against the wall by the elevator door. When the last Cerberus fell, she ran to him.
"Bailey! Are you ok?" Shepard gave him a dose of medigel.
"Shepard, I saw those Cerberus troops on you. I thought you were done for."
"You underestimate me," smirked Shepard. "What are you doing here?"
"Getting my ass shot off trying to retake headquarters. Cerberus took it in the first push," Bailey grunted, trying to stand. "We gotta get them out of there. Everyone in C-Sec is flying blind without the network."
"Is this the situation everywhere? Are the councilors even alive?" Garrus asked. His questions chilled Shepard to the core. He has to be alive.
"They split up," Bailey explained as Shepard helped him stand. "I'll know more if I can access a terminal inside."
"Can you get us in?" Shepard questioned.
"Yeah, I'll get the door," Bailey said, moving gingerly toward the locked console. "If nobody interrupts me with a bullet this time." The door seal flickered and opened.
"Holy shit," muttered James as they entered C-Sec HQ. The walls were riddled with bullet holes and the blood of the dead was splattered everywhere.
"Here we go, C-Sec network access courtesy of Cerberus," Bailey said sarcastically. Shepard, James and Garrus kept their eyes on the perimeter for more commandos.
"That doesn't sound like it's going to help," Shepard stated.
"No, not really," replied Bailey, "Cerberus has all the main channels, but I can set up a new one. Without it, our people have no plan and no chance."
"Can you get to personal comms anywhere on the station?" Shepard hated that she just verbalized her own personal fear.
"No, Cerberus took that out first thing." Bailey continued to peck away at the console. "Hello…"
"What have you got?"
Bailey was reading. "A warning from Councilor Valern. He's supposed to be meeting with the executor. 'Be on guard, the likelihood of betrayal from within is high.' Not a lot else, but if he is inside…"
"I was supposed to be meeting with him. Why would he be meeting with the executor?"
"Usually that means someone big's about to be prosecuted," Bailey declared. "Maybe someone with Cerberus ties…The councilor would have a clearer picture."
Shepard stood ready to move. "Well, one councilor is better than none. Where should we head?"
"The executor's office is defensible, maybe he went there when the shooting started."
"Fine, then that's where we go." They connected their omni-tools to have personal comm access, and Shepard, James and Garrus journeyed out.
"Thane, did you hear that?" Shepard hoped the drell was still connected.
"Yes, I'm nearing the building, but running is difficult. I will try to get to you."
"Fine, see you soon. Garrus, you take the lead in getting us to the office."
"Right, Shepard," Garrus replied, drawing his gun.
It didn't take long for the battle to renew again as they wove their way through C-Sec headquarters. With precision and in Shepard's mind, ruthlessness, they took down the enemy. Shepard felt angry; angry for the slightest bit of trust she had put in Cerberus when taking on the Collectors. She also was scared; scared that Kaidan was out there somewhere, lying dead from a Cerberus bullet.
"Here's the executor's office," Garrus declared.
"Do you see anything?" Bailey's voice broke in.
"The executor is dead. And so are two salarian bodyguards," Shepard said plainly.
"Damn. If you don't see the councilor's body, don't count him out yet. Keep searching."
Right then a moving chair on a lower level caught Shepard's eye through the window of the office. Councilor Valern then decloaked.
Shepard spoke quietly into her omni-tool. "We found him. He looks unharmed."
Before she could do anything else, a dark shadow dropped from above her to the level where Valern stood. She could see the unmistakable black and yellow insignia on the man's armor. Grabbing her gun, she blew out the window. The man moved like a silken black wind and was now standing on the other side of Valern, facing Shepard.
"Don't even think about it," she warned.
"He's going to kill us all!" Valern exclaimed.
Without taking her eyes from the man, Shepard replied, "That remains to be seen."
"No! I mean Udina. He's staging a coup. He's got the other councilors now—to hand them over to Cerberus!"
Garrus and James quickly came up behind Shepard. "Three on one, pal. Looks like you are outnumbered."
"No," the unknown man's dark voice intoned, as his biotics flared, "Now, it's fun."
The click of a gun distracted him, and Shepard saw Thane, his gun pointed at the Cerberus man's head. Quick as a flash, the man turned his attention to Thane and attacked. Shepard took this opportunity to move Valern to safety.
The battle was short and now it was the four of them, guns leveled at this mysterious operative who had a sword as his weapon. He attacked Thane again, this time knocking the gun from his hand, but Thane was still lithe on the battlefield and dodged his swinging sword. When he saw that he had the upper hand, Thane used a biotic blast to throw the man to the far end of the room in a blow that would have killed most.
This man was not most. He slid across the ground and leaped up with cat-like agility. The drell and the Cerberus operative ran at each other. Shepard gasped when she saw the flash of a sword.
"Thane!" she yelled, but it was too late. He had been run through with the sword. Blood gushed from Thane's back and abdomen. Shepard tried to lob a few shots at the man, but he quickly escaped. She turned back to where Garrus was applying medigel to both of Thane's wounds. How bad is it?"
"I have time," Thane said emotionlessly. "Catch them."
"Shepard! What's going on?" Bailey's voice crackled from her omni-tool.
"Thane's been hurt by an assassin. He needs medical help. I lost the Cerberus operative, but Valern's ok."
"He's probably after the other councilors."
"Bailey, get the word out. Udina is trying to seize power. I've got to get to the councilors." And Kaidan.
They found a nearby C-Sec shuttle and took off to the Presidium landing pad that Bailey directed them toward. They had almost reached the area, when the Cerberus assassin landed with a slam on the car's hood.
"You son-of-a-bitch!" Shepard yelled and opened the door, giving James the wheel. The car wobbled as James took over, shaking both Shepard and the man. Drawing her gun, she tried to aim at his shoulder to blow him off the car and into the open air. His biotic barrier rendered those shots useless. He drew his sword again and slammed it down into the engine of the shuttle, causing it to sputter and lose power. He then wordlessly leaped into a nearby waiting car.
Slamming the door behind her, Shepard retook the wheel in a desperate attempt to keep some control on their landing. They wrecked, numerous levels down from where Bailey had said the councilors would be.
"Shepard, the sensors say your car's stopped."
"Yeah," she grunted, scrambling out. "We're on foot now. Have you gotten a hold of the Council?"
"Negative. Their guards are dead, but we still have vital signs on the councilors themselves," Bailey said. Guards dead? Does that mean Kaidan too? Oh God, let this nightmare end!
"Where are they?"
"They are heading to a shuttle landing pad, a few levels up from Shalmar Plaza. Udina is with them."
"That means they aren't safe. We need to double time it, guys," Shepard barked.
Cerberus seemed to have no intention of making their passage to an elevator easy. New operatives that moved like lightning swirled around the trio, creating a more difficult, but not impossible path. With Shepard's biotics, Garrus' sniper abilities, and James' brute strength (not to mention a few grenades), they blasted their way to an elevator.
As they passed into the corridor where they elevators were, Shepard and crew were just in time to see the mysterious assassin and a group of Cerberus operatives enter one. Garrus and James pried open an empty shaft, and they dropped down on the top of another lift.
"We're in the shaft, Bailey. Can you help us out?"
"Yeah, but it's going to be a fast climb. Hang on." The elevator took off upwards.
"Please tell me the assassin hasn't made it to the Council!" Shepard demanded.
"He's trying, but I've made his lift stop at every floor," Bailey chuckled.
Looking up she saw an elevator car stopping and starting. "I've found our friend."
"Kill his lift. There are some power conduits on the bottom."
Taking some shots, she took out the conduits and the car she was riding on zoomed past.
"I think that worked! Thanks, Bailey."
"The job's not done yet….uh oh. Shepard, bad news."
Shepard sighed, "Is there any other kind?"
"That hitman jumped to another elevator and he's overridden my controls. I can't stop him."
After taking out a few more operatives, Shepard saw an elevator moving at what seemed like a normal speed.
"Shepard, that's them, that's the Council," Bailey instructed.
"I see them." She jumped across the void, landing hard on the roof of the other car. Shots blasted through the roof at her as the elevator came to a stop.
"Shepard, the access panel," James said, prying open the car. They dropped down into the elevator, but the door was open and she could see the councilors and Kaidan running down the hall. He was stopped with his back turned to her. She could hear him shouting.
"Cerberus took out the shuttle. Everyone back to the elevator! Move!" He turned, but just in time to see Shepard and Garrus with their guns drawn. James hit the panel to close the doorway to the corridor behind them, locking it.
Shepard kept her aim at Udina. Kaidan looked confused.
"Shepard, what's going on?" he demanded, lowering his gun.
Udina interrupted. "Shepard's blocking our escape. She's with Cerberus! I told you!"
Kaidan looked back slightly toward Udina, pulling his gun back up. "Just hang on. I got this. Everyone calm down."
"Kaidan, let me explain this." Now Shepard was lowering her gun.
"This looks really bad. Guns drawn on the Council?"
She nodded to Garrus and James who then also lowered their guns. "Kaidan, we can't be screwing around debating this. You have all been fooled. Udina's behind this attack. The salarian councilor confirmed it. Did you notice that he wasn't here?"
Udina scoffed. "Please you have no proof. You never do. It's just more of her lies, Alenko. She's just a great actress who has managed to pull good people to her side. To Cerberus' side. Get rid of her!" Kaidan, trust me again. I cannot force myself to kill you.
"There are Cerberus soldiers in that elevator shaft!" Shepard exclaimed. "We just took out about a dozen. If you go back in there, you are going to be killed."
The asari councilor nodded her approval. "We mistrusted Shepard before, about Saren. It did not help us."
Udina started walking toward a nearby console. "I can't believe you all trust her smoke and mirrors. We don't have time to debate this. I'm overriding the lock."
During this interchange, Shepard's eyes never left Kaidan, who still had his gun pointed toward her. She left hers down at her side while her eyes pleaded. Please believe me. Please trust me. I would never lie to you. Her heart was crying out to the man she knew still loved her, that she still loved, to just really trust her again. She felt a slight jolt in her body, so very subtle, but she knew it was her biotic power trying to manifest. I can't help but start to lose it when he conjures up these emotions in me.
She saw his eyes soften and she could have sworn she saw a small flash of electric blue in them, and he said quietly, "I know."
He didn't say it out loud, but she heard something else in her mind…his voice, echoing the words, "I trust you."
"Udina, step away from the console."
"To hell with this!" Udina shouted as he pushed the asari who tried to stop him. Shepard quickly redrew her gun. She saw Udina draw one of his own and point it at the asari. "He's got a gun!" somebody yelled.
In less than a heartbeat, Kaidan pulled his trigger and Udina fell dead.
Shepard finally breathed again.
HIS
"Meet me by the Spectre office then." Kaidan looked confused as his omni-tool registered a lost connection.
"Is something the matter?" Thane, the drell Kaidan had befriended in the hospital, asked.
"The signal just dropped. Must be…"
"Alenko, you are needed at my chambers immediately. Cerberus is trying to take over the Citadel. I have the asari and turian councilors with me. We need your guard to help us escape," Udina's voice declared through Kaidan's tool. Why would he be able to talk while Rachel got cut off? Kaidan hated the suspicion rising in him again.
Rising quickly, he started to walk toward the elevator, but a squadron of Cerberus troops burst in. Kaidan fought through them and found his way to an access tunnel, and began the descent to the human embassy.
Arriving at the locked door of Udina's office, Kaidan hacked it to gain entrance. Udina was pacing nervously, while the other two councilors seemed to be trying to contact others.
"We need to get out of here. Your office isn't safe, and Cerberus is crawling everywhere," Kaidan cried.
"I couldn't agree more," said Udina. "I've gotten us a shuttle that will take us to the Destiny Ascension and to safety."
"Where is it?" Kaidan asked.
"Near the Shalmar Plaza, they couldn't get any closer without risking being shot at. It's an area not completely controlled by Cerberus yet."
Kaidan nodded and ushered the councilors out of the office. A handful of Cerberus troops entered the main commons area and Kaidan quickly dispatched with them using his gun and his biotics. Where the hell is Rachel? And why would Cerberus be showing up at just the same time she is?
The quartet moved quickly through more access tunnels toward the Shalmar Plaza. Kaidan kept a sharp eye out, but he couldn't help but have his heart be troubled. His furrowed brow, he hoped, just showed immediate concern for the councilors.
"Have you heard from Shepard?" Udina broke through Kaidan's thoughts.
"Yeah, she's, well, she was supposed to be arriving soon."
"How convenient," came Udina's snarky tone. "So she warned you of the attack?"
"No, she didn't say anything of the kind. She just—she said she had something to tell me. Why are you so interested?" Kaidan spat back.
"She is a Spectre, just like Saren was. If she's gone rogue, I need to know about it. If she's working for Cerberus, she's done just that."
"She said she had something to take care of beforehand and then we were to meet for lunch. I didn't think there was anything to be suspicious about." Kaidan wished he were lying. Again, the coincidence is too much. Oh, God, Rachel, what did they do to you?
"No details at all?" Udina's voice was a bit breathless from the fast pace Kaidan was making them keep.
"No, none."
"Shame. We could have used it at her tribunal. If she's lucky enough to get one. I will say, though, she is a crafty one."
Kaidan decided to wisely maintain his silence as they traveled through the bowels of the Citadel. Keeping his omni-tool open for navigational purposes, he hoped to see something come up from her. Anything that could explain this, explain yours and Cerberus' simultaneous appearance.
They finally came out of the tunnel on the plaza.
"We can take this elevator up to the shuttle landing pad. Then we can escape the Citadel," Udina instructed.
The door closed and the lift started to move. The sounds of gunshots could be heard everywhere they traveled, but it seemed to Kaidan like they were unusually close to the elevator car. He gripped his gun tightly, looking down at the floor to concentrate on the noises he was hearing.
Suddenly, the car jostled as something crashed onto the roof.
"What was that?" the asari councilor shouted.
"Gunmen!" Kaidan yelled, lifting his gun and firing at the ceiling.
Udina had hit the stop button and the door swung open.
"Everyone out!" Kaidan ordered. The councilors complied and ran down the hallway to the open walkway ahead. When they reached the doorway, they could see a burning shuttle.
Kaidan was dismayed, and tried to quickly think of another plan. "Cerberus has destroyed the shuttle! Everyone back on the elevator. Move!"
As he turned, he saw Shepard coming through the open doorway, and James shut and locked it behind them. He was shocked to see her hard expression, but it wasn't leveled at him. She was looking at…Udina.
"Shepard, what's going on?" He lowered his gun just slightly.
Udina shouted from behind him. "Shepard's blocking our escape. She's with Cerberus! I told you!"
Raising his gun again, because mistrust just couldn't be avoided in Kaidan's mind. I need to slow things down. I just need to think! "Just hang on. I got this. Everyone calm down."
"Kaidan, let me explain this." She lowered her gun and raised her hands. He wanted to believe she was innocent. Come on, Rachel. Show me something. Something real.
"This looks really bad. Guns drawn on the Council?"
A quick nod and Garrus and James lowered their guns as well. She looked directly into his eyes. "Kaidan, we can't be screwing around debating this. You have all been fooled. Udina's behind this attack. The salarian councilor confirmed it. Did you notice that he wasn't here?"
Kaidan heard Udina start to speak. "Please you have no proof. You never do…" Kaidan's vision narrowed and his ears filled with white noise as he continued to stare hard at Shepard. He wanted just to wish it all away, every damn accusation made by Udina, every time he himself had doubted her. He knew deep in his heart that if he had to, he couldn't kill her. Not unless I turn that gun on myself right after.
"There are Cerberus soldiers in that elevator shaft!" Shepard pointed. "We just took out about a dozen. If you go back in there, you are going to be killed."
Kaidan heard more words fading in to the background, but his eyes couldn't leave hers. It was like she was talking to him. Wordlessly communicating her thoughts, like they did so long ago when they were lovers. He heard her saying, Please believe me. Please trust me. I would never lie to you. He saw a flash of blue in her green eyes and felt a shock in his own body. He remembered that sensation. It is her voice.
Realization and a little bit of shame filled Kaidan's mind. "I know," came his low reply, and he turned toward Udina. I trust you.
"I can't believe you all trust her smoke and mirrors. We don't have time to debate this. I'm overriding the lock."
"Udina, step away from the console," Kaidan said harshly.
"To hell with this!" Udina blustered. The asari councilor tried to stop him, but he roughly pushed her to the ground and reached into the back of his jacket.
"He's got a gun!" Kaidan yelled.
As quickly as he said it, he pulled his trigger, and Udina fell dead.
Kaidan felt like a huge burden had been lifted from his heart.
