Shepard unfastened her greaves and as the last piece of the Spectre's armor clattered onto floor of her cabin, she flopped backwards onto her bed with a weary sigh.

Above her, Liara hovered, looking down at her commander. "Are you feeling all right, love?", she asked, a concerned smile on her pretty face as she sat down next to the prone Spectre. "You've been quiet all the way back from Hendril. Is this about Garrus learning your secret?" She ran her fingers playfully along the length of Shepard's cock, trying to take her lover's mind off of her troubles, but though she could feel her stiffen beneath her dark pants, the commander's expression remained somber.

Shepard scrunched up her face. "No, its not that. Sure, it's a little embarrassing, but hardly the end of the world. Besides, Garrus can keep a secret. It's not like Tali found out, after all."

That drew a small laugh from the asari. Liara cared about Tali like a sister but the quarian was an incorrigible gossip. "What is it then?"

Shepard pulled back slightly. As much as she loved Liara, the Shadow Broker's touch could make it hard for her to think straight. "It was the clone. When we fought, the things she said… They're still bothering me."

Liara raised a curious eyebrow. "What sorts of things?"

"She was going on about Jack and Miranda, about the all the ways she wanted to fuck them. She said I was weak for not having done that myself when I had the chance."

"Shepard," Liara said affectionately, "She nearly killed Ashley. She was evil. I would not put too much stock in anything she said."

The commander ran her fingers through her hair, tugging on it in her frustration. "You don't understand. The things she said cut deep." Liara looked puzzled, and Shepard tried a different tact to explain herself. "Listen, before I met you, you know that I was with a lot of other women. The thing is, I'm not proud of how I behaved with some of them."

"I cannot imagine you being less than chivalrous."

"Well, I wasn't always like that. Sometimes I lied to people I was interested in. I cheated on girlfriends. I… It's weird. Everyone always calls me a hero, but when it came to sex, I was a pretty lousy person. Desire had a way of making me into somebody else, somebody worse. That's why Cerberus thought they could tempt me so easily."

Liara moved closer to her bondmate once more, caressing her leg reassuringly. "They were wrong. You didn't give in to them."

"I nearly did. Before you came back to me, I was half-crazed with frustration and a lot of the things I fantasized about weren't exactly romantic. Hearing my own clone talk about them in my own voice, brought all of that back up again."

Liara brushed a hand over the soft skin of her bondmate's cheek. She could still remember the needy, frightened mess the commander had been before their reunion on the Normandy and she was not about to let her go back there. "There is a difference between thinking about something and doing it, Shepard, between you and her."

"But she had my DNA. A part of what makes me who I am was in her too. For fuck's sake, after she killed me, she was going to rape you. Does that mean I'm capable of that too?"

Shepard swallowed hard, trying to fight back the tears, but Liara bent down, kissing them away even as they formed. "Never," she whispered. "Never. I know that you could never hurt me. You say that you used to behave badly with other women but people change. In all the time that we have been together, you have been kind and I think honest with me."

Shepard nodded, wrapping her arms around her lover. "Always, Liara." She'd never felt for anyone else what she felt for her bondmate, and whatever desires she'd had since their relationship began, they were secondary to the Spectre's love for her.

The asari stroked her commander's hair. "I know. Perhaps there is some darkness in your soul. Am I any different? I have done things since this war began that the innocent archeologist I used to be would have been shocked by."

"Hey," Shepard said soothingly, pulling Liara into her arms. "What you did, you did to help me and to help save the galaxy."

"Not that I do not appreciate your sympathy," Liara replied, "But my purpose was to remind you that you are no different than the rest of us in having parts of yourself and your past that you would just as soon forget. You are more than your genes. You are the experiences you have had. They can change us for the better or the worse. While you were out saving lives, that thing was being raised in a lab by Cerberus terrorists. Don't think that doesn't matter."

The Spectre cupped her lover's chin with her hand and gave her a long kiss. "You're the one who changed me for the better, Liara. You always know how to keep me on an even keel."

"I am happy to do it. Saving the galaxy is a difficult enough job without having to do it alone."

Shepard laughed, feeling as if a weight had been taken off of her chest. "I'm just glad I'm not in the doghouse over letting Kelly stay onboard."

Liara nuzzled against the Spectre's breasts. "I will admit, I was not thrilled to hear it. Still, I shouldn't complain too much about your penchant for rescuing people, given how we met."

"I appreciate that." Shepard reached down to stroke Liara's crest, savoring the sound of her bondmate purring against her, and she decided to press her luck. "So, what do you think?", she asked, tracing a suggestive finger down Liara's neck, "Any chance you might be in the mood?"

"Mm," the asari replied, raising an eyebrow, "I might be open to persuasion."

"Well then let me see what I can do." The commander bent down and started kissing the scaled skin she had been caressing. The asari arched into her touch but before Shepard could make it to her collarbone, she was interrupted by the buzzing of the comm unit on her desk. "I have to answer that, don't I?", she asked, biting her lip in frustration.

Liara sighed. "We are in the middle of a war."

With a groan, the Spectre pulled away from Liara's warm body, staggering across the room to her desk while trying to ignore the uncomfortable erection she had just started developing.

"What is it?", she asked, hoping she didn't sound too testy.

On the other end of the call, Samantha Traynor's voice was shaky. "Admiral Hackett is on the line for you in the war room, Ma'am."

"Can he wait? I've had a pretty long day here."

"I'm afraid not. It's the Reapers, Commander. They've taken the Citadel."

Kelly Chambers sat quietly in the port observation longue, staring out at the stars as they went by. So much time of her time recently had been spent confined to that dreadful underground base that she'd started to wonder if she'd ever enjoy a view like this again. In spite of the Collector attack, she still felt safer on the Normandy than she had in a long time.

Behind her, Kelly heard the sound of footsteps. Her new roommate, she supposed as she felt a hand rest on her shoulder. "It's not the penthouse at the Ilium Grand," Miranda's cool voice told her, "But there are worse places to be confined."

"No, it's nice," she offered. "I hope you don't mind Shepard making me stay here with you. There isn't much spare space on the ship I suppose."

"It's not a problem." The operative sat down next to Kelly on the couch. "Honestly, it's good to see a friendly face. Most of the rest of the crew pretty much despises me. Not that I can blame them. Cerberus has made quite the muck of things for everyone, you included." She sighed. "I'm sorry, Kelly. If I hadn't recruited you for the Shepard project in the first place, you wouldn't have ended up going through what you did."

"You didn't know what would happen to me," Kelly said softly. Miranda was her only friend here too, and she wanted the operative to feel at ease with her.

"No, I didn't." Miranda laughed bitterly. "Truth be told, I thought it would be a nice, simple assignment. Shepard was a leach. It should have been easy for you to seduce her. Who knew she'd found true love or something that passed for it?" She shook her head. "I swear, nothing with that woman ever goes right."

"She is rather extraordinary isn't she," Kelly replied wistfully. Indeed, her professional disappointment at her failure to bed the Spectre had been mixed in with some definite personal regret at missing out on the experience.

"I suppose so," Miranda said wearily. "She had better be. Cerberus has failed. For better or worse, the galaxy's hopes are now tied to Shepard. It is quite the burden for anyone to bear."

The operative slumped wearily against Kelly's shoulder and she ran her fingers through Miranda's long, dark hair, trying to comfort her. Unlike her former supervisor, the yeoman had faith that Shepard would see them through this. After all, she had rescued Kelly first from the Collectors and then from Cerberus. Surely, she would save them from the Reapers too. And things weren't too bad here. She had a nice couch to sleep on, a friendly roommate to share it with, and she was safe. If only those damn whispers would stop, everything would be all right.

Shepard stood in front of the holographic display, looking at the image of Admiral Hackett standing in front of her. The old soldier was generally stoic in even the worst of times, but right now, she could tell that he was more concerned than usual.

"It started approximately four hours ago. The Reapers struck without warning, hitting the Citadel with a massive force led by multiple Harbinger-class dreadnoughts. Our own ships in the system were totally overwhelmed. The station fell within one hour."

"Did anyone make it out?", Shepard asked. So many people had been on the Citadel, the Council and Liara's father not least among them. The thought that they were all gone at a single stroke…

"We're still trying to get a headcount, but a fair number of refugee vessels were able to make it to the relay before the Reapers cut it off. They seemed more concerned with securing the Citadel than with stopping people from escaping."

And why not, the Spectre thought bitterly. With Thessia and Earth fallen to their enemies, Palaven burning, and much of the rest of the galaxy under siege, they were fast running out of places for refugees to flee to. "The Citadel was the center of our war effort. Is there any chance we can retake it?"

"That's the most frightening thing. It's not in the system anymore."

What could that even mean? "The Reapers destroyed the Citadel?" She thought they'd want to keep it as a trap for the next cycle.

"No, Commander. They've taken it to Earth."

She blinked in disbelief. "Is that even possible."

"We certainly didn't think so before today." Admiral Hackett paused, the strain of his job showing on his craggy face. "Shepard, we're still analyzing the data you recovered from the Cerberus facility on Hendril, but it had better show us something, because right now, we need a miracle if we're going to win this war."

Things are starting to look pretty dark, aren't they? Coming up next, the data, a plan, and more smut! Thanks for reading.