Ashley's head crashed against the side of the Mako as it landed on the Citadel.

The sudden blow dazed her and her ears rang with the sound of the crash. She struggled clumsily to right herself, to draw in a breath of the smoke flooding the vehicle. The soldier shook her head, trying to clear the dull pounding that was overwhelming her senses. A hand grabbed her, shook her. Her eyes found his, wide and panicked. His mouth was moving, but she couldn't hear the words. Oh, hell. Just give me a minute. She struggled with the clasp of the straps that held her down, before Shepard pushed her hands away and yanked her free. He dragged her from the tank.

He ran with her, half carrying her at his side before they were blown forward by a blast. Shepard landed half on top of her, but was up quickly, pulling her with him. Slowly, sounds drifted back to her, adrenaline pulsing in her blood. She heard the pulse of geth gunfire and hurried after the commander as he slid into cover behind a ledge. The rest of the team waited for them there, relief etched on their faces when she appeared. Shepard pulled her down with him then clasped her shoulders, his eyes appraising her, searching for any obvious injuries. He let out a sigh when she rolled her eyes at him, and let go.

"You're good?" His face was etched with worry. She watched Garrus peek up and take a shot at an encroaching geth.

"I'm fine, Skipper. Just hit my head." She answered brusquely, readying her weapon again. "But you are not allowed to drive. Ever again." Shepard smirked, but it didn't reach his eyes. He apparently wasn't convinced.

"He's not going to have anything to drive. That poor tank…" Garrus' voice was mournful. Shepard snorted, but any retort was cut off as he looked up. The commander's green eyes widened. Ashley followed his gaze. The Citadel's arms were closing, but a large shape was approaching fast.

"Sovereign." Shepard's voice was low and damning. He pulled up his rifle again. "Tali, try to get a message off to Joker. Let him know where we are. They're going to need him." The quarian nodded, her omnitool lighting up as she typed at it rapidly.

"Husks!" Liara's voice alerted them then hurled a singularity at the moaning monsters, leaving easy targets for Shepard. He picked them off, then looked up again. The Reaper had made it into the Citadel easily. Ashley sighed, resigned. Great. They were stuck on an alien station with a Reaper and only a couple hundred geth, completely cut off from the fleets. And she had a damn headache.

"It's going for the tower. The controls must be there – and Saren." Shepard reasoned quickly. It made sense, and the team voiced no objections. "Everyone ready?" He looked over the group, getting nods and an impatient fist pound from Wrex in response. Green eyes lingered on her, as if assessing the risk. Ashley settled him with a fiery look. Don't even think about leaving me here, idiot. He seemed to get the message. "Let's go." He jumped over the ledge and stormed towards the nearby elevator, and they followed, taking out the geth guarding the entrance. Shepard pounded the control – he seriously didn't seem to be capable of pushing any button gently – and the doors whisked open. The team climbed in to the cramped space and fired off a few last rounds before the lift carried them up.

The lift didn't seem to understand their urgency, as it went just as spectacularly slow as it usually did. At least that damn music is gone.

"Those geth the Mako hit on the way in don't count for you, by the way." Garrus drawled as they waited. Ashley watched as the corner of Shepard's lip tugged up.

"Don't worry, Garrus. I'll try to miss a few if you're feeling inadequate." Shepard smirked, and the turian's mandibles fluttered in a way she could only interpret as amusement. Ashley rolled her eyes at the pair. Somehow, Garrus always seemed to be able to pull Shepard out of his funks. Jesus, Williams. Jealous of a turian. Things certainly had changed.

The elevator came to a stop. There was a moment of silence, the team glancing around the enclosed space then at one another. Ashley frowned as she saw Shepard close his eyes and draw in a deep breath.

"Shepard." Wrex's booming voice broke the silence.

"Wrex."

"The elevator stopped." Apparently, the krogan was done waiting for it to start up again. He looked at the commander expectantly, and Shepard's eyes opened as he sighed in exasperation.

"Saren must have overridden the controls." He growled, then paused for a moment, looking around the elevator once more. "Alright, helmets on, mag boots active." He grabbed his pistol and turned towards the window looking out over the Citadel and pointed his gun. Oh, of course. Just go straight for the most dangerous option. Ashley complied, sliding on her helmet, and she heard the clicks as the rest of the team did as well. Shepard glanced back at them, nodded, and then fired. The glass broke away, and the soldier was instantly grateful for ZG training as she felt the emptiness of space pull at her.

Ashley watched Shepard step over the ledge and her heart rose in her throat. It was ridiculous, he would be fine, but the inexplicable dread that ran through her was chilling. Watching him drop off the side like that… He was careless as ever with his own wellbeing. It made no sense, considering the fuss he made over the rest of them. She heard the sound of his boots meeting the metal on the side of the tower, and stepped out quickly after him, assault rifle ready.

They weren't done fighting, and she wasn't about to let him try and do this alone.

xxxxxxxx

Another pulse struck his shields, and his suit pinged in protest. The drop ship hovered above them, pouring out more geth than they could take. Shepard just kept firing back, his eyes searching for a way, anyway, to get them out of this trench.

"Tali, can you take control of those turrets?"

The quarian followed his gaze to the Citadel's inactive defense turrets. She nodded, peeking over the side only to have a geth fire a shot past her head. Shepard overloaded the thing in a quick retaliation, then turned back to his team.

"Wrex, cover her. Those guns are the only way we're getting rid of that ship." The krogan gave a grunt in acknowledgement and climbed over the barricade, Tali right at his back. The quarian was dwarfed by the battlemaster, and he worked as an impeccable distraction as she darted for the first turret. The geth swarmed Wrex, but the krogan wasn't easily weighed down. He brawled his way through the machines with limited effort, Liara aiding him with the occasional well-placed singularity. Tali hacked the first turret, and the gun began firing instantly at the ship. Shepard grinned at the victory, until a very large, very well armed geth dropped from the smoking ship. "Garrus, focus fire on that prime!" He joined the turian, and dual rifle shots pounded the synthetic's headpiece. Its shields wavered, and he waved his omnitool with a flash to overload what remained of the machine's defenses. "Ash! Grenade!"

The soldier responded quickly, throwing a frag directly at the prime. Shepard's brows rose in appreciation – she could be a damn good pitcher – and the prime fizzled and screeched, exploding and taking out a few troopers with it.

"Hell yeah!" Ash shouted, and Shepard couldn't help but grin. Despite the pounding in his head, the screaming and the deafening, pulsing thrum that seemed to increase as that damn Reaper got near, he could still feel it - the smallest shred of hope that maybe, just maybe they could do this. Any unease at the whispering in his ears was replaced by the familiar, comfortable rush of battle. His blood was pounding in his ears, his rifle steady in his hands as he fired. He watched the debris of fallen geth float away from the tower's exterior, and he waved the team forward, rushing to another ledge. Tali managed to activate another gun, and flames began to overwhelm the geth ship as it fired. It's engines whirred to life as it attempted a retreat, but it was too late – it dived sideways, crashing down and exploding on structures Shepard hoped were not inhabited.

The Citadel was a warzone. It made him feel, for the first time, that he belonged here. He had no place among politicians, among the keepers of law or the station's elite. But he was at home in war, more alive on the battlefield than anywhere else. And with her at his side… Shepard glanced quickly at the soldier, now blasting her shotgun at an encroaching trooper. Seeing her ferocity here, and feeling the same drive in his veins… it was a heady combination.

The team took out the few final squads that were left by the crashed ship and jumped from cover, rushing forward, farther up the side of the tower.

Almost there.

"Come on, that hatch should get us back inside." Shepard knelt next to the hull, his omnitool scanning the lock. Tali hurried forward, looking at him expectantly. He nodded, and she quickly overrode it. "Great job, Tali. I hope you're recording all this shit. Something as impressive as taking down that ship is bound to earn you some pilgrimage points."

"Well, it's all pretty standard, really…" The quarian muttered, the latch unlocking. She glanced back up at him, eyes shining brightly behind her visor. Shepard sighed.

"Sounds like they're hard to please."

"You have no idea." Tali murmured, following him down as he climbed back into the tower. He glanced around quickly, rushing to a wall and peeking around it.

"I told you this place was built for a firefight." Ashley muttered, taking cover beside him as he looked down his scope. Several geth lined the balcony, and at the top of the stairs…

Shepard's blood boiled. "Saren!" He snarled, but the turian was already at the controls. The commander ran out of cover. "Tali, overload those geth!" The tightly grouped geth lit up in a line, and he picked them off quickly while they were stunned. "Liara, singularities. Garrus, finish them off! Wrex, Ash, with me!" He stormed forward, his eyes glued on the rogue Spectre as he bent over the controls. Saren didn't even bother looking back, taloned hands swiping over the holographic interface in front of him.

Face me, you son of a bitch.

Shepard's rifle came up, his crosshairs hovered over the back of the turian's head. His finger squeezed.

The shot missed as Saren stepped off the ledge. Shepard snarled in frustration. The rogue reemerged on his hovercraft, drifting above the Council's platform. Get your pointy ass down here! He grabbed his pistol and fired a few rounds off as Saren hovered before him, but the turian was unfazed. Shepard got closer, weapon still raised, until he saw it. His eyes widened as he took in the monstrosity before him. Saren's eyes were lit with an inorganic glow, wires and tubes running along the outside of his plated body. Shepard's mind flashed to the beacons vision, to the screeching and screaming of the Reaper's creations. He was altered, a sickening combination of flesh and machine.

The bile rose in his throat as he took in the state of the former Spectre before him. They had changed him. And suddenly all Shepard could smell was the smoke and the filth, and all he could see in the turian was a slave. Only fit to dig and carry. Only fit to obey. The pity that flooded through him was sickening.

"Shepard! Get back!" Ashley's voice was a cry as Saren's hand rose to throw a grenade. The commander rolled back and ducked behind the edge of the balcony. He narrowly missed the blast.

"I was worried you wouldn't make it in time, Shepard."

"Maybe you should have called off a few of your buddies then." Shepard growled back, pulling up his pistol and listening to the distant hovering of Saren's machine. Why isn't he moving in? What's he playing at?

"That would have made this much less climactic, don't you think?" Saren's voice was haughty. "I think we both knew it would end like this." There was laughter in his voice, mocking Shepard, goading him to try again. The commander's grip tightened around his gun. "You've lost. You know that, don't you? In a few moments, Sovereign will have full control of the Citadel. The relays will open. The Reapers will return."

"Fuck that. This isn't over yet!" Shepard's mind screamed in protest.

"It is pointless, Shepard. You may have survived our encounter on Virmire, but you cannot survive this. I have... changed. Improved. Sovereign has upgraded me."

"You let him implant you?! You fucking idiot!" Shepard screamed, glancing around the ledge at the hovering Spectre. Saren ignored his words.

"I suppose I should thank you, Shepard. After Virmire, I couldn't stop thinking about what you said. About Sovereign manipulating me. About indoctrination." The bile burned in his throat. "The doubts began to eat away at me. Sovereign knew. He saw my hesitation, and gave me these implants to help strengthen my resolve. It was a gift." The rogue's voice was awed when he spoke of the Reaper. When he spoke of his master. Disgust broiled Shepard's veins. "Now my doubts are gone. I believe in Sovereign completely. He knows the Reapers need organics. Join us, and Sovereign will find a place for you, too."

"You're a fucking slave, Saren! Can't you see that? You're being controlled by that 'gift' of yours. I'll be damned before I join you." They can't change me. I'm not an animal.

"You don't understand, Shepard. The relationship is symbiotic. Organic and machine intertwined, a union of flesh and steel. The strengths of both, the weaknesses of neither. I am a vision of the future! The evolution of all organic life. This is our destiny! Join Sovereign and experience true rebirth!"

"Sovereign's controlling you, you fucking moron. You're nothing but a collared dog. They'll get rid of you as soon as you aren't useful. But they haven't won yet. I will stop them from taking control of the station. I will stop them from invading. And I will kill you if you keep trying to get in my way."

"You can't! You can't stop them, Shepard! You saw the visions. You saw what happened to the Protheans. The Reapers are too powerful."

"Don't assume we can't do it just because you're too much of a coward to try." Shepard snarled. He wouldn't give up. He couldn't. There was too much at stake, he had too much to lose now. And he would never let them change him. "You've given up, but there's a galaxy's worth of soldiers still ready to fight. We've already got a step up on them – we know they're coming, we know what they are. We have more of a chance than the Protheans ever did. We'll find a way to defeat them. I will not let them roll through unopposed - we will fight, and we will win!"

Saren was silent for a moment, until an eerie whine sounded from his dual vocal chords. It sounded pained, and Shepard glanced around the ledge for long enough to catch his straining expression. "Maybe you're right… Maybe… unh!" Saren cried out in distress. "No! Sovereign… too strong." Shepard glanced around the corner again, Saren's hands covering his face, his body shaking as he fought his implants. The commander's stomach roiled in disgust as he saw his chance.

Shepard rolled out of cover and grabbed his rifle, and in the split second he took to aim, he saw the turian's eyes. He recognized the pain in them, the fight, the constant struggle against an invisible enemy. He watched as Saren tried to take back control, but his body protested, shaking and heaving. It was too familiar. And his chest constricted as he saw the sorrow, as he heard the Spectre murmur his last choked words.

"I'm sorry."

Shepard's finger squeezed, and this time the bullet hit. Saren fell from the craft and crashed through the glass beneath the platform, landing in a copse below. He was still. Shepard's head was screaming, pain lancing him as he was rocked by the beacon's vision, as his subconscious threatened to take over with the smell of smoke and shit and decay. And in his ears, there was an arrogant, defiant voice, deafening and overwhelming.

We know you, Shepard.

Fuck you. Shepard felt a lance of pain shoot through him and struggled to stay standing. He heard footsteps behind him, more than just those of Ashley and Wrex. The rest of the team must have joined them.

"Wrex." His voice was grinding, strained, as he fought back the pressure of Sovereign's influence. Get the fuck out of my head!

"Shepard." The krogan answered simply, as usual.

"Make sure he's dead." He looked back at Saren, pity and disgust and an odd sense of regret flooding him. He was nothing. He was a tool. He was another slave that Shepard couldn't save. His hands came up to the visor of his helmet as another pulse racked his mind.

You cannot escape your doom.

"Shepard?" Ashley was beside him, her voice laced with worry. She lifted a hand towards him, but he shook his head, and moved towards the controls. There wasn't time for that now. He brought up his omnitool quickly to transfer over Vigil's file, and the display lit up in confirmation.

"I've got control." He murmured, his fingers playing over the panel in front of him. He needed to open the arms, let the fleets in, and send that fucking monster back to hell.

You cannot fight us.

Watch me, you motherfucker. "There! Arms should open soon." His voice was full of relief, but he stopped as the controls lit with an incoming message.

"… the Destiny Ascension. Main drives offline. Kinetic barriers down 40%. The Council is on board. I repeat, the Council is on board!"

"Normandy to the Citadel. Normandy to the Citadel. Please tell me that's you, Commander." Joker's familiar voice filled the room, sounding uncharacteristically frantic.

"Hey, Joker. Miss me?"

"Oh, go to hell." Despite his words, Shepard caught the sound of Joker letting go of held breath.

"You catch the Ascension's distress call?"

"Yeah, but we're not there yet. We're sitting with the Arcturus fleet in the Andura sector. The relays around the Citadel are locked down – we can't get in." The pilot's voice was distinctly annoyed. "Open them up, we can save the Ascension!"

"That's humanity's largest fleet, Shepard." Ashley murmured beside him, her voice pained and doubtful. Shepard frowned. He got it, she didn't like sacrificing human lives for one alien ship. But the Council… Are huge, egotistical, backstabbing assholes. The commander sighed.

"This is bigger than humanity! Sovereign is a threat to every organic species in the galaxy! We need the Council to lead us!"

"So we should just throw away all of those lives?" Ashley hissed back at her. "We need to focus on Sovereign."

"And after? When they blame humanity for the death of the galaxy's leaders, and we are all divided once more?" Liara shook her head. "We need to save them. We need to fight this together."

Shepard's heart sank, and he looked towards Ashley. He saw the fight still clear in her stance, the denial. He knew there would be no winning with this choice, and he wondered why the fuck he was the one to be making it. Where are the goddamned Admirals? Aren't they supposed to be commanding the fleets? His fingers flew over the panel again.

"Joker, relays are open. Save the Ascension." He growled. His head screamed.

You cannot resist. We are limitless.

"Shepard, no!" Ashley's voice was shocked, and he turned to face her, his throat constricting. "Damn it, Owen. You can't save everyone! The Council can be replaced. We need to think of the greater good."

"I am." He spat back, his blood boiling, his head pulsing. "Do you think I like doing this? Throwing Alliance soldiers at the geth to save those assholes?" He stepped towards her, his voice low and grinding. "They will fight, just like we all will, just like we all have to. I am not throwing them away, Ashley. I'm not sacrificing them to save the fucking Council. I'm asking them to fight, to save this goddamned galaxy's best hope for united leadership." Shepard felt like he took a blow to the stomach as she turned away from him, her posture still itching for a fight.

Your words are as empty as your future.

"Dead." Wrex shouted up from below them, interrupting any further argument. The krogan sounded distinctly disappointed. He stood over Saren's corpse, a large, booted foot nudging the dead turian lazily. Shepard turned away from the rest of the team and back towards the controls, hoping to find a way to undermine Sovereign. To aid in the fleets' attack.

The tower shook around him as his mind flashed with pain.

You cannot win, Shepard.

An earsplitting cry sounded from below, and he saw Wrex back away from Saren's body as it tremored. The mechanized parts of the turian lit with an unnatural glow, and his vocal chords vibrating in a warbled scream as he shook. As he was raised from the dead.

Oh, fuck that.

"Wrex! Get out – " He was interrupted as a pulse of power shook the chamber, and the platform shifted beneath him.

"Shepard, watch out!" Garrus shouted behind him. The platform lurched.

"Shepard!" Ashley screamed after him, and he turned, in time to see her run towards him as he fell. Her arm was outreached over the edge as he crashed to the ground with a painful thud. Fire lanced through his flank. There goes a rib.

"Shepard." Wrex grunted nearby, the krogan stepping towards him and dragging him back.

He groaned as he stood, shaking off Wrex's grip. "Wrex." He growled back, glancing around them, trying to catch sight of Saren. His body was no longer sprawled in the center of the room.

"He's not dead anymore." The krogan announced, pulling up his shotgun, and jerking a stubby hand towards the opposite wall. Shepard followed the gesture to where he pointed, and found the thing that used to be Saren. He was on all fours, sticking to the wall like a spider, more machine than turian. What in the fuck…?

"I'll let you kill him this time, if you want." Shepard muttered, trying to figure out what the hell they were going to do about the crawling, bouncing creature that was moving menacingly towards them. Wrex let out a deep, rolling chuckle. At least someone was unperturbed by the turn of events.

Shepard leaned around the edge of the pillar they hid behind, and let loose a single shot. The former-Saren screamed.

"I am Sovereign, and this station is mine!"

Well, shit.

Shepard fired another round, but it was too goddamned fast. It jumped to the ceiling to avoid the shot, before glowing an eerie red.

"That can't be good."

"Shepard, we're coming!" He heard Ashley's shout just before Saren blasted them with a red pulse.

"How is he even doing that!?" Shepard growled as he and Wrex darted to another pillar, their former cover point collapsing into rubble. He peeked around and sent an overload towards the creature, and it shook as its shields took the hit, before he jumped away to another wall, turning his gaze back to the commander. It crawled towards him, Shepard drew his pistol, firing round after round at the monstrosity. Wrex joined in, roaring in fury as his shotgun blasted. But Saren didn't feel it – he couldn't feel it. This was just a shell, Sovereign's twisted puppet, and it leapt forward, toppling Wrex and pinning Shepard to the ground.

Shepard struggled against the beast's hold. His side screamed with pain, his ribs cracking further under the pressure. Talons slashed against his helmet, and he felt his visor crack at the blow, felt the glass cut into his brow. He managed to bring his hand up, his pistol driving towards Saren's jawless head. He fired two rounds and the creature wavered but didn't fall. His talons rose again, but he was stopped as Wrex charged forward, knocking him off of the commander with an entirely krogan kind of efficiency.

"Thanks." Shepard murmured quickly, standing and trying to follow Saren's darting form. Wrex grunted in reply, before following Shepard as they ran for cover again, Saren priming to fire at them. The creature was stopped, however, as he was struck with a powerful warp. He turned his attention from Shepard and to the approaching team. "Get it to stay still! Tali, overload the shit out of that thing!" He shouted quickly, encouraged by the reinforcements.

"You cannot win!"

Tali did as she was commanded, and Saren shook with the pulse that hit him, another strangled cry leaving the turian's mechanized body. Shepard took the opportunity quickly, bringing up his rifle and firing. Saren fell as another round pieced his head, still shaking with the effects of Tali's attack. "Now! Everything you've got!" The team blasted the creature before it could stand, and soon Saren was a mass of holes. Red sparks danced over the creature's body, and soon he was ablaze, crumbling into ash before them. Shepard slowly lowered his rifle, and his hand came up to remove his damaged helmet. He groaned as he drew in a breath, the action sending a shooting pain again down his side.

"Think he's dead now?" Garrus approached to his right, eyeing the ashes speculatively. Shepard nodded, then looked up as the tower shook again. He could faintly hear the blasts of the warring ships above them.

"Joker?" He moved further from his team, trying to get a good angle on the view outside. His team watched him from the opposite side of the room.

"Kind of busy here, Shepard!" The pilot screamed back at him, but didn't close the comm. "Its shields are down, now's our chance!"

"Hit it with everything we've got." Hackett's voice patched in, and Shepard frowned, wondering where the hell he had been twenty minutes ago. He pushed the thought aside, glancing out the window towards Sovereigns looming figure and trying to catch sight of the approaching fleet.

"Hard on my flank!" Joker shouted, and he saw Sovereign fall from the tower, its limbs curling in on itself helplessly. I think that's called winning, asshole. But the triumphant thought was vanished as pain lanced through his mind, sharp and blinding. His hand came up to clench at his hair.

You cannot escape your destiny, Shepard. We are coming.

As quickly as it came, the pain vanished. Shepard looked back up in time to see Sovereign split at the seams. The explosion was massive, a blast of red fire as the Reaper blew apart. It was fucking beautiful. He watched the debris drift, enjoying the moment, before his eyes widened with realization. Oh, fuck!

"Go! Go, go, go!" He shouted, turning back to his team. There was a crash, and glass rained down around him. He started towards them, towards the exit. They were far enough away, they should be okay. But they needed to move. He saw her pause, saw her turn to look back at him. His heart dropped. "Go!" He screamed desperately. She has to be okay. "Garrus!" The turian caught his meaning and pulled the soldier with him. A piece of debris crashed in front of him and he leapt over it. They were still running. They would be okay. She would be okay. That was all that mattered.

There was another crash, and Shepard looked up in time to see the Council's platform shatter above him.

"Owen!"