Sarah stepped into the CIC, and saw non other than Liara. She said, "Sarah, I need help."

"With what?"

"The Shadow Broker has been working with the reapers. He tried to sell your body to the Collectors, and I intercepted a transmission that indicates he's already put a hit on you. I was hoping we could work together to take him down."

"Do you know how to find him?" Sarah asked.

"Not yet. But, I know someone who can tell us where he is."

"Who?"

"He has an agent here on Illium that was code-named Nazara."

"Why would he code-name his agent the name Sovereign used with the geth?"

"How do you know that?"

"Classified." she replied.

"Really, so classified that you can't tell me? I thought we were friends, and that you wanted to be more. Of course, you've acted extremely strangely since you got the Cipher. And, don't think I haven't noticed how you've gotten so close to Ms. Lawson. I really don't get what you see in her, Sarah."

Sarah's eyes began to glow a dark red, and she said, "You never did get it, Liara. The two of us would never have worked as a couple, and you just need to accept that. As for what I see in Miri, a lot of things. For starters, she brought me back to life. Next, she's one of the kindest people in the galaxy if you can get her to drop the Ice Queen facade. Then there's the fact that she's something that you could never be, human."

"I never thought you were so racist, Sarah."

"It's not that I'm racist, Liara. It's just that I prefer to date within my own species. Hmm, what to mention next, how about the fact that she will do whatever it takes to defend what she believes in. Next, before I met her, the one thing that mattered to her was keeping her sister safe, something that I can relate to."

"How? You've never had a sister."

"You clearly failed to look into my background properly."

"Clearly. But, this isn't important. Will you help me track down the Shadow Broker's agent?"

"Yeah. Do we have any idea where Agent Nazara is?"

"I have evidence that Nazara is at the Dracon Trade Center here on Illium."

"Let me gather a team real quick, then we'll go." Sarah replied.

"Thanks." Liara said.

"It's not an issue, Liara." she said, walking into the elevator. Five minutes later she walked into Miranda's office, and said, "Want to come and help Jack, Liara, Thane, Garrus, and I track down a Shadow Broker agent so we can find the Shadow Broker and kill him?"

"Of course. But, why are we even helping her? You seem to hate her."

"I don't exactly hate Liara. I just hate the fact that the dumb bitch doesn't seem to realize I lost interest in her a long time ago, and that you're the only one for me."

Miranda smiled, and said, "Good. I'd hate to fall for you only for you to tell me you're leaving me for someone else."

Sarah kissed Miranda, and said, "Don't worry. If I didn't even look at other women like that after you died, I won't when I have you alive and with me."

"Great. I'll be ready in five." she said, "Why don't you go get the others?"

"Oh, don't want me to watch you changing, Ms. Lawson? I didn't think you'd be so... old fashioned."

Miranda smiled, and said, "I just don't want you to get distracted when we're supposed to be helping someone track down one of the most powerful entities in the galaxy."

"Alright. Talk to you later." she replied, walking out.

-=0=-

Liara walked over to the Normandy's bridge, and asked Joker, "Do you know any way that I could get Sarah back?"

"There's no way you could do that, Liara. And, if you keep trying to undermine her and Miranda's relationship, she might rip your chest open and strangle you with your own intestines."

"Would she really go that far?"

"Well, I was talking to Garrus a while back, and apparently she got sent back in time from a future where Miranda was dead."

"But, that would require a device that used such an enormous amount of dark energy that it could destroy reapers easily. Otherwise the space/time distortions wouldn't be great enough to send someone back in time more than a few months at most."

"Apparently what caused it was really freaking powerful. But, anyways, I'd suggest moving on. Maybe finding a different human girl."

"You know that I won't do that, Joker. I love her."

"Move on, Liara. Otherwise you'll spend the rest of her life pining after someone who is completely uninterested."

"Maybe if I told her how I feel she'd leave Lawson."

"Nope, won't work." Joker said, "If she stayed faithful to Miranda after she was dead, there's no way that Shepard will leave her when she's alive."

Garrus walked up to Liara, and darkly said, "You'll give up on getting together with Shepard, Liara, if you know what is good for you. I don't want to have to kill you because you didn't know how to move on."

"You too, Garrus?"

"I heard Shepard herself explain how she was sent back in time, after being attacked by someone possessed by an ancient alien. She won't leave Miranda, and you'll be a lot happier if you can just accept that."

Liara glared at him, then sighed, and said, "I'll consider trying to move on from her."

"Good. Now, why are you even on the Normandy? Don't you have work you need to be doing as an information broker?"

"Recently I found a way to track down the Shadow Broker, and so I came her to ask for Sarah's help in taking him down."

"Got it. I'll be coming too."

"Glad to hear it, Garrus!" Sarah said, as she walked up with Miranda, Thane, and Jack.

"Who's the tattooed woman?" Liara asked.

"Name's Jack, Blue Bitch." the Convict said, slightly flaring her biotics.

"That won't be necessary, Jack." Sarah and Miranda said simultaneously.

"You two are a couple of pussies." Jack replied.

Then, Joker piped in, "Well, as the old saying goes, you are what you eat."

Miranda began to blush, while Sarah, Jack, and Garrus burst out laughing. When he finally caught his breath he said, "Nice one, Joker."

"It was a bit too easy."

After a few more minutes, Miranda regained her composure, and said, "That was inappropriate, Joker."

Sarah, then said, "Relax, Miri. Just consider it a... quirk of Joker's."

Miranda glared at the Commander, and said, "Don't you think that what we do in our free time is none of their business?"

"It isn't their business, but I learned a long time ago there's no way to make so people won't stick their noses into what isn't their business."

"So you just gave up? That isn't like you."

"It's just a waste of time to let people sticking their noses where they don't belong bother you. So long as it isn't something that absolutely has to stay secret."

"Yes, Ms. Lawson. Don't let Joker's crass nature bother you." Liara said, fury clear in her eyes.

"Do you have a problem with me, Doctor?" Miranda coldly asked.

"Yes I do. Sarah dies, and you bring her back to life, and promptly steal my girlfriend from me. I do have an issue with a Cerberus bitch like you taking Sarah from me." Liara growled, but almost the second those words left her mouth she felt herself get flung into a wall.

She looked up, and saw Sarah glaring at her, with eyes glowing an unnatural red. "You will apologize, now."

"Why should I apologize to her?"

"Because, if you don't, I swear I will kill you once you have outlived your usefulness in the war with the reapers."

"So, she has you so wrapped around her finger that you'd kill an old friend to protect her? What in the goddess' name has happened to you, Sarah?"

"I bet you damn well know what's happened to me, since no one on this ship knows how to keep their fucking mouths shut."

"Oh, you mean the discussion of you being sent back in time? It is preposterous."

"I would have thought so too, before it happened to me. Understand, Doctor, that the Sarah Shepard who flirted with you doesn't exist anymore. When I nearly died on the Citadel after Sovereign was destroyed, I changed, and realized that I didn't want to be an asari's bondmate because I knew that before she was middle-aged that she would have completely forgotten about me. What happened to me was that I realized then that what I wanted was another short-lived being who when I died I would actually stay with them for the rest of their life. So, get over me, because nothing will ever happen between us... Doctor."

Liara shook her head, and said, "I should have known that you weren't the same person I fell in love with."

Sarah flatly looked at Liara, then said, "Well clearly you should have fallen in love with someone else. But, we have a Shadow Broker Agent to track so we can find and kill the Shadow Broker. So, why don't we do that now so we don't have to deal with you anymore?"

"Fine." Liara replied, stepping out of the Normandy and getting a sky-van. When it arrived, and all six got into it, with Sarah at the front, Miranda riding shotgun, Jack behind Sarah, Garrus behind Miranda, Thane behind Garrus, and Liara behind Jack, the asari said, "My information says that Agent Nazara is an asari. I do not know her name or appearance, but I had one of my contacts arrange a meeting with her at the central trade center."

"Got it. So, where is the target going to be meeting your contact?"

"On the top floor. We believed that it would be the hardest for her to escape from there." Liara said, but then the van's engines stopped, and it began to plummet.

"Shit!" Sarah said, as she desperately tried to get the engines back up. "What's going on!"

"We were hit by a concentrated EMP, we must have alerted Nazara somehow." Liara said.

"Fan-fucking-tastic." Jack said, "How the hell do we make it out of this fuck-up alive?"

Sarah was frantically pressing keys on her omni-tool, then said, "Miranda, do you know any way to get this back up?"

"What do you think I am? A bloody sky-car engineer! Of course I don't know how to get this thing flying again!"

"Garrus, Thane, Jack, you got any ideas?"

"No." Thane said.

"The fuck makes you think I know shit about how sky-car's work, Shepard?" Jack said.

"No ideas here." Garrus said.

"Great. Anyone got parachutes so we can bail out?"

"Why would we bring parachutes?" Liara asked.

"I don't know, just in case the target has an EMP generator that will make our car plummet to the surface?" Sarah replied.

-=0=-

John stood quietly in the CIC, then asked Kelly, "Where are Shepard, Lawson, Subject Zero, Vakarian, and Krios?"

"They went to help Doctor T'Soni track down a Shadow Broker Agent they believe could lead them straight to the actual Shadow Broker."

"I see. Why was I not informed of this?"

"Uhm, you aren't in a position where you would be given temporary command if those people are not on the Normandy."

"I was placed on the Normandy to give the Illusive Man a full report on everything that happens on this ship. How can I do that if I am kept out of the loop when Shepard takes enough members of the ground team to have two full squads?"

"I didn't have anything to do with the Commander's decision."

"Well, it appears that I will need to explain to Shepard that I am to be informed of everything that happens on this ship."

-=0=-

Sarah was frantically hitting the van, when she heard a voice say, "You need not be so afraid. Your vehicle has returned to function, you merely need to turn the key in the ignition."

"Who are you?"

"We shall speak more later, Commander Shepard. But you must know, this was not Agent Nazara, but those who seek to achieve control of all that lives. We must go now. Good luck, Shepard." the voice said.

"Sarah, are you alright?"

"Yeah." she said, turning the key. Then the skycar's engines roared into life, and the vehicle pulled out of its nosedive.

"That shouldn't have worked." Miranda said. "The EMP should have made so that wasn't functioning. What made you try it?"

"I'll talk about it later. We've got a Shadow Broker Agent to find at the moment."

"If we hurry we can make it. Otherwise we're going to be too late to catch her." Liara said.

"I know what I'm doing, Doctor." Sarah growled, as she pulled the car up and set the vehicle back on its proper course.

"I was just saying we need to hurry."

"Garrus, can you shut Liara up? She's starting to get really annoying."

"We could just give her over to the Shadow Broker." Jack suggested.

"Now that's an idea. But then, who would we be helping kill him?"

"Fuck if I know. I'm just annoyed by this Blue Bitch."

"What do you have against me, Jack?" Liara asked.

"You're an overrated pain in the ass who I would rather not have to deal with, as every time you go into battle you get your ass handed to you, but still insist on going off and fighting. The Cheerleader may be annoying, but at least she can hold her own in a fight."

"I can hold my own in a fight."

"Listen, Bitch, I've seen you fight, you are a piece of shit at it. You're too much of a pussy to actually do it right."

"What did you just call me?"

"You heard me."

"I did, but I was just making sure you meant it before I tore you apart with my biotics!" Liara replied.

"I'd like to see you try. You couldn't rip apart a blind, deaf, crippled sloth." Jack replied, flaring her own biotics.

"ENOUGH!" Shepard shouted, "You two can fight once we've found and killed the Shadow Broker. Understood?"

"Fine, Shepard." Jack said.

Liara looked at Sarah, then just nodded, as the sky-van landed at the trade center.

-=0=-

Joker was looking at the interface for controlling the Normandy when it suddenly blinked out. He asked, "Alright, what's going on EDI?" When no response came, he said, "This isn't funny, EDI." He said, looking at the suddenly dark Normandy.

Then, he saw a frankly massive man walk up to him, and said, "Whoa, Joker. Next time why don't you try not to crash the Normandy."

"Shut up!" he replied, "What was that surge of energy that hit the Normandy?"

"I don't know."

"Do you think Shepard was the cause of it?"

"Knowing Lola, probably."

"Right. Do you know what's going on with EDI?"

"You knew her a lot better than I did, Bones."

"Bones?"

"You know, 'cause of your brittle bones."

"That's a terrible joke, Vega. Help me up."

"Sure thing." Vega said, and as he helped Joker to his feet, his eyes glazed over, and he started leaning more heavily on James. "You okay?"

-=0=-

"What?"

"Are you okay, Mr. Moreau?" EDI asked.

"Yeah, EDI. Good to see you're back up and running."

"I was never not up and running, Mr. Moreau."

"You're joking, right? When that massive white blast of energy hit the Normandy, you quit responding."

"What massive white blast of energy? Are you alright, Joker?"

"Yeah, I'm fine." he said, looking at his tools. Then asked, "When'd we land on Illium?"

"Approximately two days ago. Are you sure there is nothing wrong?"

"I'm fine, EDI. God, you're just like my mom."

"If that is how you see me, I will tell you that you should quit slouching."

"Very funny. What's Shepard doing?"

"As she said earlier, she is assisting Doctor T'Soni hunt down an agent of the Shadow Broker so that they can kill him."

"That can't be right. Liara is the Shadow Broker. Shepard already helped her kill the old one."

"Joker, I would strongly suggest going to speak with both Doctor Chakwas and Yeoman Chambers, as you are acting very strangely."

"Nothing's wrong with me, EDI."

"We cannot be certain about that until a number of tests have been done. And a full psychological evaluation."

"EDI, I swear to God, if you don't quit this, I will reset you."

"You do not know how."

"Are you sure?"

Then, John walked up, and asked, "What's going on here?"

"Who the fuck are you?" Joker asked, "And why the fuck do we have someone wearing Cerberus armor on the Normandy? I thought we quit working with you crazy motherfuckers after we blew up the Collector."

"What are you talking about?" John asked.

"Oh shit, I said something I shouldn't have, didn't I."

"Yes, you did." John said, "Because we have not yet gone through the Omega 4 relay, and do not even know how to safely traverse it."

"Gotcha." he said, "Must be feeling funny. I'll go talk to Kelly and Chakwas now. You were probably right, EDI."

-=0=-

Shepard stepped into Liara's contact's office, and saw Tela Vasir standing in it, over a dead volus. The asari Spectre said, "Who are you, and what are you doing in a Spectre's crime scene?"

"Well, the name's Shepard, and I'm here to bring you in, Vasir. Seeing as you've gone rogue and are now doing some of the Shadow Broker's dirty work."

"I do not know what you are talking about."

"That volus you killed? I know he was one of Liara's assistants, and that he was meeting you here because you are Agent Nazara. You work for the Shadow Broker and are trying to kill Liara because she's getting too close. And you know what, I'm fine with you killing Liara,"

"What!" the asari said.

"but I don't like the fact that you're working for the motherfucker who tried to sell my corpse to the Collectors. So, I'll make you a deal. I let you kill Liara, you help us kill the Shadow Broker, and let one of my friends take over his job. You'll still get your data, and we'll have a friendly Shadow Broker. What do you say?"

"I say you're full of shit, Shepard. Would you really sacrifice your bondmate's life?"

"Two things, Vasir, one, she's not my bondmate, she can burn in hell for all I care. Second, I am not full of shit."

"I thought you said we could at least be friends." Liara said.

"I said if you gave up on anything more than friendship we could be friends. But, you're clearly not going to. So, tough shit."

"You can't be serious."

"Do I look like I'm joking?" Sarah asked, no emotion in her face.

"You wouldn't let her kill me, would you?" Liara asked.

Sarah emotionlessly looked into the asari's teary eyes, and said, "I would let her kill you in an instant. For what you said about Miranda the first time around."

"You can't be serious!"

"I am dead serious, bitch." she said, as she saw Vasir jump out of the building, "But at the moment, we have a Shadow Broker Agent to catch."

"Correction," a male voice said, "You have to be killed by Shadow Broker Agents."

"No we don't." Sarah said, pulling out a pistol and firing three rounds, each killing one of the assembled Shadow Broker Agents.

"Fuck, Shepard. I wanted to kill one of 'em too!" Jack complained.

"You'll get the next batch. We've got to move." she replied, heading out of the room followed by Garrus, Miranda, and Thane.

When just Liara and Jack were in the room, the convict slapped the asari, and said, "Quit just standing there like a piece of shit. Shepard said we need to start going after Vasir!"

"I heard her, Jack." Liara said, as she started to move.

-=0=-

John stepped into the QEC, and said, "Sir, Shepard intends to destroy the Collector Base. Apparently whatever affected her has also affected the pilot now."

"I see." TIM said, "So, we have some more information. Make sure that Shepard doesn't get to that point. Once the base is in a position where it is secured, kill her."

"I understand, sir."

"Good. Is there anything else?"

"Not at the moment."

"Then get back to work. I need to know everything about what happens on the facility. If Gardner makes something out of the ordinary for dinner, I need to know about it. It could be a code Shepard set up for communicating with Vakarian."

"Speaking of Shepard communicating with her crew, I believe that Operative Lawson is more than just loyal to the Commander. She was highly receptive to sexual advances the Commander made."

"That can't be right. Miranda isn't interested in other women."

"It appears that either she was very skilled at hiding it, or Shepard managed to gain her interest despite that."

"Fair enough. This information is good to know. Get back to work."

"What are you going to do about Miranda?"

"I will have to have a talk with her. Remind her of what she works for, and is fighting for."

-=0=-

"Where's Vasir?"

"She got in a car and left." Shepard replied, "Jack, Miri, you'll be with me in one car to chase her down. Everyone else, get in a second car and head back to the Normandy."

"Understood." Thane said, as he entered a vehicle.

-=0=-

At that same time, Vasir was thinking, "Shit, Shepard's coming after me. I've got to get out of here. She may have talked about letting me do the job, but she's also after the Shadow Broker. Dammit, I thought she was dead. Why is it that the only accurate rumors are the ones you want to be false? She'll probably have a car of her own and be in pursuit in less than ten minutes. Those cut-rate mercs the Broker hired won't hold off someone as skilled her for long."

-=0=-

Grunt stood in silence in his room on the Normandy while the squishy human, John as he liked to be called, went on and on about how he was Cerberus property, and that any action against his owners gave them right to kill him. Then, the young krogan said, "I am no one's property, human. I fight with you because your enemies are strong. If you think I will be your pet, you are wrong."

"You are Cerberus Property, and will obey as such. Or do I need to use the control chip?" John asked, holding up a small device.

Grunt roared, and headbutted the man, sending him flying into a wall, while the chip was flung out of his hand. The krogan grabbed it and crushed it, saying, "I belong to no one, human! And you cannot force me to be your pet!"

John grabbed his helmet, and said, "That's the problem with all you fucking aliens. Never able to understand that you will one day, soon, be slaves of humanity. Since you are so much less than us."

"You are arrogant, weakling. I've killed stronger than you in my sleep."

"You are an overgrown animal, I have nothing to fear from you."

Then, John crumbled to the ground, as he was hit by an overload. Grunt looked up, and saw a faint white glow behind the man, but that soon vanished.

"What are you! What do you want!" the krogan shouted, "Come out and fight me!"

A voice then whispered inside Grunt's head, "Young one, we helped you because you are a good krogan, and will guide your people in the ways of Urdnot Wrex when his time is done."

"What are you?"

"All will be clear in time. Go with Shepard when she goes to the center of the Collector Base, follow her."

"I follow no one's orders!" the krogan roared.

"These are not orders, but suggestions." the voice said.

The young krogan shook his head, then said, "Must be sick. Shepard will want to know."

-=0=-

A/N: That's it for this chapter. Hope you enjoyed the read. Please review! Also, next chap will have a bit of a flashback of the end of ME3 the first time Sarah did it. I wrote a basic version of it with pen and paper the other day, and it worked well with my other plans for the story. Until next time, thanks for reading.