Sorry this chapter took so long to post. I though I had posted it already! My head has been elsewhere these days. Also, sorry it is so short, there will be a longer chapter to come along with lots of action and...stuff...whoop whoop!

Please leave a review to tell me what you think, reading them puts a smile on my face. :)

Thanks guys,

Hope you enjoy.

Her hands were covered in blood. Red, warm and sticky as it stained her fingertips, her palms and her clothes. She rushed alongside the gurney as it wheeled Ashley towards the med bay, the young spectres face pale and grey as she weakly clutched at her stomach.

Miranda ignored the wide eyed stares of the crew as they passed, concentrating on the paling face of Ashley Williams. The young woman's hands shook as she pushed them against the ripped flesh of her stomach, her pale skin caked in red.

It had been a frantic race for the exit. James had once again lost his shields to the steam bursts and Garrus had had a near miss with a barrage of bullets.

"We need to stop this bleeding now!" Doctor Chakwas barked orders as she burst through the doors of the med-bay, pressing her hands to Ashley's wound as James and Garrus lifted her onto a bed.

"Miranda get me some medi-gel, Garrus, bandages, James, I need you to press down hard on her wound."

Everyone did as they were told, a frantic rush of activity filling the medical bay. No one noticed Liara leaning against the door, her eyes filled with unshed tears. She felt lost and confused and there was a pain in her chest. A pain she was no stranger to. She had lost Shepard for a third time. She leaned heavily against the door frame. It was the only thing she could do to keep herself from falling to her knees.

She thought back to their last conversation. Remembered the hurt look on Shepard's face at her words, remembered the guilty sting her chest as her bond mate turned to leave. She had told Shepard that she was easily replaceable. The stinging pain in her chest only worsened

She was brought back to the present by the frantic beeping of machines. The Asari watched with blurry eyes as the doctor applied the Medi-gel to Ashley's wound.

"There is little I can do for her here, she needs to go to the hospital." Karin admitted, snatching the bandages from Garrus's long taloned fingers. "Tell Mr Moreau to get us to the Citadel as fast as he can!"

Liara's heart skipped a beat.

"The Citadel?" She asked, stepping into the medical bay. "We cannot just leave. Selena is still down there."

"Shepard is the whole reason Williams is in this condition." Miranda answered, pointing towards the young women who lay still in the hospital bed. Liara felt a surge of anger run through her.

"It was not her fault and you know it. The longer Selena is in Cerberus hands the more we lose her. We have to go back and -"

"And what. Risk ending up like Williams did, or worse." Miranda explained, her voice stern. Garrus moved to Liara's side, his strong arm wrapping around the Asari in a protective manor, his voice was low as he spoke, his eyes focused on nothing but Liara's.

"We are not giving up on her Liara. We will get her back. But right now, we have to get out of her. We have to help Ash."

Liara's eyes softened as she looked up at her friend, his lips trembling as she hugged herself.

"But Garrus. She needs us." She said, a lone tear finally falling down her cheek.

"Right now Ashley needs us. She is losing to much blood, if we don't get her to the Citadel now, she will die. Shepard will never forgive herself if that happens."

Liara's shoulders sagged. Garrus was right as usual, even if they did stay, even if they did, somehow get back in to the facility, they had no way of getting Shepard out. She nodded silently, hugging herself tighter.

Garrus moved his hand to his ear.

"Joker, get us out of here. We need to get to the Citadel. Ash is hurt."

A crackle sounded over the radio before Jokers voice greeted them. "What about the Commander?"

"Just do it Joker."

Joker confirmed the order, but Garrus could hear the annoyance in his voice. He turned back to Liara, his eyes narrowing as the young Asari's eyes fell to the floor. Taking a step forward he was shocked when the maiden stepped back, shrinking away from his comforting touch.

"I need to be alone right now." She said, turning on her heel. Garrus watched as she left, heading towards the elevator. Sighing he turned away, moving to Ashley's.

If Shepard was against them now, this just got a whole lot more dangerous.

The memories came back to her in blurred distorted flashes. Some clear as day, others dark and hazy, filled with faint memories of distant places, faceless people and echoed voices that called out to her in confusing and unrecognisable tones.

She seemed powerless to stop them as they played like old vids in her head. The memories plaguing her with overwhelming emotions.

First, she was standing in the middle of a field, looking up at a canvas of stars, watching as streams of light illuminated the sky. Someone spoke softly in her ear, giggling at something she said.

Suddenly she was in her room, staring intently at her hand that glowed blue. She could hear her parents laughing downstairs, voices of her neighbours, the clinking of glasses, then the sudden shrill cry of her baby brother in the other room.

Then she was surrounded by fire, screams and gunfire defining her as she half drags herself towards the cover of trees.

She meets a man named Anderson, a tall man with kind eyes. He saved her. Strong arms engulfing her in a protective embrace. He found her half dead, buried beneath scorched grass. He takes her under his wing, trains her to be the best and suddenly, he is handing her a silver box. Inside are her dog tags.

She holds the line on Elysium, watches as her comrades flee to safety, she empty's her rifle, every shot she takes hitting it's target. It's an hour before backup arrives and as the shuttle full of reinforcements descends, she feels the bullets rip though her stomach.

She witness the fall of the great race, reliving the cipher in her head.

She feels soft hands on her bare skin, smiles as her green eyes meet blue, relishes in the warmth of eternity.

The she just feels cold. Terrified. Floating in a void while her insides freeze, while the air in her lungs becomes non-existent as she finds herself drifting towards an icy planet.

She still feels cold when she wakes up on a table, an unfamiliar voice calling out to her. She feels betrayed when the Alliance abandons her and is overwhelmed with guilt as she watches an entire system disappear from the galaxy map. All her doing. For the greater good she tells herself. But part of her dies anyway.

Again she looking up into beautiful blue eyes, she is saying something about blue babies.

She holds a gun to the man that saved her. Her looks at her with accusatory eyes. She pulls the trigger and suddenly she is engulfed by flames. Suddenly, all she feels is pain.

The memories wake her unkindly, her breath catching in her throat as she tries to sit up. She hisses in pain as agony runs down her spine, starting in her lower back and moving swiftly up to rest at the top of her neck. She grunts in announce as she finds herself once again, bound by metal restraints.

She shakes her head against the fog that rests there, closing her eyes against the blinding lights above her. Her entire body aches as she tries to remember what happened. The memories of the last few days unclear and hazy in her head.

She remembers a great pain, then suddenly, no pain at all. She remembers her body moving without her command, she remembers not being able to think for herself, remembers fighting, then suddenly she remembers flying through the air.

A small movement in her peripheral vision made her turn her head. Anger boiled in the pit of her stomach as her eyes rested on the smug looking man beside her. Her lips thinned as she turned her head back to look up at the ceiling, ignoring the burning pain that shot through her head as she did so.

"You're not even going to say Good morning?" Smith said, chuckling as he moved closer to Shepard's side.

Selena remained silent.

"You seemed to be dreaming again. Gained your memories back I assume?"

Shepard closed her eyes tightly against the crippling pain in her head.

"So I assume you remember fighting the team that came to rescue you. Killing your second in Command…Miss William's I think her name was."

Selena's eyes shot open at Smith's words. Fear surging through her as she turned her head to face her again. Smith smiled smugly, leaning in closer. His face, inches from Shepard's.

"You don't remember that?" he asked. "You don't remember running your Omni-tool through her gut?"

Shepard grit her teeth.

"You're lying."

"You keep telling yourself that." He said, moving to stand. "Either way, it does not matter. You won't remember anything by tomorrow."

The blue eyed man stepped aside, letting a young scientist at the console that controlled Selena's vitals.

"What do you mean by that?" Selena asked. She tried hard to hide the fear in her voice.

"By tomorrow, we would have reached the Citadel. We have some…lose ends we need to take care of. My scientists found a way to get rid of the little fail-safe of Doctor Caters and have improved the formula with very interesting results. The only way your friends can save you…is to kill you."

Selena watched as the scientists readied the formula. Studying the dark orange formula as it filled the tubes above the chair. Smith leaned in closer once more. His eyes staring intently into Shepard's.

"If your friends get in my way again. I will make sure you kill each and every one of them…starting with that Asari of yours."

He stood once more. Heading towards the exit.

"Begin the treatment."