Watching the Citadel come into view as the Normandy slowly approached the docks in Zakera ward filled Garrus with a strange mix of excitement and anxiety. He hadn't been back in over a year, but the station had been his home for many years before he'd joined Shepard on the Normandy, and there were a lot of memories he'd left behind with it.

"Looks like most of the damage from Sovereign's attack has been cleaned up," Shepard noted.

She was pulling on her armor as she stared out the window in her cabin. Garrus had already put on the new armor she'd purchased for him; it fit well, and was far nicer than anything he'd ever owned before. Shepard had thought nothing of the gesture, it was clear: he needed new armor and she wasn't letting him get blown up again. It had meant more to him.

"The keepers are fast workers," Garrus said. "And people on the Citadel are always eager to get back into a routine and pretend they're safe from any war or danger."

Shepard turned around to face him, running her hand along the edge of his armor. "It fits nicely," she said. "Is it comfortable?"

"As comfortable as armor can be," he laughed.

"You're sure you're up to this?" She had been exceedingly concerned about him the closer they got to the Citadel. It was probably the hundredth time she'd asked him the question.

They hadn't discussed the crying episode he'd had. He didn't want to talk about it, and she mentioned it only once, again only to ask if he was okay. When he'd deflected her questions, she'd dropped it. Eventually he would tell her everything he was feeling, but he wasn't ready yet, and it was enough just to be with her again.

"I'm fine, Shepard. I promise," he placed his hand under her chin and lifted her head up. "Besides, if I stay behind, who's going to watch your six?"

She smiled and pecked the scarred side of his mandible. There was something distinctly different about their relationship now that she was back, something he didn't know how to put into words, but whatever it was, he liked it. He had spent two years of his life feeling like a piece of him had been torn out and now he felt like he had it back.

When the ship docked, Joker called over the intercom and they headed down to meet some of the other crew by the airlock. Zaeed was the first at the door when they arrived, arms folded over his chest, tapping his foot impatiently.

"Haven't been to this blasted place in an eon," he said. "Wonder what kind of crap my former associates are getting themselves into. Should be fun," he flashed a grin.

"I imagine I met some of your 'associates' during my days in C-sec," Garrus replied.

"I'll bet you have, birdy. I'm sure they loved you."

"Commander. Good to see you here. Have a few questions." Mordin approached from behind them, interrupting what Garrus felt would have been a good retort to Zaeed's statement. He'd spent enough of his life being called various bird-related names to have thought of a few come-backs.

"Mordin," Shepard nodded in greeting. "What can I do for you?"

"Have packed a gun if necessary," Mordin told her, patting his side. "Think it shouldn't be, wards dangerous, certainly. Still, no Omega. Will I be needing more ample armor?"

"Zakera ward is much safer than Omega," Garrus told him. "You should be fine."

Jacob and Miranda arrived last. Shepard had already addressed the crew, letting them know they would be docked for at least three days. When they departed the ship, Zaeed took off quickly, as did Jacob and Mordin; they were going to replenish Mordin's supplies. It seemed Miranda was interested in sticking with Garrus and Shepard, however. Garrus had noticed that she seemed to have a special interest in keeping Shepard within her sights. He supposed if he had spent two years and billions of credits rebuilding someone, he'd also be a little bit antsy about their actions. As it was, he wanted to keep Shepard close for his own reasons. He didn't particularly appreciate the other human's presence.

Passing through the dock security gates, the alarms went off as they were being scanned. A turian C-sec officer standing at a terminal by the door punched something into the terminal.

"We're going to need you to step aside into our offices," he addressed both Shepard and Garrus. "Systems are reporting one of you as dead and one of you as 'presumed dead'."

"Dammit," Miranda cursed. "Cerberus was supposed to have taken care of this. Can't do anything right unless you do it yourself."

Shepard shrugged. "I didn't think it would be as easy as passing through security unchecked. I have been dead for two years, after all."

They followed the turian officer through a set of doors and into the main lobby of the Zakera ward's C-Sec headquarters. Garrus hadn't spent much time on that particular ward, but he was familiar with some of the officers. They were led over to a desk, behind which sat a human captain by the name of Bailey. He was familiar with the name, though he had never met the man personally. Several humans had been promoted to captains after the losses that occurred during the Battle of the Citadel.

Garrus and Shepard sat down in the two chairs in front of Bailey's desk while Miranda paced impatiently behind them.

"Commander Shepard, hm?" Bailey asked, reading from his terminal. "You're supposed to be dead."

"Well, you can't trust everything you hear," Shepard replied coolly.

"Your profiles match the system," Bailey shrugged. "You can never be too sure with people. All sorts of crazy science and technology out there now, anybody could be wearing your face. But you can't fake a profile. I'll get this cleared up for you, but the Council is probably going to want to know one of their Spectres is still alive. Especially considering it's the Spectre that saved their asses during the battle."

"I plan on paying them a visit," Shepard told him.

"What about the turian then? You look familiar," Bailey squinted at Garrus. "You're not Castis' son, are you?"

Everyone in C-sec seemed to know his father.

"Yes, though I understand he's retired now," Garrus said.

"Yeah. Tough old bastard, isn't he? He left about a year ago. Moved back to Palaven. Suppose you already know that. Anyway, it looks like the system had you logged as presumed dead. Lost contacts and such. I'll fix it right up."

"Thanks for your help," Shepard said. "I haven't been back to the Citadel in a while, seems like security's gotten tighter."

"Had to implement some checkpoints," Bailey explained while he typed on his terminal. "After the geth attack, the Council wanted people to feel safer. That mostly entailed checkpoints. It's really just a big pain in the ass. Wastes C-sec resources and doesn't stop much of anything. You'd think we'd know how to spot a geth with our own two eyes instead of using this expensive scanning system."

"You would think," Garrus agreed. The Council was eager to appear productive without actually doing anything of meaning to stop the real threat.

"Well, you two are all set," Bailey told them. He shook their hands. "Thanks for your service here on the Citadel. It's good to have you both back. You need anything from C-sec, commander, you just let me know."

"Thanks, captain," Shepard said. When they had left the building and entered the ward, she turned to Garrus and Miranda. "We should head up to the Presidium first. I want to speak to Anderson."

"Good plan. We should get up there before half the Citadel finds out you're alive again," Garrus suggested. If he knew C-sec, it wouldn't stay with the officers for long. One of them would talk to a civilian, maybe a friend or a lover, and then it would spread like wildfire. Shepard, in her constant reluctance to accept praise, sometimes failed to realize what a hero she was to the people. Her death had been galaxy-wide news, hundreds of thousands had turned up to her memorial service, billions more had watched it on the news. She was one of the most famous women in the galaxy and she wasn't even fully aware of it.

The fastest way out of the ward from their location was a rapid transit shuttle, so they piled in and waited as the shuttle made its way toward the Presidium.

"Have you been to the Citadel much, Miranda?" Garrus asked, trying to be nice to the human, though he didn't particularly care for her.

"A few times," Miranda replied. "It's been cleaned up since the last time I was here. I understand you lived here for several years working under C-sec."

"Cerberus have a file on me?" Garrus asked.

"I have files on everyone."

"But you didn't know I was Archangel."

"No. I was too busy rebuilding your girlfriend," she said sharply.

Garrus and Shepard both shifted in noticeable discomfort at her use of the word for the relationship they had refused to label. It was one of many conversations they still hadn't had since her return.

"So, uh, what should we do once I've met with the Council?" Shepard changed the subject. "I thought I'd give the crew a few days of shore leave. And God knows we never took enough of it when we were chasing Saren. Plus I haven't been back here in two years, so I'm guessing a lot has changed."

"I still don't see how you can think of diversions at a time like this," Miranda said.

"Times like this are the most important times for diversions," Shepard said, a bit of an edge to her voice. "Sure, I can't spend all my time ignoring my responsibilities. But sometimes the only way to handle the burden of everything is to let loose. If you don't, you end up being so overwhelmed when the time for action comes, that you might end up sabotaging yourself."

"I suppose I'll defer to you, Shepard. You obviously have experience with the matter," Miranda shrugged.

"You spend a little time with Shepard and you learn to loosen up pretty quickly," Garrus piped in.

"I'll message Joker and the others to meet us somewhere tonight," Shepard suggested. "Where do you think, Garrus?"

"Not Purgatory," he said. "The place is always so crowded."

"How about Flux?"

"Isn't there anywhere quiet we could go?" Garrus groaned. He'd spent the past year on Omega; he'd had his fill of noisy, pheromone-filled clubs.

"How about McAlistair's Pub in the 2nd district? Is that place still open?" Shepard asked.

"It was last time I was here."

Shepard typed into her omni-tool. "Good. I've invited Joker, Jacob, Mordin, Kelly, and…Zaeed."

"Shoot me," Garrus heard Miranda mutter.

He appreciated Shepard's insistence on getting to know her crew, though he did feel like some of her current effort was in a vain attempt to replace the close and natural bond she'd had with the old one, but he privately agreed with Miranda; he was imagining a very uncomfortable evening ahead.

At least there was always the possibility that he'd be having sex at the end of it.

The rapid transit shuttle let them off directly outside the Citadel embassy offices on the Presidium. The offices were at least one part of the Presidium that hadn't drastically changed in Shepard's absence: the lobby was as crowded as ever, the same turian receptionist sat dealing with angry visitors, the doors were still guarded by C-sec officers. The only difference now was that Udina's office belonged to Anderson. It seemed Shepard hadn't saved him from a life amongst politicians after all.

As Shepard pushed past the crowds of people toward the hall leading to the office, she was stopped by one of the turian C-sec officers.

"Get in line and take a ticket. No meeting with a representative until your turn has been called," the turian grumbled.

Around her, people were beginning to whisper and point, all of them wondering the same thing. Had the hero of the Citadel really returned?

"I'm not taking a ticket," Shepard said. "Go and tell admiral Anderson that Commander Rembley Shepard is here to see him."

The turian laughed. "You do look like her. But I wasn't born yesterday. Commander Shepard's been dead for 2 years."

Garrus tapped his foot impatiently next to her, folding his arms over his chest. "Just go and tell him," he said.

The C-sec officer jabbed Garrus in the chest. "I'm not your errand boy. You want to see the admiral, you get in line and take a ticket."

For a moment, Shepard thought there was going to be a confrontation. Garrus' eyes flashed and his mandibles flared. She felt like there was no telling what he might do, he seemed so changed after everything that had happened on Omega. She was relieved when he stepped back and crossed his arms, still glaring at the C-sec officer.

It turned out they didn't have to take a ticket to resolve the situation. As Shepard was resigning herself to waiting in the massive crowd, all of whom had overheard her saying who she was, Anderson appeared at the entrance to the hallway.

"Shepard!" He pushed past the C-sec officer, who looked affronted at the assault, and flung his arms around Shepard in a very informal and decidedly non-Alliance manner. When he pulled away from her, he was beaming, tears forming in the corners of his eyes. "I didn't want to give myself too much hope, but then I got a call from Captain Bailey down in C-sec saying your profiles had matched…two years, Shepard. We have a lot to discuss."

"We do," Shepard agreed.

Anderson noticed Garrus standing next to her and slapped his hand against Garrus' armor. "Vakarian! Good to see you're still alive too."

Garrus looked alarmed at the admiral's informal behavior. He nodded politely. "Nice to see you, admiral."

"Uh, this is Miranda Lawson," Shepard said, remembering her manners. "She's…"

Anderson's expression clouded as he looked at Miranda. "I know who she is. Come with me, Shepard."

They followed him down the hall to Udina's old office and took a seat in front of his desk while he ushered his assistants out to give them privacy. When he sat down before them, his eyebrows were furrowed.

"There were some rumors I'd heard that I hoped weren't true, Shepard. You're with Cerberus now?"

"Well…it's a little complicated…" Shepard began.

"But it's true?"

"Yes," she nodded. "They're the ones who brought me back."

"So it's a matter of debt repayment, then?" Anderson suggested.

"In a manner of speaking…they…"

"The Council was sweeping things under the rug!" Garrus interjected, smacking his fist on the armrest of his chair. "You and I both know what they were doing. They never had any intention of going after the Reapers. They just wanted to forget the whole thing as fast as they could. What else should Shepard do? She died running a meaningless errand for the Alliance and the Council. Maybe if they'd funded her and used their resources for any intel, she never would have died in the first place. Why shouldn't she accept Cerberus' help if it means…"

"Garrus," Shepard said, placing her hand gently on his arm.

He settled back into his seat, still looking furious.

"I understand, Garrus, I do," Anderson said. "It's just unfortunate that Cerberus is the one behind all this. Their reputation doesn't exactly inspire the greatest confidence."

"I might have been inclined to agree before," Shepard told him. "But whole colonies are disappearing in the Terminus system and what is the Alliance doing about it? Cerberus sent me to one of those colonies and we have every reason to believe the Reapers are using the collectors to…harvest these people. For God knows what."

"The collectors?" Anderson sighed. "You're sure?"

"Not one hundred percent, but pretty damn positive," Shepard nodded.

Miranda had been silent up until then, but she finally spoke up. "Shepard's right, Admiral. You have every reason not to trust Cerberus, we're well aware of our reputation. But this is more than just petty fights for power between races. Human colonies are disappearing. And if the Reapers are able to make it out of dark space, we all stand to suffer from it. Shouldn't that be enough for you to trust us? A temporary alliance is all Shepard's asking for. If the Council wants to bury their heads in the sand, and if the Alliance doesn't want to risk direct action against an unknown like the Collectors, then take advantage of what Cerberus is offering. We're funding Shepard. All you have to do is convince them to reinstate her Spectre status. She can do their work for them and they can pretend it's not happening."

Anderson scratched his chin. "I don't like it, but I see your point. The Council would love the idea…provided Shepard doesn't go around telling the whole Citadel about the Reapers. You'd still have to keep quiet about it. It's ideal for them, though. They don't have to waste the resources, but if you manage to take care of the problem, they can still claim credit because it was one of their Spectres."

"Good to see they haven't changed," Shepard rolled her eyes. "I think the Council owes me after I saved their lives."

"You realize I can't reinstate your Alliance ranking," Anderson said. "You'd have to renounce ties to Cerberus. And we'd have a lot of paperwork to fill out before you could even come back."

Shepard felt a little pang of sadness when he told her that. Her entire career, over a decade of her life, had been dedicated to the Alliance. It was half of her identity. She knew that if she renounced Cerberus and returned to the Alliance, it would mean being grounded while an investigation took place, and in the meantime, no one would be doing anything about the Collectors or the Reapers. She couldn't sacrifice the resources Cerberus was providing. Still, she promised herself that she'd go back as soon as Cerberus stopped being helpful. She didn't trust them enough to believe they'd be on her side forever.

"I understand, admiral," She replied quietly.

"You will have a place waiting for you if things change," Anderson told her. "But I understand, Shepard. Someone's got to take this thing on. I can't blame the Council or the Alliance for ignoring it. It's real nightmare stuff, the Reapers. Sometimes I wish I could ignore it. I've been trying for the last two years to get anyone to take it seriously. But when you died, they all just wanted it gone. It's easier to pretend it couldn't happen to us." He shook his head and sighed. "Let's talk to the Council. Even if they still want to ignore the matter, they owe you a conversation, and you'd be a valuable asset as a Spectre. As I said, providing you don't…"

"Yeah, I get it," Shepard interrupted. "Keep my mouth shut about the Reapers."

"I'd ask that your companions wait here."

Garrus bristled, but he was a turian and Shepard knew he understood the rules surrounding hierarchies and restricted access to information. Besides, whatever happened, Shepard would tell him about it later. Miranda only shrugged, looking bored and agitated.

Anderson led her to the other side of the room, through a side door, where a holo-projector allowed direct conversations with the Council. He dialed them in and waited for the answer.

After a moment, the Council appeared before them: turian, asari, salarian…and Shepard's least favorite sour-faced human. The look on Udina's face when he saw her was worth having to talk to him, though.

"Shepard! What kind of trickery is this? Anderson, explain yourself!" He yelled.

The other councilors were a bit more subdued in their response. Councilor Sparatus spoke first.

"Commander Shepard, we had heard rumors that you were still alive."

"Or alive…again…" Valern added with some suspicion.

"You can check my scanner profiles," Shepard said calmly. "It's really me." She felt like launching into a diatribe about their careless decision to ignore reality in favor of living a lie, putting the lives of the entire galaxy at risk in the process, but she put on her 'soldier face' instead, holding her hands behind her back and standing with her shoulders squared.

"Commander Shepard is interested in having her Spectre status reinstated," Anderson explained. "Considering that it was never technically revoked after her death, just suspended, I think the request is reasonable."

"Absolutely not!" Udina spat. "If the rumors are true, which they must be since you're standing here before us, then it's also true that you're working with Cerberus. We can't place limitless power in the hands of a terrorist!"

"Councilor Udina, please," Tevos said. "This warrants a civil discussion. Commander Shepard, do you care to defend yourself against these claims?"

"It's true that I'm working with Cerberus," she said. "With. Not for. They're willing to provide the funding I need to take on the Reapers. A situation I see you have all failed to address. It seems having a human on the Council still provides few resources for humanity. Or is there a better reason why you haven't addressed the several human colonies that have just disappeared overnight?"

"Ah, yes. 'The Reapers'." Sparatus flexed his fingers, his voice laced with disbelief. "We have already dismissed that claim. As to the colonies you speak of, they're in the Terminus systems, commander. You're well aware that's outside of Council jurisdiction. We don't wish to start a war with the Terminus systems over a few human colonies."

It was like the hunt for Saren all over again. For a moment; just a brief, horrible, evil moment; Shepard almost wished she hadn't bothered saving the damn Council.

"Then maybe we can both benefit from this situation," She told them. "I know you know the truth about the Reapers. You saw Sovereign attack the Citadel. You're only alive to discuss this with me because I sent Alliance fleets in to save you." It couldn't hurt to hold that one over their heads as she pleaded for Spectre status. "You can tell the people of the Citadel whatever you want, but the Reapers are coming and something has to be done to stop them. I can keep quiet about the Reapers, use Cerberus' funding to take on the problem, and you can wash your hands of the whole ordeal. Stick your heads in the sand, fine. Just renew my Spectre status so I can use it to help myself and my crew on this mission."

Councilor Tevos whispered something to Sparatus while Udina stood there, sour as ever, lips pursed and eyebrows furrowed.

"I still say we shouldn't allow this. Affiliation with Cerberus, raving about 'sentient machines' like a lunatic, we can't trust…"

"We will vote," the asari councilor said, interrupting him again. "Please type your vote into the terminal. In the event of a tie, we will defer to maintaining suspended Spectre status."

The four councilors tapped on unseen terminals, not projected onto the holo-screen. Udina was fuming as he typed. After a moment, Sparatus spoke up.

"Three to one in favor of renewing the commander's status," he said. "The Citadel Council hereby renews your Spectre Status and all rights therein, commander. We trust you to maintain the utmost discretion as you handle your affairs."

Shepard was unsurprised. Udina could blind himself to the reality of the Reapers, he had never really believed it before. The others knew, even if they refused to acknowledge or admit it, they knew what was coming. It was in their best interest to allow Shepard to retain her status, just as Anderson had said.

"Thank you, councilors. I hope the future might make you reconsider your stance on the subject we discussed, but in the meantime, I'll be handling it."

Udina opened his mouth to say something, but the projection cut out. Anderson grinned. "Oops, accidentally disconnected," he shrugged.

"Thank you for your help, admiral," Shepard said, offering her hand.

He hugged her again in another break of protocol. "I trust you, Shepard. If you think Cerberus can help you, I have to believe you're making the right choice. It's the only hope I've got. You keep in touch with me, you hear? Two years is a long time, Shepard. A damn long time."

"I will, I promise. One more thing before I go, though," She hesitated.

"What's that?"

"Kaidan Alenko. Miranda said he's still with the Alliance. I haven't been able to reach him. I wanted to tell him I was alive before the news broke to the whole galaxy. Do you know where he is?"

Anderson frowned. "Unfortunately, he's on a classified mission. I can't disclose any information to non-Alliance personnel."

It hurt to hear him refer to her as non-Alliance, but she understood. "Of course. If you're able to contact him, please tell him I'm okay. I know he'd never leave the Alliance to help people from Cerberus, but…he was the first close friend I had in the Alliance. I miss him. You don't have to tell him that last bit."

"I'll try to get a message out to him," Anderson promised.

"I'll be in touch. Thank you again…David."