Kacey could just about keep her balance as the ship left. By the time she was able to look up it had gone. Her heart sank; they failed to rescue anyone. She could kick herself for it. But before she could do that, she heard someone shout.

"NO!" Delan shouted as he ran past Kacey, looking where the ship had been mere moments ago, "Don't let them get away!"

"It's too late." Kacey sighed, "There's nothing we can do. They're gone."

"Half the colony's in there!" Delan protested, "They took Egan and Sam and—Lilith! Do something!"

"I'm sorry." Kacey said, "I didn't want it to end this way! I did what I could."

If only she believed her own words. She lowered her head, her arms crossed. She could've saved them! She should've saved them! She felt Garrus' hand on her shoulder.

"More than most, Shepard." Garrus said, comforting her.

"Shepard?" Delan turned around surprised, "Wait. I know that name. Sure. I remember you. You're some big Alliance hero."

"Commander Shepard. Captain of the Normandy. The first human Spectre. Saviour of the Citadel."

She recognised that voice in an instant. Her heart skipped a beat. She was so relieved to hear it, she almost forgot what Delan was saying a few moments ago. Kaidan appeared from behind one of the buildings and walked over to them, standing next to Delan.

"You're in the presence of a legend, Delan." Kaidan said, "And a ghost."

"All the good people we lost and you get left behind." Delan scoffed, "Figures. Screw this. I'm done with you Alliance types."

Delan walked off, leaving Kacey and Kaidan behind, face to face.

…

Kacey paused. Kaidan could feel the tension in air as the pair sat on the bed, their backs up against the pillows they propped up by the wall. They both knew what came next. And how much it hurt.

"I don't know if you want me to go on with what happened or skip it." Kacey said after several minutes passed.

"Go on." Kaidan replied, "If we want this to work, our relationship to work, we've got to be able to talk about it. Properly."

"You're right." Kacey said, "I will. But only if you tell me what happened to you that day. Deal?"

"Deal." Kaidan replied, "I figure I'm not gonna be cast in a flattering light here."

"Probably not, although you'll be able to explain your side of the story to me afterwards." Kacey said, "Both of us will share our side of it, and hopefully we can put this past us."

"I hope so too." Kaidan said as Kacey took a deep breath.

…

"I thought you were dead, Kacey." Kaidan said as he hugged her tightly, "We all did."

She hugged him back. She missed this. It was the most comforting feeling she had felt since she woke up. But there was something in his voice, that sounded…angry.

"It's good to see you." Kacey said with a small smile, "It's been too long. How have you been?"

"Is that all you have to say?" Kaidan replied, "You show up after two years and just act like nothing happened? I thought we had something, Kacey. Something real. I loved you. Thinking you were dead ripped me apart. How could you put me through that?"

She knew then she had clearly hit the wrong cord. Each word hit her harder than any weapon could've done. She started to get frustrated; this wasn't her fault. She had died! She didn't ask for this to happen!

"Why didn't you try to contact me?" Kaidan continued angrily, "Why didn't you let me know you were alive?"

"I wasn't even conscious!" Kacey nearly shouted, "It wasn't my choice. I was in some type of coma while Cerberus revived me. I—"

She didn't even get to finish before Kaidan jumped in, "You're with Cerberus now? Garrus too?"

Kacey had nearly forgotten that Mordin and Garrus were standing next to her. The turian narrowed his eyes at Kaidan while Mordin left to observe a corpse a few meters away.

"I can't believe the reports were right." Kaidan said. Her heart sank.

"I wanted to tell you everything, then and there. But with EDI and possibly Miranda listening in through the comms…I couldn't risk it."

"Reports?" Garrus questioned, "You mean you already knew?"

"Alliance intel thought Cerberus might be behind the missing human colonies." Kaidan explained, "They got a tip this colony might be the next one to get hit. Anderson stonewalled me, but there were rumours that you weren't dead. That you were working with the enemy."

"I don't work for Cerberus!" Kacey protested, "I'm using them to save the colonies. I don't answer to them!"

She nearly blew her deception, but she didn't care.

"Do you really believe that?" Kaidan said, "Or is that what Cerberus wants you to think?"

"You have no idea how much I just wanted to scream the truth at you. They weren't manipulating me; they weren't controlling me. I had to stay to protect you. To protect Joker, Garrus, Liara, Wrex, and Tali. I wanted to go home, I didn't want to be there, stuck there! I didn't ask for any of this."

"I wanted to believe the rumours that you were alive, but I never expected anything like this." Kaidan said angrily, "You turned your back on everything we believed in. You betrayed the Alliance. You betrayed me."

"I'm not a traitor!" Kacey replied, trying her best to stay calm, "Kaidan you know me! You know I'd only do this for the right reason. If you—"

"If I what? Let you lie to me?"

"You saw it yourself!" Kacey could barely contain her frustration, "The Collectors are targeting human colonies! And they're working with the Reapers!"

"I want to believe you, Kacey." Kaidan said, "but I don't trust Cerberus."

"Neither do I!"

"I doubt it. They're using the threat of a Reaper to manipulate you!" Kaidan spat, "What if they're behind it? What if they're working with the Collectors?"

"Damn it Kaidan!" Garrus shouted before Kacey could say anything, "You're so focused on Cerberus that you're ignoring the real threat!"

"What threat? Because the only one I see is Cerberus!"

"So, you won't listen to reason?" Kacey said in a defeated voice, "It doesn't matter what I say, does it? I can see you've made up your mind."

Kaidan got in close to Kacey, "You show up after two years and tell me you're working with Cerberus. Where does reason figure into this? You've changed. But I still know where my loyalties lie. I'm an Alliance soldier. Always will be. I've got to report back to the Citadel. They can decide if they believe your story or not."

Kacey knew that they did; Anderson and Hackett were aware and helped manipulate the situation in the Alliance's favour, and Council reinstated her Spectre status. Right now, though, she just wanted to get away.

"You could always come with and find out." She said.

Kaidan looked at her, briefly confused, before furrowing his brow again, "I'll never work for Cerberus."

His face softened slightly, "Good luck, Shepard. Be careful."

He walked away, leaving Kacey with more than just a broken heart.

"That hurt me more than you know. I just wanted to scream. I felt stuck, trapped, angry and broken. I didn't mean to hurt you. I didn't want this. It broke my heart.

I don't know what you wanted me to say; that it was all lies? That I wasn't a corpse for those two years? Since I woke up, everything had happened so fast I—I couldn't think straight. I was preparing for a suicide mission with people I had just met, on a trip that could be one-way…and at that point, I only had Joker and Garrus that I could truly trust. But even still, they had changed too.

I lost two years of my life, brought back into a galaxy that had changed at lot since then, blackmailed into a mission to basically die all over again on a one-way trip to destroy a base full of Reaper slaves. What part of that, of any of it, was my choice?"

…

Kaidan sat there silent. Kacey was sitting next to him, playing with her bootstrap. She hadn't looked at him once since she started going over their argument. It was only when he heard his own words spat back at him did he realise how…harsh some of it was. He wondered then, in that moment, if he had heard her out on Horizon that day; would he have been able to help then?

"I understand why you didn't trust Cerberus, and why you wanted to stay." Kacey spoke up, "I understand why you were angry. I would've been in your shoes too."

"I was a bit too harsh though." Kaidan said, "I was just so caught up in the shock of seeing you there…alive…and with Cerberus after two years. It was like reliving that day all over again; the day I was told you died."

"I get that." Kacey said, "Anyway. Your turn."

"Okay," Kaidan said, "We were having issues with the defence towers before the attack started…"