"Lilith, we got a problem." Kaidan said as he walked through the colony.

"Still can't calibrate the targeting matrix?" Lilith replied.

"Those defence towers are useless if we don't figure it out." Kaidan said, frustrated.

They had been trying to fix the targeting matrix for a few days but were no where near close to solving the problem. He was getting frustrated by the lack of progress on the towers, and the pressure he was under wasn't helping either.

"Sorry, Commander." Lilith apologised, "Getting our comms systems back online takes priority."

"Yeah, okay." Kaidan huffed, "Surprised people haven't tried to pin that one on me too."

He had stopped walking as he said that. Lilith turned to face Kaidan with sympathy in her eyes.

"People out here don't trust the Alliance." Lilith explained, "It's nothing personal."

'It sure feels like it." Kaidan thought to himself. Before he could say anything in response, he heard the weirdest buzzing noise. He looked up to see thousands of insects flying around, with dozens more joining them.

"What is that?" someone said from behind Kaidan.

Kaidan had a bad feeling about this. His gut was telling him something wasn't right. He drew his assault rifle, not looking away from the swarm. As he looked through the scope, he saw a large, yet familiar ship.

"I recognised the ship as the one who attacked us two years prior. The one that destroyed the Normandy…and killed you."

Kaidan's heart nearly stopped. It was that ship again! Memories from that day briefly flashed before his eyes before he turned to face Lilith.

"Get everyone to the safehouse." He said to her calmly.

Nobody moved as the swarm approached, all frozen in place.

"I'll cover you." Kaidan said more firmly, "Go! Now!"

He opened fire but it did nothing. As Lilith tried to run, she tripped. Kaidan helped her up but was stung by one of the very large insects. Before he could react, he was frozen in place, unable to move.

…

"So you were caught by them." Kacey said with a hint of sorrow, "But how did you break free?"

"Uh…" Kaidan hesitated, "Heh, well I…may or may not have caused a biotic spike to break out of field."

"What!?" Kacey looked at Kaidan, shocked. "That was dangerous! You could've died!"

"I'm fine." Kaidan replied, "It hurt like hell but in the end, it was worth it. I could've been taken and put on that ship by the time you got to me. If you even managed to find me at all."

"Fair enough." Kacey replied, "Just…don't do it again."

"I won't. I promise."

He had nearly faceplanted into the ground, dropping his rifle. It took forever, but he finally managed to break free from…whatever that was. He looked around and saw that the place was dead silent and empty. He picked up his gun and began to quietly make his way through the colony. There was no one around. He saw the ship in the distance, taunting him as they had now succeeded twice. But he wasn't gonna let it slide. Not this time.

He bolted it towards the defence towers, hoping to get them working so he could blow the damn thing up. But he wasn't even halfway there before the guns started to move. He pressed on and he saw the guns fire at the ship. Someone had activated it and had managed to get it working.

The ground started to shake as he drew closer to the controls. He watched as the ship quickly departed, and then he heard shouting.

"No! Don't let them get away!" he heard Delan shout. He ran faster.

"There's nothing we can do. They're gone."

He stopped dead in his tracks. He recognised that voice. He knew that voice. 'But it can't be right?' Kaidan thought, 'I must be hallucinating, right?'

Kacey was gone. Dead. That's what he was told. That was the reality he faced for the past two years. There was no way…

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

"I'm sorry." The woman's voice replied, "I didn't want it to end this way! I did what I could."

Kaidan peered around the corner and saw Delan talking to three armed individuals. Kaidan didn't recognise the salarian that was observing a nearby corpse, but the other two? The turian looked vaguely familiar to him but it was the human that stood out.

She was in bright, cobalt armour with a red streak down her right shoulder. Her scarlet hair was a bit messy from what had appeared to be a massive shoot-out given the bodies everywhere. The woman looked a lot like Kacey. It wasn't until the turian addressed her, did Kaidan finally get the confirmation he was looking for.

"More than most, Shepard."

So, it was her. The rumours were true. But then that means…

He didn't want to think. He felt happy and relieved that was alive but also very angry. He couldn't stay hidden anymore and began walking over towards them.

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

"Commander Shepard." Kaidan said, loudly announcing his arrival, "Captain of the Normandy. The first human Spectre. Saviour of the Citadel."

He stopped directly in front of Kacey. Aside from a few cuts and scrapes, she looked exactly the same as she did two years ago. Like she hadn't aged at all.

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

He nearly spat that last word out. It was bitter. Looking at her again, it brought back many memories; mostly good…and some bad.

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

Once Delan walked off, Kaidan turned his attention back to Kacey. She looked at him, and offered a small, meek smile. She hadn't changed. It reminded him of the first time he met her.

"I thought you were dead, Kacey." He said, pulling her in close for a hug, "We all did."

She had hugged him back. He felt so relived and wanted to stay like this forever. But even then, the anger, the bitterness. It came flooding in.

'Those two years were the worst years of my life. Losing someone that close to you hurts. It hurts more than anything in the galaxy. Seeing you standing there, alive, after all that had happened, with those rumours…it just…it hurt me.'

He pulled away as Kacey looked at him with the same small smile she had before.

"It's good to see you." She replied, "It's been too long. How have you been?"

She said it calmly. Like it didn't even faze her. Like she didn't care.

"Is that all you have to say?" Kaidan said with bitterness, "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? Why didn't you try to contact me? Why didn't you let me know you were alive?"

He didn't intend to go on a rant, but he had to know. Her smile had faded, and he didn't expect her response.

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

His heart sank. So, the rumours were true after all. A pit form in his stomach; he hated this. He hoped it was a mistake.

"I hoped it wasn't true. I just wanted you to tell me anything but that. It hurt. I didn't understand why you were with them. I didn't want to understand."

"You're with Cerberus now?" Kaidan spat before laying eyes on the turian behind Kacey, "Garrus too? I can't believe the reports were right."

That's why he recognised the turian. It was his former teammate. Garrus Vakarian. Kaidan thought he had disappeared.

"Reports?" Garrus finally spoke, "You mean you already knew?"

He sounded more cynical than he did before. Kaidan wondered what happened to the turian, and how he got caught up with Kacey again.

"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 you weren't dead. That you were working for the enemy." He spat that last sentence out, bitter.

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

He knew her well. He knew she wasn't going to back down from this. Kacey was stubborn and was always willing to stand her ground. So how could she let Cerberus manipulate her like that?

"Do you really believe that? or is that what Cerberus wants you to think?" Kaidan replied angrily, "I wanted to believe the rumours that you were alive, but I never expected anything like this. You turned your back on everything we believed in. You betrayed the Alliance. You betrayed me."

"It felt like betrayal. I was hurt. You just walked away from it all like nothing happened…like you didn't care."

"I'm not a traitor!" Kacey nearly shouted, "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! The Collectors are targeting human colonies! And they're working with the Reapers!"

He could believe that. He had saw the corpses of husks on his way over here. But as true as that was, he didn't trust Cerberus.

"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! What if they're behind it? What if they're working with the Collectors?"

"Damn it Kaidan!" Garrus shouted, causing Kaidan to jump, "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, defeated, "It doesn't matter what I say, does it? I can see you've made up your mind."

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

He started to walk away. He couldn't believe what had just unfolded in front of him.

"You could always come with and find out."

He stopped in his tracks and looked at Kacey in bewilderment. He was tempted, very tempted. Memories of their last adventure flashed through his mind. He wanted to go on another one. But not at the risk of his morals.

"I really wanted to. If you were doing it on your own? Sure, I would've went with you. But I couldn't sacrifice my morals, my beliefs or my loyalties to the Alliance to run off with terrorists. That's why I hesitated."

He furrowed his brow, "I'll never work for Cerberus."

He softened his gaze as he looked at the scarlet haired commander one last time, "Good luck, Shepard. Be careful."

He walked away solemnly, heartbroken.

…

Kaidan looked at Kacey, who was still engrossed with the buckle of her boot. He understood why, it wasn't the easiest thing to talk about. He didn't know what to say, or what he could say.

"I was too harsh on you, Kacey." Kaidan said, after several minutes passed, "I could've at least heard you out rather than…. that."

"I also owe you an apology, Kaidan." Kacey replied, "I should've at least tried to contact you before Horizon."

"It's okay, Kacey." Kaidan replied, "So…are we good?"

"More than that," Kacey smirked, "I think we've got some catching up to do."

"That we do." Kaidan replied.

"Why don't you bunk here tonight? Like old times?" Kacey asked.

"You read my mind." Kaidan replied as he leaned in for a kiss. Kacey kissed him back, passionately.