A/N Hi everyone. Here is the latest update on PFTG. I am going out of country for nearly a week, so I might be delayed with some stuff for a day or two. It's been busy on my end, sorry.

If you want to read ahead up to chapter 63, it is on my pat-re-on, Bored Peasant's Written Works. Another chapter should be uploaded within a couple of weeks.

Extra special thanks to 1NC1N3R4T0R, 66835, Amorac07, Antonio Villarrubia, Arrimar26, Ben wanless, carl hoffman, Chris, D19x0, David C, David piris peña, Endervslender, Ezoz, FallenMetalGod, Freeman, internetadik, Jakub Hes, Jason Bourne, Jebusno2, liquidpotato, My Name is Klondike, Nathan Block, Nathan Mccomb, OmegaDelta, Orangerazor120, Paul Fischer, Proxy, r4p16, Randall Cook, Robert Tipton, selfishgecko, Sith_Paladin, skadoosh, sonic, Steven Southerland, SupremeRuler17, Terror, The Senn Master, Thezombiegamer707, Tristan d'conceicao, UtopiaKnight39 and Voidwolf 1994 for their support on pat-re-on. It truly means a lot. Thank you all.

Anyway, enough of the sappy stuff. Here's what you really want.

…

Chapter 54 – RETURN TO THE CITADEL

(Shepard POV)

Things were finally starting to really look up.

Brock had managed to get the coordinates for both the Mu Relay just after the Normandy had departed Virmire. Not only that, he had managed to have his scouts find Ilos itself and had the direct coordinates for the planet. With Saren now having left Virmire, it made complete sense that Ilos was his next destination.

Not only that, but Brock's scouts had also reported that geth ships were starting to arrive at the planet. So, while they might not know his exact position, they knew where he was probably going to be next, which also meant that Jane had a destination for her target in mind that wasn't mindless wandering about the galaxy.

She had already sent all of the information on to the Council and had the orders to make way to the Citadel to begin planning for the offensive against Saren and his army of geth. She could already feel the thrill of anticipation as they docked at the Citadel, which only grew stronger as she led Alenko and Ashley to the Presidium via aircar to meet up with Udina and the Council so she could get the Normandy front and centre of the fleet that was being assembled to take on Saren.

She marched up the long staircase to where she could see the Council already waiting with Udina at the top, the three aliens standing on their platform across the stage from where their supplicants would be granted an audience. She confidently stepped forward alongside Udina, not even minding the man's presence for once. Alenko and Ash were two paces behind, giving their silent support if needed.

"Good job, Shepard," Udina said, sounding a little smug. "Thanks to you, the Council is finally taking real action against Saren."

"The ambassador is correct," Councillor Tevos spoke up from her position on the Council platform. "If Saren is foolish enough to attack the Citadel, as you believe, we will be ready for him."

"Patrols are stationed at every Mass Relay linking the Citadel to the Terminus Systems," Sparatus spoke up confidently. "We'll know the moment that he tries to make a move on us."

Jane felt some wariness crawl up her spine. "You think a blockade will stop him?" she asked incredulously. After all, they had her report of where he had been and where they strongly suspected that the rogue turian was going. "He's probably on Ilos looking for the Conduit right now. What are we going to do about that?"

She desperately wanted to say 'you' but if there was something that she had learned from Brock, it was that she should pick the times to sound like she was making an accusation and when she should sound inclusive, like she was part of the solution. This seemed to be one of the latter times.

The salarian councillor shuffled slightly. "Ilos is only accessible through the Mu Relay, deep inside the Terminus Systems, Spectre," he spoke up, eyes partially hidden below the hood he was wearing. "If we send a fleet there, the only possible outcome is full-scale war."

"Now is the time for discretion, Commander," Udina said, making Jane tense. As Brock had told her, by using her Alliance rank, Udina was either deliberately ignoring or downplaying her role as a Spectre, or he genuinely didn't think enough of her to use it. Either way, it wasn't a good sign; especially if it was the former. "Saren's greatest weapon was secrecy. Exposed he is no longer a threat. This is over."

Jane couldn't believe what she was hearing. From the summons she had received to go back to the Citadel, it had sounded like the Council was finally getting the galaxy in gear to fight against Saren. While she knew that there was formidable power through the various warlords that had laid claim through the Terminus, surely the Citadel would be able to send a fleet to go to Ilos without much trouble.

Even if they couldn't, there was still another option.

"One ship going into the Terminus Systems won't start a war," she spoke up, trying to get things back on track. "I can be discreet."

"You detonated a nuclear device on Virmire," Sparatus sneered at her. "I would hardly call that 'discreet.'"

Jane narrowed her eyes at the turian. Another lesson she had learned from Brock, especially the last time that he had been here in front of the Council, was that there was also a time to throw the mistakes of the Council, and other parties in the employ of the Council, in the Council's face to make sure that the optimal result was achieved. This seemed like the right time to apply that lesson.

"Excuse me, Councillor," she very nearly growled out. "Do you mean to say that you didn't read my report?"

The question seemed to catch all three of the councillors off guard. "Of course I did," Sparatus snapped.

"Then why do you make it sound like it was not the decision and actions of the STG agents to make a bomb in preparation to blow a krogan cloning facility where Saren was trying to cure the genophage, not to mention his studying how to indoctrinate people as powerful as Matriarch Benezia?" she demanded. "Do you think, perhaps, that such a facility should have been allowed to remain?"

Sparatus flicked his gaze towards the other councillors for a moment, as if to get support. "Of course I don't think…"

"Then perhaps you ignored the part of my report where I said that the Normandy didn't have the ordinance to destroy the facility on its own?" she queried archly.

"I did read that section," Sparatus replied stiffly. "But I hardly…"

"Then if you don't disagree that such a facility should be destroyed," Jane overrode him again, "and you noticed that the STG agents had already created the bomb and made a plan to use it, and you also saw that using the weapon was the only way to ensure the total destruction of the facility, why do you think that the use of such a weapon was wrong in the circumstances that I was forced to face?"

Sparatus' mandibles clenched tightly as he saw that Jane had talked him into a corner. "I never said that such a device was unnecessary," he growled out, his talons clenching the terminal in front of him. "I merely said that using it was hardly discreet."

"And until that time," Jane continued, "I had acted with as much discretion as the situation allowed. I have been able to get in past geth forces already on my mission to find Saren. I can do so again."

The turian's mandibles were clenched so tightly that Jane thought they might just fuse with his face.

"We can acknowledge that you are capable of being discreet when you feel the need to," Tevos spoke up smoothly for her fellow councillor. "Though, I do recall that discretion is not something that you have used at all times when you ought to have."

Jane held in the flinch at the reminder of her blunder with Brock's orphanage. She could only feel impotent that her previous mistake was being held against her now. A small part of her mind wondered if bringing Ashley and Alenko with her was also a point against her, seeing as they were both with her during that whole incident.

"Still," the asari continued, heedless of Jane's thoughts, "we can acknowledge that your style has served you well in your mission thus far and in the Traverse. But we feel that Ilos requires a deft touch. We have the situation under control."

Jane narrowed her eyes at the Council. They had just blatantly said that they were not sending anyone into the Terminus to look for Saren. How was that control?

"If Saren's secrecy is his greatest weapon, as you claim," Jane tried again, "which it isn't, the Conduit is, then by leaving him alone in the Terminus and not sending anyone after him as you just said, then you are giving him back that weapon!"

"The Conduit is just a distraction," the salarian councillor, Valern, spoke up confidently. "Saren is a master manipulator. His real intention is to attack the Citadel. He will not find us unprepared."

Jane shot a look at Udina, but saw no support from him as he stared at her, looking frustrated at her continued insistence to keep talking.

"If Saren finds the Conduit, we're all screwed," Jane insisted. "We have to go to Ilos!"

"Ambassador Udina," Sparatus cut in, ignoring Jane completely now, "I get the sense that Commander Shepard is unwilling to let this go."

"Spectre!" she barked at the turian, getting no small sense of satisfaction at seeing him flinch back slightly. She would be damned if she let this arrogant tool insult her that way. "If you insist on dismissing my claims, you will still give me the curtesy of addressing me by my proper position, Councillor. Especially as we are currently talking about a former Spectre that you gave the job to and still refer to him as."

"Spectre Shepard is right," Valern spoke up to Jane's surprise, looking directly at the turian. "She has the right to be addressed by her proper title."

The turian tensed, before giving a tight nod.

"There are serious political implications here, Shepard," Udina said, finally looking at Jane. "Humanity has made great gains, thanks to your efforts. But now you are becoming more trouble than you are worth." He glared at her, warning her beyond his words that he was no longer working with her.

"You're selling us out!" Ashley hissed, realising what Jane could also see.

"It's just politics, Commander," Udina said, stepping forward and glancing at her over his shoulder dismissively. "You've done your job, now let me do mine. We've locked out all the Normandy's systems. Until further notice, you're grounded."

So she couldn't even disregard their orders and go off in the Normandy? She considered for a moment. The Normandy was in an Alliance berth. The one who could have locked it down was Udina. The dick was probably doing whatever he could for himself, and convincing everyone that mattered that he was doing it for the Alliance.

Hell, he might even be right, to an extent. Selling out the Alliance might make the Council give them something, like a dog gets a treat for doing a trick. But did it matter if it meant selling out your own? To lose the trust of all those who were relying on you?

Ultimately, it wasn't just the Alliance Udina was screwing over. It was Jane. He was disrespecting her, but more importantly the whole Council was ignoring the real threat. And Jane wasn't one to take that lightly. And she didn't work for him.

"Be careful, Aide Udina," she said softly, her tone threatening as she stepped closer to the man. She was darkly pleased to see that he was getting more tense the closer she got. "Remember, I am not in the Alliance Navy anymore. I am a Council Spectre. I don't answer to your authority. And you will remember that. Just as I will remember this time that you stabbed me in the back, should I need to ever investigate in the future and you find yourself in my crosshairs. I will not be stabbed in the back without consequences."

Udina's eyes flickered with fear and doubt as he possibly realised the truth of what she was saying and where it could possibly leave him.

Still, the worm visibly rallied, even as he took a step away from her. "I think it's time for you to leave, Spectre," his said, almost hissing the last word as he seemed to realise that Jane knew how little power he had over her in her role as a Council agent. "The Council can manage this. With my help, of course."

She ignored him and turned back to the Council. "I want it on record that I believe you are making a ridiculous mistake," she said loudly, staring at her bosses. "I think that you have gotten so used to being in meetings that you have all underestimated Saren here. Saren will find the Conduit. He may even attack the Citadel with it. And if he does, then you as the Council have ignored my warning and allowed this to happen through your own inaction in an ill-considered path. And you will say before the end that I was right."

Her piece said, she marched off before anyone could give her a response. No one, not even the CSEC agents that were standing guard at the top of the stairs, thought to stop her.

…

(Brock POV)

I hadn't joined Jane with the meeting since I already knew how it was likely to go. I didn't really care that the Normandy was being put on lockdown, because I knew that Anderson would get them out of it, regardless of what Council ass-kissing Udina tried to pull.

I ordered my own people to be on yellow alert now and to move to their preplanned positions that we had planned out since we started to put people on the Citadel. It was the perfect time to grow the profile of my company in the eyes of the public. I had soldiers ready for combat, medics ready to provide aid and other people to assist in evacuating to safe zones. We had a couple of dozen safe zones prepared, none of which were near a CSEC building as that was likely to be Saren's primary targets once his geth get here.

Hopefully we could take out a number of them before they could spread, but it was never a good idea to expect your enemy to do exactly what you want them to do. Otherwise, I would just park every single soldier I could get right in front of the Mass Relay on the Citadel and have them aim every piece of heavy artillery aimed at the incoming geth and Saren.

Still, we prepared the best we could and made sure that we had redundancies in place. I also made sure that Klara and the other children at the orphanage were moved away from the combat zone. I know that there was no way to guarantee that there would be no risk if they stayed on the Citadel, but not all of the kids would be happy leaving the Citadel to the safety of one of our ships and head out of the system, so it was decided that moving them far away from any of the likely targets; namely, the Presidium and the CSEC outposts.

I made my orders, made sure they were being carried out, and made sure that my people were prepared. Now, it was time for me to reunite with my people.

I hadn't told anyone that I was disembarking from the Normandy yet. I wasn't hiding it; I just hadn't made solid plans until we got to the Citadel. Then, I decided that I was going to wait until I told Jane first. As the leader of our little group, she deserved to know first. Though, I did feel a little guilty that she was going to learn about it just after she got grounded by the Council and Udina. So, I just made sure to pack up my stuff while they were all busy getting rejected by the Council so that I would be able to leave straight afterwards. I had already removed my gear, which was back at my offices. I just had some drinks left in the fridge.

Loud angry banging from the crew area let me know where she was. I grabbed my half-empty ginger beer from the bench on the way to meet her. Non-alcoholic, of course. Alcohol was very much restricted on an Alliance warship. Not that it stopped certain people from having a private stash.

Looking at you, Chakwas.

I made my way to the crew area to see Jane give one last punch to the lockers before dropping to the floor in a depressed haze. She clearly was so preoccupied with her disappointment that she hadn't noticed my arrival. Instead, she just stared at her hands in defeat.

"I take it the meeting with the Council didn't go so well," I said casually into the silence.

Jane started, surprised at my apparently sudden appearance, before snorting derisively.

"That would be the understatement of the century," she growled sarcastically. "They grounded the Normandy because Udina wanted to suck up to the Council."

I considered for a moment. "Can he actually do that?" I asked. "He is a civilian and this is a military vessel."

Jane shook her head. "Udina has full authority over the docking station for the Alliance and can order a twenty-four-hour hold. Even though I am a Spectre, I can't order them to release it because the Council has effectively benched me from this mission. The Alliance Navy can order him to release the Normandy, but only from someone like an Admiral. Or, I suppose the President of the Alliance could, but I don't know why he would bother with that."

"Maybe," I replied, as I mulled over what she said. It gave me an idea but it was a favour to cash in that I didn't really want to lose if I didn't have to. "Something tells me that this is not one of the things that the president would be overly happy to hear about if he heard."

Jane snorted again. "Oh, sure," she replied sarcastically. "I'll just call him on his direct number and ask him nicely. In my current state, I am not sure if I would start shouting at him or just crying. My emotions are all over the place right now as I want to punch someone or just scream in rage."

I raised my eyebrow at her, knowing that she knew a way around this and that she was just venting. She finally sighed. "I guess I could just ask Anderson to call up Hackett and tell him about it. He could call up Udina and have the ship released, but he is also an Admiral. That means he gets caught up in the politics of these sorts of things and I didn't want him to have to deal with it. After all," she said, returning to the sarcasm, "I am the mighty Spectre of the Alliance. I should be able to handle my own mess."

I shook my head. "A Spectre you may be," I agreed, "but I know for a fact that not one of the Spectres out there could do everything by themselves."

Jane sighed. "Maybe," she conceded. "I suppose that I still have the tendency to try do things on my own if I don't need to."

She looked up at me, a small smile on her face as she looked at me for a long moment. "You know, despite everything that has happened on this mission, you have always been willing to help me out," she said, a warm expression on her face that let me see how attractive she was when she wanted to be. "No one has done as much to help me as you have. I couldn't have done it without you. So, thank you."

That made me feel a little guilty that I was about to leave the ship now. If she was counting on my continued support, then she was just going to be let down even more.

I reached out a hand and waited as she considered me a moment longer. I felt a sliver of uncertainty pass through me. This was the moment in the games that Jane began a romantic relationship with Alenko or Liara, if she was that way inclined. That I was here and not Alenko was a sign of change, but I hadn't thought I had done enough to give her romantic notions towards me.

Best guess I had, going by her own admission, was that she was in a vulnerable moment and she was reconsidering things from an emotional standpoint instead of logical. Which was not ideal. Don't get me wrong, Jane was an attractive woman, with the potential to be very attractive if she tried to dress up. But I had spent nearly all of the trip emotionally closed off and most of the rest casually flirting with Liara. Jane was attractive, but not where I had thought to focus my efforts of .

Jane reached her hand out and I pulled her to her feet. She stumbled and ended up right in my personal space, looking up at me intensely. Neither of us moved, waiting to see how the other responded to this new development. Jane licked her lips, wetting them and making them glisten.

Then, just as it seemed like she was about to move, footsteps came loudly from the stairwell leading to the CIC.

Jane quickly took a step back, her face crinkle slightly in annoyance and alarm, and watched as Kaiden Alenko came down to the common area, clearly looking for someone. His eyes hooded over, and his face twisted in anger as he saw Jane and I standing close together.

"What are you doing here?" he demanded, looking straight at me as he marched over to us.

I raised my eyebrow at him, wondering where this bout of irrational anger was headed. After all, I knew where it was coming from.

"I am here, talking to Jane and trying to help her," I replied mildly.

"If you were trying to help her, then why aren't you appealing to the Council to get this lockdown over with?" Alenko demanded, moving to stand next to Jane as he continued to glare at me. "That's where you could have actually been helpful."

"Because Jane didn't ask me to since she doesn't need me to hold her hand as a Spectre anymore, and because there are other things that demanded my attention that I had to see to," I said, beginning to narrow my eyes at him slightly. "You seem to be very worked up right now, Lieutenant."

"Of course I am!" he barked. "Udina sold us out, the Council has us locked down. Jane is being pushed out of her own mission. And you are here, supposedly supporting her by… what? Drinking your drinks and having a few meetings? You could have made a difference to the Council by supporting her like you did before!"

This seemed more than his regular frustration. Either this was a planned rant, or he was finally getting out everything he wanted to say since he stopped being in Jane's 'favourite puppet' list.

"If you remember," I said slowly, "the last time I went to the Council, I was able point out exactly where the Council had failed to act in accordance with their own treaties. Here, the Council has the power to order their own agents, such as the Spectres, to stand down."

"But you could have fought with them!" Alenko was shouting now, though he wasn't moving closer to me. Not that it mattered much, seeing as he was a biotic. If I saw so much as a wisp of blue, I was ready to move. "The visual support, or even a call to the Council would have at least done something! Has all this time on the Normandy meant nothing to you? Or did Jane saving your life mean nothing?"

I could see Jane frowning now as she was listening to Alenko, though I don't know for sure if it was me or Alenko she was frowning at.

"Of course it meant something…"

"Then why don't you do something?" he demanded, cutting me off. "Why do you insist on being so secretive about everything? You don't tell us about all your scars until they are shoved in our faces, you keep resources hidden from the whole team like you did on Virmire, you don't let us know your sources of information… you hold that information over our heads like you did with me, and you make it all seem like a big joke! As if this all just amuses you! How much do you know that you aren't telling us?"

I stared at him incredulously. I hadn't realised that he would notice that I was able to hold information over people. And he wasn't wrong that I enjoyed it from time to time, but I wasn't going out of my way to do it. It was just unavoidable for someone in my position.

"My personal history is none of your business," I retorted. "It had nothing to do with this mission, and even if it did then the only person that would have needed to know was Jane."

"It matters to the whole team!" he cried out. "And it doesn't explain why you don't just call the Council and get them to release the lockdown on the Normandy! I'm sure that Jane hasn't forgotten that you have the Council on speed dial. Why haven't you called them up to tell them to get them to let us go?"

I stared at him in exasperation. I looked over at Jane to get her take on this, only to blink in surprise. Jane was looking at me, her face showing a hint of doubt and guilt as she did so.

"You can't seriously be agreeing with him," I said flatly, my eyes narrowed at her as I dared her to do just that.

Jane winced, showing that she at least kinda did. "I mean," she said hesitantly, "you did call up the Council after the orphanage attack. Maybe you could call them now and see if they can change their minds."

Ok, I was getting angry now. I had thought that I had been able to get her away from going along with Alenko's madness, but apparently, I had not been completely successful. I had also thought Jane was smarter than this. I guess that with everything going on, she was being a little more irrational than usual.

I didn't care though.

"Whatever you seem to think," I said through gritted teeth, "I don't control the Council. I merely asked them in that call if they had ordered it, in case it slipped your mind. Anything that happened was on them, not me. And I will not risk my future dealings with them in a blatantly moronic attempt to force the issue."

"Why not?" Alenko challenged. "Jane and everyone else have put everything into this mission. Why won't you?"

"Because the galaxy is going to keep going on after this mission, dumbass!" I shouted at him, finally snapping at his attitude. "Once this is done, I need to have something to go back on. I don't get to rely on the Alliance Navy telling me what to do, I have to do it myself. And the fact that you, Jane, haven't shut him up tells me more than enough to know that you don't disagree with him!

"I have financed this mission from the get-go," I continued before Alenko could cut me off again. "I provided critical intel for this mission. I almost died for this mission saving your life, Jane, and I saved your life too, Lieutenant, in case you had forgotten. Without me you would be a pile of ash floating in the wind on Virmire. I would have thought that bought me some credibility, but apparently that doesn't mean anything to you on this ship."

I glared at them, feeling bitter that even after everything, Jane had not been able to fully shake herself of the doubts that she had about me, despite everything else. I knew I was never going to win over Alenko, but I thought I had worked past all of the other stuff with her. Though I could see the guilt on her face clear as day for having the thoughts, it wasn't enough. I was suddenly very glad that this was over.

Maybe I could have done it. I could have called up Valern and put pressure on him to release the lockdown, but seeing as Anderson would help Jane get out of the lockdown anyway, it wasn't worth souring that relationship by me extorting the good salarian councillor.

"The hell with this," I spat. "I'm out. You keep the equipment I bought for you, but I am no longer funding this venture and I am off this ship. If you can be so easily swayed after everything we have done for the last couple of months, Jane, then I don't want any part of this."

Jane jerked up in shock at my declaration as I started to move back to the fridge and grabbed the last of my drinks. I tapped my comm and waited until I heard Torrin's voice.

"Torrin," I bit out. "I am no longer feeling welcome on the Normandy. You can stay or you can come with me. Your choice."

"I'm already moving to the airlock," Torrin's voice came over the comm, making Jane's eyes widen further. "See you on the outside." I disconnected the call.

I turned back to look at the angry satisfied look on Alenko's face and the slightly panicked one on Jane's.

"There you go, Lieutenant," I said mockingly. "You got what you have been trying to manipulate out of the Spectre for months. I am off the ship and you can make a straight run for her panties."

I sneered at Jane, feeling satisfied at her flinch. I almost felt like ending with the old 'I wish you good fortune in the wars to come', but honestly, I couldn't be bothered saying anything else. I just shook my head and left.

Jane called after me, but I ignored her, heading past the table without stopping. I could hear Jane berating Alenko as I started walking up the stairs but honestly, I no longer cared in that moment.

It took me all of two minutes to get out of the Normandy through the airlock, nodding goodbye to the few crew members that were stuck on duty instead of shore leave as I left. For the most part they had been a decent crew. Only a couple had Alenko's mentality, and they all enjoyed a good story.

Torrin was waiting for me near the aircar station as I left, but he wasn't alone. Wrex, Liara and Garrus were standing with him. Liara looked torn, while Wrex and Garrus just frowned at me.

"Brock!" Liara almost shouted as I approached. "Torrin just told us that you are leaving!"

I nodded. "Yeah," I confirmed. "Apparently, Alenko convinced Jane that I should be able to just call up the Council at a whim and order them around. Jane didn't disagree with him. I've had enough of it so I am getting off the Normandy now."

"You want us to come with you?" Wrex grunted. "No offence to her. Jane's a good fighter, but I like you more."

I grinned at that. Wrex was a good bro to have. "Thanks, Wrex," I replied. "But no. with Torrin and I getting off the Normandy, she is going to need the rest of you to help her finish the mission. I'll take care of things here in the meantime."

Liara threw her arms around me in a hug. "I'll… we'll all miss you," she said, tears glistening in the corner of her eyes.

I hugged her back tenderly. "I know," I said with a soft smile. "I'll miss you too. After all, who else is going to talk nerdy prothean stuff with you?"

Liara sniffled and hugged me tighter for a moment, before she collected herself and stepped back. Garrus moved forward to take her place, offering his hand as he did so.

"It's been great working with you," he said, clasping my arm as I presented it to him. "When we make it back to the Citadel, we'll have to compare geth kills. Settle the matter of guard versus CSEC once and for all."

I laughed and pulled him into a bro-hug. "Sure thing, my friend," I said easily. "I look forward to outnumbering you and Wrex combined."

"Ha!" Wrex barked cheerfully. "In your wildest dreams, Brock," he said, stepping forward and bumping my fist. "Make sure you don't let the politicians get you down."

I grinned. "Don't worry about that," I said easily. "I have a few cards to play still." I stepped back, moving towards the aircar and Torrin. "You should all head back to the Normandy," I said. "I imagine that you will be needed soon for your take-off to Ilos. Make sure you say goodbye to Tali for me, please."

"I will," Liara said, stepping forward one last time and giving me a tiny kiss on the cheek. It was little more than a peck, but Liara blushed a nice purple colour. "We'll see you both soon."

I nodded and headed into the aircar, Torrin already inside. With a final wave through the window, the aircar took off towards the Presidium, where I would be meeting up with Beau to coordinate the defence.

"How long?" Torrin asked into the silence of the aircar.

I looked at him. "Until what, exactly. There are a few options."

"Until you get the lockdown lifted," Torrin clarified. "I know you aren't going to let that rat Udina go free. It's not your style."

I smirked at him. "True." I tapped away at my omnitool for a moment, then waited until the person on the other end picked up.

"Brock Nielson!" the voice on the other end boomed. "I never thought you would make this call. Do you know what time it is here?"

"I do, Marcus," I replied. "You should be having lunch right about now, if I am not mistaken."

The voice grumbled for a moment. "Can't even catch you off guard with that old joke," he complained. "So, why did you call? Personal, or business?"

"Business, I'm afraid," I replied. "I need you to be the President of the Alliance for a few minutes."

It was a strange association that I had made. Marcus White, the President of the Human Systems Alliance. I had met at a business gala on Arcturus Station. I had struck a deal with the Alliance for some of the Orbital Defence Platforms I had for government use; the downscaled ones that were still four times more powerful than anyone else was making.

After that, we had talked at every Alliance function I was invited to on Arcturus and I had even decided to lend him money for his next campaign. It was substantial enough that he had given me his personal contact information and told me to call him if I ever needed him. After all, it paid to have good friends in high places. Though, neither of us were ignorant enough to think that this 'friendship' was anything more than a tool for either of us.

"Very well," Marcus, replied, his voice changing subtly. "How can I help you Mister Nielson?"

"I must admit, Mister President," I said, playing my part, "I am concerned on the conduct of the current Citadel Ambassador."

"Oh?" he asked, sounding intrigued. "What about him concerns you?"

"He is currently trying to exercise authority over a venture that I funded to assist a Council Spectre," I explained.

"I see," he murmured to himself, in a tone that made me picture him rubbing his chin. "And what exactly has he done?"

"He has ordered the lockdown of the frigate Normandy that was being used by humanity's only Spectre, in an attempt to curry favour with the Council," I said. "Which is truly misguided."

"Really?" he asked, sounding unimpressed. "I am aware that Udina was seeking favour from the Council, but the lockdown of an Alliance military vessel is news to me. Why did he do it?"

"To prevent Spectre Shepard from continuing her mission to capture the traitor Saren," I said. "But all the time-wasting babble aside, I need the Normandy to be released from its lock."

There was silence for a long moment. "You are asking me to go against the wishes of the Council," he stated, not asking a question. "This is no small favour you are requesting."

"I realise that," I replied. "But I can absolutely guarantee that if you do, you will not be castigated for it. In fact, once all the dust has settled, I imagine that the Alliance will be in a better position than ever."

Silence once again took place over the call as Marcus was considering my request. I don't know exactly what was going through his mind, but I could imagine that there was a lot more politics in this than I know about.

"If it were anyone else, or if you hadn't managed to get the Council to increase the Alliance military capacity, this conversation would have ended the moment you made the request," President White came back slowly. "This is a helluva position you are putting me in, but I won't deny I owe you. The Alliance owes you for all those slaves you've freed. Not to mention your information about those batarians on Terra Nova."

I smirked, even though he couldn't see it, knowing that I was going to get my way. "Would you feel better if I gave you an ultimatum?" I asked, knowing that it wouldn't work if I had tried.

"Ha," he grunted in amusement. "Then I would be obligated to deny you the request. We don't give in to terrorists, as you well know."

"Marcus," I said back flatly. "Remember who you are talking to. People in government give in to terrorists all the time and call it negotiations. In fact, I know for a fact that there are military personnel that are in contact with the recognised terrorist organisation Cerberus. Don't give me that empty threat or empty platitudes. I will only be insulted if you do."

"Hn," he grunted again. "I'm really wishing you were as gullible as the majority right now." He let out a sigh. "Fine. Give me an hour and I will call Udina and order him to get the lockdown ended. After that, we are square."

"Only until the Council grant the Alliance a seat for letting Spectre Shepard go on with her mission," I countered with a grin as I heard his sharp intake of breath. I dropped my grin and felt my expression turn serious. "By the way, if you want that Council seat then you are going to need to do something right away."

"What's that?" he asked quickly, and eagerly.

"Contact your Admiralty and have a Fleet or two ready to head to the Citadel," I replied. "The Council wouldn't listen, but I know that the traitor Saren's sponsors are about to get the geth there in a hurry. It seems like they have found a back door to the Relay network and have the ability to lockdown the Relays to the Widow System to block the turians from responding. You get your Fleets in place and do your part, and I can almost guarantee a Council seat when this is over."

"And if not?" the President asked, his tone was challenging. "What do we gain if we don't? There are a lot of things here that you are asking for without evidence. A smart politician would automatically side with the Citadel like Donnel has done."

I smiled, as he was asking for a price tag. That was at least not a rejection. "How about the first chance to clone the protheans back into existence?" I asked. It was a big thing to reveal, I know, but ultimately it didn't matter in the short term. The reason why cloning the protheans had never worked before was the lack of viable DNA that had survived to manage it. However, I know for a fact that Javik existed, and now that my teams on Ilos were now relocated to Eden Prime, it would only be a matter of time before he was dug up.

Not to mention that some of the bodies on Ilos were still in a form of stasis in their pods, even if they were dead. Pimue had confirmed that there were plenty of viable sources of prothean DNA to use for cloning. We could resurrect thousands of them, which would be enough to revive the species with sufficient levels of genetic diversity to prevent defects and mutations.

We could bring back the species. Not sure if we will though. They had a tendency to be jerks. Not that anyone else knew that.

Dead silence reigned supreme for nearly fifteen seconds. "You can guarantee this?" he almost whispered, as if speaking too loudly was going to risk the chance going away. Understandable. The protheans were nearly revered throughout the galaxy. If a race was able to resurrect them, that race would achieve nearly worshiped status.

If a private company were to do it, they would become the wealthiest company in the galaxy.

"I can," I confirmed. "But it is only guaranteed to go to you if the Alliance doesn't get a Council seat once the Saren business is sorted."

"Fine," he conceded eventually. "I will call Udina. The Normandy will be free to go in less than an hour. I will get the Fleets to move towards the Citadel direction Relays and be ready to assist. We can pass it off as a training exercise or a patrol or something. Once this is all over, we will either be the fourth Council race, or be known as the galactic saviours of the protheans. Either of those is a win. But you had better be sure about this. And you better be generous at my next fundraiser."

"Yes to all of the above," I replied, wincing a little at the thought of how much 'generous' constituted. "Anyway, we both have a great deal of work to do. I'm currently on the Citadel, waiting for Saren to make his move. Wish me luck."

"Right," Marcus replied, still sounding a little dazed. "Good luck."

With that I hung up the call, just in time for the aircar to make a landing near the Presidium at Kithoi Ward.

"You should be more careful," Torrin said, tapping at his omnitool. "You forgot to turn on the tech scrambler. I had to do it for you."

I winced and shot him a grateful smile. "Thanks," I said as we moved towards our Control Centre to get ready for Saren. "I guess I was more annoyed about the whole Shepard-Alenko thing than I thought."

He nodded and we entered our innocuous command centre. It was time to get ready for our biggest mission yet:

Making Shieldstar famous.

…

(Garrus POV)

The Normandy bridge was quiet. No one was wanting to say anything, but Garrus could tell that the atmosphere was unnecessarily oppressive.

No one was calling him out, but Lieutenant Alenko was currently being silently excluded by every alien on board the Normandy. Wrex, reliable krogan that he is, let Shepard know the moment they returned that if it wasn't for Brock, none of them would still be here. He had been the one to convince them to stay.

Still, both Tali and Liara were studiously both ignoring the human biotic and sending him glares, before looking away again. Wrex had gone back to the garage and was ignoring everyone again.

Shepard was standing stiffly, watching over Joker's shoulder as they waited for news to come of Shepard's call to Admiral Hackett of the Second Fleet. It felt like things were taking too long, with how tense everyone was. It was like time had slowed to a crawl.

Finally, the comm pinged, alerting them of an incoming message.

Shepard reached over and tapped it. "Spectre Shepard," she identified herself.

"I don't know how you did it, Shepard," Udina's voice growled out. "I hope you know that you are undoing a great deal of work with your obstinacy."

"And you are undoing all of my work with your pandering for the scraps of the Council's table," Shepard bit back.

"Watch your mouth, Shepard," Udina's voice went tight with the power of his reply. "I have no idea how you managed to get both Admiral Hackett and President White on your side. I hope you are happy with this small win, but rest assured, I will remember it."

Garrus blinked in shock at that. He may not know much about human politics, but he knew enough to know the name of the human president. He also knew that Jane hadn't called him for a favour.

His surprise was echoed by everyone else in the cockpit as they all understood the depth of what Udina said. Luckily, everyone was astute enough to not speak up while Udina was still on the comm.

Shepard recovered quickly enough. "If you've been given your orders, then just end the lockdown and we can go back to ignoring each other," she deflected.

"Fine," Udina growled. "I hope you are ready for the negative impact you've caused for the Alliance today, Shepard. Maybe when you see the fallout of this, you'll learn that I am not fighting against the Alliance. I act for all of humanity."

"I will graciously say that I think you believe that," she allowed. "By that token, I hope you will realise that I believe I do too."

He didn't reply before he closed the call, but the controls of the Normandy changed from red to blue, showing that the lockdown had ended.

"Get us out of here, Joker," she barked. Clearly she didn't want to give the Council the opportunity to stop them.

"Aye, sir," Joker said, his fingers already flying over the controls.

Silence rained in the cockpit for a moment. It was Liara that broke it in the end.

"You appealed to your president?" she asked.

Shepard shook her head. "No," she replied. "I only was able to get Anderson to call Admiral Hackett. Hackett was good enough to do it as a favour for the mission that we did on Luna Base."

It occurred to Garrus that there was only one real option. "Brock," he said. "Brock was the one that called him."

Liara and Tali both nodded. "I almost shudder to think what sort of favour Brock would have to pay to get your president to listen to him."

Shepard winced. "I imagine I will have to do some serious grovelling when we get back," she sighed, sounding depressed.

"There's no evidence that it was Nielson," Alenko, unwisely, objected.

"You should really stop talking," Tali said flatly. "You've already driven off two of our team with your stupidity today. My people owe too much to Mister Nielson to let you talk bad about him in front of me."

"Nor me," Liara said, the tiniest tinge of blue biotic energy wisping about her body.

Garrus knew he had to step in. "That's enough," he said, raising his hands. "We still have to get Saren on Ilos. He's the one that we need to focus on. Brock is doing what he can from where he is. He gave Shepard the talk she needed to get hold of the admiral and he talked to the president and promised who knows what in case it didn't work. Don't undo his work by fighting each other now."

The blue energy faded away and Liara left the cockpit, followed by Tali. Williams, who had been surprisingly quiet, followed them.

"Kaiden," Jane said tersely, "you need to get to the armoury to make sure our gear is ready. We have thirty-six hours to Ilos. Let's try stay out of each other's way until then, okay?"

Alenko nodded and walked off, his expression stubbornly showing no regret for his actions.

"You know, Shepard," Garrus said now that they were alone, except for Joker, "I don't know if you can fix this without choosing between Brock and the Lieutenant. And with him right here," Garrus tilted his head towards the departing soldier, "it looks like your choice has already been made. None of us think it was the right one."

Shepard's head lowered as she looked to the ground. Garrus could have said more, but there would be no point. One conversation and the crew's unity had been shot to whatever hell the human's believed in. As the Normandy flashed through the Relay on its first jump towards Ilos, Garrus headed back to check the Normandy's guns. After all, there were always calibrations to be done.

…

(Jurt POV)

"Alright, kids," Jurt rumbled as he guided the children through the Wards. "We need to keep moving now. We don't want to get held up."

It had been more than a day since Brock had come off the Spectre's ship and taken over the defences of the Citadel. He had made so many calls that Jurt was afraid that his friend's voice would go before the battle started. The human had been planning for this day for a long time now and was making sure that he wasn't restricted to the ground teams. Jurt had been impressed seeing it all happen. It was like something from the krogan wars of old, watching a commander completely plan out a battlefield.

Jurt's attention was drawn back to his charges. He watched as the entire group of children from the orphanage moved through the crowded streets of the Citadel, under Polisa's and his watchful eye. Brock had given the warning that Saren and his geth were coming and that the kids needed to be moved further away from the Presidium, as that is where they were likely to target. He also gave the activation warning for the entire security contingent to move to their planned emplacements to get ready for the invasion.

Jurt would be moving to join them as soon as the kids and Polisa were in their safehouse that had been prepared in the arm of the Kithoi Ward. Malaea and her mate would already be there, making sure that it was secure for their arrival. After all, it wouldn't be the first time that someone went to a safehouse on the Citadel, only to find that it had been taken over by pirates or squatters. There was no way that they wanted to bring the children into that sort of situation so it was decided that it would be taken care of.

Jurt felt a little surreal that they were walking through the calm crowds, knowing that violence and death were incoming and the population had no idea. He knew that it would be better to warn everyone, but getting people to believe them would be an issue. Especially the method that Saren was going to employ to get to the Citadel unchallenged.

After all, the Mass Relay monument had been on the Citadel since it was discovered by the asari and salarians. Coming out now and saying that it was actually an addition from the protheans that was a working Mass Relay with a connection to a planet that had been lost since the Rachni Wars… well, Jurt might not be the smartest person in the galaxy, but even he knew that was just begging for people to call them crazy.

In fact, if Jurt hadn't known Brock the entire time that they had known each other; if he hadn't seen the predictions of Brock coming true, or seen with his own eyes that the information Brock had somehow come across was solid, then he would likely have thought that Brock was insane. But Brock had proven himself time and again since Jurt had been on his crew and in his inner circle.

Even if Brock did indeed prove to be insane, he wasn't lying when he had promised to follow him to the ends of the galaxy for saving Polisa. For that one act alone, Jurt would never leave the human. Even if he had to protect him from himself.

Not that it was much of an issue now. Brock might be crazy, but he wasn't insane. Those were two different things in Jurt's book. Crazy meant fearless, willing to do something that hadn't been done before and to be without hesitation to run into battle and pull of the most bizarre, unexpected or outright stupid moves to complete an objective. Insane meant… well, insane in the head.

Maybe the two weren't as unrelated as he suspected.

He shook off those thoughts and ordered one of the human kids to get back into line. Not Brock's kid though. She was completely obedient. She knew that her dad was out there somewhere trying to protect everyone. She was a little afraid, after the whole problem with his liver, but she was certain that he would keep his promise and come back again.

Finally, they made it to the safehouse, a small office building about two thirds of the way down the arm. The kids visibly cheered up when they saw Malaea waiting for them with a smile on her face. The asari's own stomach was slightly protruding through her blouse as she was starting to show her pregnancy with her turian mate, Tissa. Most of the kids, especially the girls, were looking forward to meeting the new one when she was born.

It made just look forward to having his own someday soon. When Polisa was ready for it, that is.

Once the kids all headed inside, Polisa turned to him and threw her arms around his large frame, not getting too far past his sides due to his heavy armour.

"You watch yourself," she said, burying her face into his chest plate. "Make sure you come back to me."

Jurt tenderly wrapped his arms around her, as comforting as he could without hurting her by pulling her hard against his armour. "I will," he promised. "You make sure that you stay safe her. I don't want to lose you. Not again."

"Of course, my love," she agreed. She reached up and kissed him on the cheek. "Now go back and help Brock keep these geth in check," she mock-ordered. "I don't want any enemies to make it within half a kilometre of this place."

Jurt grunted in amusement and kissed her gently before making his way to the nearest aircar station. A few minutes later he was on his way back to the Presidium, where he would join Brock and the other defenders. It left him with a five-minute aircar drive, but he was happy taking a minute to centre himself, readying for a fight.

A flash of light ahead distracted Jurt and he looked ahead to the Presidium where the Mass Relay monument was visible, watching as the small Mass Relay started to glow, to the amazement of all of the people walking around who stopped and stared at the display. When it started spinning, quite a few people moved towards it, though many people started to get worried looks and began moving away from the Relay.

The aircar pulled to a stop a short distance away and Jurt leapt out, grabbing his Butcher off his back as he sprinted to the nearest base that was set up, overlooking the area.

Crowds backed away from his charging form, security guards shouted for him to stop running; he ignored them all. Brock had been right yet again. Saren was about to arrive. And as he slid into the base to see two ground teams' worth of people with weapons ready to go, the Mass Relay flashed…

Then hell broke loose, in the form of geth troops landing everywhere.

Jurt grunted, anticipation welling up in him as he saw the massive number of geth pouring through the Relay. He was going to be destroying as much of them as possible and he was going to do it with a smile on his face, and probably get a medal out of it.

Brock really did give him the best gifts.

…

A/N Please Review and Follow/Favourite as you please.

I am not going to lie, I am not entirely happy with how that chapter went. Shepard came across as a little bipolar to me even as I wrote it, rewrote parts of it and edited it. I tried to put in that she was emotionally shaken with everything that happened, which can make any normal person a bit unsettled and therefore more likely to go from one thing to the next before they settle their emotions. I am not sure if I pulled it off though, especially as I wrote it from MC POV. I am not sure if I succeeded, but let me know what you think. Either way, I think it is a good set up for the next chapter. Until next time!