Disclaimer: Chapter one.

Okay, the next chapter is the one that will be delayed depending on the update rate of Glass Coffin! Also, forgot to mention in the last A/N, but to "guest": I'm glad you like the characters. I think word you're going for is "kawaii", but I'm not sure.

It was a chaotic after that, because where the crew of the Normandy were confused, the mercs were in a panic. CAT6, now utterly leaderless, was split between fighting and just getting the fuck out of there. They were easy pickings for the crew, but Garrus couldn't really put his all into the fight. He tried to follow Shepard's heat signature, but the steps she left behind were rapidly cooling, and he knew he would never be able to catch up.

So, instead, he went to the console she was looking at.

"A complete map of the keeper tunnels?" Garrus stared at the layout. "What could she possibly need with this? It's not like she could even fit in most of the tunnels..."

Eliza ran in. "Garrus! What the hell is happening? First this part with the Archives happens way too quick, and then you go out ahead alone, and then clone disappears with a tactical cloak..." She gestured wildly. "How the hell is she an infiltrator? I'm an adept. That means that she's an adept, right?"

"We're not really going by the same rules, here, Eliza."

"Clearly. And she had renegade scars. You know, the ones only renegade Shepards have. But she's not supposed to have scars because clones are supposed to be new. Oh, and she killed Brooks! Why the hell did she kill Brooks? Isn't Brooks supposed to be the closest thing she has as a friend?"

"I don't know."

"You have to know something. I mean, why else would you come here alone?" Eliza crossed her arms. "Liara even told me you said you had C-Sec clearance, but I know very well that isn't true. And she knew about the loops and the endpoints. Is she... like you?"

Garrus sighed and looked away. "It'd be more accurate to say she's like you."

"This isn't the time for clone jokes."

"She's not a clone, Eliza. She's a Shepard."

"That's not possible." She waved as if to shut down the conversation like a vid. "Only one Shepard to a cycle. We've tested it over and over to see if we can fit more than one to a cycle, and we always split up. We Shepards might all join together at The End, but we can't communicate at all while out in the loops."

"Then what else do you think she could be?"

"A clone," she shot, "Maybe it's a clone that loops like you do? I don't know; I'm not a theoretical physicist."

"No, it's not a clone. She didn't have a clone when..." Garrus trailed off.

"'She'? Who is 'she'? Garrus, do you think you know this person?"

Garrus looked away.

"Oh god, you think she's your Shepard, don't you?"

"...I don't just 'think' that. I'm telling you, there was no clone in our cycle, Eliza."

"Just because she didn't attack in your cycle doesn't mean she wasn't there. Maybe she didn't wake up until a later loop." Eliza shook her head. "And even if she really is your Shepard, what does it matter? She just took you hostage and killed one of her most important assets; she's obviously gone insane. What good can come from you pursuing her any further? She'll only hurt you."

Garrus felt like he was supposed to agree. He was supposed to say "you're right", maybe embrace her briefly, then forget all about it. But while there was still even the slightest chance...

"I'm going to go take a walk around the Presidium if you don't mind. I need to clear my head."

She nodded. "Take all the time you need, Garrus." She leaned forward to kiss his mandible. It took all his willpower to keep from cringing as she did.

It had been a while since Garrus had come by Kithoi Point; he had hardly even been to this ward since leaving C-Sec, before the cycles started. He'd forgotten that it could actually be quite beautiful. He leaned over a railing and looked over, watching the people as they went from one place to another, interacting with each other and talking to one another.

"There you are. I should have known you would choose to meet somewhere where you could set up a nest."

He looked over at Doctor Chakwas and nodded. "Thank you for coming on such short notice."

"How could I not? Besides, I always hated sitting around on shore leave, doubly so when I discover the commander hasn't been inactive the whole time." She leaned beside him. "You said it was important?"

"I saw her again."

"Really? How?"

He explained the whole situation; the early break-in at the Archives, the "clone" and her behavior, her betrayal of Brooks and her strange disappearance. And Eliza's suggestion.

Chakwas absorbed all this, looking down at the people with a troubled look on her face. "I suppose I shouldn't be surprised. Our commander puts herself and everyone around her through hell. It was bound to catch up with her on the rebound."

"So you believe she's Shepard?"

"Garrus, there was no clone in our cycle."

"Right, but Eliza said-"

"Eliza may have a point, but it doesn't mean she knows any better. I, on the other hand, know very well. Our commander didn't have a clone because that auxiliary project didn't work; I saw the reports myself, and lord knows Miranda complained about it enough. How much do you know about unlocked cell regeneration, Garrus?"

"Only that it's necessary for medi-gel to work."

"It has more uses than medi-gel. When you're making a rapid-growth clone—whether for medical use or other reasons—you need to put their cell replication in an advanced unlocked state, one that allows the organs to form naturally and not stagnate at any phase of gestation, otherwise the clone would never get past the foetal stage, no matter how you try to accelerate their growth; at best, you'd just get a very large, unfinished human.

"We've had treatments that can overcome the gestation barriers for ages, but there is still a very small population of people—humans, anyway, I'm not aware of any literature showing this happening with other races—who for whatever reason disallows their cells to be fully unlocked to this capacity. They seem to have a hard-set for the numbers in the rungs of their DNA that do not respond to the treatment. In other words, the only way they can age is naturally."

"Our Shepard was one of these humans?"

"Yes. It's so rare that something like this should come up that Project Lazarus was flabbergasted when they came across it, and poured a lot of money trying to fix a problem that they didn't realize they didn't have the time to tackle. They only succeeded in creating a large mass of unborn human flesh that couldn't survive outside a tank. Miranda was forced to abort the project and harvest it for stem cells; the one bright side to the effort, since they were having difficulty rebuilding Shepard and the additional stem cells helped immensely."

"So she's both Shepard... and her clone?"

"I..." Chakwas stopped to consider this. "I suppose that's a way to think about it. Do you think..."

"I don't know, but I have to go find her. I have to see her, again."

"Then, I'll come with you."

"You don't understand. I'm leaving the Normandy to find her."

"And I said I'm coming with you. I can give my resignation to Eliza and recommend she bring Doctor Michel on board in my absence. She might ask questions, but I doubt she'll complain if I insist."

"Still... do you think it's a good idea? I told you Shepard wasn't acting diplomatically."

"You forget, Vakarian, I've known the commander longer than you have; I served with her before the cycles. I might not know what has happened to her during these loops, but I know how to approach the woman."

"Hmm, you may have a point. Besides, Victus said that she was trying to avoid me, specifically. She may be much more open to speaking with you."

Chakwas sighed and pulled herself up. "I'll go back now to see Eliza. Will you be coming?"

"I already sent her a message." At that, the doctor started laughing, and he scowled. "What?"

"You broke up with your girlfriend via text? Honestly."

"Okay, I'm a coward. I'm not afraid of death anymore, so the least I could be afraid of is a woman scorned."

"I suspect you're more afraid she'll change your mind."

"No, but I do worry that she would try."

By the time Garrus saw Chakwas again, he had to shut off the notifications from his omni-tool. Eliza had been messaging him and pinging him constantly, demanding an explanation, and surely wanting to talk him out of his foolish quest, but he couldn't hear it. Not now. Besides, he already felt like an ass, and he didn't need more confirmation of it by hearing her accusations.

Chakwas had a bundle wrapped in paper below her arm. He gave her a look, silently questioning.

"Peace offering," she said with a shrug. "Now, do you have any idea where Shepard is?"

He pulled up a holo-map. "The information Shepard was looking at before she disappeared in the Archives was a detailed map of the keeper tunnels. Very difficult information to obtain, since you know that it's illegal to tamper with the keeper's work. She was having difficulty memorizing as I recall, and she was zoomed in on a specific area; where the ring connects with one of the wards.

"This ward in particular was Tayseri, which had taken heavy damage during the attack on the Citadel by Sovereign. A lot of area in it is still not fully functional, and there's a good bet that the keeper tunnels have been extended to facilitate their work. I say we find the most damage there and work inward."

The doctor nodded. "Very good. And how long has it been since you've been in C-Sec?"

"Hey, I start every loop in C-Sec, you know. Never stay long, of course."

Since it was late in the third leg of the cycle, Tayseri was in better condition than was typical. It took a little work, but they were able to find an area that was significantly damaged enough that they could squeeze themselves into where the keepers milled to-and-fro through. Garrus did take front at first, but as the passages got more and more narrow, Chakwas put the "gift" into a pack and pried herself past him and went out ahead.

Some time in, just when Garrus was considering removing his armor just to afford some extra mobility, she turned off her flashlight from her omni-tool. "I think I see something ahead," she whispered.

She approached slowly. Garrus stayed behind, since his hardsuit was creaking against the hard surfaces, anyway. He watched her go forward until she had pulled herself into a divot in the tunnel. A low orange light lit up her features and she smiled at what was in the divot. "Hello, Shepard."

The person in the divot was startled, and Garrus could see boots scrambling for purchase at the very lip of the wall. "What the hell... Doctor Chakwas?"

Chakwas laughed. "It's been a long time since I startled you. Last time I recall was when I had blocked your exit from the showers so I could examine a wound you didn't want me to look at. How long ago that was."

"What the hell are you doing here!" Shepard, still invisible to him for the wall, hissed.

"Vakarian and I came to find you. People from the same cycle should stick together, right?"

Shepard cursed and seemed to have been shifting some equipment around. "Damnit, I... I'm busy. Do you think I'm hiding in here for fun?"

"Honestly, Commander, I have no idea what your motivations are, but I'm sure we're not going to distract you overly much."

She sighed, and poked her head out to look down the tunnels, seeing Garrus where he was crouched. A set of goggles were on her head, meant usually for a wheeled drone if he wasn't mistaken. She was likely sending it further into the tunnels to scout ahead with it when Chakwas had startled her.

"Why are you here?" Her voice was exasperated. "Why aren't you with your Shepard?"

"I'm trying to be with my Shepard," he replied.

She growled in frustration and hit something that he couldn't see from where he was.

"You can't be with me, don't you understand? If you can be happy with someone else, then you should pursue that."

"Too late. Already broke up with her."

She scowled at him and pulled her head back away where he couldn't watch. "I'm working, so if you'll excuse me..."

"What are you working on?" Chakwas offered. "Perhaps we could help."

"If you must know, I'm trying to find the Catalyst. I'm sure I got pretty close to it by following duct-work before, but I can't get close enough to do anything with it. I need to find another way in before the Reapers take the Citadel."

Garrus blinked. "The Catalyst? You mean... you're still working on the mission? But..."

"Garrus, I've been doing this for a long time, and I've learned a lot. The Catalyst isn't just some Reaper AI. Hell, don't you think it's a little weird that so many different advanced races before us had put all their hope to pivot upon a Reaper AI's whims and abilities? Everything screwed up along the way, and the collapse of the universes, I'm sure, was caused by the Catalyst."

"Then we'll help you," Garrus answered easily.

She laughed bitterly; it sounded broken, more like a sob. "To what end? This loop is almost over, and when it ends, you'll be back in C-Sec and I'll be waking up from a coma in a completely different cycle from you. I'll stay alone, thank you. Go back to your biotic. She was the friendly-type, so I'm sure she'll welcome you with open arms."

He scraped himself further in slowly, trying his best not to snag along any of the jutting material in the tunnel, and brought himself next to the doctor to finally look at her completely. Shepard had curled a leg up between herself and loosely wrapped an arm around it, trying to look nonchalant and have a barrier between them at the same time. She was looking away, and everything about her features said I'm dead I'm dead I'm dead but were quivering with the fear of life in them, again.

Victus was right. The cycles had not been kind to her. Squeezing past Chakwas in the cramped space, he reached out a gloved hand and took hers where it hung listlessly against her leg. She kept her eyes away, and her fingers twitched in his grasp, as if unsure what they needed to do.

"The only thing that made living these loops bearable was knowing you were out there somewhere," he echoed her words to him from years ago, "And right here, right now, is exactly where I want to be."

Her red eyes closed, and her fingers tightened around his.