Wait, what? "After" is being updated? This can't be right… Did I make a deal with the devil or something? Is it the end of the world? Haha, anyway, joking aside, this is for real! I've finally written the conclusion to the Illusive Man saga. There are several reasons I have not updated in so long, although most of them are the usual lack of time and other things vying for my attention. If we're being completely honest, the reason I'm finally updating is not some divine intervention or stroke of inspiration, but rather the mundane fact that I'm on vacation. I'm not kidding. I finally just have the time to sit down and write. There were also more practical problems, like writing myself into a corner (oops), but once I had time to work through the problems I managed to finally piece this chapter together. This chapter has been written in fragments for a long time, but it was really over the last few days that I finally managed to tie it all together and get it done. You know, the final confrontation with the Illusive Man is probably like a metaphor or something.

But in addition to having time to write, the biggest reason this chapter is actually happening is because of you guys. I love this story and these characters with all my heart, but let's be honest, I know how it ends (more or less). I could stop writing and the story would still be with me, in the back of my head. But I didn't want to stop writing this story because I know many of you love these characters almost as much as I do. Your comments make me laugh, they make me smile, and so I couldn't just leave the story hanging. So, yeah, as cheesy as it sounds, you guys kept this story alive. I just couldn't bear to leave it as it was.

Anyway, the obvious question now: what's next? I've taken my vacation time to work on some other things too, including a hopeful update to the "Lost Weeks" at some point. I know what I would like the next chapter of "After" to be: Benny's krogan rite of passage. Then I would ideally try to wrap it all up in some way. Two years between chapters is… uh… well, impressive to say the least. And then, wrap up "The Lost Weeks" as well. Ironically (or not that much if you've been paying attention to what a heartless monster I am) the ending of "The Lost Weeks" is already written. It's just the in-between that has to be figured out. Anyway, that's about as far ahead as I've thought at this point. Only time and (hopefully) motivation will tell what happens next.

So, I'm going to do something I've never done before, but in light of how long this story has lain dormant (coughtwoyearscough), I think it's only fair. I'm going to summarize the Illusive Man saga so far for anyone who doesn't feel like rereading the last four chapters but needs a refresher. For anyone who doesn't need the summary, go ahead and skip down to the story. For everyone else: here we go.

Because of the way that "Never Again" ended, it turns out that our good buddy, the Illusive Man, was alive and well this whole time. While Cerberus was rendered effectively defunct, the Illusive Man has been plotting his revenge against Shepard slowly over the last decade. He kidnapped Miranda, the human councilor, and is holding her prisoner. He then told Shepard that he wanted a ransom from the Alliance, but he also wanted the Normandy and EDI back. He instructed her to make the exchange with him on a remote planet. However, as our heroes discovered, this planet is a turian colony. Liara managed to convince Shepard that she should be included on the mission, given her ties to the Shadow Broker. At Liara's suggestion, the crew stops on Omega and convinces Aria T'loak to use her resources to pick up any transmissions that could be linked to the Illusive Man. When the crew arrives at the turian colony, the turians fire on the Normandy. Shocked, the crew lands and Shepard's forces immediately subdue the turians. However, the turians are just as confused as Shepard, and they insist that they didn't attack her. When they meet the young turian who was in control of the AA guns, he says that he fired on some pirates. Then, after hearing Shepard's voice, he attacks the commander, managing to slash her across the face. After investigating these strange events, the crew learns that the young turian is indoctrinated. Shepard realizes that the Illusive Man plans to indoctrinate Miranda and use her as the human councilor to further his agenda. Finally, because Aria T'loak was on the lookout for odd transmissions, she forwarded a distress call that Miranda managed to send on an open channel. Using that transmission, the team figure out that the Illusive Man's base is in the Sowilo System and they head there to confront him.

Meanwhile, Benny has been on a class field trip to the Citadel with Grandma Aethyta serving as a chaperone. At Shepard's request, James Vega happened to bump into Benny's group and joins them at the museum (although his real purpose is to serve as an additional bodyguard if the Illusive Man breaks his promise not to come after Benny). At the museum, Benny happens to stumble upon an exhibit devoted to the Battle of Elysium and overhears a mother and son discussing Commander Shepard. This leads Benny down a path of discovering that her parents are much more famous than she previously thought. Prior to this, Benny only knew that her parents served during the Reaper War, but was not aware of how special their involvement was. Benny feels betrayed and doesn't understand why her parents hid this information from her. She also realizes that they are not going to a simple ceremony for a memorial, like they led her to believe, but that they are actually on a dangerous mission.

And here we are, the conclusion of the Illusive Man saga!

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An End and a Beginning

Shepard sat in the mess hall, alone and nursing a cup of coffee while looking at a datapad on the table. The Normandy sped towards the Sowilo System and towards her final confrontation with the Illusive Man. In the office nearby, Liara pieced together scraps of information to pinpoint the location of the Cerberus base. The former Shadow Broker was more than capable of accomplishing the task, and the commander knew that she'd only be in the way, so she left it all in Liara's hands. Besides, she needed the time to think. To sort through the Illusive Man's schemes and figure out how to beat him.

When she'd actually sat down and thought it all through, his endgame had become apparent to her. What he wanted was Commander Shepard. If his plan succeeded, it would appear to everyone else that he had lost. Shepard would return triumphant, with Miranda unharmed, and they would both resume their positions without a hitch. But somewhere down the line Miranda's politics would become startlingly more aggressive. Her mantra would be Earth-first and aliens be damned. As for Shepard, her change would probably be more subtle. She'd take on more human interests, undermine other societies from time to time. Nothing outright that she could be called on, but the bias would be there. And then, maybe someday, when humans sat on the cusp of dominance, both she and Miranda would make their pro-human allegiances known and the Illusive Man would win in the end.

That was his game. Stealth and subterfuge all the way. Like it had always been. He didn't want to kill Shepard; he wanted to control her. The entire goal had been to lead Shepard right to him. She suspected that Miranda had forced the commander's arrival a bit sooner than the Illusive Man wanted, but Shepard didn't dare to hope that he was unprepared. His only goal would be to indoctrinate Shepard. If he did that, then he won. With her under his control, he could fake his own death again, fade into the shadows, and then pull the strings of the galaxy's biggest players. So, in the end, all she had to do was find a way to prevent indoctrination. What could be simpler?

Shepard sighed and took a sip of coffee. Her life would have been a hell of a lot easier if she had ever fully figured out how indoctrination worked. Unfortunately, no one was in a position to study it. Anyone who tried ended up indoctrinated themselves. Her thoughts wandered back to the brain scan that Dr. Gunasekera had handed to her earlier. It was still hard to imagine that those 'hooks' were in her brain somewhere, a reminder that she had once been indoctrinated. He'd said that the presence of the hooks was a mystery to him; he was unsure whether the commander was now immune to further indoctrination or more susceptible to it. While the possibility of Shepard being immune to indoctrination would definitely be a relief, she wasn't in a position to test it out. She couldn't afford to take that sort of risk.

Picking up the datapad and examining it again, she saw the reason that she couldn't take such a risk. Displayed on the pad was a picture of Benny and Liara. Benny, only seven years old, wore Liara's lab coat which was far too big for her little body. One hand rubbed her chin as she did her best to look pensive and intellectual. Liara stood beside her, dressed identically and trying to mimic Benny's pose but also struggling not to laugh. The backdrop was Liara's lab at the university on a 'bring your child to work day.' Looking at that picture, Shepard knew that she couldn't afford risks. If the Illusive Man indoctrinated her, would her sudden pro-human agenda make her turn on Benny? On Liara? Would he make them hurt them because they weren't human? Shepard shook her head, disgusted and terrified by the thought. Both she and Liara had to make it back to their daughter in the same condition in which they left.

As Shepard sat contemplating her options, her drell assistant, Lasha, entered the mess hall and sat down at the table. She looked agitated, which was a surprise because for as long as Shepard had known the young woman, she'd been the picture of calm capability. She looked at the commander in that way that shouted "I need some guidance and reassurance." It was a look that Shepard had seen countless times over her many years of service. Although now it seemed like she got it even more now that she was a mother.

So, the commander set down the datapad and asked, "Is everything alright, Lasha?"

"Yes, Commander," the young officer replied quickly, but the frown on her face said otherwise. She shifted uneasily in her seat, wringing her hands on the table, and then amended, "It's just that... I thought it would be a good idea to read the old files on Cerberus so that I would know exactly what we are up against and..." She sighed and paused, trying to gather her thoughts. "I'm worried, Commander."

"About Cerberus?"

"Yes," Lasha admitted, "but mostly about indoctrination. What happens if one of us gets indoctrinated? What if I get indoctrinated? There's no cure, right? And the councilor? What will we do about her?"

Shepard suspected that Lasha was in no place to hear the cold, hard truth that she had previously shared with Liara; that if it came down to it, Shepard would do what needed to be done. So, instead she said, "I'll think of a way to prevent it. I've still got about..." she looked at her omni-tool, "about an hour to figure something out. I've worked miracles with less time before." She tried to make her tone light and humorous in order to reassure the drell, but Lasha looked unconvinced.

"What is it like?" Lasha asked quietly. "Does it hurt? Are you aware if you're indoctrinated?"

It was no secret that Shepard was the only person to ever break free from indoctrination. Well, break free and live to tell about it at least. She'd also probably seen more cases of indoctrination than anyone else. Interacted with more people who were enslaved by it. She was the closest thing to an expert on the subject, and even she knew painfully little about it.

"No, it doesn't hurt," Shepard answered. "At first, you don't feel any different. You have no idea that you're being controlled. I guess it's like being insane. You have no idea that you are hurting other people." She paused, drumming her fingers on the table and frowning. "But you might realize at some point that you're indoctrinated. The problem is, it won't do any good. It's like being stuck in a dream that you just can't wake up from. Realizing that what you see isn't real isn't enough to make you wake up. And every time you challenge the false reality, it feels like your head is being split open by an axe. Other victims have described nonstop whispering in their ears, telling them what to do. I guess after a while you will just stop fighting. Just to make the pain stop. You'll accept the new reality because it's easier. Your psyche will break and you'll just embrace being controlled." Shepard shrugged. "At least, that's how I think it happens. Luckily, I never got that far."

Lasha looked scared out of her wits. So much for putting her at ease, Shepard thought. She'd forgotten that the young drell had never witnessed indoctrination first hand. She was too young to have served during the Reaper War, and her family had managed to avoid most of the worst along with the majority of Citadel refuges. All this must seem like a nightmare from a time she thought was gone.

"How can you tell if someone is indoctrinated?" Lasha asked. "If somehow you were indoctrinated again... how would we know?"

Shepard took a little time before answering, choosing her words carefully. "It'd be hard to tell," she admitted. "Probably impossible. But if I come back to this ship and the Illusive Man isn't dead, then you'll know. Demand to see his body. If that man isn't dead, then I'm gone for sure."

"So, you're going to kill him then? Even if he surrenders?"

Shepard grimaced. "If that man surrenders, I'll shoot him without a second thought. He would never surrender unless he had some sort of plan. There is no way that this ends without bloodshed, Lasha. Either he dies or I do. There are no alternatives. If you don't ever see his corpse, then I cannot be trusted."

Lasha gripped the edge of the table, as if it were the only thing keeping her from collapsing to the floor. "You want us to kill you?" she asked, horrified. "I can't do that, Commander. I know that I can't."

Reaching out, Shepard laid a hand over the drell's reassuringly. "It won't be your job," she told her. "That responsibility belongs to someone else."

There was only one person she could ask to do such a thing, and he had already been informed of the possibility. It was an impossible burden to place on someone - a burden she could not even ask of the woman she loved. In fact, she especially could not ask such a thing of Liara. She knew that if the roles were reversed, she could never pull the trigger on Liara. It had to be someone who would never betray her trust, but also willing to bear such a weight in the name of honor and the greater good. Even if it tore him apart inside. It had to be Garrus.

Both she and the young officer were silent for a while, the heaviness of Shepard's words blocking out everything else. Then, after Shepard had leaned back in her seat and taken another sip of coffee, Lasha asked, "Commander, if the Reapers were the ones that used indoctrination, then how did Cerberus learn how to do it?"

"That's a good question," Shepard replied. She'd never really thought about it before. Back during the war, even after she'd discovered that Cerberus was experimenting with indoctrination, she'd been far too pre-occupied with other things to waste time investigating Cerberus's past actions. Then when she thought that Cerberus was destroyed it hadn't seemed to matter. "I don't fully know the answer. I suspect they worked on it for a long time. Maybe before they even started the Lazarus Project. In the later stages they had husk test subjects to work on, but before that I suppose it was mostly theory. Though I do remember that they had close ties to Exo-geni, and Exo-geni was involved with the tests on the Thorian..."

Shepard trailed off. The Thorian had possessed mind controlling capabilities almost identical to indoctrination. Its victims were infected via spores, which would be a much simpler means of controlling biological subjects. In fact, given the risks and complexities involved in studying Reaper indoctrination, it would have been easier to focus on the Thorian method. She also knew, from her initial encounters with Cerberus during the hunt for Saren, that Cerberus had been experimenting with Thorian creepers. Most likely, the Illusive Man's technique had more in common with the Thorian than the Reapers.

It was like being slapped across the face with a textbook holding all the answers. If the Thorian was the root of indoctrination, then Shepard knew a lot more about how to combat Cerberus. Not only did she know that it was possible to break free from Thorian control, but it was also possible to purge the spores from the biological system. All the colonists on Feros had regained control of themselves once the Thorian was killed. They'd also undergone medical treatment to prevent any further side-effects. That meant that if they did manage to rescue Miranda, then she could most likely be cured.

Furthermore, it meant that the Illusive Man had to use biological means to infect someone. He would probably pump the station full of spores, but if they were careful they could neutralize that threat. He would also probably want to get her close, try to inject her with something via syringe. The more she thought about it, the more the pieces fell into place. She knew that the Cerberus soldiers had been implanted and that had led to their indoctrination. She knew that the Illusive Man himself had undergone some sort of procedure to enhance himself and give him more control. She was wrong to assume that the Illusive Man had the same power as the Reapers. They had been able to transmit their signal straight into a person's brain, but he couldn't. In the end, all he did was copy the Reapers; and his copy was not quite as potent as the original.

Shepard jumped to her feet, causing the chair she'd been sitting in to crash backwards onto the floor. "I know what to do," she said, her thoughts already forming into a concrete plan of action. "Thanks, Lasha. This was a good talk."

The young officer just blinked in surprise as the commander ran from the table towards Liara's office. Then Lasha found herself sitting alone at the table, still confused, and said quietly, "Um... you're welcome?"

~.~.~.~.~

"There's our old friend," Joker said, pointing to the display screen in front of him in the cockpit. The signal of a large space station had blinked to life on the edge of their radar just moments before. "Right where Liara said he'd be."

"Nice going, T'soni," Garrus said, slapping the asari on the back.

Liara stumbled slightly at the hit, but quickly righted herself. "Oh, it was just a simple matter of triangulating the correct set of data. If Aria T'loak had not narrowed the field of search for us, it would have been impossible."

On Shepard's orders, instead of her usual light armor, Liara wore a heavier set of human armor. She also carried a full breathing helmet under one arm, the same as the ones that the commander and Garrus held. Given the probability of spores on the space station, Shepard intended to take every precaution necessary to protect her squad mates. Although Liara's light armor allowed her more freedom of movement and was useful for biotics, it was also more prone to puncture and therefore a liability. Shepard intended for her entire team to be completely protected from the outside environment once aboard the enemy ship.

Shepard stood with one hand on the back of Joker's chair and the other holding her own helmet. She watched in silence as the Normandy closed the distance towards the Cerberus base.

"We're within intercept range, Commander," EDI said, "but the enemy is nonresponsive. They show no signs of attacking."

Just as she'd predicted. The Illusive Man was more than happy to let her board now that she was already here.

"I'm going to prep my team, Joker. Radio down to the hanger when we're five minutes out."

"Aye, aye, Commander," he answered. Shepard motioned for Liara, Garrus, and EDI to follow her down to the hanger. As the four headed for the elevator Joker turned and called out, "And Commander, put one right between that bastard's eyes for me!"

~.~.~.~.~

"Blasting the doors now," came the quick voice over the radio. Shepard stood in the doorway of the shuttle, gripping a handle to keep herself from floating out the open side door. The visor of her helmet greatly reduced her peripheral vision, so her sole focus rested on the salarian marine carefully gliding out of range of the airlock and the explosives attached to it. The shuttle hovered a decent distance away from the doors and the base in order to be clear of any debris that might eject from the base when Kavis blasted a hole in it.

She watched the salarian press himself against the Cerberus base, activate his omni-tool, and detonate the explosives. Being in space, the explosion made no noise, no fiery plume of smoke. Simply a bright flash, and then suddenly objects erupted out of the new hole in the side of the base, cascading off into the void. As the pressure inside equalized with the nothingness of space, the shuttle hovered into position, closing the distance and lining up with the new entrance. Shepard turned to the marines inside the shuttle and motioned for the first to make the jump. One by one, they jumped from the shuttle to the base ship, floating smoothly through the emptiness and stopping themselves once they were inside.

Shepard was taking no chances. All the marines had clear instructions to treat this mission as if it involved biological weapons, hence the reason for the space jump. Decontaminating a handful of marines would be a hassle. Decontaminating an entire shuttle would be a nightmare. Better to isolate contact with the infected base ship as much as possible. That meant helmets on at all times, falling back immediately if a soldier suffered a suit puncture, and a full decontamination before reboarding the Normandy.

The marines had only just boarded the base when the emergency airlock doors activated and sealed the hole blown into the side of the ship. Shepard felt the sudden tug of gravity pull her to the floor as the room stabilized itself and circumvented the harm of the breach. She'd expected as much, however, knowing that the Illusive Man would not just let her prance through the ship venting all the rooms one by one. Pointing to the locked hatch on the far side of the room, Shepard shouted, "EDI, get that door open now!" Then she commanded the rest of the marines to form up on her, creating a tight squadron in which to proceed through the base.

EDI made quick work of the doors, opening them within seconds. Shepard and her team proceeded with caution, navigating through the corridors of the base. The resistance along the way was minimal at best. More for show than an actual attempt to halt her advance. Part of her did feel guilty about eliminating Cerberus soldiers who were no doubt indoctrinated and not acting under their own free will. Still, there was no telling how long they had been under the Illusive Man's control and their minds were probably long gone anyway. She doubted they could have been saved.

EDI had no problem hacking into the base's systems and locating the command center. She confirmed that there was a large concentration of people in that area, and that the communications of the enemy appeared to be issued from that room. They proceeded carefully, sure that the Illusive Man was waiting for them. Then, as they turned a corner, an unexpected sight greeted them.

Miranda ran towards them, chased by two guards and nearly slammed into Shepard. She wore a tattered and torn dress, and a wound on her forehead formed a trail of dried blood from her temple to her jawline. "Shepard!" she exclaimed, visibly relieved.

Shepard's troops easily dispatched Miranda's pursuers. The human councilor gripped the commander's arms like a drowning woman gripping a life raft. "You came," Miranda breathed. "We have to get out of here. The Illusive Man wanted to perform some sort of experiment on me."

Miranda looked the same as she always did, minus her disheveled appearance. She was older, of course, than during the Reaper War, but unsurprisingly she had been aging gracefully. It was hard to imagine that she might be playing Shepard, already working for the Illusive Man against her will. "We'll get you out of here," Shepard promised. She glanced at Liara over Miranda's shoulder. "But right now I can't really trust you."

Miranda's eyebrows came together in confusion, her lips pursed into a question, at the same time that Liara pressed a small instrument against the human's neck. There was a click and then Miranda's eyes rolled up into the back of her head and she collapsed. Shepard caught her before she hit the floor and two soldiers rushed over to take Miranda's limp form from the commander.

"Wow," Liara said, clearly impressed. "I am surprised that Shiala's research is still so effective. I would have thought that the variations that the Illusive Man made to the Thorian spores would have at least made the neutralizer less effective."

"He probably spent more time figuring out how to exert control over the subjects than actually changing anything," Shepard said bitterly.

Shepard had no doubt that running into Miranda was a set up. A contrived escape that the Illusive Man hoped Shepard wouldn't scrutinize too thoroughly. However, now that she was onto his game, she'd had Liara use the Shadow Broker's resources to peak into Shiala's old files on the Thorian. They were more than a decade old at this point. As far as Shepard knew, Shiala worked for the asari government, but before that she had vowed to cure the colonists of Feros from Thorian control as thanks for Shepard sparing her life. She'd compiled an impressive amount of research on the spores, their effects, and effective means of neutralizing them. While the actual cure for the spores was beyond their capability aboard the Normandy, they had the supplies necessary to create a neutralizing serum.

Unfortunately, they didn't have time to take Miranda back to the ship, especially when she was potentially hostile, so Shepard had decided their safest course of action would be to incapacitate the human councilor and take her with them. One of the soldiers placed Miranda into a fireman's carry and fell a little bit back from the group, out of the line of fire. The rest of the group proceeded on, finally reaching the command center of the station.

The Illusive Man was waiting for them.

He must have been smiling before they entered because Shepard saw his eyes sweep across her small army, taking in their environmentally sealed suits of armor, and his expression immediately fell. Deep lines appeared in his forehead and a conflagration burned in his eyes. "You," he seethed, staring angrily at Shepard. "What have you done?"

She smirked back. "That's no way to greet your guests."

On either side of him stood a total of twenty heavily armed Cerberus thugs. They stood motionless yet tightly coiled, like attack dogs waiting for their master's command. They had the high ground, standing at the opposite end of a large chamber on a raised platform. Shepard's forces slowly fanned out on either side of her. They were outnumbered, but not by much.

"You've ruined everything!" he spat. Shepard could hear the frustration in his voice. She knew that she'd finally broken him. He had gambled everything on catching her unaware. Now he was a man with nothing left to lose, which was a different kind of dangerous.

"You could have given up," she told him. "You could have just let it all go. But you started this. Now I'm going to finish it."

He just snarled at her. "Kill them," he ordered.

His soldiers opened fire and Liara threw up a barrier around both herself and Shepard. Shepard's troops were prepared for the firefight and soon the whole room erupted into a cacophony of weapons firing. Shepard and Liara ducked behind some cover and helped take out Cerberus soldiers. However, as Shepard scanned the enemy line she saw the Illusive Man turn his back and exit through a door at the far end of the room, behind all his troops. Shepard cursed under her breath. Knowing him, he had an escape pod ready and he would run away yet again. Shepard couldn't let that happen. A desperate Illusive Man on the run would act recklessly. He'd target those closest to Shepard. He'd target Benny first.

"Garrus!" she called over the din. "I need to get to that door behind them!" She caught his eye and motioned towards the mass of enemy soldiers.

He just nodded and said, "I've got you covered, Shepard."

The commander vaulted over the cover and ran straight towards the Cerberus thugs. A few turned towards her, ready to fire at her, but the second they turned a fountain of blood spurted from their foreheads, courtesy of Garrus. Shepard shoved several more aside with her biotics, eyes fixed on the door. In the chaos she managed to reach the door and follow after the Illusive Man. Her soldiers would keep the rest of Cerberus busy while she hunted him down. She found herself in a small room with another door at the opposite end. She raced towards the door, opening it to reveal what look like a med bay.

She stepped into the room and then immediately felt something hit her right side with the force of a bomb. The hit lifted her off her feet and she flew through the air until she slammed into the far wall, sliding down into a crumpled heap. Even as her head spun from the impact, she raised her eyes in time to see a krogan barreling down on her. She had just enough time to register that somehow the Illusive Man had captured a krogan and indoctrinated him before her attacker grabbed her by the throat and lifted her off the ground like a toy. She reached up, clawing at his huge fingers, trying to pry them from her throat and kicking wildly. But she might as well have been a child to him. The krogan didn't say anything as he slammed her face down into the floor.

For a brief moment she lay pinned to the ground with the krogan's hand still gripping the back of her head. She couldn't move her body, even if he wasn't already holding her down, because everything hurt. Her head, especially, ached and her vision struggled to turn double images into just a single one again. Then her eyes settled on a crack that had formed in her visor; it looked like a splinter that had lodged itself into the glass. Her helmet was designed to take an immense amount of force without breaking, but she was sure the designers had not anticipated having one's face repeatedly slammed against the floor by a krogan.

Her attacker crouched down, pinning her down with his knee while he lifted her head by the back of the neck. Then he slammed her helmet-first into the floor again. The crack lengthened at the impact. He was going to break her visor and make her breath in the spores on the ship, she realized suddenly. Shepard knew that she had to fight back but she didn't have the strength to throw him off. And with her head being repeatedly slammed into the floor she couldn't form the concentration to use her biotics.

Then she heard his voice – nearby and in the same room. "You're mine now, Shepard," the Illusive Man hissed triumphantly. The krogan lifted her head and slammed it into the ground again. The crack in the visor lengthened, running the entire length and branching in multiple directions. Shepard knew it would shatter soon. "Not only will you serve me," the Illusive Man said. "But I will make you hurt the ones you love. You will suffer for what you've done to me."

She struggled against the krogan's weight, but it simply exerted more pressure onto her back, crushing the air from her lungs. She desperately tried to summon her biotics to help throw him off, but she couldn't find that place in her mind. She couldn't find that blue fire within herself. The krogan lifted her head again and Shepard braced herself for another impact, ready to hold her breath when the glass shattered. And then suddenly she felt the weight pressing into her back and the grip on her neck just ripped away. Her head fell back down to the floor, but this time only gravity was pulling her down and she extended her arms in time to catch herself.

Then she heard a voice. Familiar – an angel's voice. "Get your hands off my wife!" That was followed by two loud gun shots.

Shepard rolled onto her side and saw that Liara had thrown the krogan across the room with her biotics, slamming him into the far wall. She'd also smashed him right into the Illusive Man, who lay crushed beneath the behemoth's bulk. Shepard couldn't tell if he was alive or dead. The krogan, however, had two holes in his face from a heavy pistol. He was definitely dead.

She felt hands wrap themselves around her as Liara knelt down beside her, helping her to sit up slightly. Shepard looked up at Liara's anxious face through the cracked glass of her visor and grinned. Every inch of her body hurt, but she was alive and her visor was still intact. "You were right, Liara. I definitely needed to bring you on this mission."

Liara couldn't help smiling in return and saying, "We've been married long enough that you should know by now that I'm always right, Shepard."

She helped the commander to her feet, helping support some of her weight. Shepard's side hurt immensely and she suspected that she might have a cracked rib, but nothing felt broken. A splitting headache signaled a possible concussion, but Shepard knew that she was lucky. Most people didn't walk away from a hand to hand fight with a krogan.

Liara used her biotics to move the krogan's body and then pulled the Illusive Man towards them. At first Shepard was sure that he was dead, but when Liara released him he rolled onto his back and coughed, flecks of blood staining the white undershirt of his suit. Finally he appeared as he truly was. An old man, clinging to the past, beaten and broken. If they left him he'd probably die on his own, but Shepard wasn't willing to take the chance. With great care she stood on her own feet without any assistance from Liara despite the protest from her ribcage. Then she took out her pistol and aimed it at him.

"It's over," she told him.

He didn't fight. He didn't struggle to get up or beg for his life. She could see in his eyes that he knew it really was at an end. "You've taken everything from me," he croaked and then coughed again, more blood this time.

"No," Shepard answered. "I've spent far too much of my life fixing your mistakes. But I am not taking the blame for the things you've done."

He shifted his eyes to look at her and she could see his hatred. He'd never admit that he was wrong. He'd die with hatred in his heart.

"Just get it over with," he hissed.

So she ended it.

~.~.~.~.~

"You know, when I took over for Dr. Chakwas, she warned me that you found ways to collect the most interesting injuries, Commander." Dr. Gunesekera shook his head wonderingly as he examined the multitude of bruises that covered Shepard's torso and back. He had the commander lying down on a medical table as the arm of a nearby machine rested on top of her right side, just above her cracked rib. It was helping to stitch the bone back together, but the process was accompanied by a good deal of pain. It wasn't unbearable, but Shepard had to grit her teeth while she put up with it. There was nothing to be done about all the bruises, but the majority were along her chest and back so that had been taped up to try to keep her from moving too much. "So, these are all from a krogan?" Dr. Gunesekera continued, still studying the patchwork of mottled colored flesh. "He was very thorough."

"Yes, he was a regular savant at his job," Shepard replied through gritted teeth.

Dr. Gunesekera straightened up and smirked. "Makes you wonder how many days in the hospital are required after having sex with a krogan," he joked.

Shepard couldn't help letting out a snort of amusement at that. The movement sent a fresh jolt of pain through her body. "You're not supposed to make me laugh," she complained.

Liara sat nearby at Dr. Gunesekera's desk, using his terminal to call Aethyta and check in on Benny. It was taking a while to connect though so she switched between anxiously watching terminal to smirking at Shepard.

On the other side of the med bay, Miranda lay strapped to a different medical table in case she woke up and started fighting them. Because of Shiala's records and the success in treating the Feros colonists, Shepard knew that the spores could be purged and that Miranda would be fine, but they didn't have the equipment to do it aboard the Normandy. They'd treat her once they arrived back at the Citadel.

The call to Aethyta finally connected, and Shepard heard Liara say, "Ah! Mother! Shepard and I are both alright." Shepard raised an eyebrow at that, given all her injuries, but she let it go. "We are on our way to the Citadel. How are things going? How is Benny?"

"I'm glad you're both ok," Aethyta said, followed by a long pause. "Benny is fine… although… uh… you should probably know…" She mumbled something and Shepard couldn't hear it from where she lay.

But Liara exclaimed, "He did what?" Her tone warned that she was furious.

"What is it?" Shepard asked, curious. She made a move to get up, but Dr. Gunesekera placed a hand on her shoulder to hold her down.

"You need to stay still, Commander," he told her. "Stitching bone back together is tricky enough as it is."

As he said this, Liara was conversing with Aethyta. Then she turned to Shepard and said, "Apparently James told Benny the truth. About us."

Shepard's eyes widened and she again tried to get up and again Dr. Gunesekera had to hold her down. "I'm going to kill him when I get my hands on him!" she seethed through her teeth.

~.~.~.~.~

Knots. Twisting and tugging in the pit of Benny's stomach. She had been with the rest of her class, taking a tour of the Citadel Tower where the ambassadors and councilors all worked, when suddenly Uncle James had pulled her out of the group and said, "Come with me, Lil' Blue." His tone had been enough for her to understand that it had to do with her parents, so she wasn't surprised when he told her that her parents had completed their mission and were on their way to the Citadel. She'd breathed a small sigh that they were safe and their dangerous mission was over, but the prospect of actually facing them again, now that she knew the truth, caused her stomach to become a contortionist.

She and James stood in silence on the elevator ride down, both apparently nervous, although for different reasons. Stepping out onto the Presidium, it seemed as if the crowds melted into the background. Immediately, she picked out the faces of her parents, moving briskly towards her, their expressions masks of anxiety and relief. Part of her wanted to run to them, but another part held her back. She stood and waited.

Liara reached her first, instantly stooping down and cupping Benny's face in her blue hands. She kissed Benny on the cheek and forehead before drawing her into a protective hug. The little asari let it happen, but she couldn't bring herself to hug her mother back. She felt frozen - as if a stranger were embracing her and she didn't know how to react. Liara seemed oblivious to Benny's reticence, but when Benny locked eyes with Shepard, she realized that her remoteness had not gone unnoticed. She also noticed, with a mixture of shock and horror, that Shepard had a thin, red cut that ran across her cheek. There were several bruises as well, some on her forehead and others peeking out from the gaps in her uniform. It occurred to her that Shepard had also been walking with a limp, barely noticeable, but it had been there. Benny had never seen her parents injured before. It hit her suddenly that she really could have lost them. That this hadn't been a game.

Shepard watched the reunion, her face a myriad of emotions, impossible to pick out just one as predominant. She frowned, and after a few moments of silence she turned to James and in a hushed voice said, "We're going to need a minute."

Taking the hint, and probably thankful to escape Shepard's wrath at having spilled the beans in the first place, the solider nodded and quietly excused himself. As Liara released Benny, she must have picked up on the tension because she also frowned, her brow furrowed in concern. Stepping back, she and Shepard stood side by side. The three all remained silent until Shepard finally said, "I can see the question on your face, Benny, as clear as day. Ask what you want to ask."

Benny blushed at how obvious her feelings must have been, but now that the ice was broken she couldn't help blurting out, "Why?" The question that had consumed her ever since the moment in the museum when she'd realized that she was the only person in the galaxy who didn't know who her parents truly were. "Why did you lie to me?"

Shepard sighed, her shoulders sagging slightly as if carrying an invisible weight. "We never lied to you, Benny. We never told you anything that wasn't the truth, even if it wasn't the whole truth. We hid the truth, but we didn't lie about it."

Benny glared at that, and Shepard raised her hands as if to ward off protest.

"I know, it seems like a petty distinction to you," Shepard continued, "but it means the world to us. We hid the truth because we thought - and still think - it was best for you. We wanted to allow you to be yourself."

"Be myself?" Benny demanded, balling her hands into fists. "I don't even know who I am anymore! I was the only person in the entire galaxy who didn't know who you were. I - I'm an idiot!"

Shepard shook her head. "No. That's not right. You are one of the only people who does know who we really are. The people that everyone else sees... those people are just symbols. They were heroes, they were leaders, they were fighters because that's what the galaxy needed. Those people aren't the real us. The real us are the people who taught you how to walk, how to talk, how to read and write. The only person I ever wanted to be was the person who married your mom, who reads to you every night before you go to sleep, who holds you when you are crying. I never wanted to be the savior of the galaxy. That was something that other people wanted from me. And I never wanted you to tie your self-image to that person that everyone else sees. We never wanted you to look at us and feel like you have to do what we did."

Benny's head spun. She felt as if she had stepped onto a carousel that wouldn't stop spinning and now she couldn't get off. Bits and phrases that she had heard from other people began echoing in her head. She heard the biotic instructor, Jack, saying, Shit, I feel sorry for this one. People are going to expect great things... She heard Uncle James saying, She's really famous, Lil' Blue. There's no one in the entire galaxy more famous. She heard Tela saying, She's Commander Shepard. I don't know how else to explain how important she is. And she heard her grandmother saying, Maybe you'll realize that you don't just love your parents, but you respect 'em too.

"Were you ever going to tell me?" she asked.

"Yes," Liara answered. "Originally we thought about telling you when you were eighteen. But you are so smart that we decided to tell you when you were sixteen and then even that seemed too late so we settled on fourteen. But we wanted to give you time to develop your own interests… We did not want you to grow up feeling like you had to…" Liara paused, trying to think of how to put it, and then she said, "go into the family business."

The family business. Benny had to admit it had been one of her first thoughts. She'd wondered what people would think when they saw her, once they knew that she was the daughter of Shepard and Liara. It seemed like there were only two paths open to her. Become a soldier or a scientist. Even if that weren't true – if she could become a doctor or an engineer or even a performer or something else – she'd have to be the best at it. People wouldn't expect anything less. She could feel the fear in the pit of her stomach, telling her that she wouldn't be good enough. That she would disappoint everyone.

Shepard, who had been studying Benny's expression intently, reached out and placed both hands on her daughter's shoulders. "Listen to me," she said. "We fought the Reapers so that you would have a choice. We wanted you to be born into a peaceful galaxy. That part of our life, fighting so that a galaxy would still exist for you to live in, that part of our life is finally over. And after today, hopefully done for good. The Reapers aren't your fight, Benny. You're free to do whatever you want to do. And know that we will always love and support you. Whatever you choose."

Benny could hear the sincerity in her mother's voice. She saw the love in both her parents' eyes. But her heart still ached. She couldn't help the tears that began to cloud her eyes. "But how could you leave me without telling me what was really happening? What if something had happened to you? How could you leave me all alone? How could you –" Her voice cut off in a sob and she couldn't finish the thought.

Shepard pulled Benny into a hug, holding her close and rubbing her back to comfort her. Benny cried into Shepard's uniform, letting her fear and frustration from the last few days finally rise to the surface. Once Benny's sobs had quieted a little, Shepard said, "You're right. We shouldn't have left you in the dark when our lives were in danger. We didn't have the time to tell you – at least not in a way that would have been fair to you. But I am sorry."

"I am sorry too, Benny," Liara added, placing a hand on top of Benny's head. "We never stopped thinking about you."

It surprised Benny how much better she felt. While the fear was still there – the fear that told her that her whole view of the world would be forever changed – at least she still had her parents. They were the same, even if they were different. They would help guide her to the future. She pulled back to look at them, wiping her eyes with the back of her hand.

Shepard smiled reassuringly, a comforting smile that Benny had seen countless times throughout her life. "Come on," her mother said. "We'll tell you everything. No more secrets."