Author's Notes:

Hello! ... Well, it seems I've written a fanfic.
I'm still not quite sure how I feel about that, but the scene after Horizon just left me so unfulfilled and IF I DON'T SEE THESE TWO TOGETHER IN ME3, HEADS WILL ROLL.

Ahem... Yes, well. Though I've been writing for years, this is my first official fanfic, so if the characters seem... well, out of character, please don't hesitate to tell me. It's my first time using characters that weren't originally created by me, so it's been a learning experience. I'm still getting the hang of FFdotNET, so if anything seems weird about the layout, or whatever, you can let me know about that, too.

Also, my Shepard is human. As are they all. So I've tried to make her human, with human moments of weakness and anger and stress up the wazoo. She's paragon, certainly. But she's not impervious to emotion. In fact, she's got a pretty touchy temper and you might even go so far as to call her mildly bipolar. She'll laugh and joke with those she's close to, but she's quick to anger, especially with those she doesn't know or trust.

She's also got a tendency to swear. Hence the T rating.

And finally, the disclaimer: No, I don't own Kaidan, Tali, Garrus, or any other character/name in this fic. Not even Shepard, as much as I'd like to claim so. They are all the property of BioWare.

Adieu,
- i.I

P.S. You may notice that I've taken some slight liberties with the past timeline/circumstances. I am aware of them, and have included them just for the sake of the story. So you don't need to bring them up. ;)

Temporary Serenity

Part One: Politics

The moment Joker placed those schematics in Dana Shepard's hands upon her return from her final meeting with The Illusive Man, she knew there was no turning back now. Harbinger was coming, and there was no way in hell the Council could deny the information she now held in her hands.

There was no telling how much time they had. Weeks? Months? Years? Honestly, she had no idea. The only thing she knew for certain was things weren't over yet. She wasn't particularly looking forward to standing before the Council, even if they were predominately human. They hadn't lifted a finger to help her while she was fighting the Collectors. Even if her motives were justified, she was working for Cerberus (emphasis on was), and she knew it would be difficult for them to look past that.

Sure, she might have been overreacting, but the only connection she had to the Council was Anderson, and he hadn't exactly been all that helpful either, as much as she liked the man's company and appreciated the little help he was able to provide. He was a good man who had the galaxy's best interests at heart, but all she'd wanted was an audience with the Council to explain herself and tell them what she knew, and they couldn't even give her that. She'd saved the blasted Citadel, and the whole damn galaxy once, and they couldn't even be bothered to show their faces to her?

Now, they wouldn't have a choice. Shepard had Harbinger's schematics. It existed, and it was coming for them, and if they wanted to stand a chance, they needed her help, and for God's sake, they needed to listen to her for once!

Damn it, I fucking hate politics.

She didn't even want to think about what the Alliance would say. Regardless of her questionable status in the recent past, she still considered herself an Alliance soldier, and she couldn't deny her desire to rejoin the ranks. She had no idea how that was going to go down, though, and if they wanted to win against the Reapers, she would need the help of the Alliance, whether she rejoined the ranks or not. Quite frankly, she would sooner stand before the Council than answer to the Alliance. At least she had some idea of what she would say to the Council when they questioned her actions. Not to mention that, if it came down to it, she wasn't afraid to tell the members of the Council to fuck off while she fought for the galaxy's security. The Alliance, on the other hand? Not quite so outspoken. She actually held a certain amount of respect for the Alliance.

She ran her hands through her red hair and emerged into the CIC, beckoning for Tali and Garrus to join her. If she was going up against those who would judge her based on her past actions, she needed people who were there for her past. Her whole past, and there was just one person who knew more about her than those two... and he was out of the question. They were at her side in a matter of minutes, and Dana Shepard, in nothing but her Cerberus uniform (as much as she wanted to rip that Cerberus emblem off of it) and a small sidearm at her hip descended into what she liked to describe as the burning flames of hell with the two members of her crew she trusted most at her side. She couldn't ask for any better support.

They made their way past the customs desk and into the hall, and she swore, if that blasted turian apologized for the inconvenience one more time, she'd—

"Sorry for the inconvenience, Ma'am."

—not follow through with whatever thoughts were going through her head at the moment, and she simply sucked in a breath, offered the turian a nod and went on her merry way.

She could feel Garrus' eyes boring a hole into the back of her head as if he could read her mind. She turned and shot him a glare, to which he smiled broadly, and she shook her head, glancing at the clock mounted on the far wall. Not much time. They should head directly to the Presidium if she wanted the meet the Council on time so they approached the rapid transit terminal. Of course, she could just barely rein in her excitement.

They arrived at the Presidium a few minutes later while she stood outside the doors, resisting the urge to pace back and forth and when she finally stepped inside, she was met with four human individuals – one of them Anderson – and three of them were staring her down as if she was nothing. She was not a Spectre, she had not risked her life and the lives of her crew to fight against Saren and the geth, she had not made the choice to abandon the former Council to concentrate all their fire on Sovereign, sacrificing the fewest number of lives as possible and thereby providing the situation in which their sorry asses could be voted into power, and she had not just saved humanity from the Collectors!

She could feel herself getting sick with internal anger, but forced it down, unwilling to bring this meeting to an end before it had even started.

"Commander Shepard." The eldest woman announced, offering her a smile that she knew was forced, "It's good to finally meet you."

Oh really? She challenged in her mind, Funny, considering I showed up here months ago, and you refused to show your damn faces! Bunch of bloody liars.

She offered them no verbal greeting, but simply nodded her head in polite silence, despite the internal chagrin plaguing her mind.

"We understand you wished Councillor Anderson to call this meeting." The woman continued, "We assume you have some news to tell us?"

"I assume you know I've been off fighting the Collectors for the last few months." Shepard explained.

"Working with Cerberus." The councilman on the far right added, and a little flame of anger alighted in her veins.

"Formerly, yes." She responded, "But please, let me finish. While I was fighting the Collectors, there is a lot of information we uncovered that is nothing short of... disturbing. The worst of this being that they were using human DNA to construct a massive humanoid Reaper."

Ah. Now she had their full attention. She wasn't much of a public speaker, but one thing she knew for certain was that shocking your audience would grab their attention before much else.

"You have proof of this?"

"My ship's memory core has a detailed readout of the Collectors' research, as well as biological proof that the Collectors themselves were once the Protheans, modified and manipulated by the Reapers to do their dirty work in the same way that Sovereign manipulated Saren."

And, as quick as that, she lost them. She should've known better than to bring up the Reapers in such a way. Ships can't control people. That was what they believed, and nothing could seem to sway them from that belief. God, what is wrongwith you people? What will it take for you to believe that the Reapers exist? What do I have to do to get you all to listen to me? This Council is no different than the last one!

She never thought she'd be longing for Quarian politics. At least then, some miracle allowed her to work the crowd enough to convince them to clear Tali of her charges based on everything she had done in her past with the Normandy and the fight against Saren, without even needing the proof they uncovered while searching for Rael'Zorah. What about Shepard? Hadn't she done enough for the galaxy to be offered even a smidgen of credibility?

Without waiting for a response telling her how they didn't have any proof to support the Reapers' existence, she tossed Anderson the datapad containing the readouts of Harbinger's schematics. He caught it easily, and looked at it for a moment, understanding crossing his features while he passed it to the others.

"They're real, Councillors. I have proof of their manipulation and the Collectors' genetic similarity to the Protheans. Sovereign was just the beginning. They're out there, and they're coming, and they're going to target Earth. Why? Because that's where all the humans are." She explained without waiting for anyone to object, "We are their next target, and if we want to fight them then we need to be prepared."

A long, painful silence passed over them, as they each studied the datapad. Dana felt like she would throw up.

The old woman looked up at her, finally, and let out a sigh, "What would you suggest, Commander?"

Ah, sweet relief. Could it be? Have I finally managed to convince them that I'm not making this entire thing up?

"We need to rally together. Find help from anyone willing to offer it, human or otherwise, and stand together to neutralize this threat before they wipe us out." She explained, "There is going to be a war. One unlike anything we have ever fought. We need to be ready to deal with it when the time comes."

The Council looked as if she'd slapped them. All except Anderson, of course, who had supported her from the very start, and she was thankful for that.

"We understand your urgency, Commander," the Councilman on the right interjected once again, "but you are asking a lot. There are procedures for this sort of thing."

"I am not a Councillor! I'm a soldier, and I'll do what I have to do. I'm not with Cerberus anymore, but I plan to do what I can to stop this threat, with or without your help or resources." She added, her voice deepening and taking on a sterner tone – her soldier voice, "I'm sick and tired of beating around the bush, waiting for a decision to be made. I refuse to sit by and do nothing while you all deliberate what you're going to do. I'll travel to the four corners of the galaxy myself if I have to, to rally everyone I can to help us defeat this threat."

"We must speak further of this in private, but we will give you access to our resources in return for the information provided from your ship's memory core. Remember, you are a Spectre. You answer to us, yes. But you don't need our permission to do what must be done. We will contact you in the future regarding our decision."

And then, the meeting was adjourned, and she stepped into the hall, blowing out her cheeks with a sigh. Anderson approached and shook her hand, "They can't dismiss it this time, Shepard. Good job."

"Thank you, Sir. As you know, I have a meeting with the Alliance tomorrow, to talk about what happened with Cerberus and our next step." She explained, the dread already settling onto her shoulders, "But for the moment..." Here, she turned to face her comrades. Garrus and Tali looked at her curiously, "I need a drink."

They all let out a chuckle, and it felt good to laugh again. To get a breather from all the stress of the last few months facing death at every turn. There still was so much to do, but at least for now, things were calm, and there was one thing she knew for certain: When all of this was over, the battles with the Collectors, the war with the Reapers, if they succeeded, and she was still alive, she was retiring. Or at least taking the longest shore leave in the history of the Alliance.

She allowed a smirk to grace her mouth, and shook Anderson's hand once again as he departed. When he was gone, she clapped Garrus on the shoulder, "Head back to the Normandy and tell the crew they have the night off. They deserve it after the last few months. Tali and I will try and get a big table at the Dark Star Lounge, and we'll see you in a few minutes."

"Sure thing, Shepard." And then he was off.

Stepping into the dim light of the Dark Star Lounge, Shepard rolled her shoulders while she and Tali made their way to a couple of fair-sized tables set beside each other near the rear of the club, reserving them both. An asari waitress approached them and took their orders, and Tali waited until she was gone before she leaned over and put a hand on the Commander's shoulder, "You did good back there, you know. I think they might actually listen to you this time."

She rubbed her hands over her face, "Thanks. I hope so. I'm still going to do what I can to fight these Reapers, but it certainly wouldn't hurt to have the Council onboard."

The waitress returned with their drinks, and they sat in companionable silence while they waited for the others. It wasn't long before Garrus strode into the club, followed closely by Miranda and Jacob. Thane entered a scant moment later, followed by Jack and Grunt (who looked strangely out of place, she had to admit). A slew of the Normandy's crew, including Joker, Yeoman Chambers and Doctor Chakwas (Shepard briefly wondered what the Doctor would find appealing about partying it up at her age, but then remembered the brandy she'd purchased from this very bar and everything made sense) were at his heels, causing her to raise an eyebrow. She guessed Samara and Mordin had better things to do, and honestly couldn't picture them living it up in a club anyway, when they could be doing other, more productive things on the Citadel. Still, she hadn't expected so many to come to the Dark Star at one time. Didn't some of them have other things to do on the Citadel? Not that she was complaining, but some of them may have had to stand. Shepard turned to her quarian friend as she flagged them down, "I think we might need another table."

Thankfully, upon finding the source of the commotion, and noticing just who she was, the management was very accommodating and pulled another table from across the club, pushing it together with the two they'd already secured. Dana bit her lip, awkwardly thanked the manager, and sat down.

Tali let out a giggle while crewman and women began to join them, "And now the real party begins."