A/N: Many thanks to Danie-Dono, Shockeye7665, DandereGoneFishing, Blausen, Revolution Assassin, Mei-chiri for your reviews last chapter as well as those who have been kind enough to favorite or follow my story! I would have liked this to be out sooner, but writer's block and a persistent cold stalled me. Hope you enjoy. :)

-18-

"I am tired of being locked in time capsules," Javik grumbled as he got himself back up off the floor from when the capsule had closed and they had toppled over in a heap.

Liara pulled herself up using a nearby container as leverage. "We have to get out of here, warn the others. Find Shepard."

Garrus was the final one to rise, brushing off the slight ache in his knee at having struck it on the way down, too focused on getting answers from one of their own. "And ask Miranda how long she was going to wait to tell us about this clone."

Miranda immediately went from rubbing her shoulder from her fall to going on the defensive at his barely veiled accusative tone, her whole frame tensing. "I hope you're not suggesting this is somehow a failure on my part."

He inched closer to her, his growing frustration fueling his movements. He was pretty sure Liara was at his side, murmuring that now wasn't the time and that they should focus on getting out of the impregnable vault they had been sealed inside. A futile effort on her part.

"Then what was Brooks talking about? You obviously knew!"

"What I knew, Vakarian, was we created a vessel for spare parts, not a fully-functional double." He tried not to think of Saleon when she said that. "And once it was clear Shepard's organs were functioning properly, the decision was made to dispose of the spare. I received confirmation the task was done not too shortly before we were forced to wake Shepard up. That was the last I heard on the matter."

"And you thought nothing else of it or checked for yourself?" Garrus asked, still unwilling to let Miranda off the hook. With how on the pulse she was with everything else, it was hard for him to believe she wouldn't have followed up to make certain of it.

Miranda's eyebrow twitched in irritation. "Why would I have? I had no reason to believe the Illusive Man had any interest in retaining her. As I said, I was not under the impression we had created a clone. What good would she have been? My focus, even the Illusive Man's focus, at the time was bringing Shepard back. We needed the real one, not some cheap knock-off."

"She shouldn't have been created in the first place!" he growled, the sub-vocals thrumming in his throat. Deep down, he knew he was being unreasonable, expecting Miranda to have seen this coming, that he should have been devoting all his focus to finding a way out of their tomb, but he couldn't help himself. He needed to let it out, his anger, his frustration, his fear, on something and Miranda made it all the easier to make herself a target with her naturally combative attitude. Besides, she wasn't naïve; that clone was a piece of clay with the potential to be molded into whatever shape anyone wanted. She had to have recognized that.

"We didn't want to take any chances. But she wasn't designed to be anything more than I said," Miranda said, the warning in her eyes for him to drop it.

Maybe that glare would have worked on one of her subordinates back in her Cerberus days, but it hadn't worked on him before and it wouldn't now.

"She seemed pretty alive to me!" he said, his voice rising with each word uttered.

A hand came to rest on his arm now, followed by a soft call of his name. Liara again, looking up at him with gentle eyes. "I know you're frustrated, Garrus, but this isn't helping."

"She is right for once, turian. Your arguing with this human is a waste of energy which could be put towards planning our escape."

"So it would be best for all of us if you both got off each other's throats," Liara said, purposefully ignoring the first part of Javik's statement.

He should have shut it all away, pushed everything down until his emotions couldn't see the light of day. Display the characteristic stoicism that had become a stereotype of their species. But as he had once told Jane, he had never been a very good turian.

Liara then added in an even soother voice. "Think about Jane."

He did. He thought of her vibrant eyes the same hue of some native flowers on Palaven. Her radiant smile that lit up whatever room she was in when she showed it. Her infectious laugh. Her ability to remember the names of anyone she met and the moments surrounding their meetings. Her kind nature that spurred her to give voice to the voiceless and be their defender. Her graceful way of moving on the battlefield, her sniper rifle kill shots a thing of beauty. And he thought about her against him, her soft lips pressed against his hard plates, arms tightly wrapped around each other as if they couldn't bear to let go.

Then his thoughts led him to another image, her pounding on the walls of the iridium vault, gasping for breath. Her falling to the floor, the light in her eyes fading until they were empty tunnels. Her body stilling completely. Everything she was, everything he had come to love about her, would be gone.

He rapidly blinked the image away, his mandibles twitching uncontrollably in distress. Getting a grip, his gaze darted back to Miranda, the only sign of taking Liara's words to heart was the softening of her own dark irises, but it was enough. He gave a nod as a sort of acknowledgement of a truce and she followed.

"Good," Liara sighed. "Now, how do we get out here? If anyone has any ideas, it'd a good time to hear them."

"There has to be some sort of kill switch in here," Miranda replied, getting back to business. "I can't imagine they would chance anyone getting accidentally trapped."

"Obviously you have never built a time capsule, human."

Miranda frowned. "Regardless, nothing is ever fool-proof."

Liara's face lit up in realization, pressing her fingers against her ear. "Glyph, are you still out there?"

Solid idea, except for the snag that wireless communications did not seem to be possible within an iridium vault. They'd have to resort to snooping around the capsule for the time being.

They each took a separate section of the capsule, running their hands over the areas, searching for that hidden latch. Garrus got on his hands and knees, thinking maybe it was on the floor, his talons running over the ridges of the floor. He was so focused on his task that he didn't hear Liara come up behind him until she said his name.

"Find anything?" she asked.

"Nothing yet. But there's gotta be something," he said, refusing to believe that there wasn't. He couldn't expect the worst. Not now.

Liara nodded, but remained in place, prompting him to ask if she needed something.

"I just wanted to see if you were ok. You don't typically get so riled up."

He turned away from her, bending down to survey the floor once again. "I'm fine." He'd be better once they got out and found Jane.

He thought that would be the end of it, but Liara instead knelt down beside him. "I know you care a lot about her, Garrus. I do too." She paused, as if hoping to encourage him to let it all out.

What did Liara want him to say? That he didn't want to lose Jane? That she meant everything to him, that the galaxy would feel forever empty if she wasn't there to fill it? That he was afraid they would be too late and he wouldn't get one last chance to tell her he loved her, show her how much he did? How hard it would be to find a way to take up the fight without her? Only one person needed to hear all that and it was not Liara.

When Garrus didn't reply, Liara stood up with a defeated sigh. "Just promise me you won't do anything crazy when we get out of here."

"I promise I won't go charging head-first into a merc cluster. That's more Grunt's or Wrex's thing," he said with a wry flicker of his mandibles.

"Garrus…"

He knew what she was talking about. Assuming the mantle he had long seen hung up. The protector of Omega, who ruthlessly persecuted those who dared target the innocent or the weak. Dived headlong into dangerous situations without much thought of the consequences, except to bring the guilty to justice. The persona Jane had never fully approved of.

"It's ok, Liara, I'll stay focused." Now that his anger had simmered down, he recognized all that mattered at this point was finding Jane. Though he didn't make any promises about what would happen to Brooks or her clone or any of their mercs after they did finally get to her.

Liara's mouth opened in reply, but closed when she heard a faint voice coming from outside the capsule. A voice Garrus also heard, muttering to itself about how miraculous it was to discover another variant of vorcha language previously uncatalogued.

"Glyph! Glyph? Can you hear me?"

Five seconds went by without a reply, then another, seemingly confirming that they were completely cut off from anyone or anything in the outside world. Then, like a blessing from the Spirits Garrus typically didn't put much stock in, Glyph acknowledged Liara's summons.

"We're trapped inside, Glyph. We need you to unlock it," Liara said with much relief.

"Of course, Dr. T'Soni."

This time, they were better prepared for the violent jostling, holding onto to the nearest object bolted to the floor to maintain their balance and keep them from sprawling on the floor again.

"Thank you, Glyph," Liara said as soon as the barrier released them. "You see, Javik? Not such a stupid machine, afterall."

Javik was not convinced. "A stroke of luck only that this drone came by."

"So what is the plan? We all go to find Jane? Split up?" Garrus asked as he stepped out of their temporary prison.

"Given the size and scope we are dealing with, it would be safe to surmise all looking in the same area at once would not be beneficial," Miranda replied.

"We have no idea where to look. Just having the four of us isn't going to help. We should find the others before they walk into traps, tell them what's going on so we can send a search party throughout as much of the Archives and as many of the security postings as we can," Liara said.

"What about the traitor and the Brooks-human? We cannot allow them to escape," Javik said.

"We don't know how long they've already kept her in one of those vaults. We can't spend the time or the man-power," Garrus replied. Hell, they were already wasting enough precious time trying to plan their next move.

Miranda paced back and forth, seemingly deep in thought. "That footage Brooks showed us. It had to have been obtained from a security vid. Seeing as how that security room we came across is not too far from where they laid their trap, she must have pulled it off of there."

"You're thinking it might give us a clue of the area she's in," Garrus finished her train of thought.

"Precisely."

"But we don't know that for sure. And what if it only gives the name? We would need some kind of map of the area," Liara pointed out.

"I should be able to hack into the Archives' system and obtain directions if you need them, Dr. T'Soni," Glyph offered, but Liara was not finished.

"Besides, do we really have the time to go back to the security room, comb through all those feeds and replay all that footage? What if we come up with nothing?"

"We're in the dark at this point. Unless you can recall seeing any type of identification tag on the vid she showed us," Miranda said.

He hadn't seen anything, but unsurprising when all his attention was focused on seeing Jane locked up in a capsule.

"Whatever we do, a decision must be made now. Our time cannot be squandered," Javik stated.

It was a tough call. They were, as the human expression went, stuck between a rock and a hard place. Liara had a point that it could be a waste of their time to go back and track the vid footage, but Miranda was also right that they didn't have any other leads. They couldn't just aimlessly wander.

"Come in. Please come in."

The timid yet desperate voice that cropped up on his communicator, on one of the securer channels, in fact, did not belong to Hammerhead or Mako. He gestured to his ear to the others. They were picking it up too.

"Commander Shepard, are you there? Please come in."

It took a moment to sink in. This woman had seen Jane. She might have an idea of the last place she had seen or even heard from Jane before she was captured.

"We read you. This is Garrus Vakarian of the Normandy," he said for the group.

The woman's breath hitched at the mention of belonging to the Normandy crew. "You're on-one of Commander Shepard's team? Oh thank God! This is Laura Corvo, assistant to the Head Archivist. I didn't thi-think anybody else would come after the C-Sec officer."

The mention of the C-Sec officer had him putting two and two together. "We saw you on a security vid-cam with Officer Ridgefield. Is he still alive?" He didn't want to have to bring otherwise news to his wife.

"He's stable, but he passed out. I was able to get him to a safe place, though." The shakiness of her voice increased, understandably so. "God, what a mess. All be-because I didn't say anything."

What did that mean? Did she know something about what happened there?

They didn't need to prod. "I should have went to C-Sec the moment I fo-found out. But I wa-as afraid of what they'd do to Sara. And she said she would handle everything, that she'd take care of it." She let out a gross sob. "I trusted her, like I always did."

Now more than ever, he wished Jane were here. He had certainly handled his fair share of scared civilians, but he had never been as good with finding the right words as Jane was. That didn't mean he wouldn't try.

"I know this is a lot to deal with, Ms. Corvo, but we need to understand what's going on. If you can."

There was nothing on the other end except for heavy breathing. He thought she would shield herself, refuse to say anything more, but then the floodgates opened, needing their release.

"About three months ago, she started getting involved with this guy. He seemed nice enough, said he was in the Alliance. We never questioned it. He was interested in our jobs, saying he was a history buff, asking about the collections and what we had. After awhile, he even offered to help pay for our mom's medical treatments. They were so expensive and we weren't about to look away a generous offer. And Sara seemed happy with him. Carefree. Not weighed down with responsibility like she always is.

"Then something changed a couple weeks ago. She seemed tense, withdrawn. It wasn't until two nights ago she told me. One night, when she went to meet with him, he wasn't alone. Another man was there with him, waiting for her. She never caught the name, but she could tell he wasn't Alliance. He told her he wanted complete access, passcodes to disable security. The location of the Spectres' biometric access logs."

Least they knew now what the clone was after. "Why would they be interested in that?" Garrus asked.

"To change Shepard's prints," Miranda instantly connected the dots. "Any security scan conducted on the imposter would show her as the real Shepard."

"I asked her why she hadn't said anything before," Laura continued her tale. "And she said he threatened to cut off funding for our mom's treatment. Our mom's been so sick for so long and she was showing more progress than we had ever seen. She didn't want to give that up.

"She kept on being reassured they weren't looking to harm anyone; they would be out before anyone was the wiser. But she couldn't stop worrying that someone could end up hurt if they spotted them or what the logs were going to be used for. She called him back the same night she talked to me, told him the deal was off. She…" Another choppy breath. "S-She thought she'd have more time to figure out what to do. They were supposed to be light-years away, not due back on the Citadel for another two weeks. S-She thought she was only dealing with two men, a couple at most, not a whole army, not a raid on the Archives. She...I should have known better, but she always thought she could handle anything. Like I did.

"But then they attacked. After I was able to contact her, told her to get to the safe room..." Her voice trembled with the weight of her tears. "Th-They found her. They...killed her."

After the amount of deception they had experienced that night, it could have been another set-up, but such genuine remorse and grief. No matter what Miranda said, that was an emotion only the rarest of psychopaths could fake.

"I'm sorry for your loss, but you can still honor your sister by helping us stop them now," Garrus said in what he hoped would reassure the distraught young woman. "Commander Shepard's trapped inside one of the iridium vaults and she doesn't have much time. Have you spoken to her?"

"Ye-yes. She found my sister's body. I'd been helping her get to her log. But then I lost contact with her. She was further down into the Archives and I wasn't able to keep tabs on her," she was able to get out.

It then struck him. "Did you give the Commander any directions or coordinates?"

"Ye-yes. I can send you the ones I gave to her, if you think that'll help."

Garrus provided his address to Laura.

"Do you need any help securing where you are? We could send one of our team to your location." If not Liara or Javik, one of the others. Once they were able to find them.

"We should be alright for the moment. I made sure to bar-barricade the door."

"Have you been able to contact C-Sec at all?"

"No. External comm was shut off." That explained why they hadn't heard word from Jane during her imprisonment in the Archives. "You'd have to go to the main security office to turn them back on. Th-that's why I was surprised to see an officer come here. You said his name was Officer Ridgefield?"

"Yes. We worked together at C-Sec." He hoped Ridgefield would pull through, be able to meet up for that drink. He didn't deserve an ending like this. Course many people didn't.

His omni-tool then pinged with the arrival of Laura's coordinates, synching with his nav point. He told her they'd swing by their location once they found Jane. Lead them out of the Archives so they get Ridgefield proper medical attention and to contact C-Sec.

"Thank you. I-I hope this helps. And I hope you find her," she said before signing off.

"You are foolish, turian, to trust this complete stranger and tell her our plans. She is an unknown. After the two deceptions cast over our eyes, how can we be sure this is not another?" Javik asked once they had completely disconnected with Laura.

"Her story seems too elaborate and she seemed too sincere in her grief for it to be, but he does have a point. Brooks had been an excellent actress as had the clone to a certain extent. We can't afford to be double-crossed again," Miranda reluctantly concurred.

"Shepard seemingly trusted her. That should be good enough for us," Liara defended.

"But did she know everything about this woman? Her and her sister's roles?" Miranda asked.

Garrus finished fiddling with his omni-tool. "It's too late to worry about that. The question is what do we do now?"

"Two of us could follow the coordinates while the other two go back to find the others," Miranda said, dropping the issue about Laura.

"That will still be a lot of ground to cover and we don't know that's where they stored her," Liara reasoned.

"If you give me the coordinates, Officer Vakarian, I could scout ahead and run scans for the Commander on any vaults I come across."

He readily agreed to Glyph's request, seeing the major benefits of a drone that could cover a lot more ground at a faster rate than any of them.

"Now the final part. Who's going where."

It was an unspoken understanding Garrus would fill one of the slots. The real question would be who would go with him.

"Miranda and I can go on ahead while you and Javik can head back for the others," he said, surprising himself with the choice.

Liara looked as surprised and even Miranda appeared slightly incredulous. Javik, as usual, was apathetic.

Miranda quickly regained her composure. "Then let's not waste anymore time."

Before they parted, besides sending the coordinates to the parting party's omni-tools, Liara quietly asked him if he was sure, likely thinking there was potential for them to butt heads again. He answered affirmatively, but only because he wanted to get a move on more than anything else.

Garrus and Miranda began their journey through this maze of an archives. Now that they were putting this plan into practice and making their way further into the bowels, he was starting to have second thoughts about not checking the security vids. There were so many vaults and they couldn't spend time activating them and combing through all of them. Maybe searching security wouldn't have been a bad idea.

Just as they were about to exit one of the walkways to enter a nearby door, he first tried getting in touch with Liara, asking her to swing by that security office, but there was nothing except static on the other line. He then called for Glyph, asking him to find the nearest one once he zoomed into view, praying it would have what they needed.

Miranda couldn't help but comment in a close to pretentious tone, "Glad to see you're finally taking my advice."

"First time for everything."

"Your sarcasm isn't called for, Vakarian."

"Someone has to lighten the mood."

Miranda shook her head. "Is that why you volunteered for me to come along? To bounce jokes off of me like I'm a rubber wall?"

He honestly didn't know why he had picked her. Liara would have been an obvious choice. And if he wanted to avoid having anyone ask him about his feelings, Javik would have been just as good a partner. Maybe it was because he wanted to be prepared in case they ran into Brooks or the clone and Miranda had had the most experience with them, even it was limited. But it sounded like they were both preoccupied with stealing Jane's identity.

Glyph saved him from giving a non-answer, announcing he had found a security room a few levels down, but he would keep scanning any vaults along the way.

They continued on their way unimpeded, everything surprisingly still and quiet. He wondered if that had to do with the mercs being routed to intercept the others. Even so, they couldn't move too fast, in case mercs decided to pop up from nowhere. This moderate yet cautious pace was not cutting it, but it was better this than to be caught off guard. He was surprised they hadn't caught up with the clone or Brooks, as they had not been hours ahead of them. Either they high-tailed it to the log or they had found another, more direct route not broadcasted on the map.

Glyph kept them informed of his progress and it was hard not to get discouraged about finding Jane when he continued returning with nothing and all their surroundings looking the same as each other. He had no idea how long they had been moving; time seemed to lose all meaning in this place, when time should have been something he paid critical attention to.

He then felt Miranda tugging on his arm, lowering him behind a desk. It wasn't until he poked his head out from cover that he saw the squad ahead. About ten of them. But with the element of surprise on their side, nothing they couldn't handle.

Just as he was reaching behind him to switch out his Mattock with his Viper, Miranda's hand found its way on his arm again.

"Let them pass. We can't afford the time getting into a gunfight."

His hand twitched just above his rifle, wanting to disregard her suggestion, make these people regret ever having followed that pretend Shepard. But the rational, Reaper-adviser part of him agreed with her assessment. Getting to Jane as quickly as possible was the objective. Anything else was a derailment.

They ducked further down when they heard them come perilously close their way only to veer to the right.

"Sounds like they finally caught the bitch," he heard one of the mercs say. Garrus's hand itched to go to his rifle at such a less than polite term aimed at Jane, but he reined the urge in.

"Like the other Shepard's any better," another of the mercs said with a disgruntled scoff.

He wondered if this merc was alone in such a sentiment or if others felt the same. Judging from the glimpse into the personality she had been trying to conceal during her little swapping-place charade, probably a safe guess he wasn't. How did she hope to maintain her army?

Miranda kept tabs on them, then gave him the all-clear once the mercs cleared out and motioned him forward.

"Garrus? Miranda? Are you still there?"

Loss of track of time aside, he knew this was too early for Liara to be phoning in. Had she and Javik run into heavy resistance? Given her silence when he tried to contact her, a likely conclusion.

"We're here, Liara. What's going on?" he asked as he pressed the green button on the door to open to go to the next level.

"We had to duck back into the security area we were in before to avoid detection. Or rather I decided to."

"We should have dealt with them. Less combatants for us to deal with later," came Javik's rebuttal.

"I didn't want us getting dragged into an unnecessary firefight." This scenario sounded quite familiar. "Why must shooting first always be the answer?" Liara asked exasperatedly.

"Because those who shoot first stay alive the longest. It is a lesson you will learn sooner or later."

Forget Joker and EDI. Liara and Javik were fast becoming the old, married couple of the Normandy. But a realization to ponder on for a different time.

"So what's going on?" Garrus asked to get them back on track.

"Right, sorry," Liara said, sounding properly contrite. "Since we were already there, we scanned through some of the footage. It turns out Miranda was correct as we did spot that same recording Brooks showed us. Unfortunately, it was on one of the cameras the clone shot. It still seems to work, but the images are distorted enough that we can't make out the full location description or where she was."

"Give us what you found. There's a security station on the way. We'll see if the tape's on there," Miranda said.

Liara imparted the description, "Wing H345M," filing it away until they reached their destination.

They continued on their trek, encountering no other resistance. After awhile, they did stop when they came across a body with half his brain blown apart. Upon closer inspection, Garrus realized it was the man from the security vid who had attacked Jane. All Garrus could say was he was damn lucky he was already dead.

Miranda recognized him too. "We're getting closer. If Shepard was attacked here, maybe someone came along, found the body, then tracked her down. Depending on if this man injured her, she may not have gone far."

"You know that wouldn't have stopped her." Her pig-headed determination was something he both loved and found infuriating about her.

Miranda's lips curved into a weak smile, one that matched his. "I suppose not."

They reached the area where the security room was supposed to be, not seeing it. He scanned the area closer, spotted the guns under one of the desks, as if kicked under it to conceal them. Miranda then called over to him, who was by another desk, her body curved around it.

"A merc's stashed back here. Someone must have come by. Someone who didn't want to leave a paper trail," she said.

It could only be one person. "We're on the right track, then. Just gotta get into security."

Only in the right light did the slight opening in the wall reveal itself. Made sense that some of these places were hidden in plain sight, though it was strange that the door wasn't closed all the way. Someone must have been through here recently.

Miranda swept by him and approached the security panel, quickly assessing that this was a basic security system. All it had the capacity to do was switch between feeds, no recording as far as she could tell.

"Well, we're already here. Maybe we can piece together the location description," Garrus said, trying to improvise.

Miranda murmured in agreement, saying she'd take one side of the screens while he took the other. Between the two of them, they were able to find a location description somewhat similar to the one Liara gave them.

"Do you think this is it?" he asked, staring at the series of numbers and letters that made up "Wing H345M-949SW"

"If it is in the path to the log, we'll know." Miranda called for Glyph, who was the only one able to access all the different maps, but he didn't appear.

"He must still be searching the capsules ahead," he said. Or run into some mercs.

It then hit him that maybe they didn't need Glyph. Maybe they could get their intel from someone who actually worked at the Archives.

"Ms. Corvo, are you still there?" It was a long shot, but if they lost track of Glyph again, they needed directions and she could hold the key to finding Jane. Miranda didn't protest at him contacting her despite the suspicions they cast on Laura, but she had been 50/50 on the subject.

After what felt like an excruciating minute of silence on the other line with him calling for her, she finally answered.

"I'm here. Have you found Commander Shepard yet?"

He wished that was the news he was bringing. "Not yet, but we might have an idea where she is. Do you know where "Wing H345M-949SW" is?"

"That… I'm pretty sure that's where the human music collection is stored. Sara and I sp-spent a lot of our free time there, finding old human ja-jazz songs from the 20th century. I'll se-send you the location."

Garrus felt the knot that had been growing in his stomach release slightly as he received the new location for his nav point. It had been on the path to the log, with just a slight veer in another direction.

He thanked her for the help again. She said it was nothing, the least she could do after everything that happened. She then asked him to let her know when they found her.

"I-I want to tell her I'm sorry. About all this. About not saying anything about Sara." That answered the question of whether Jane knew about Sara and Laura and their involvement. She then spoke in a softer voice, the remorse palpable. "I just hope she forgives me for it."

He assured her she would. He knew once Jane was told the whole story, she wouldn't hold what happened against Laura.

"I hope you're right," she said, not sounding as assured on the subject.

Once they signed off with Laura again, they headed back out. It turned out the area was not too far from where they were.

Though they were getting closer, Garrus could feel the tension rising within him. What would they find when arrived? What if they were too late?

"Are you doing alright over there?" Miranda must have been sensing the shift in mood too, though it surprised him she even bothered asking about it. Something more like Liara to have done. Hadn't he picked her because she wouldn't do as Liara would?

"Just great. A clone impersonated my girlfriend, all the while the real one was trapped in the Archives being hunted by dishonorably discharged Alliance soldiers then stuffed inside a capsule with limited oxygen." He pushed the green button of the door a little harder than necessary. "So yeah, doing good."

Miranda gave him a hard look at his tone. "My question was genuine, Vakarian. Must you be belligerent about it?"

She was right. It had been as close to a caring tone as Miranda would ever give, at least to him. And all he could do was bite her head off.

"I'm sorry," he sighed once they had reached the bottom of the door and Miranda used her omni-tool to unlock the next door. "I'm just on edge. Not used to feeling like this." Though it had become a more familiar one ever since he acknowledged his feelings for Jane ran deeper than he initially believed.

The edges around Miranda's eyes softened, the lines less pronounced at his sincere apology. "I apologize also about egging you on earlier. It was unnecessary."

Such an admission would never have happened during the days of the suicide mission, but after seeing her making nice with Jack, he supposed anything was possible from her.

"I know what it is like to be so terrified to lose someone important to you that you lose control over yourself," she continued, no trace of her sharp tone to be found. "You're fortunate to have found one another."

He found himself only able to force out a "thanks," not wanting to think about the possibility that he lost Jane for good.

Once the door was open, he saw Glyph hovering near the door, as if waiting for them, which could only mean one thing:

Glyph had finally come back with news.

News once imparted to them that had him bolting down the hallway, heedless of Miranda's call and of the possibility of running into more mercs.

Jane…

She was floating.

Not like before with flaying limbs and desperate breaths. No anguish or fear accompanying them. Calm had washed over her, covering her like a warm blanket, letting her float aimlessly as if she didn't have a care in the world. As if she wasn't leaving behind people who would be forced to carry the weight of her death with them.

She continued this flight, no obstacles in her path, gliding over the grains of sand, seagulls above emitting cries, the only other sound accompanying the faint chords of music dancing in the air besides the gentle lapping of the ocean waves. Then she spotted it, the lone figure just ahead. Even with an inky outline surrounding him, even at a distance, she picked up the armor. A camouflage design that he had claimed better protected him from biotic attacks, even if the armor design wasn't to his absolute liking. Always logical over emotional.

Kaidan faced her, raising his hand in salute. She raised hers too. But he didn't come up and greet her, instead stared at her, as if trying to will her away, as if she shouldn't be there, wherever this was. By the time she reached him, he had begun walking away further inland and she was seemingly unable to stop her forward momentum, pressing onward along the beach.

Not too far ahead, she encountered three others, all in a row. One was ankle-deep in the water, leaning down and grabbing the seashells that the waves had washed up on the shore and placing them in a bucket. The second stood with his head bowed, his hands clasped and his lips moving in silent prayer. The third was the first to notice her, the only one to verbally greet her in his unique way:

"Shepard-Commander."

The mournful note in Legion's otherwise monotone voice caught her by surprise, carved away at a bit of the fog. Why would he sound so sad to see her?

She tried to ask him what was wrong, but she found herself unable to make a sound, not even a squeak. What was preventing her from speaking?

She passed Mordin and Thane just as she swept past Legion, unable to stop just as before with Kaidan. Both Mordin and Thane looked at her as she past them, both with the same glances as Kaidan's.

She continued alone along the beach, only the ever-growing dimmer notes of the music to keep her company. For the first time, she noticed how cloudy it was, how cool it was. For the first time, she began to wonder whether they were right, whether she belonged there.

She finally came to halt in front of two new figures, just as she had remembered them, not tainted by the rivers of blood running down their skins. Her breath caught in her throat as her parents approached her. Like the others, they had same regretful expression on their faces.

"You shouldn't be here, Janie. Not yet." Her mother's airy voice said, pleading with her to turn back. But if she wasn't supposed to be here, where else was she supposed to be?

She tried to reach out for them, but her parents backed away.

"You'll anchor yourself here if you touch us, dove. It is not your time." Her father's deep voice was just as she remembered it. Always so confident. She just wished she understood what he was saying, why it was so bad to stay there.

She felt shadows come up behind her and turned to see Kaidan, Mordin, Thane and Legion come up, blocking the way behind her.

"Don't let sacrifices be in vain, Shepard. You must go back," Mordin said, still holding onto his seashell bucket.

Where? Where was she supposed to go back to? She tried to get the words lodged in her throat out of her mouth, but they remained stuck inside of her.

"It was a good fight, Siha. Now go and finish it."

Fight? Yes…there was a fight. Something she still had to do, something she had been doing for years…

Suddenly, the dark clouds above them dissipated, replaced by blinding sunlight, so bright that she was unable to see the others even though they were right next to each other. She then felt a pressure on her chest and mouth, growing in intensity as the seconds ticked by. Her body was then free to float again, this time towards the light. The music had all but disappeared, replaced by the voices of her parents and companions in unison to wake up…

She came back to consciousness with a violent jolt, though she still wasn't fully aware of what was happening around her. All she knew for certain was that she was moving and that the movements were making her head spin, albeit they weren't fast movements, like she was being limped along. Her lungs that had desperately been pleading her for air greedily gulped as much as they could, but making the light-headed feeling in her head worse. She heard a voice above her that still sounded so far away telling her they needed to keep moving, at least a little ways. She wished her brain could register who the person was so she could thank them for helping her.

The vertigo was starting to become too much as her senses sharpened, though she was still drifting in and out. She was able to get out to whoever it was carrying her to stop for a second to let her get her bearings. She then felt herself being lowered to the floor, resting her head against a solid surface.

She did not know how long she stayed propped up like this or how long she was in and out until she heard the hurried footsteps and frenzied calls. Then something cupped her sore cheek, gently pressing against it. Something that felt like a hand. Her eyelids flickered open to reveal the blurry mass peering into her face. The smells of smoky wood mixed with sweat and metal hit her nostrils, a soothing smell that had her relaxing almost instantaneously. Then she heard her name. Not Shepard, but Jane, in a distinctive flang that cut through the fog in her head enough for her to focus on the now-recognizable turian by her side…

Garrus…

It had seemed like an endless journey, traveling to the log, even at the steady pace she moved at, power-walking bordering on sprinting. Brooks told her to slow down, but she would not. She had waited long enough for this moment.

The journey was made longer by the likes of the lieutenant-turned-captain with his carping, shifting blame on those two morons she had left Shepard with in the first place for why she had escaped, how it was because of him Shepard was re-captured from spotting her enter that security room and grabbing her once she came back out. Just like Brooks, he liked to talk. And just like Brooks, he both annoyed and bored her.

Her razor tongue had been quick to remind him of his short-comings, his and the first captain. Their grand plan for Ramsay to seduce one of the workers, whose sister had been assistant to the head archivist. A plan she had been assured until two days ago was solid. Did neither of them think she wouldn't find out the girl had gotten wise and backed out? She would not forget or forgive such a failure lightly, not when they had placed so much of this operation on this plan. A foolish decision that she should never have been convinced into by her mercs or Brooks. That would not happen again. From here on out, all decisions would come through her for everyone else to follow without question, their opinions withheld unless asked for. No exceptions.

She made as clear to Ramsay, who didn't say much. She supposed there wasn't much for him to say, sensing he was on thin ice. The only facial expression had been a tightening of the area around his eyes. But she didn't really care much if he felt jaded by the matter; it is not as if he had any other place to go.

Though that nagging voice was still in the background, low-pitched, but there, saying how Shepard's team never gave her such looks of barely concealed derision, of a lack of respect.

She ignored such a voice, as she always did, just as she ignored Brooks when she started on one of her lectures, though it was annoying the voice still tried.

Then they finally came upon it, one of the first ones in the collection. After all this time, everything she had been working towards, there it was. With a press of a button, a few choice words and a handprint to the scanner, it would be official.

She dismissed Brooks and Ramsay, banished them somewhere else out of sight. Such a grand moment would not be shared. This would be hers alone.

She pushed the button on the console, stating the name...her name. Then she offered her hand when prompted, watching the old prints being replaced with the new. Even with all the technology Cerberus had at their disposal, they still could not create matching fingerprints.

Then it was done, the VI on the console wishing her, Commander Shepard, a good day. She was no longer a pretender, a copy of the original. She was now the original. She now had an identity to call her own, reshape as how she saw fit.

The only thing missing was sitting unguarded, waiting for her in docking bay D-24.