"Councilor, that was just disgraceful."

"Can it, Bailey. We'll do chess one of these days, see how you fare then."

Bailey chuckled boastfully, slapping two more cards on the pile between them. "Keep dreamin'."

Anderson snorted and reached for the bottle to his left, eyeing his play with the trepidation of a man who knew he was about to lose the game. He cringed at his own hand, gulping down the alcohol to conceal it.

"Ready to throw in the towel?"

The councilor sighed and agreed reluctantly, tossing the cards on the table. Bailey laughed and did the same. "Good game, officer."

Bailey stood, taking his own drink with him. "I'd offer you another one, but much more of this and I'll start feeling corrupt for taking so much of a politician's money. Not that I'm complaining, but shouldn't that work the other way around?"

Anderson pulled a face at that, leaning back in his chair. "Not like I have anything better to do," he grumbled. "Shepard's doing all the heavy lifting right now. I'm useless to her."

His cynicism was revealing, and probably immature, he knew. Unfortunately, it was hard to push it away, his position being what it was. He supposed he was going to see the world only as bitterly as he was feeling, wasn't he? And god knew he was bitter. The Council was a nightmare.

Shepard had thrown him a half-apologetic grimace when she'd suggested him for the position, and he supposed he understood the look now. Anderson had come to discover that some people took honest-to-god, unfettered pleasure in arguing aimlessly. He expected it from asari, but Sparatus met Tevos word for word and political bait-and-switch for political bait-and-switch. He'd never thought his eyes could glaze over at hearing a turian speak.

Anderson was supposed to be an Alliance marine, for pity's sake. He wasn't cut out for this. He understood politics – he'd been pushed into it less by choice and more by circumstance, even when he'd just been military – but that didn't mean he wanted to be a part of its beating heart.

It was no surprise he'd started spending far too much time with the man currently in his office. They'd met after Udina, over the long procedural affair that followed his ousting. There was a constant flurry of officers in and out, and nothing that didn't require the human councilor's attention. Bailey had been anything but a recurring fixture, but then one day Anderson had noticed protocol had become uncommonly easy. Forms he knew he ought to have filled appeared as filed, obligatory waiting times seemed to go by in a suspicious blink, and suspects associated with Udina's schemes were implicated in some other inexplicable and calumnious situation, precluding the need for a lengthy investigation.

Anderson had finally tracked it down to a rogue loner attempting to take righteous shortcuts anywhere he could. He regretfully ordered him to use proper channels, but stopped short of reporting the incident. Bailey sure had some questionable views and some real stains on his past record, but at least he was easy to deal with. He shared his opinions on bureaucracy, cared little for political matters, and there was nothing blanketing their interactions. He was just there, uninterested in discussing some diplomatic incident with the batarians on Delta-Something-645-ish, and more often than not, he brought beer.

The man himself eyed him askance. "Aren't you here for the whole diplomatic relations efforts?"

"Be honest with me, Bailey. Do you actually know what that means?"

He grinned. "No. But, luckily for me, I don't have to."

Anderson groaned pitifully. "And no, she's off making sure that's her responsibility too. Notice she managed to get a quarian into the Council as well, when she made the unfortunate mistake of appointing me?"

Bailey nodded, amused. "I did. She's something, huh?"

The councilor clicked his tongue in acknowledgement. "I'm not a young man, you know. I'm not sure how much more of her I can handle. I should tell you about the mission report she sent me a couple of days ago. The footnote briefly detailed how she leapt off a dead reaper before launching it into a star."

Bailey nearly inhaled his beer in his snicker. "I might come around more often, if I get to hear second-hand accounts of her stunts."

Anderson waved him off. "Anytime. More than that, in fact. My sanity appreciates it."

"Sounds like you could use a break," Bailey remarked.

"Couldn't we all?"

"Have a family? You might get them to visit," was his suggestion.

The councilor faltered. "No family. And as for personal relationships… It's complicated."

Bailey huffed, entertained. "Always is. Me, I've got a couple of kids, an ex. Not sure I'm a welcome face to any of them."

Anderson frowned at him. "I'd take the time to work on that, if I were you."

"I am. Don't get me wrong, Councilor, I'm not that hardheaded."

He barked out a 'hah' and took another swig from his bottle.

Unfortunately, like a cosmic sign that the universe was against him, the beer hadn't even touched his lips before the floor shook violently and knocked it out of his hands.

"The hell was that?" he demanded incredulously, jumping to his feet. The world shuddered again, and he gripped the nearest piece of furniture for stability. Bailey was already trying to reach C-SEC, a finger on his ear.

"I- uh-huh. Yes, ma'am, of course, I'll- But could it be- Right. Where? …Understood. And the Council?" There was a pregnant pause. "Ma'am? Ma'am."

Anderson shook his head at him when Bailey turned back to him helplessly. "Someone's taken out the channels, I'm guessing. Or the quake did – well, whatever resembles a quake on a space station. What'd she manage to tell you?" he shouted over the increasing noise coming from outside, which included the annoyingly piercing wail of the alarms.

"Not much. Bunch of batarians, turians, humans just got boots on the docks. They're organized and armed. Deployed in seconds. Plowed through security through sheer numbers before most of C-SEC even knew they were here. I'm guessing Blue Suns," he suggested worriedly. "Best my superiors can tell, they're just messing around, causing random chaos. Spreading. Concentrated on the Presidium. People are fleeing to the Wards. I can't reach anyone else in C-SEC."

"Distraction," Anderson muttered. "But for what?"

Bailey worried his lower lip. "Are we just going to stand here, or-"

The office jostled them once again, and this time, Anderson reached for a wall. "What the hell are they doing, exactly? What kind of damage are we dealing with?"

"I don't know. From the sound of this, though-" A few screams cut through the door, and Anderson paled. "-I'd say someone got their hands on heavy weapons."

Both men strode straight toward the exit once they'd regained their footing, wrenching it open without having to deal with security protocols, which was alarming. If those systems were down, they'd taken control of the station far too easily already. They could be overwritten locally, he reassured himself uneasily.

A couple of turians ran past them, doing a one-eighty when they recognized Anderson. "Sir! You need to get to safety!"

"Where's the rest of the Council?"

"We couldn't bring them to the docks, so the Destiny Ascension is doing an emergency pick-up at Zakera Ward. We should-"

"I'm not going anywhere."

"It's important we get you to safety-"

"I'll be safe, I'm just not leaving."

The words were barely out of his mouth when the path the two men had come from flooded with men clad in blue-colored armor, carrying weapons bigger and heavier than anything the C-SEC officers were holding. He shoved Bailey behind a pillar when they all aimed, scrambling after him with the rest of the C-SEC squad they'd acquired.

"Anyone have a grenade?"

"Why would we have a-"

"Here," Bailey said, passing him the device. Anderson peeked over with a keen eye, and then pitched it scientifically.

The explosion took the Blue Suns by surprise, and they were shoved back in the blast, hidden from sight behind the sudden dust and debris. The C-SEC officers took the opportunity to dash out of cover, and the councilor followed.

For a second, time briefly slowed down through the smoke. Anderson caught a metallic glint on a window, a wisp of smoke dissipating helpfully to give him a clearer view. Somehow, he made impossible eye contact with a black-haired man holding a sword, looking up at him from the presidium. Kai Leng leapt away with a smirk as soon as he'd appeared.

Swearing violently, Anderson spun around and made his way back to his office, where he could activate security procedures and find proper guns. His men hurried after him, listening to his orders raptly.

"Raise Shepard, now. Tell her to get her ass to the Citadel. And bring the Illusive Man to my office, surrounded by an artillery squad if necessary. Take those rifles in case you run into trouble. Go!"

---

Javik's reintroduction to the Normandy worked out no less turbulently, but time soothed all grievances. No one failed to have an opinionated impression of the prothean, and since he wasn't against sharing his, there were a bunch of unsavory comments floating around from most of the crew, which Shepard was quite certain she wasn't meant to hear.

Tali, for instance, searched her out not ten minutes after Gayle had disembarked – the doctor had left with a dazed look on her face and Liara's personal extranet address. The quarian was able to convey with an arched eyebrow everything she needed.

"The look on Ashley's face implies she recently had her every ancestor insulted, so I assume you completed your mission successfully and Javik has joined us?"

"Just give her time to adjust, would you?"

"Sure thing. As soon as Icome out of my adjustment period, I'll be the picture of helpfulness."

No one had more to say than the prothean himself, however. Somehow, he'd gotten it into his head Shepard wanted his take on every new teammate she'd added to her squad, and it only took him a short few days to decide he'd accurately gotten the measure of all of them.

"You've added to your crew since last we met."

"Technically I just haven't detracted from my crew so much."

"Hmm. The salarian is just as annoying as ever, only now it's more permanent, it seems. You have chosen to add a second AI to your recurring squad, which is one of your finer ideas, I'm sure. The drell is surprisingly tolerable, and the krogan is a fine specimen of its kind. The human female is a less tempered and more dangerous version of your Lieutenant Vega. And the new turian is impressively capable. Can we replace the old one? I'll get the airlock."

She grabbed his arm to force him back to his place. "No. That's the first time you've admitted to liking any of my crew," she noted. "Well, so directly, anyway."

"I did no such thing."

For these acclimating few weeks, Shepard found herself with a lighter load of work, for once. Legion and Mordin were now the ones busy with tasks she couldn't assist with, the reaper code and the krogan illness respectively, and the quarians hadn't yet officially appointed Tali. Since Shepard now had the IFF and was just waiting around for the first colony to be abducted – a course of action that left more than one person testy and aggrieved – she devoted herself to the collection of minor resources. The small window of breathing room between priority missions was useful, and she was getting a lot of workout out of her squad. She only felt a little bad about dragging Thane around given his condition, but did it anyway knowing he considered it the height of indignity to be treated like an invalid. At least while he legitimately wasn't one.

Mordin tended to end up sidelined much more often, in fact. He was fully invested in his genophage research, and Shepard happily let him, hoping for a cure development sooner rather than later. The one time she tried gaming some information out of him, he'd only stared at her with a glazed-over aspect to his eyes that told her he was seeing numbers and chemical formulas in front of her face instead.

"Okeer premise incredibly interesting. Wildly unpredictable genetic distribution models, however. Inviable probability calculations. Combine with Maelon's data, may be able to extract stable solution. Follows patterns correlating Amdahl's law, fascinating human theorem. May need parallel projections, distributed responsibilities among cooperating systems, redundancy-?"

She'd avoided questions after that. He could search her out when he was ready.

So, naturally, a disaster had to be brewing all the while, waiting to crash upon her at the right moment.

"Shepard, Councilor Anderson is requesting your immediate attention. The Citadel has been invaded."

Shepard had been reviewing reports on the quarian flotilla movements, which Tali had covertly shared with her, when EDI's disquieted alarm sounded. Those immediately blew out of her mind. Groaning, she sprinted from the CIC to the bridge, not even bothering to ask questions on the way.

"What is it this time?" she questioned warily, staring between Joker and the AI, arriving behind the pilot.

"The way you're talking, you'd think the Citadel gets attacked on the regular. Oh, wait." Joker's forehead was wrinkled, and his fingers were speeding over his displays with focused efficiency. Not even his own sarcasm seemed to cheer him up. "And I don't know. He barely got the message out. We're on our way."

He glanced over at her to confirm that course of action, and she nodded approvingly.

"I have cleared up more of his broadcast. I believe it is intelligible now," EDI announced.

"Let's hear it," Shepard commanded, and EDI complied.

"…or the illu- Kai Leng's play- at? Don't kno- Get here…!"

"Alright, that's plenty clear, I think," Shepard commented thinly, a few short seconds of shock later. "Only question is why." No one had an answer.

"Him again?" Joker complained. "How come he didn't just drop dead of his own accord?"

Shepard sighed, rubbing the back of her hand over her forehead. "Can you tell me anything else, EDI?"

"Only that the Citadel has gone dark. It is not good for the galaxy's inner workings or general economy if this state continues for much longer."

She grimaced. "Any other outgoing calls or anything like that?"

"Not that I can tell."

"He's clearly messing with the data streams," Joker pointed out. "Anderson barely got this out."

"So no backup there earlier than us," Shepard concluded.

"I mean, I've notified a few authorities, but y'know, busier flying us there. Thankfully, the Citadel was our next stop anyway."

"It's fine. Alert the crew, EDI," she ordered. "We'll get in first."

Joker disagreed. "Yeah, that's gonna be a problem. You don't want the Normandy getting his attention when he doesn't know we're coming," Joker suggested. "You know, because we're big and heavy and shiny. Very flashy."

"What're you thinking?" Shepard asked, intrigued.

"Get Cortez to drop you in hot and invisible. Keep it a surprise until Leng's standing in front of you. No offense, Commander, but that's one son of a bitch I don't want to see you go up against again unprepared. He's one of the few people I've ever seen beating you."

"He didn't beat- Fine," she relented before he had a chance to make a snide comment. "You have a point. I still killed him in the end," she added stubbornly anyway.

"Sure did, let's make sure you kill him in the beginning this time?"

Shepard said nothing and walked away, trying to maintain the appearance of argumentative superiority. She rode the elevator down to the shuttle bay, trusting her people to follow.

Cortez was putting away yet another bunch of tools when Shepard approached him and the Kodiak.

"Ready to ship out?" she greeted. "I'm gonna need you."

"I heard. I'll get you in there. Just make sure you come back out in one piece."

"That's how I like to end missions."

"Yeah, but not how you usually end missions."

"Hey. I'm still whole, aren't I?"

"Barely. Where's your squad?"

As though on cue, Thane appeared, striding toward her in haste. The rest of her team began trailing after him in groups, but the urgent expression on the drell's face caught and kept Shepard's attention.

"Commander, Kolyat is on the Citadel," Thane said darkly. "I would like to track him down."

"Your son?" Nihlus clarified, surprised.

Alarmed, Shepard opened her mouth, an apology on the tip of her tongue, but he waved her off. "I'm sure he's fine. I would just like to find him and make sure. It's not your fault that I wanted to meet with him," he pointed out.

"I- Fine," she relented, not having the time for this discussion. "Take Grunt and Vega with you." Hopefully, the sheer tank-like combination would tip the scales in their favor. "Alenko, Williams, grab your gear. Everyone else keeps the civilians safe, Joker will drop you on site as soon as I get Leng's attention. Get a perimeter going, coordinate with C-SEC if you can." There were nods all around while people began filing out. "Watch your ass, Thane, Kai Leng doesn't play around." Especially not with you, she added in her head.

Kaidan seemed horrified by the reminder, but no one was about to dissuade the drell, or bring him up to speed. Shepard just needed to keep Leng in her sights and everyone should be just fine.

"Of all the things I hoped would stay the same, Kai Leng making a visit to the Citadel wasn't on the list," Kaidan muttered as Thane walked away briskly.

"And who exactly is this guy?"

Shepard shook her head at Ashley's question and followed Cortez. "I'll explain on the way."

---

Inside the shuttle, accompanied by twice as many people than Shepard was used to, Miranda was briefing her on what little information she had. Steve had called her up on EDI's indication, for which Shepard was thankful.

The ex-Cerberus operative's face flickered briefly as the shuttle shook in turbulence.

"He's hired some Blue Suns mercenaries." Her tone implied she found it distasteful. "I confirmed it with Aria T'Loak."

Shepard swore under her breath and mentally filed a reminder that she needed to pay the asari a visit. "Zaeed know anything about this?"

"He's mostly out of the loop, Shepard. He was an outsider before he began doing business with you, and now he's an outsider who keeps far too respectable company."

Ash had been appropriately alarmed at the information she'd been supplied, and was now listening quietly and attentively. Shepard thought that was good progress, considering what she knew of Miranda's past affiliations.

For his part, Vega was hackling the pilot up at the front of the Kodiak, and Thane was entertaining himself – or perhaps distracting himself – by providing live audience. This was useful, as it allowed Shepard to speak freely. Annoyed, she began pacing and changed the subject. "What does Kai Leng think he'll get out of this? Cerberus is gone."

"I don't know, Commander. I'm sorry I couldn't track down Leng in time to stop him."

"It's not your fault," she reassured automatically, distracted. "Could this have been done on the Illusive Man's orders?"

"Possibly. Depends on how dirty his guards on the Citadel are."

"You think he's got enough reach for this?"

Miranda seemed to give that some thought before replying. "Perhaps not. Cerberus is not the Goliath it became during the war. It's why I was able to surprise the Illusive Man and come out on top. A lot of their success was marketing, actually," she added as an afterthought.

"I'm not sure I follow."

"You didn't give the Illusive Man the opportunity to extend his influence over the galaxy. Or legitimacy by working with him. Going 'hey, Commander Shepard thought we were good enough' has some impact in anyone with humanity-leaning tendencies."

"Thanks. I really needed something else to feel bad for, over my stint with them."

"Well, look on the bright side. By working with Cerberus, you met me."

Kaidan snorted and Ashley wrinkled her nose. Shepard's lips twitched briefly. "Thanks for the info, Miranda," she dismissed, and the hologram winked out on her friend.

Shepard's eyes travelled to Grunt, who was squinting outside at the approaching dock. "Hey," he said suddenly, "aren't those way more ships than we were expecting?"

Vega followed his gaze at once, as did Shepard, and confirmed his observation. It wasn't exactly a ring surrounding the station – more of a sphere. Someone's private army had clearly shown up in full. "Way, way more," Shepard agreed with a frown, walking over to Steve.

"Esteban," James called apprehensively, "how come they're ignoring us? Haven't spotted us yet?"

"Because they have seen us," came the terse reply. "It's what I like to call a 'trap'. Get a seat, now."

Everyone bolted to follow the order. Not a moment too soon, either, as Cortez pulled a searing turn to avoid a high-velocity explosive slug that whizzed over the shuttle.

"The hell are they carrying?" Vega gasped, slamming back into his seat from the sudden G-force. The Kodiak shuddered ominously.

"They left an opening they knew he'd take," Thane speculated plainly, as though the situation wasn't bothering him, "and waited. However, the lieutenant is obviously more skilled than they were expecting."

Grunt was clutching his seat diligently. "Then we're in," he concluded pragmatically, and the Kodiak banked hard to the right, as though it was the universe knocking him about for his flippancy.

"Alright, so maybe this situation is more complicated than I originally thought," Shepard muttered through gritted teeth. They all felt another yanking pressure over their navels, and she focused on steadying her breaths.

"Commander, we're gonna have a job of this," Steve yelled from the front. "You need to airdrop with the shuttle in motion!"

"Of course we do."

"Why? What's happening?"

"Well, I don't know about you, but I don't want to find out what a missile feels like when it hits. Not today. I need to find someplace safe for an LZ, but that's not anywhere near where you need to be."

"Got it. How steady can you keep this thing?"

She could see his grimace from all the way in the back. "Not nearly enough."

Shepard nodded and unclasped her harness, clinging forcefully to whatever purchase she could find. Her squad followed her to the door, which was already creaking open. "Just say when."

"When!"

She hit the ground from far too high a drop, grunting painfully upon impact, and heard five people do the same. The Kodiak had zoomed away in a heartbeat, losing the Blue Suns' attention as soon as Shepard was no longer inside.

"Everyone alright?" Cortez immediately demanded in anxiety, as the landing team ran to avoid gunfire.

"You need to work on those piloting skills, man. Talk about a bumpy ride," Vega provoked in response.

"We're good, Lieutenant. Nice job. Get yourself secure."

Steve grumbled something about 'nice' not being the word he'd choose, but otherwise quieted, and Shepard focused on identifying the best cover. A quick perusal of the waiting area allowed her to find a knocked-over metal stand, wide enough for all six of them and tall enough to give their heads protection. "Over there. Move."

They sprinted over the open space standing between them and their objective, and vaulted over the table to crouch behind it. In the moment of respite, Shepard noticed something glaringly wrong with the situation.

"Damn it."

"What?" Kaidan asked immediately.

"I'm not armed."

Now Vega turned to her in astonishment. "How are you not armed? You're always armed!"

Shepard glared at him and Grunt looked her over knowingly. "Dropped it when we landed."

"Yeah, bit of a rough ride. I wasn't expecting that. My pistol's in the shuttle." The weight of her sniper rifle on her back was comforting, however.

Vega swore before Kaidan could. "You're going off after Leng without-"

"Here," came the sudden offer from Shepard's left. She looked up and recognized Bailey with a pang of shock, extending the butt of a gun to her. The fact that she hadn't noticed his presence in their small makeshift cocoon was a testament to the lack of control she'd spiraled into in this mission. He was alone, looking no worse for wear, and continued before she could express a word of surprise. "I have another one."

"Wh-" She couldn't even finish the word before the crack and spittle of a bullet hitting metal sounded against their cover. Glaring, she craned her neck beyond safety, identifying her target without difficulty. A well-aimed shot to his heart, coupled with Kaidan's reave, took him down. "What are you doing here? Alone?"

Bailey shrugged unconcernedly. "I knew you were coming, and thought someone should be here to meet you. Sorry I couldn't warn about this welcome party. Got cut off from my men. Bailey, by the way. My name," he elaborated.

"Good to- uh, meet you. Thanks. Anderson send you?"

"Yeah."

The ground under them shook violently before she could continue the line of questioning, and a crate nearby blew up into tiny little pieces. Shepard stared at it. "I thought we were dealing with mercs. Where the hell did they get this hardware?!"

"Been asking myself that question ever since they landed, ma'am," Bailey growled in response, taking a few shots from cover. Compared to what their opponents were carrying, it was almost pathetic. "Someone's either supplying them or else giving them the money they need to do it themselves."

Shepard took a deep breath. "Alright. Split it. Kaidan, Ash, Grunt, right flank. Everyone else to my left. I'll cover you from the rear. You see that vantage point, higher ground? Get behind cover over there. Then we'll have a shot at taking them out."

Everyone accepted the plan easily, even Bailey, and before long they were making a mad dash for it. The shots Shepard fired were more for attention than damage, but she managed to hit at least three men before skittering behind yet another cover. Everyone else followed without much delay.

She ejected a thermal clip irritably as Thane plopped down next to her, breathing heavily. "Bailey, your equipment needs some upgrading. Stupid thing keeps jamming," Shepard complained waspishly. "What, these things still running on gunpowder or something?"

"Well, if you keep pulling that trigger like there's no tomorrow, it's no surprise."

"How am I supposed to shoot it, then?"

"Slowly?" Shepard scoffed at that, which made him snort. "This isn't your top-of-the-line gear, Commander. This shit breaks easy. Why are you even shooting without aiming proper, anyway?"

"I am aiming," she defended, tone taking on an offended aspect. "What's that supposed to mean?"

Bailey stared, disbelieving. "No one can point a gun that fast, wh-"

"Shepard aims faster than most pistols shoot, and gets vocally irritated each and every time they predictably overheat," Kaidan explained automatically, peeking outside their hiding place to access the situation. "So, listen, think we can focus on the hostiles now? That one over there's got shields, Commander. And the mech looks like he's about to spring out of cover. But take your time, this complaint-filing situation should take priority."

Shepard didn't bother replying, taking a careful look at where Kaidan was pointing. Sure enough, the metallic sounds of a robot moving quickly reached their ears, an attempt to approach their cover. She waited until the thing was right next to the other shielded soldier to overload it with Kaidan's assistance – it hit the merc with shrapnel on top of his fried shielding. Meanwhile, everyone else engaged in a deadlier version of a gun salute, turning the docking bay into a targeting practice arena where bullets rained in buckets.

Dismayed at her sidearm, Shepard joined their efforts by mounting her sniper rifle, picking out mostly humans, whose critical points were easier to identify, one by one until the battlefield was cleared.

There was silence for a few seconds, while their 'newest' acquaintance gapped. "Is there anything she's bad at?"

The answers came prompt and earnest.

"Driving."

"Dancing."

"Cooking."

"Flirting. Like, real flirting, you know? Not the joking kind, when she actually cares. I've seen it, it's-"

"Thank you all kindly for shutting up," Shepard interrupted before anyone else had the chance to speak up, strapping her weapons back into place. "And thank you especially, James, for being so thorough and specific in your answer."

Kaidan took pity on her and changed the subject. "We should split up and get going, we're wasting time."

"No shit."

"You've all got your orders, move out," she commanded. "Bailey, you're with me. What's C-SEC's status?"

He scoffed, watching everyone but Kaidan and Ashley clear out. "Hell if I know. We're scattered. The only ones I can reliably reach are in Councilor Anderson's office."

"Well, that's where we're headed anyway," Shepard decided, setting off. "What are they doing there?"

"Illusive Man. The Councilor ordered him up with a security detail. My guess is he thought the guy was the target of this little party. Seems pretty plausible."

"Yeah. Quick thinking," Shepard praised, impressed. "Probably the only reason the Illusive Man's still in custody. Leng didn't go for the embassies first."

"Yeah, fat lot of good that does for these men," Bailey said disgustedly, taking in the destruction as they advanced through C-SEC. "I'm glad we've got a marine on the Council, don't get me wrong, but-"

"Bailey, a lot of good people would be killed if the Illusive Man gets free," Shepard rebutted gently. "I understand your frustration, and I promise I'm going to make Kai Leng pay for this."

Bailey nodded slowly. "I'll take a promise from you seriously, Commander."

"Shepard," she corrected, and he agreed haltingly.

They reached the embassies with little resistance, which was dwindling further the more they advanced. It was frustrating Shepard that she couldn't work out what Kai Leng's strategy was here – did he not know where the Illusive Man had been moved by now? Or was he somehow not the actual target?

She stepped outside the final elevator to the human embassies, and was brought out of her musings by coming face to face with Anderson himself. The relief that settled in Shepard's bones at the sight was a little unseemly and uncalled for, and only right then did she realize just how worried she'd been about her mentor's condition.

"Sir, shouldn't you be in your office?" Bailey instantly chastised, casting a wide look around.

The councilor ignored him however, attention solely on Shepard. "You're here, good. I was beginning to think you hadn't gotten my message."

"I took the scenic route," she quipped, following him as he started hurrying back through the way he'd come. "And shouldn't you be in your office? Where are we going?"

"The scenic route? So you jumped off a shuttle, crashed it into some priceless monument one of the other councilors is going to chew me out over?" She didn't give him the satisfaction of confirming his accuracy. Surely Cortez had steered clear of any important statues, anyway. Anderson glanced back suspiciously at her silence, but said nothing. "And we're going back to my office, if you're so determined to get me in there. I was going to track you down."

"Isn't that that way?" Kaidan questioned, and Anderson threw him a bemused look, possibly at the fact he knew the location of the human councilor's office.

"Yeah, well, I'm taking the scenic route too. Less spontaneous potholes and overall danger this way."

"Where's the Illusive Man?"

"Also in my office. Locked up tighter than-"

Shepard never got to find out the rest of Anderson's analogy, because at that moment, they heard boots marching on the metal plating of the floor just ahead, and fell silent. They slid into the shadows behind a corner, and waited until the sound vanished in the distance.

"The Blue Suns have breached the embassies?"

"They've been here the whole time," Anderson whispered back. "Just not in numbers. They were concentrated down in C-SEC. I'm guessing that will change soon."

Sighing, she cautiously stepped out of cover and grew bolder when the hallway looked empty. Bailey approached the nearby door and fiddled with the controls until it opened.

"We need to climb up there," Anderson said, glancing out at the new hallway to make sure it was empty. No one was supposed to come here, Shepard assumed – there was an unobstructed view of the exterior, like a balcony that someone had forgotten to safeguard. Ashley peeked over to appraise the drop, and she didn't seem to like what she saw. Above their heads, a similar stretch of metal plating stood, the same balcony on a different level. Shepard figured that's what Anderson was referring to.

"How?" she wondered critically, eyeing the platform. There were no ladders or other access points.

"No clue. But if we walk the length of it, we should drop down on the other side of the hall to my office."

Shepard pondered that for a second, and then turned to consider Kaidan. "How would you feel about levitating five people, Alenko?"

"I'd feel like you were out of yo-" The retort died on his lips as he took notice of the look on Anderson's face. "I mean, I'd suggest coming up with alternatives, Commander."

"Can you do it or not, Lieutenant?" the councilor interjected impatiently.

"It's- I'm not comfortable enough to risk it, sir, not at that height. If it goes wrong-" He stared down to the left, where the wind was whistling against some impressively tall artificial trees. They'd had to get creative with their pathfinding, and now they were reduced to essentially free-climbing the outside of the presidium.

"I'll go first," Shepard interrupted cheerily, pushing forward toward the lowest point in the platform. "You won't drop me, will you, Kaidan?"

He glowered at her balefully, but raised no protest. Looking tense as a coiled rubber band about to snap, he carefully lifted her feet off the floor, ascent trajectory jerking only a little, and slowly lowered her to her destination, gently dropping her back down. The glowing biotics powered down, and he was left looking surprised and slightly flushed, but pleased with himself.

"Alright. Maybe I can. C'mon, Ash."

"Just remember I'm too awesome to die yet, LT."

"Maybe just some facial disfigurement, then?" he suggested teasingly.

"What, even more? I don't think people would bear to make eye contact with you anymore, Alenko."

"Whenever you two are done," Anderson interjected pointedly, crossing his arms. Shepard snorted loudly from above. "I don't know what you're laughing about, Commander. Shouldn't you have a hand over your subordinates?"

Ashley appeared over the side, glowing faintly blue, and Shepard grinned at her as she landed. "What, and miss out on their stand-up routines? They're so funny too."

Ashley made a gesture that Anderson could thankfully not see from down below, and the back-and-forth died there.

Kaidan didn't have much trouble with the two men left, who'd relaxed at his initial success. When only he was left on the lower level, Shepard and Ashley laid down on the floor to reach his hands and pull him up with some extreme stretching all around.

"That wasn't so hard, now was it?" Shepard teased.

Kaidan pulled a face at her. "Don't push your luck."

Bailey cleared his throat, eyebrows raised at the two of them, and they feigned obliviousness, following the others down to the cracked window pane that would let them back inside the building.

Leaping to avoid the glass, Shepard carefully wobbled over what was left of a previously solid wall, catching sight of a woman with a distinct non-military look about her, crawling over the debris. Her squad stopped short when recognition came from the bobbed black hair and Alliance uniform.

"What the hell, Tra-" Shepard stopped herself just short of calling out a name she wasn't supposed to know. "Who are you?" she lied feebly instead. "What are you doing in the middle of-"

"Chambers," Traynor growled at some rubble. Shepard had never felt this ignored. "Where are you?" There was a faint squeak from somewhere to Shepard's right, and she lunged forward to shove several sheets of torn metal off of a trembling Kelly Chambers. "Oh, thank you," she cried, and then finally looked up at her rescuer, a nasty cut running down the length of her cheek. "Oh!"

Both women seemed to come to their senses then, jumping to their feet - Kelly helped along by Shepard's offered hand – and taking note of their audience. "Uh, hi! We're - we were - you're Shepard! Commander Shepard, ma'am, sir, I mean, and- Councilor Anderson, hello," Traynor greeted uneasily. "Good thing you're alright."

Anderson cleared his throat before anyone else thought of something to say to that. "These women are part of a highly specialized team I assembled after Udina's shifty alliances came to light," he revealed. "They're supposed to reinforce Alliance intel. Whether the Alliance likes it or not."

Shepard opened and closed her mouth several times, wondering how she could ask about the impossible coincidence that that was, considering their circumstances. Kelly saved her. "We've been more than happy to serve," she said softly.

"How-" Kaidan trailed off, but the single word seemed to adequately and concisely verbalize it.

"They're good operatives. Strangest thing, their files just kept appearing on my desk until I bothered to read them. No one could tell me where they came from. I'm glad I did, anyway."

"You hired a couple of dossiers that someone was sneaking onto your desk for an anti-corruption taskforce?" Shepard deadpanned.

Anderson shrugged unconcernedly. "I have good instincts."

The Shadow Broker did, at any rate. Or at least Shepard hoped this was Liara's doing. "Uh-huh. I have questions, but later. Listen, you two - you cannot be here," she said firmly, turning back to the two unarmed women. "And we can't keep standing around either."

"You don't have to tell us twice. I- I mean, yes, ma'am," Traynor saluted nervously. "But where do we go?"

Shepard grabbed the spare gun Bailey had handed her and held it out for them. Neither took it. "You're gonna have to make a run for it to the wards, it's your safest bet," she advised. "I wouldn't do it unarmed, if I were you."

"But - we're more likely to shoot our own foot than a hostile."

Shepard decided there was validity to that argument, particularly since Traynor had visibly reverted to her anxious ways. And no way was Kelly going to be taking the weapon. She looked like she was about to pass out. Shepard turned to her allies helplessly. "The Normandy's way out of range, right?"

"Completely," Kaidan confirmed. "And someone's jamming comms."

"… I could - do something about that," Traynor suggested hesitatingly. All eyes snapped to her. "Just point me in the right direction."

"Ground control is much closer," Shepard admitted grudgingly. "But I still think it's a better idea for you to head for the wards, last I knew they were untouched."

"Look, you're never going to handle this without talking to each other. C-SEC's nowhere in sight. You need a way to contact them," Traynor argued. "So let me."

"Weren't you completely ready to flee only a moment ago?"

"That was different. This is my turf."

Shepard sighed and relented. "And Kelly?"

"I'll - I'll go with."

"Fine. Bailey," she said, catching his eye. Her head nodded in the two women's direction. "Make sure they get there. We can take it from here."

"Sure thing," he agreed easily. "Not like that Kai Leng guy's hard to spot."

In an ironic way to prove his point, they all heard loud and clear the sound of metal scratching on metal, coming maybe from a few dozen meters away. Anderson paled. "He's here. We need to get to the Illusive Man now."

"Alright. Bailey," Shepard called, watching Traynor and Kelly inch away nervously, "thanks." He nodded, surprised, and left after them. Shepard turned to her squad. "C'mon, we need to hurry. Williams, can you see a sniper perch?"

"Not here. Maybe nearer the office?"

The floor shuddered again, and Shepard rethought her line of thinking. "You know what, there's no point. Nowhere steady, never mind the visibility. Just keep close."

They hurried in the direction of the office's door, realizing with some relief that it looked untouched. Anderson punched in codes and allowed his biometrics to be analyzed, and the security system glowed green. Sprinting inside in the relative quiet, she left Kaidan and Ashley as vigils, locking everything back up.

Out of the corner of her eye, Shepard could see the Illusive Man, a bored look on his face, sitting on the couch like he owned it. His interest peaked when he noticed her as well, watching her movements attentively, but everyone ignored him. Thankfully, this prevented him from opening his mouth.

She tore her eyes away from him and approached her councilor with some caution, taking in his frantic pacing.

"Kai Leng," Anderson spat out like the name itself was a swear word, reclaiming the room's attention. "God damn it."

"Keep it together, Anderson, we need to focus on ejecting him from this station."

"Oh, I'm focusing on it, alright."

"You know this guy?" she asked out of obligation, already knowing the answer.

Anderson was opening his mouth to answer when an explosion slammed into the wall beside them, knocking Shepard on her ass and sending Ashley and Kaidan, who'd been nearest in defensive positions, flying. She heard Anderson coughing somewhere behind her as she rolled over to shield herself from debris, and somehow caught a glimpse of booted feet stepping over the remnants of the office's door.

"I take it the element of surprise has been used up," she muttered, climbing up to her feet unsteadily.

"Is that what that was?" Kai Leng asked, smooth voice expressing shock in mockery. His hair looked as greasy as always, and she resisted the petty urge to tell him to wash it, or at least cut it, in order to keep the situation appropriately dramatic. "I wondered why you were hiding behind some politician's skirts."

Well, that was bound to piss off Anderson, predictably. "I'll show you what a fuc-"

Shepard stepped directly between Kai Leng and the direction from which Anderson's voice was coming. The assassin gave her a half-cocked grin like they were sharing a joke. "Anderson, get our- charge out of here," she requested calmly.

She expected an argument and the man did not disappoint. "In your dreams I'm leaving, Shepard." Kai Leng was still looking entertained, circling her like she was prey. She still couldn't see Anderson, but there were some struggling noises from somewhere to her left that told her he was probably trying to make his way to them over the broken pieces piles of metal, glass and assorted materials.

Shepard waited until she felt Leng directly behind her and far too close, and then hit the floor in a nasty roll to avoid the strike of his sword. He stopped milling about then. Suddenly, she was locked in a flurry of movement she wasn't prepared for, unarmed and injured while trying to avoid his blade and block his limbs.

She eventually managed to shove him away briefly, long enough to catch her breath, and discovered she was now mad. "Anderson, do you want to check priorities right now? Get him out."

"I'm not a fan of that plan," Leng commented, back on his feet. "After you went to so much trouble to lead me directly to him, and everything."

"Shepa-"

"Sir, I swear to-" Shepard cut herself off with a gasp so she could avoid Leng rushing right past her. She was way too exposed, right there in the middle of the room, and she could hardly do anything about it. Keeping her focus on her shields, she scanned the dust in the air, but couldn't locate Leng. "Didn't your mother ever teach you not to run with swords?" she shouted after him, trying an alternative form of eco-location.

She got no response, because Kai Leng hadn't gotten this far without brains. Instead, Anderson's shape materialized to her left. She glared at him, hurrying over in case she needed to act the human shield. "Out. I'll keep him busy."

"Absolutely not," he growled, and she noted he had a shallow cut on his arm, held firmly by his side. "Of all people, if he manages to- I'm not leaving you alone."

"Touching," came Leng's comment before she could open her mouth, far closer than he should be.

Shepard shoved Anderson back into the mess of the debris with far too much strength, in the vague direction of the exit Kai Leng had carved, and spun around to find the man's attention solely on her. His sword was in his hands, a toy on standby, at least for the moment. The look on his face was curious, disinterested in Anderson. The fact that he seemed to be waiting on something, instead of trying to locate the Illusive Man in the midst of that mess, worried her.

She shook her head and steeled herself, back to where she'd shoved the councilor. "I'll handle it, just go." she tried one last time, eyes still on Leng but addressing Anderson. Her response was complete silence, and she hoped that was a good sign.

A booming EM field flooded the surrounding area, centered on Leng, and stole her breath out of her lungs. She went flying, shields fizzling out, and landed with a crash somewhere on the other side of the room. There was a stunned moment for the world to make sense again, and then she snapped right back to the fight aspect of her flight-or-fight instinct.

Her hair was slipping right out of its bun as she pushed herself up feebly, and she discovered her squad was now in her direct line of sight. Kaidan and Ash were down, bodies unmoving like they'd been dropped from three stories high. She thought she saw Ashley twitch feebly, and Kaidan was emitting a faint blue glow, but she didn't have time to check on them. They're just winded, she told herself firmly.

Kai Leng was smirking at her, like he'd already won. Not this time.

Unsteadily, she got to her feet. She had no weapons, the remains of her useless, substitute pistol strewn among the rubble somewhere. Leng was probably not going to wait for her to dig anything out, if it had even survived, which she doubted. What she did have was a rebar made out of some kind of sturdy material, conveniently snapped out of its place, so that it was very rough at the edges and lying a meter away from her. She grabbed it and turned back to the assassin, who looked unimpressed.

"You're going to smack me with a stick?"

Shepard was about to offer a scathing retort she hadn't come up with yet, when she was interrupted unexpectedly. Several shots sounded right by her ear, hitting neither her nor Kai Leng, but pointedly aimed at him. They served their purpose - the assassin sharply plunged away to safety, leaving her to chase him instead of the other way around. In her sprint, she caught sight of Kaidan dropping his weapon arm weakly with a groan, and gritted her teeth to focus.

She climbed over several protruding metal structures, scanning the area for the assassin. There were two things she needed to remember right then – to keep him in sight and to impair his tech. Cerberus hadn't outfitted him with the shiny new horrifying stuff they'd developed last time, but what he had was clearly no less impressive. One more hit like the previous one, and she wasn't sure she was getting back up. Thankfully, she was reasonably sure that particular move had a pricey recharge time.

Something shone for a microsecond out of the corner of her eye, and she brought up the rebar violently to keep Leng's strike at bay. His headgear started glowing again, but Shepard wasn't without tricks either. Her omnitool lit up for one second, but it was enough – a bundle of searing energy travelled up his arm where he'd snatched her, and he recoiled in agony, the power in his gadgets fizzling out weakly.

"Someone should have already taught you not to touch people without their consent."

His recovery was swift, his reaction swifter, and he hurled out a foot toward her ankles, missing her by a hair's breadth. By some mutual and silent understanding, they scrambled away for a second, both panting and staring at each other with laser-like focus. Leng offered her a smirk in the lull, which she instantly recognized as an attempt to distract her from something.

"You're playing hard to get," he accused, and she let her eyes trail stealthily over him, searching for an indication of his next move.

"It's not playing, I really am hard to get."

"The same doesn't apply to your squad, though, does it?" he countered, a faux-sympathetic tone to his voice. "That was a pitiful performance on their part. Useless. Are they dead?"

Stiffening in anger was an involuntary response. "You won't get to find out."

Shepard almost missed the way his sword flicked a millimeter to the side, and threw out her metal bar against it in good time. It sliced through with just enough attrition to help her, which reduced her makeshift weapon to a third of its original length. Knowing it was a diversion, her shields briefly flickered back to life with an ungodly amount of effort to absorb the shots he was aiming simultaneously.

She cryo-blasted him in order to slow him down, and scurried toward cover, hunching down before he could regain his footing. Her vision was going faint from exertion, but she vaguely registered she was crouching behind Anderson's overturned desk. She snuck a painful look at where she'd left Leng. It took her a moment to process the disorientated and somehow sharply alert expression on his face, but then her gaze lowered, and she froze at what she saw.

He was standing on top of ruined circuitry, something that might once have been a control panel for the human councilor's interactive consoles. The wiring was naked, rather intact, streaking though half the length of the room, and very much within her reach. She checked to see her cooldown latency was almost at relatively safe levels.

Shepard tore her gaze from his feet so he wouldn't realize what she'd noticed, and rolled away from his area of effect, knowing she was very close to becoming a sitting duck from the telltale crackle in the air – just in time. A thunderous and electrocution-inducing bolt of energy landed heavily a meter away.

Before he could take a step, her hand came down on the floor hard, and the second her fingers connected with the wiring, she overloaded.

It coaxed a loud, strangled sound out of Leng's throat, and if he hadn't been shocked into temporary paralysis, she was pretty sure he'd have dropped to his knees. The force of her attack was still clear not just in the way he reeled, but in the static Shepard could almost tangibly see under and all around him.

Her suit's capacitors had been completely fried by the move, but she'd come out of it unharmed. Wasting no time, Shepard flashed over to Leng before he had a chance to recover, but overestimated how much she'd disabled him – the moment her hand landed roughly on his upper arm, his free hand moved far too quickly for her to predict.

The sword came down on her waist harshly. "Urgh," she gasped – the blade had torn through the armor and cut flesh to an extent she wasn't sure she wanted to investigate. Not for the first time, she wondered what kind of material that thing was made of.

The searing pain on her side made it easy for her tunnel vision to become dazed and fogged, but she had enough clarity of mind to kick at the arm responsible for it. Unfortunately for him, she still had a controlling grip on him and on the situation. With a surge of strength Shepard hadn't realized she could still muster, she shoved the rebar right through his middle and into the wall. He had very little in the way of armor – with his barriers fried, there wasn't much stopping her.

His gun went off, but it fired wildly. He gasped and dropped both weapons - she kicked away the gun but picked up the sword.

It wasn't a pretty picture, when she stepped back, and Shepard didn't feel particularly good about it. But some vindictive, bloody part of her viciously crowed at the sight of Leng trembling on his spike, breath hitching desperately like he couldn't catch it. Which he probably couldn't.

"What did you come here for? Was it really just the Illusive Man?"

Their eyes met. There was that one last bit of defiance he could offer her. Somehow, she understood some sort of unspoken agreement in the way their eyes met – she wasn't going to get what she wanted to know, and he was going to die. A weird, twisted sort of compromise that made perfect sense, somehow. Like Shepard, not even in the end did he completely relinquish control.

Then a shot sounded, originating from behind her, and he was put out of his misery.

Shepard launched the sword in her hand over the rubble. It glinted briefly under the artificial lights before it plunged into oblivion. It was doubtful it would ever be unearthed again.

She turned back to her squad, who approached her slowly and obviously in pain. Kaidan was grabbing at the back of his head like he'd overused his implant – again – and was suffering the consequences. Ashley had an arm tight against her trembling leg, possibly the source of her limp, but her shooting hand was steady and aiming the pistol she'd just used to put a bullet in Leng.

Shepard dropped down to meet them and put an arm around Ashley, who instantly let her support most of her weight, which was a bad sign. The adrenaline allowed her to keep upright, her other hand wrapped around her own middle. "C'mon. It's over. Let's get back to the Normandy before the adrenaline crash."

"You're still running on adrenaline?" Kaidan joked feebly, but complied, rolling his shoulders like he wanted to distract himself from the migraine.

Shepard glanced up at where Kai Leng's body still lay, limbs slack and eyes wide open. His hair was mixing with the grit and grime on the ground, spilled over the metal plating to provide a dark contrast. A dead man, with a hundred labels, a few of which nameless voices would apply to Shepard herself. How quickly a road could derail, if only the traveler took a few left turns where the rights seemed difficult and unappealing.

Kaidan pressed a weightless hand on her shoulder, and she snapped out of it. His gaze was much heavier than his touch when her eyes found it fleetingly. She shook her head at him.

Ashley's breathing was erratic in the rise and fall of her chest under Shepard's arm, so she tightened her grip and took up a brisk pace.