Cerberus.

Kaidan didn’t want to believe the word even existed. But there it was. On his tongue, like bile and acid. Cerberus. The enemy of the Alliance. The enemy of the galaxy. Of everything they once stood for. Extremists, terrorists. There was no good word he could think of for Cerberus nor their operations. They were the enemy.

And here they stood before him. His old Commander. His old friend.

Working for Cerberus.

It was bad enough that they had abandoned him for two years, living all this time that he thought they were dead. Now they were working for the enemy. Now they were the enemy. How could he even process that?

“You used to be someone I respected,” he finally spoke, tongue thick with bitter venom. His throat was closed with barely contained frustration and hurt and betrayal on multiple fronts. Abandoned and forced onto the side where he was the enemy of the person he had respected most. “You used to be a hero.”