Mass Effect 3 alternate ending Awakening part 5

The group's reaction was exactly what Shepard had expected; baffled.  
"What?!"
"What are you talking about?!"
"Did I hear right? You can't be seriously saying that!"  

"That's what happened!" yelled Shepard as she raised her hand to silence the others, "I can't force you to believe me, but I though you should at least hear this."
"But Shepard", Tali said, "No one has ever overcome the Reaper indoctrination. If what you say is true, then how did you…"
"It was the Protheans", spoke Shepard, "Apparently they found out a way to break the Reaper's control over their victims. This information, a code of some kind, was transferred into the beacon and through them, to me."  

"I knew that the Prothean technology was highly advanced", Liara said, "But I had no idea they had achieve something like that."
"You couldn't have. The research team that developed the code worked undercover, nobody else knew about."
"Why didn't they use it against the Reapers?"
"It was too late for that, there was nothing they could do to save themselves. So instead they decided to pass the code on to our cycle."

"Shepard", Garrus said as he stepped closer to her, "I'm not doubting you, but if what you say is true, how do you know all this?"  
"There was a some kind of VI, it called itself 'a living memory'", said Shepard, letting her eyes wander around the group, "It told me these things while I was unconscious. It saved me from becoming a Reaper's slave. The last gift of the Protheans I guess."

Liara seemed thoughtful; "The Protheans could already transfer images and memories into other's minds. I guess it wouldn't be impossible to transfer a simple program as well."

Shepard nodded; "I know it's hard to believe, but that's the only explanation I can give you."

"Keelah, I would never doubt you Shepard", said Tali, "But I have to ask; how can you be so sure about this. I mean, you were unconscious, and under a lot of stress. Maybe you were just hallucinating, dreaming?"

"No", said Shepard immediately, "It wasn't a hallucination, I know it. Those feelings, that place… were like nothing I had ever felt before. Something was… changing me, turning me into something else. I know who I am Tali, but that place… wasn't a part of me. Nothing in me could produce such images, such feelings. It had to be someone else, it had to be."

For a moment there was a silence. Nobody quite knew what to think of this.

"If you say so Shepard", said Tali finally, "I'll trust you."

"Shepard?" asked Garrus, "I trust you too, but I'm still wondering about something. If you truly were indoctrinated, how can you know still aren't?"
"What do mean?"
"Well, that Prothean VI you said you talked to? What if that's just what Reapers wanted you to see? What if they just wanted you to believe that you had escaped their control? Isn't that what they do with others, fill their minds with lies?"

Honestly, Shepard hadn't even thought of that. Saren didn't realize he was indoctrinated until the end, he even thought that he was doing the galaxy a service by serving the Reapers. So why the same couldn't be happening to her? What if the Reapers were controlling her, right now, and she didn't even notice? Or maybe they were just waiting for the right moment, and then make her do something horrible.

"I can't believe you would even suggest something like that!" Liara said, almost yelling at Garrus, "You honestly can't tell the difference between our Shepard and a Reaper slave?"
"I'm not saying she isn't Shepard, all I'm saying that there is a possibility that the Reapers are still able to control her. They might not be doing it right now, but sooner or later…"
"Unbelievable, I never guess you'd be the one to lose trust in Shepard, I…"

"It's okay Liara", Shepard said as she interrupted her outburst, "Garrus is right. There's no way for us to be sure about this, I might be just a Reaper's puppet after all. But I don't think we have much of an option, I don't at least."  

"I really don't think you're being controlled Shepard", said Tali suddenly.
"What makes you so sure?"
"Well, they used Udina to kill the council in Citadel, right? It makes sense they'd want to use you the same way. Who here is important enough for the Reapers to get personally rid of?"
"Well there isn't anyone else but… Anderson!" yelled Garrus."
"Correct", said Tali, " If the Reapers truly were controlling you, they would've gotten rid of Anderson as soon as they could. But you were already alone with Anderson, Shepard. If you were indoctrinated, that's they would've done it. That was their best change and nothing happened."

It made sense to Shepard too. Of course, there was no way to be sure. There was no way to truly find out what the Reapers where after. But at least this gave Shepard some peace, for a while. At least she knew that her friends trusted her.

"Thank you Tali", Shepard said.
"Not a problem, Captain", Tali answered.

Shepard took a deep breath. There was still one more issue to talk about. Luckily Garrus already knew what was going on, but Shepard was worried how Liara and Tali would react to their new ally.

"There's one other thing then", spoke Shepard, "I had to make a tough decision a moment ago. Garrus already knows about this, but… We're working with the Illusive Man."

The outburst was immediate.
"WE'RE DOING WHAT?!"
"Keelah, you can't be serious!"
"Shepard, what were you thinking?!"
"You know we can't trust that bosh'tet, how could you…"

"LISTEN TO ME, BOTH OF YOU!" Shepard yelled. Her voice was not as friendly anymore; she was speaking as their commander, not their friend.
"Look, I don't trust him anymore than you do. But the fact of the matter is that we're going to lose this war without his help. The Illusive Man has a machine that can control the husks; if we get that we have change to reach Citadel once again. We're using him to get that machine, that's all there is to it."

Liara and Tali had listened without uttering a simple word. Their eyes were on the floor, as it had suddenly become so very interesting to them. Liara was the first to open her mouth:
"You're right Shepard. We shouldn't have jumped into conclusions."
"Yes, sorry about that Shepard. It's just, with all that Illusive Man has done, what Cerberus has done… I'm sorry", said Tali.

Shepard sighed; "It's okay."
"So, Shepard", said Garrus eagerly, "What are we going to do next?"

Shepard took a few steps past the others, towards the wall. She leaned on it, her legs still ached.
"Illusive Man is borrowing one of our vehicles to transports his machine. But I don't want to let him to do it alone, so I'm going with him."

"And you'd like us company you?" asked Garrus, seeing immediately what Shepard was getting at. Shepard looked at her friends for a while. Yes, she wanted them to come with her. She needed them.

"Yes", she said finally, "I know it's not fair to ask you to abandon everything else you've done here, leave behind every one you've fought with, but I need you. If we don't get that machine we'll lose this war. So I need people that I trust around myself to make sure that doesn't happen. I need my crew."

"And we'll be with you", Liara said without a moment's hesitation, "till the end."
"Of course", spoke Tali, "You can count on us Shepard."
"Absolutely", Garrus said in turn, "We've never let you down before, have we? Just tell us where to go, and we'll follow."

Shepard smiled. Even here, even after all this loss, she could count on them. She wasn't going to lose this war; she wasn't going to lose them now.

"So I guess it's just the four of us then. Just like the old days, almost", said Shepard.

"Almost, except you forgot about me."

Shepard turned around. There was a woman standing behind them, a woman with raven hair and a blue armor.

"Ashley?"

Ashley Williams smiled at them, enjoying their reactions, "Don't act surprised, did you really think I'd let you do this without me?"
"How did you find us?" asked Shepard.
"My squad walked into an ambush earlier today. Only three people survived, myself included. One of us, Greg Zeschuk, was severely wounded though, so we brought him here. I was just about to leave when I met Anderson, and Illusive Man. Captain explained me what was going on. I want to come with you."
"You sure about this? You know we'll be working with Cerberus, using their technology", said Shepard as she walked towards Ashley.
"I'm sure. I might loathe Cerberus, but I know what our situation is. We need their help."

Ashley looked Shepard straight into her eyes. She had come a long way since Eden Prime. There was no more doubt to be seen in her eyes, they were flaming with determination.
"I already left you once when you needed my help. I'm not going to do that again."

Shepard couldn't lie, things were starting to look pretty good for them.

"Good to hear that", said Shepard as she slapped Ashley playfully to the shoulder.
"Come on then", she continued as she walked pass Ashley to the street, "We have a war to win."