So, I decided to do another Christmas special, just like last year, except a little less (or more) insane this time. I wanted to use some of my OCs for this, but unfortunately none of them are really developed enough, so don't expect to see them in anything but cameo roles.

It's Mass Effect... and some crossover. Keep in mind this is just something I'm doing for a bit of fun and holiday cheer, it's not a serious work by any means.

December 14, 2187

"Come on, Shepard! The war is over, we won!"

The answer was an unintelligable slew of words and a loud bump from within the Commander's cabin.

He sighed the turian equivalent of a sigh, which wasn't all that different except for the warbling subharmonics. "Damn it Shepard, we're an hour away from Earth."

There was a muffled reply which he couldn't make out. He turian-sighed again.

It was almost exactly a year since the Reaper War had ended. There was a ceremony on Earth- on the site of the beam that he had almost died charging towards- to commemorate the end of the war. Shepard and Anderson were the only two that made it, and Anderson passed out almost immediately after. All they knew is that a pulse of red energy emerged from the Citadel and obliterated the Reapers- along with the Charon Relay. Across the galaxy, the Reapers withered and died.

It took months just to re-establish communications- with the Mass Relays gone, the galaxy's civilizations were forced to make drastic leaps and bounds in FTL technology to survive. Much of the galaxy's population, and almost all of its military might- was concentrated around the ruined Earth.

Shepard didn't say anything about what happened on the Citadel for months afterwards. When she finally opened up, she was cryptic, mentioning a master-AI Catalyst. Garrus understood enough to know he didn't like what he heard.

It had been a hard year, and they were still rebuilding- those who were left. Thane, Legion, Mordin- he still saw them in his dreams, and he was sure it was a thousand times worse for Shepard. When he saw Palaven, he broke down and cried.

Shepard saw Earth every day and never wept a single tear.

Another turian sigh. "Shepard, you have to move on. We have to move on. If you can't, the galaxy can't either."

The door slid open, revealing a rather dishevelled Shepard. Her reddish-brown hair was long and messy, and her usually piercing green eyes were a shade duller. Her Alliance uniform had its creases in all the wrong places, and was missing several pieces of insignia. "Damn it, Vakarian."

She managed a weak smile. "I know I have to let go of it at some point. I know there's still a ways to go, I know... but damn it, Vakarian, can't a girl have her beauty sleep?"

"Beauty... sleep?"

"Didn't Tali tell you about that?" Shepard asked, motioning Garrus inside and handing him a bottle of turian whiskey.

He cracked it open and poured a small quantity into a waiting glass. "Nope. Quarians don't have them, apparently. Something about strict sleep schedules, keeping the fleet running efficiently. Guess they don't have to worry about that anymore."

"Nope," Shepard replied, raising her own glass. "To Legion. To those we lost."

He clinked his glass against hers and swigged its contents, feeling the comforting fire burn his throat. Shepard did the same with her beverage, something called 'bodka' if he remembered correctly. They sat together in silence, pondering their thoughts.

"It's not the Reapers," Shepard finally admitted, her slender finger tracing the edge of the glass. "Well, I mean, them too, I never stop thinking about the War, but it's not just that. It's just... well... it's Christmas."

"Christmas?"

She corrected herself. "Xmas. Sorry, old habit. A lot of people still call it Christmas."

"Ah." Garrus spread his mandibles in the turian equivalent of a grin.

"I know, I know. What's not to love? Exchange gifts, sit by the fire, get drunk off our asses." She leaned forward, leering seductively at the turian.

"Shepard, I'm a married... turian!" He waved his wrist, with its two iridescent linked bracelets, in front of her face.

"Hah!" Shepard shared a laugh. "Damn, Vakarian, with all the visits you've been making, I wonder if Tali thinks you've been cheating on her."

He shook his head. "Nah. She adores you, thinks you can do no wrong. The great Captain Shepard."

After the burst of merriment was another bout of silence that Shepard finally interrupted. "No, I never did like the Christmas season. It seems all the bad shit happens to me around Christmastime."

"Mind sharing with an old friend? Maybe help take a load off your shoulders?"

She poured herself a drink, and Garrus did the same. "Mindoir. Parents killed, friends killed, everyone I knew killed. November twenty-second, just as the Xmas season starts getting into swing. I don't remember much, Garrus, I really don't. I don't know if it's trauma or injury or a subconscious thing, but I don't remember much. One of the things I remember is the mall... Santa and his dwarves in pools of their own blood."

Garrus gulped down his shot and poured another. Shepard sighed. "Elysium. Boxing day. You know the story- as fucked up as it is. There was one guy I dragged onto the evacuation shuttle. We're being shot at, and here's this dumbass, bitching about missing the sales. I guess it wasn't all his fault, I mean, he did get hit on the head pretty hard."

Another drink. "Collectors, nope, that was more around Halloween. Oh! There's Bahak. That was around... what, mid-December? I think that's about right. And then the Reaper War."

"So, yeah, Garrus, I hate Xmas, because this is when all the bad-"

A sudden jolt nearly threw them off their feet. Shepard bolted upright. "What the hell was that?"

Joker's voice came over the comm. "Uh, we just dropped out of FTL, and I didn't do it. Hey, we're in Earth- oh shit."

"The Normandy is on a collision course for Earth," EDI finished. "Main engines are offline. I cannot prevent our impact."

"Fuck." Shepard was already putting on her armour, and the speed in which she did it still impressed Garrus. She stripped completely naked, exposing those strange bumps that Tali also had, though the quarian's were more pronounced and- stop thinking that, Vakarian!

"I thought you were a married turian?" Shepard quipped, bounding out the door and down the staircase into the CIC (the elevator was, thankfully, gone). The ship was shaking violently, and she knew they were beginning to enter the atmosphere.

She dashed into the cockpit, Garrus in tow. "Joker, what the hell is going on?"

"I don't know, Commander, we just dropped out really close to Earth, like way too damn close, and the engines aren't responding, and shit!"

Gently, she rested a hand on the pilot's shoulder. "Take her down as easy as you can, Joker."