Author's notes: Hello everyone! This is my first time writing a Mass Effect story and I have no beta reader (They always seem to disappear on me). Constructive criticism is very welcome. This story is based on the Shepard I created in Mass Effect 2 and I named her Angel(Hey, I like the name Angel!). I wanted to bring my Shepard alive in this story. I want to show her thoughts, her motivations, and what she believes.

I hope you enjoy this story=)

Death

Warm water poured over her body; A body that had suffered through rigorous basic training, survived the raids of Batarian slavers in Mindoir, the Battle of Elysium, Feros, Therum, Noveria, Virmire, Ilois and to add to the list, the Battle of the Citadel. Soaking in all the water, she caressed herself with the green tea soap she favored the most. Not much fragrance but it left her skin clean and that was all that mattered to her.

Fingers graced over the few scars she had. Each of them had a story to tell. A thin pink gash was visible on her right shoulder. She got that one from Elysium from a Batarian, who she had thought was dead pulled a knife on her and stabbed her shoulder. She had to fight with that knife stuck inside her shoulder the whole time waiting for reinforcements. Hurt like hell when she pulled it out in triumph and dug it into the ground next to the bodies of all the dead Batarians she killed herself. Another not-so-remarkable scar was a vertical line above her stomach. It was from a Rachni she encountered as her squad and herself tried to escape the hot labs back in Noveria. It's-were they hands or claws?- claws sliced her stomach. It wasn't deep but it was bleeding badly. Garrus and Kaidan quickly got her to Dr. Chakwas. She still had to smirk at how worried Kaiden was; his face was in pure horror.

Kaidan.

That was a scar unseen to the naked eye. A wound in her heart. Her fault for falling in love with someone serving under her but they both knew the risks and she didn't regret it. Leaving Kaidan to die on Virmire was the first decision of her life as a commander that betrayed her desire. It made her heart scream as the dreams that she wished to come true for them shattered like broken glass. Flashes of them starting a family, retiring to some countryside on Earth enjoying life after the whole Saren ordeal was exchange with the Saren's flagship Soverign, which she found out was an actual Reaper changed everything.

It made her realize what she was really up against. This wasn't about humanity. This wasn't even about Kaidan and her. This was about the universe. Everything everyone worked so hard for in this galaxy was at stake of being devoured by sentient machines who destroy civilizations just for their own twisted ends. Even if Kaidan had survived, their future wouldn't be what they wanted. She was an idiot for thinking that in the first place. She was a soldier as he was. They would always be stuck on the battlefield always. She may not have thought about it before but after she left the shower with the wells of tears she left behind, crying for her lost love, she spared him from the unsuspected future that laid before her. The fight wasn't over for her. Intution told her this was all the beginning. Trapped in the cycle of destruction that she knew that she had to stop before it was too late. But she was only one. How could she do it?

One step at a time, Angel. One step at a time.

Rinsing her body and hair well, she turned off the shower and dried her body off. She knew the Reapers were scheming something. They were out there and here was the Normandy stuck taking out geth leftovers. After they lost their prophet and God, they retreated and only showed up in random attacks that were so far apart. Some ships went missing in the Terminus system a week ago. Her crew were stuck investigating in the Omega Nebula cluster. She hoped they find something. The Reapers were foremost on her mind but the Council and her superiors except for Captain Anderson have taken the name out of their vocabulary. They think the Reapers are gone but she knew they were not.

She got dressed into her dark navy blue Alliance uniform and stepped out of the shower room to her dimly litted cabin that matched the color of her uniform. The lights came from the huge computer monitor against the wall and the lamp next to her bed.

As she was about to grab her datapad, the chime of her door forced her to turn around, "Come in."

She was surprised to see Garrus enter her room, "Commander."

"What's on your mind, Garrus?" She asked her friend.

The blue armored turian reminded her alittle bit of herself when she was a rookie: impulsative, ready to bend the rules, trying to make the world better..etc...etc. She learned on the battlefield that impulsativeness could put not just herself in danger, but the lives that surrounded her. Garrus had good intentions but in the end, it was the methods that mattered, not the intent. He seemed to be coming around though especially after they took care of that sick bastard, Dr. Saleon. It took all her strength to keep Garrus from pulling the trigger even though they had to shoot him anyway.

"Executor Chellick has accepted my re-instatement into C-Sec."

"How is Chellick handling his new position?"

Garrus was right about that turian. He had worked all the angles. Smart. Shepard liked him better than Pallin but she wasn't going to speak ill of the dead.

She smiled, remembering the whole Jenna situation. She admired that girl's tough attitude but something inside Shepard kicked in. Maybe a protective instinct? Jenna had to get out of Chora's Den for her own safety. Her instincts were on the ball too. That slutty bar was totalled by the geth attack. She bet Jenna was glad that she was back at Flux or she could have died there.

"He has adjusted very quickly. Mostly they are just cleaning up and keeping looters away."

"I'm glad that you are giving C-Sec another chance, Garrus."

"Yeah...me too. I still hate the red tape and rules though but I get it."

She patted his shoulder, "After this investigation is over with, we will head to the Citadel."

"Ah Commander, you don't have to do that. I could always take a shuttle."

"Nonsense, Garrus. I want to do it and you can't talk me out of it." Shepard crossed her arms.

He opened his mouth to object but then his mandibles curved to form a smile, "Thanks Commander for everything."

Shepard held out her fist, "Good luck."

His three finger talon balled into a fist, connecting his with Shepard's smaller fist, "You too, Shepard."

Smirking, she picked up the datapad and started reading the logs of maintenance reports and engine and weapon calibrations. Details of a planet called Alchera came up. Must be one of the planets they were passing up. It was a cold, inhabitable system. Total wasteland. Setting the datapad down, she laid back on the chair. She wouldn't mind for some action right now. Anything for alittle distrac-

A sudden jerk forced her out of her thoughts. Her hands held the table firmly as another jerk, which was more powerful than the last one came. She stood up from her seat and headed to her computer console while keeping her balance as the ship quaked.

She slapped the comm channel, "Joker! What is happening?"

"We are being attacked!"

"Geth?"

"It's not the geth, Ma'am. This ship-SOMEONE GET THAT FIRE OUT!" Joker's voice screamed.

She could heard the mumbles of multiple explosions, "Joker, get the distress call ready for launch. I will meet you on the bridge."

"Aye, ma'am!"

She closed the channel when she heard the sound of ripping metal behind her. Her blue eyes widened as a shade of yellow was bursting through her room. She exited her room without a second thought to the chaos that been happening. Alarms were blazing. The blue decor was changed to a blood red color. Flames were burning through the hulls. Sparks were flying as explosions popped randomly.

She rushed to her locker, quickly putting her number combination in to release the lock of her locker. Hastily, she pulled her N7 armor out and put it overtop her uniform.

There was still some crewmembers in the sleeper pods as Garrus called out her name.

"Shepard!" He gripped her shoulder, "You have to get out of here! This ship is going down.

"Not until everyone is out." She put her boots on before her index finger pointed to the pods behind her, "Garrus, get those crewmates out of those pods now and into the shuttles now!"

Garrus stared at the pods and back to her, "All right!"

She grabbed her helmet to see her friend having trouble with opening the pods. He was flustered and smashed his fist into the panel, "Dammit! They must have short circuited"

Shepard joined him and gave the glass a pounding, "There is an emergency hatch at the end of the hallway."

The blue screen was flicking. They must be losing power. As it was about to slip into the blackness, Shepard punched it, "No, you are not!"

"Commander, the distress beacon is ready for launch but the console up here is broken." Joker voiced on the intercom.

"I will handle it, Joker. Get out of there!"

Acivating the emergency hatch, her groggily crewmates stepped out of the pods soon realizing the gravity of their situation as Garrus rushed them out of there.

"Shepard!"

"Get into the shuttle, Garrus. That is an order!"

There was no time to be stubborn but Garrus narrowed his eyes, "You are coming with me."

"Garrus! Commander!"

Ashley dressed in her Phoenix armor dodged the bursts of explosions as she joined beside Garrus.

"Ashley, get Garrus into a shuttle now!" She ordered the dark haired Gunnery Chief.

"I'm not leaving!"

The turian still kept his stance. Angel looked at the turian and back to her human friend. As if Williams and her had a secret understanding, the soldier's Banshee stroked against Garrus' skull, knocking the poor turian out. A shocked yet pained expression written on his face.

"Sorry, friend. No one argues with the Commander."

Taking the hood of the turian armor, Ashley shook her head regrettably before she glanced back at Shepard, "Commander, get Joker's ass out of that cockpit and you better be in that evac shuttle as well!"

"I don't plan on dying here, Ashley. Now go!"

"Aye!"

She made sure Ashley and Garrus were going before she pushed the clear orange lock, turning the distress beacon on. Stepping back from the console, the blue screen turned to white static. Another quake caused pieces of debris to fall in front of it.

Time to get out of here!

"Mayday! Mayday!" Joker was yelling at the P.A, "This is the S.S.V Normandy. We have been attacked by an unidentified ship. Requesting immiedately assistance.

Running past the mess hall tables which were now crushed by metal pillars and damaged wires, she headed towards the stairwell at her left just to see that it was a blocked by flaming debris. The other stairway was clear.

"Come on, baby. Hold together Hol-"

Powerful gushes of wind met her as she entered the CIC deck; the ceiling was literally gone exposing the vacuums of space that let the planet Alchera shine its light down on the demolished deck. It felt like she was underwater like deep down the watery abyss as she passed parts of the ship floating around. She could be swimming around the deck like a fish if not for her shoes that doubled as gravity boots. Walking past the trashed Galaxy Map, she made her way to the cockpit, knocking the floating chairs that blocked her path away with her arm. A blue shield was surrounding the bridge, protecting Joker from being sucked into space.

"Joker! We need to get out of here." She gripped the edge of his chair.

He looked up at her through his helmet, furious and desperate, 'No! I will not abandon the Normandy. I can still save her."

"The Normandy is lost. Going down with the ship won't change that!"

Looking at Joker's despair, she couldn't help but feel the same way. The Normandy was like a second home to her but to Joker, this was his life. He grew attached to this ship. Because of his brittle bone diease, piloting was the only thing he can do and who knows how long the Alliance will take to get him on another ship.

Joker let out a defeated sigh, knowing the Commander was right, "All right! Let's get out of here."

She gripped his arm alittle too hard for his taste but they had no time left. The ship that was attacking them was coming around for another assault. Bright yellow lasers were cutting the ship to ribbons. As she got Joker into the pod, the bridge tore apart and a powerful force swept her off her feet.

"Commander!"

Joker shouted as she held on for dear life to the wall. Her feet were dangling towards the open sea of darkness as one of those lasers separated her from the pod. No thoughts were going though her head. In the matter of instinct, she dug her fist into the console, releasing Joker's pod into space to join the others. An explosion threw her against the wall and outside in the cold darkness.

Sinking down towards the planet, her eyes watched as the Normandy exploded.

She couldn't hear it.

Only thing she could hear was the sound of her breathing which was becoming erratic. It was getting hard to breath like the oxygen was...

Her eye widened when she heard a small hiss from her suit. The impact to the wall must have damaged it. Drifting off towards the planet, she gasped as her life was seeping out of her one breath at a time. Flashes of the people in her life came to her eyes. Her whole life began to replay itself.

Captain Anderson. Garrus. Tali. Ashley. Liara. Wrex. Dr. Chakwas.

Kaidan.

She gasped out again. She could almost see him. She reached to touch him. He felt so real to her.

We will be together again.

Her body limped as she entered the atomosphere, burning into a heap of meat.

Angel Shepard.

The Savior of the Citadel. Survivor of so many battles.

Perished.

Awww poor Garrus. Dang it, Ashley. Did you really have to hit him that hard? I guess she had to. He wasn't going to leave. Poor turian =( Poor everyone!