NOTES FROM THE ARCHIVE: I do not own Mass Effect 2, nor any character or story therein. I do own my personal touches to the game as they are orignial but by no means do I claim Bioware's work for my own. Thank you.

I do apologize to anyone who has read other pieces from me, as they will be unlikely to update in the near future. College is a lot of work. What a surprise. Anyway, this is my attempt at a ME2 story. Its started out as a one shot but escalated rather quickly into a novelization. I plan on getting my own touches in here eventually, but I will be covering each plot world and Character so there will be spoilers. And if you are worried about that, then why are you reading this instead of playing the awesome that is Mass Effect 2.

This story is rated T for Teen for coarse language, graphic imagery and suggestive themes.

Thank you for your time. Enjoy the story.

The Curse Pen.

PS: I live on reviews. Seriously. Writers have black holes for egos. they need feeding.

Resurrection

"Well Miranda? How is our little investment?"

Miranda Lawson snorted lightly at the comment. Yes, a little investment of 4 billion credits. She looked out over the rough rocks and icy expanse. Her sealed suit kept most of the cold out, but just the look of the place gave her chills up her spine and over her skin.

"Miranda? Are you there?"

"Yes, sir."

"Then what is his status?"

The voice was low and old, with deep crags in it. It was the voice of the Illusive Man

"We are still trying to find him."

"Really?"

"Sir, the mere fact that there is anything to recover is astounding in itself. His ship exploded and he passed through atmosphere. If we find more than a few pieces of his hard suit I will consider this operation successful."

"It is not successful unless he is brought back, Miranda," The comm. said in her ear. "Remember that."

There was a short click and Miranda was alone in her helmet again.

There was a tap on her shoulder and Miranda turned, hand instinctively going for her pistol. She stopped when she realized it was only the Asari.

"Nothing yet?" Liara T'Soni asked, her voice apprehensive over the close comm. unit, her blue skin dulled inside the sealed helmet.

"No." Miranda turned back, looking over the wastes.

Liara fell silent. Miranda felt a strange urge to ask the Asari her opinion on the crash site. The famed Normandy had been the alien's home for a long time after all.

Liara unnerved Miranda by seemingly reading her mind.

"It's so… sad."

"What?" Miranda asked, not looking at her.

"She's… broken… dead."

"Who?" Miranda asked, not really interested.

"The Normandy. Her crew. Shep––" her voice broke, but Liara pushed on. "Shepard."

The two women looked out over the ship's graveyard. Chunks and spires of metal stuck into the air, large plates spearing the snow. Little spirals of snow shifted over the ground, spilling around the remnants of the SSV Normandy.

"It is such a cold grave for such a great… ship."

Miranda was about to comment on how pathetic Liara was when her comm. beeped and a man's voice came through. "Miss Lawson?"

"What is it?" Miranda snapped. This was taking too long.

"We found him. I think."

"Well did you or didn't you?"

There was silence and then, "Miss Lawson… we cannot tell whether he's a Salarian, Krogan or even male. You need to see him."

"Then why even call me. Until you have a match––"

"Miss Lawson, he's wearing Alliance armor with N7 markings. It has to be him."

Miranda blinked a few times. They found him.

"Where is he?" Miranda asked, striding down the small ice path, deeper into the Normandy wreckage.

"Near the CIC wreckage, at the end of the site, Miss Lawson."

"On my way."

The two women ran over the slick ice, excitement and terror overlapping.

Miranda vaulted up and over the small ice ridge, the broken and charred side of the Normandy overshadowing them, to stand with her recovery crew.

She grimaced at the sight, but Liara let out an audible sob.

"Oh, Goddess…"

Miranda silently agreed.

The form before them was definitely Human, but only because of the armor. The body had fallen awkwardly, its spine snapped and a strange jut in the chest signaled broken ribs spearing the chest. The hands were splayed to the sides in a macabre crucifix, charred and rigid in gruesome claws; the left leg buckled and shredded under the right, which seemed to have seven joints. The right side of the chest piece had been broken off and lay a few meters away, along with other bits of the armor.

But thing that made Liara gasp and fall to her knees was the face.

It was a burned and staring visage, the eyes nothing but blackened sockets, the mouth a skeleton's maw.

Miranda had seen pictures of Lieutenant Commander Mikhail Shepard. He was… well, had been, handsome. In a rugged, scarred why. He'd had a signature rivulet of a scar that ran from the corner of his mouth up to his ear, dividing at mid cheek and extending a little down toward his jaw.

The snow sifted around the bony fingers, through the open and silent mouth, gathering in the eye sockets.

He looked so cold.

So lost.

So… alone.

He… wasn't Human anymore.

"Well," Miranda ordered in clipped tones. "Why are you standing around? Get him into a stasis pod and get him to the ship. I do not want him decaying anymore than he has too."

The crew moved, silent now. One of the biotics placed a stasis field around Commander Shepard's corpse, and the group carefully moved him to the pod.

Miranda turned to Liara, who was still sitting in the snow staring at the spot where Shepard had been.

"Thank you Liara for your help. I have uploaded the information you requested to your ship's VI. Our transaction has been concluded. Good day."

And with that, Miranda stalked off, into the snow, following her crew and the stasis pod.

Liara blinked back her tears, steeling her soul and mind. She couldn't do this. She needed to be hard, steadfast.

Like Shepard. Her Shepard.

She rose, squared her shoulders, murmuring one last prayer to her Goddess. The last prayer she would ask of her Goddess, before fading into the shadows.

Liara T'Soni turned from the icy graveyard and walked back to her ship.

Behind her, the snow started to come down more heavily, covering the Normandy in its death shroud, blanketing the crushed ship in a peaceful cloud.

Shepard's helmet sat in the snow, slowly disappearing under the white, watching over the ship as the sky darkened into night.