I started this a few months ago, but only now have gotten around to getting it up. Still trying to work through a problem spot in my other stories, as well as my own original work. This is my first Post ME3 fic, and I have a second, slightly bleaker, story that I've been working on as well.

This was written mostly to give myself the "triumphed against impossible odds and I'm still standing" feeling that I felt the game didn't provide. Most of the early chapters were written well before the EC, so please bare with any redundant exposition.

One week after the end of the Reaper War…

"Alright, Commander. I was asked to help with your debrief. I'll also help you fill in the blanks on what happened. I just want you to tell me what happened to you from the time your team started charging the beam, to the time you woke up in the hospital. Just breathe and start whenever you're ready."

Shepard nodded, grimacing at the movement. "Thanks." He adjusted on the chair he was in. He hurt in more places he cared to think about, but he focused on what had happened to him. After a moment, he started telling the patient woman sitting across the table from him everything he could.

"Garrus and Javik joined me in the charge. I had left Ash to help lay down suppressing fire, and to coordinate the team in case… we didn't make it. Out of everyone else, I felt she was best suited to lead any counter offensive."

Shepard paused for a moment. Thinking of Ash still was difficult, but he forced himself to push his emotions aside. He had to be a marine first, everything else would have to wait.

"Anyways, Harbinger nearly hit us square on. I was barely in cover, and took a fair amount of punishment. I was on point. I saw Javik and Garrus get blown back behind me, after that… I didn't see them. I heard some radio chatter, but I was too much in shock to pay it much attention. I knew I had to get to the beacon."

The woman held up a hand slightly to interrupt Shepard. "Garrus and Javik were both retrieved by Hammer, and were able to escape the fighting on the ground. Everyone thought you had been killed, until Hackett was able to reach you on the comm."

Shepard nodded. "I finally made it, and found myself on the Citadel, surrounded by corpses. I heard Anderson. He said he followed me in. Even in the state I was in then, I knew that was pretty much impossible.

"Eventually, I found myself in the control room of the Crucible. Anderson and The Illusive Man were there…"

"We've found out his real name."

"I'm sorry?" Shepard was startled out of his memories.

"The Illusive Man… his real name is Jack Harper… in case you'd like to refer to him by name instead of 'The Illusive Man' all the time."

Shepard smiled. "Thanks. Anyways, Anderson and… Harper, were there. It looked like Anderson was in some sort of… force field or something, being held there by Harper. Harper was trying to get me to use the Crucible to control the reapers, saying we could use them as weapons against the other races. Anderson was telling me to destroy them.

"Somehow, I don't know how, but… Harper made me shoot Anderson, in the side." Shepard winced as he absently rubbed the gunshot wound in his own stomach. "Harper went to shoot Anderson in the back, but I was able to regain control and shoot him, instead. Afterwards, I sat next to Anderson and talked with him until he… well, stopped talking back.

"I heard Hackett come over the radio. He was saying that the Crucible wasn't firing, that something was wrong. I staggered over to the controls, and then… I was somewhere else.

"I was on a large platform, and there was a boy there, made of stars. He said he was the Catalyst. He said I had three options: control the reapers, combine all synthetic life, or destroy all synthetic life."

"If we could, I'd like to explore what you thought of the options, and why you chose what you did."

Shepard nodded, lost in his thoughts. "It was easy, actually. Control is what Harper and Cerberus wanted. It's also what the indoctrinated Protheans wanted. I knew we couldn't do that.

"I didn't get much explanation on what the Catalyst meant by synthesis, but I realized that that's what Saren wanted, and I wouldn't allow that. That, and there's no way I could, for lack of a better term, genetically rape everyone in the galaxy without anyone else's input."

"So, you chose to destroy all synthetic life?"

Shepard steeled himself. "It was the only option. It was the only way I could guarantee that the reapers would be stopped. That, and he said that, since I was partly synthetic, I would die too… but I'm not synthetic, I just have some cybernetic implants. Nowhere in my memory can I recall ever being told that meant I was partly synthetic, so I wasn't buying it. Besides, the Catalyst said it created the reapers and the cycle, it made sense that it would do everything possible to protect its creations, even when it knew that the cycle was going to be broken."

The woman nodded. "I must say, I'm very impressed. You were in shock, suffering from a staggering amount of blood loss, and a situation that must have been very confusing and disorienting, and you still processed everything intellectually and clearly."

Shepard chuckled, mirthlessly. "That and I was pissed off, tired, and just wanted to kill the damn things."

The woman smiled. "I'll leave that note out of my final report."

Shepard looked at her directly. "So, any opinions on what happened up there?"

She smiled slightly. "I can offer you more than opinions; I can give you some facts as well. First, Harper and Anderson weren't there, you were fighting off indoctrination."

Shepard was shocked to the core to find this out. "Indoctrination? But… how long was I indoctrinated? And why didn't the prothean VI detect it?"

The woman smiled slightly. "I said you were fighting it off, you weren't actually indoctrinated. Indoctrination can be a long process, taking weeks, even months. For as much reaper tech that you were exposed to, I'm surprised you hadn't gotten indoctrinated a long time ago. Harper and Anderson were psychological manifestations of your struggle with the reaper influence: Anderson representing yourself and your resolve to stop the reapers, and Harper representing the reapers influence.

"You didn't 'shoot' Anderson, you shot yourself," show nodded towards the wound in Shepard's side. "That was part of the indoctrination, the reapers were trying to get you to kill yourself, so they could finally be rid of you. From all of the research done, it seems like you are the only person to successfully fight off indoctrination through sheer willpower alone."

"But... where's Anderson?"

The woman looked down. "He... didn't survive the charge. I'm sorry."

She waited a moment, allowing Shepard to process the information.

"From what we can gather, the meeting with the Catalyst was also, in a way, the last ditch attempt to indoctrinate you. There was no evidence of a room like you described ever existing: you were found in the wreckage of the control room. Whatever the controls did, it looks like you fired the Crucible, and destroyed the reapers."

Shepard sat back, only a little relieved, though still nervous at how close it had been. He almost dreaded the answer to his question: "What about the Geth?"

The woman cocked her head slightly. "What about them?"

"Did they… die?"

She shifted in her seat, looking uncomfortable. "Unfortunately, the Geth in the mobile platforms are… nonfunctional. However, the others, that installed themselves in the Quarian's suits or in the servers on the ships, are still there, and fully operational. In fact, they're helping tremendously in rebuilding, and getting communications set up."

He sighed a sigh of relief and regret. While he regretted the lose of countless Geth, he knew that the Catalyst had been lying. It gave him hope that it had been lying about more.

"There is something you need to know, though," she said hesitantly. "It looks like the massive amount of energy that the Citadel expelled… destroyed the station, and the mass relays."

Shepard couldn't believe it. "So, this was all pointless. Galactic civilization is over."

The woman smiled slightly. "Not exactly. The technicians are saying that the mass relays weren't destroyed as much as disassembled. They're confident they can put them back together, though it will take some time to figure out exactly how. And for the Citadel, most of the people survived. The pieces are still floating out there, and most of the civilians that were trapped were able to get to safety either in survival shelters or behind kinetic barriers. It seems we have the reprogrammed keepers to thank for that."

For the second time, Shepard sighed with relief. Here he was, thinking he had doomed everyone in an attempt to save them, and he found out he hadn't. Perhaps things weren't looking so bleak after all.

"So, any word about the Normandy? What happened to them?"

The woman looked down. "I'm sorry, Commander, I don't have that information. But I know they're looking into it."

Shepard nodded. "Thank you, for everything. For telling me what happened, for listening to me… I can't believe how close I came to becoming a slave to the reapers. It means a lot that you were here for me. But, I have a question about that. How are you here, Kelly?"

The former yeoman blushed slightly. "Well, when you convinced me to go into hiding, I was able to get some of my former colleagues to come with me. We reached out to the Alliance, and it came out that I had been with you on the Normandy. I was transferred around, and found myself working on the Citadel when it was moved to Earth space, that's why I know about the shelters. I was in the first group rescued by Admiral Hackett's fleet. They knew who I was, and when they found out you survived, I was able to convince the Admiral to let you talk to a familiar face, that it might help you after you woke up."

Shepard smiled. "Thanks, Kelly. I'm glad you made it through all of this. You're a good friend."

This time, the redheaded woman blushed even more. "Thanks, Commander. I'm glad you made it through too. If it weren't for you, Cerberus probably would have killed me."

There was a knock at the door. Shepard and Kelly both looked over, as a tired-looking marine peaked in. "Commander, I was told that there's a call for you, sir. That is, if you're finished here, Miss Chambers."

Kelly looked over to Shepard. "No, we're all set. Thank you."

Shepard went to stand, but found it surprisingly difficult. With his left arm in a sling, and with all the various bandages and braces supporting him, it was next to impossible to get up. He noticed Kelly had already stood, and was next to him, with her hand outstretched. "Sometimes, even the mighty Commander Shepard can use a hand."

Shepard smiled as he took her hand and felt her gently pull him to his feet. "In my state, I don't think I can do much of anything without help. Thanks."

Kelly and Shepard walked with the marine down a hallway. The facility they were in had been heavily damaged during the war, but the blue and white painted walls were still standing, and the hum of machinery could still be heard.

As they rounded a corner, Shepard could hear Admiral Hackett's voice. "Glad to hear you're ok, you're a valuable asset, and personally, I'm damn proud of you." The marine that was escorting them motioned for them to stop just outside of the doorway, though he stepped through. There was silence for a moment, then Shepard heard the Admiral's voice again. "Well, thank you for your report, but I believe there's someone here who will want to speak with you."

After a moment, Shepard saw Hackett walk through the doorway to what had to be the communications room. "Commander, glad to see you're up and about. This is the QEC center that Anderson had been reaching you through. I think you need to go inside, son."

Shepard's brow furrowed in confusion, but he walked through the doorway. What he saw took his breath away.

The blue holographic form before him showed the same reaction. With one word, Shepard channeled every emotion and thought that he was experiencing:

"Ash!"

The hologram before him smiled. "John! You're alive!"

"I should be saying the same thing! Where are you, what's happening?"

"You mean they haven't told you yet?"

Shepard shook his head. "No, I just woke up in the hospital a few days ago. Today was the first time I was allowed out of bed. Until I met with Kelly, I hadn't been told anything. Why, what's happening?"

Ash's face fell, but only slightly. "We're all alive, but… the Normandy's stranded. After Harbinger's blast, we were ordered back in the air. He chased us right through the relay, until we ended up… well, we're not sure exactly where, but we're working on it. Traynor's trying to triangulate our position, but there's a lot of background chatter that's making it slow work. A lot of our systems are down, and we're not flying out of here anytime soon, but we're ok."

Shepard couldn't believe it. To be so close, and yet so far away. "Ash, I promise, I will find you."

Ash smiled. "I know you will. After all of this, I know that you always will be there for me, Skipper."

Shepard reached his right hand out to the hologram, and saw Ash do the same. Flesh met light, and though the hologram itself was intangible, Shepard could feel Ashley, and from the look on her face, he knew she felt him too.

"I will come for you as soon as I can. I love you."

"I love you too, John. But I have to go, we have a lot of work here to do, and we can't drain our batteries too much. I'll call back in three days."

Shepard nodded. "I'll talk to you in three days. Be safe."

"You too." With those final words, the hologram disappeared, leaving Shepard alone in the QEC room. He let his hand fall. He felt a familiar calm settle over him: he had a mission again.

Hackett and Kelly were waiting for him as he left the QEC room. "Well son, looks like you got a job to do. And if you'll both come with me, I have something that'll help you get it done."

With that, Hackett turned and walked down the hallway. Shepard and Kelly looked at each other, then followed the Admiral.

Well, I hope everyone likes this one. This story has a definite end, so this isn't going to be too long of a story, but I'm liking what I have for it so far. Please let me know what you think, and and all suggestions and critiques are welcome!