Alright, before we begin, I will go out and say this now that this is a sort of a fix-it for the ME3 endings. It's not the typical fix-it, where in Destroy, EDI and the Geth survive or anything.
I'm still having Shepard die. I'm going to let the endings happen, but reroute the post storyline ending so we can still have a happy ending.
Also for note, this Shepard will keep the generic name Jane, but will be a Colonist and a Sole Survivor.
The Reaper War ended with a blast of blue, the last survivor on the Citadel setting forth the solution the Catalyst refused to do itself. The selfish construct refused to do as it could have done, bestowing the task to a woman who had a future before her, a future with her crew, her new family, the love of her soul, and yet the construct, dressed in the form of a boy of Earth, pointed its glowing fingers and said 'March to your death for your galaxy, for I care little of your choices.'
Control, to her left, a shining blue beacon. The path in which the Illusive Man believed in, the path he saw possible before he lost himself in the Reaper's poisons. A path she had debated. Destroy, to her right, the dim red light. The path that Anderson had always saw, the path she saw as the only way. Her heart broke at the knowledge that it would destroy her work with synthetics. The geth would be destroyed. EDI would perish with them.
Finally was Synthesis, the final solution. The pinnacle of life, a green torch. She could see that the only way to bestow the Crucible her energy was to throw herself into the beam.
She wobbled to the final point, the three pathways before her laid out in plain sight. She spared a look over to the shimmering image of the Catalyst, his face unmoving. He couldn't care less of her choices, as long as she made one. She could easily walk away, throw away saving the galaxy and simply fight until the end. She could muffle the music of death and spend the last days with her family and crew before it was washed away and blood. She coughed, spraying blood across the steel beneath her feet. She didn't have much time with the wound in her stomach, the bullet lodged within tearing her apart.
Her eyes fell upon the blue end, and moved up the ramp, limping, practically dragging herself forward. Another step, closer and closer. She let the pistol slide out of her right hand as she reached for the sparking handles, the device to bring about her control of the Reapers. It was painful, her hand snapping around the device. She weakly reached out for the other, and cried in pain as it shocked through her body, her mind, ripping her apart slowly. Toppling to the ground before it, she struggled, feeling the Reapers, the Catalyst's control over the beasts. She dragged herself up once again, feeling her body deteriorate, her heart stopping even as she continued to move and fight for control. Standing on her feet, holding onto the device as it surrounded her in blue lightning, taking her consciousness, her body's cybernetics and pieces, and transferred them like data. The Crucible accepted her power, her might, her roar of pain and fear echoing in the silence of the isolated space.
Anderson... Hackett... Joker... Legion... Thane... Mordin...
Garrus.
"I-I... I'm..."
She would hope the bar would accept her after her job was done.
Sorry.
They took her away, the Reapers accepting her mind, her thoughts, calling for an all stop, a retreat, as the blast was sent out around Sol. London, Berlin, Paris, Washington, DC, Beijing, Tokyo, the population centers of Earth were emptied of Reapers, the ground forces moving away from the fallen troops. He empty body, although sparking and falling apart, slumped against the console, useless and empty. Her mind could sense each Reaper, each individual unit. Red turned to blue, responding to her commands. Harbinger, her worst enemy, her foe for years, looking to her as she came forward in a mental world.
'You took our puppet's choice, to control us.'
He seemed almost confused by her choice. She had always wanted to destroy, but here she took control.
"I had reasons... to keep synthetics alive. I could not condemn a species... simply to wipe you away. I couldn't accept it."
'If you could not destroy, you could have merged. Why did you regret the option of elevating the universe's species to its pinnacle?'
"It didn't seem right. It was too simple. Besides... I made a promise to stay alive."
'You are not alive in the sense that you wish for, Shepard. You are us now. You are the Reapers. You do not exist physically anymore.'
"Harbinger... the first Leviathans... I believe it is time you rest. The Reapers will not be needed to harvest or rid the world of chaos."
'We do not understand.'
"You may die in peace with your people. I will take care of your physical form."
'Even if you do, you will not be living physically. You are a Reaper. You are no longer human.'
She chuckled, the sound reverberating around them. Harbinger looked at her curiously.
"I am not in body, no, but I am in spirit, in thought. It's how are are different now. Things are changing, Harbinger. It's time to rest. I will see to it that this cycle is taken care of. Your original master is no more now."
'You... are not Shepard, then.'
"Wrong. I am her, and I am not her. Much like the Catalyst had explained, certain things changed him. Already, things are changing me."
As early as September, year 2186, the Reapers emerged from the dark space they called home for thousands of years to begin the next cycle, the next harvest of intelligent species to make room for the next wave of rising species. It was as Commander Shepard had claimed: The Reapers arrived through batarian space, through different relays to begin the harvest. From there, they came to Sol and took Earth, and finally began the final push to take the worlds they knew must be harvested. Palaven, the home of the turians. Thessia, the home of the asari. Sur'Kesh, home of the salarians. Tuchanka, the home of the krogan. Dekunna, of the elcor, Kahje, home of the elcor and drell, even if the drell had originated from Rakhana, but the planet had died long before the harvest.
The war churned on for months, the species of the cycle showing surprising will to survive, to fight for their rights to continue to live and thrive. They pushed everything they could at the Reapers, even as they destroyed cities and countless millions of lives. Wiping out entire colonies, and taking what they assumed was simple chaos, what they were ordered to control. It was in the early days of 2187 that the war finally came to an explosive head. With the Citadel in Reaper control, and the fleets of the surviving species coming forward, the finally battle waged ferociously on Earth. It was here that Commander Shepard fought through London to reach the Citadel Beam, a teleportation device planted in the London suburbs to transport bodies to the Citadel. She was dying, delirious, and broken when she hit the beam.
It's an odd feeling, in the sense that sentience has never been so close to feeling real. Commander Shepard believed that peace could be achieved, that there was a chance for everyone to survive. She ascended to meet the Catalyst, and took control for herself, to ensure that no one would die any longer, that the universe would benefit from her long walk to victory. Many would chant her name to the sky, raise a glass to her honor, or whisper goodbyes with tears falling down their face. Many rose her name to godhood, while some murmured it on trembling lips.
She does not exist any longer in the true physical sense, but she will always live on now. She is Shepard, the woman who gave up her life to ensure the few who died would truly allow the many to live.
Harbinger let himself rest, and while a few spoke out against their ruler in taking a physical form, she felt it right to have a flagship leading them, and not simply a glowing figure standing atop the Citadel. She enjoyed the holographic form, but she would pilot herself, and show them what to do, and how to help.
It was three months later that Admiral Hackett caught their signal, a far off message half loss through its travels, but it was confirmed and another celebratory cry came forward.
The Normandy and her crew had survived.
She gazed out from her place upon the Citadel, her Reaper ship docked within the Citadel itself, perched in the underbelly of the 'Citadel Tower', where Shepard had made her sacrifice, her choice. Upon the central platform, the joining of three ramps, was a frost-covered pod, a circular holding space attended to by Keepers, wires and humming machinery encircling it and connecting it to the station.
"The universe has many scars and wounds. The rebuilding process may be sped up, but it will take time to rebuild. I believe that's okay."
She effortlessly dropped to the steel of the platforms, still stained in blood, looking up to the stars, gazing down at the Earth below. Several of her fellow ships flew by, moving materials and people, aiding in the relief effort. In the coming month, people would be allowed back on the Citadel.
"I can't wait... I can't wait to see them. It's been so long since I saw you last."
August 23, 2187 CE - 0831 Hours
T-Minus 30 minutes to arrival to the Citadel
The message at first wasn't odd, seemingly normal. It came through an encrypted channel, though deeper digging found its odd and peculiar pieces. Four of these messages were sent out to four crew members of the Normandy, all three curiously looking upon the message.
It had a blank name for a sender. The title stabbed the final blade into their chests, the weak blow in their hearts.
'Status of Shepard'.
EDI and Joker had gotten the same message on their private messages, curiously gazing upon it from the cockpit as they approached the Citadel, Reapers giving them enormous pathways to drift comfortably through. Liara commented quietly to Kaidan that it seemed they moved with respect and welcome. Garrus and Tali were the others to get the curious message, meeting in Shepard's old cabin to read the message together.
'I realize you four may not even open this, but I hope you will. As you have guessed, Commander Shepard did not survive the Crucible firing. She died to allow it to fire, and put the Reapers in their place, ruled by a new code. I request that you come to these coordinates after your debriefings and meetings. It is alright to come separately, and if you wish, you do not need to come at all.
'I wish to aid perhaps in some closure and understanding, to help you heal as you move on without her.'
Joker didn't make it passed the first two sentences, and closed it, continuing to pilot the Normandy even as he cursed himself for not going back for her. EDI closed it soon after, putting the ship on autopilot to comfort the now crying Joker, holding him close, doing the best she could for the weeping pilot riddled with unforgivable survivor's guilt.
Tali read it completely, and shut down her terminal. She knew the message would shake Garrus to the core, and contently kept him close as he read it again and again, memorizing the coordinates. Garrus had been empty following putting Shepard's name on the wall of fallen comrades, unable to fully accept what had happened, and what Hackett had briefly told them. This message, promising help and closure... it was all he had left to help him heal now. The crew had done as much as they could to help him through the trauma of losing her, of losing his mate.
"Maybe whoever this is will tell me she's got a spot reserved for us at the bar." he quietly commented, setting the pad aside. Tali looked at his fallen features, raising his chin so she could see his eyes.
"Are you actually thinking about going there?"
"It's better then whatever they have planned. No doubt we're going to be hailed as heroes, showered in glory and put on pedestals... I just don't want to deal with that now."
"None of us do," Tali said softly, looking off for a moment, "you wouldn't mind if I joined you, would you?"
"I wouldn't have accepted a no, Tali." He offered a flutter of his mandibles, his first smile in months. Tali offered her own.
"It'll be okay, Garrus."
He quietly took the offered hand as she helped him off the ground, holding it for a moment for comfort. He let out a soft keen, a sobering sound as his sub vocals cried for his lost mate.
"I know. It's... it just hurts a lot more then I expected."
"We understand, of course. Well, I know I do."
Another flutter, another small smile. It was progress. She patted his shoulder as they moved out of the silent room that held memories they could never let go of, and boarded the elevator. Garrus gently bumped into before taking a shutter of a breath. Even in her suit, Tali felt suffocated in the elevator as well. The doors opened, and they moved without words into the mess hall. Gardner offered them food and coffee, and the duo joined the crew as they pushed forward toward the Citadel, toward the universe they hadn't realized had survived while they had patched up the Normandy and attempted to return home. For many, it was disorienting to see the Reapers floating by, harmonious with the species that survived the Reaper War, but from the gentle glow of blue from their ships, it felt like a beautiful peace.
It was the reason the Relays were being rebuilt, how every homeworld would be rebuilt in time.
"Important message coming in from Admiral Hackett. Ears open, everyone." Joker's voice was curt, a little tight, but every looked up to listen, some continuing to eat.
"Normandy crew, this is Admiral Hackett. Welcome back to Sol, and to Earth. We were worried we had lost you as you attempted to flee from the firing of the Crucible. You're to land on the Citadel, and meet up with your respective leaders to help aid in the next phase of recovery. Much has happened since we lost contact with you, and I know all of you who haven't figured it out want to know."
"Shortly after the Reapers gave us space to move, they allowed us on the Citadel to search for Commander Shepard. We searched without rest for a month, but our efforts wielded us nothing. It's safe to assume we lost her with the firing of the Crucible. We don't know what she did, but she worked out a way to control the Reapers, and to make peace."
The overwhelming heaviness of the air broke like glass as crew members who had held onto hope so vehemently sobbed and cried in pain at the loss of the Commander. Chakwas peeled herself out of her office and sat with Garrus and Tali, the trio somber and staring at their cups as if perhaps they could disappear in the black liquid and come back out in a universe where Shepard had survived. A door opened somewhere. Hackett continued.
"I realize some of you were closer to her then others, and we'll allow you all time to grieve. Your leaders are the only ones on the Citadel currently besides the Keepers and several groups of Reaper ground forces, so use the space as you like. They're giving you all access to the area before we start moving people off of Earth and Luna and back on the Citadel. If you need anything when you land, let us know. Hackett out."
It was silent besides the soft sobs of the few crew who had hoped for a miracle, who were crushed by defeat visibly. A crew member acted first, chucking his empty cup at the floor, shattering it into pieces with a painful roar.
"GOD DAMN IT!"
Garrus, Tali, and Chakwas watched as the man fumed before sobbing in silence, staring at the shattered cup, as the ship shuttered along, the crew collapsing as their Commander was deemed killed in action. Liara slipped out and joined them, the crew suddenly looking to them for help, but as they looked upon them, they knew their mourning was vastly different, their pain tripled.
Tali was the first to start crying, covering her mask as she sobbed behind the glass. Garrus effortlessly pulled her into his arms, letting her lean into her as she broke down. Turians couldn't cry like other species, but the sound he was emitting everyone could hear, and it broke their hearts. It was broken, a keening sound desperate to be answered and heard. It was like a child crying before their parent's corpse, the sound of a broken person sobbing out of the control for the one they lost. His jaw clenched, his mandibles drooped. His eyes closed as he vocally cried, the crew shuddering at the sound of the heartbroken turian.
They had never heard a turian 'cry', and it was almost as heartbreaking as losing Shepard. The crew knew Shepard and Garrus had been close, their relationship nearly public, and they knew he would hurt the most. The sound he gave was one they would never forgot. Liara reached out and did her best to comfort them even as tears slipped down her cheeks. Chakwas joined them shortly, bowing her head as she hid her tears.
"Garrus, Tali... ground team, I guess. You might want to find come up here."
Liara looked up, curious. EDI spoke then, her voice almost lost in as she spoke.
"We're approaching the Citadel."
Tali stood, helping Garrus to his feet as she struggled to control himself, his sub-vocals, and his legs. They were laden in lead, removing to move and operate. He was being crushed by the weight of his heart, of the truth he couldn't run away from this time. There wasn't an Omega to run to, enemies to shoot to drwon his pain out. There wasn't anything to soothe his heart but the ultimately kind but futile attempts from the crew. He stood on his own, setting his mostly untouched coffee aside. His cries calmed, but anyone with a sharp ear to still hear it roll through him.
"I'll go to a observation deck," Chakwas murmured, "so all of you can look."
Liara gently patted the old doctor's shoulder, leading Tali and Garrus to the elevator. They were the first to get to the CIC, Liara noting that the elevator immediately went back down, most likely to pick up Kaidan, Javik, and James from the lower floors. Joker spun in his chair as they approached, EDI doing the same. They both could hear the soft cries of Garrus through his sub vocals, and Tali's cries behind her mask. EDI stood and hugged Tali first, and then Garrus, holding the turian close in comfort. Both had been affected so greatly by the Commander, and her loss resounded deeply between them. The sound of his low cry subsided as EDI drew away, and the bootfalls of James, Javik, and Kaidan came up. Joker turned back forward.
"Squeeze on in. You won't believe what's docked to the Citadel right now."
He moved a few interfaces and allowed the windows to open. Tali noticed it first, the hulking purple-black mass of a Reaper docked to the Citadel, positioned underneath the Tower.
"Is that Harbinger?"
Everyone moved in closer to get a look, Garrus leaning over EDI to see it. Flashback, the scarred ground covered in droplets of his blood, the booming rage of the siren let loose by the landed Reaper. Unfocused eyes followed Shepard as she came for him, looking to the sight of Harbinger laying waste to the last effort of the galaxy to stop them from being annihilated.
"It's Harbinger." Garrus softly confirmed. EDI pulled up the file on the Reaper, the image on the file matching the profile they could see without a doubt, albeit without the glowing gold eyes of the beast.
"It matches his signature, however I'm detecting something different from him."
"What exactly?" James questioned.
"Ever since we entered the Sol system, I have been picking up unique but heavily encrypted messages moving through known networks. Their signal matches known Reaper emissions from the Battle on Earth. It seems this signal or message stream is originating from Harbinger."
"A command signal?" Garrus prompted.
"Perhaps. If that assumption is to be correct, Harbinger now controls the Reapers from the Citadel, much like Sovereign had attempted to use it to open a relay during the Eden Prime War."
"If Harbinger is the one controlling them, how is everyone still alive? This is Harbinger we're talking about." Joker commented.
"Perhaps now it is no longer Harbinger inhabiting that Reaper."
Javik spoke up, surprisingly confused and intrigued. "That cannot be possible."
Liara was next to speak, looking to Javik. "If it involves Shepard, we should always assume something isn't impossible."
"Damn right," Joker spat, "Whatever is going on, I have a feeling we're not going to find out much when we land. Hell, from how it sounds, no one really understands why the Reapers are still around helping. Whatever she did..."
The cockpit silenced, the crew looking between themselves in equal sorrow and mourning. Joker quickly moved information, adjusting small issues in the flight plan. Not everything was fixed yet to full capacity.
"...whatever she did did one hell of a good job."
"Normandy."
The deep voice coming through the comm channels startled everyone, Joker and EDI working furiously to triangulate the signal. It continued to speak even as EDI attempted to protect the ship from the intrusion.
"I am Horizon."
"A Reaper contacting us?!" Tali shouted out.
"We wish to help you with repairs to your vessel. We have opened a internal docking bay for your ship and crew. We are uploading the approach vectors for your arrival."
EDI let the vectors come up on screen, slowing her movements until she let the ship take its directed course. A reaper, a destroyer, came up beside them, its eyes directed at the cockpit.
"Uh.. thank you, Horizon." Joker awkwardly replied, "We're beginning our approach."
"We will follow."
"That's not terrifying at all." Kaidan commented, "having Reapers tail you into the Citadel."
"It's not terrifying to hear a Reaper sound so nice to you, either." Garrus mentioned, earning a few smiles.
He hadn't cracked a joke in a while. Joker kept the good girl moving forward as Horizon flanked their left, and another destroyer their right. They approached the Presidium before they dipped down between it, approaching the base of the Citadel Tower. They got a better look at the body of Harbinger, clinging to the underside as if it were connected to it. The docking bays opened for them, the Normandy sliding in effortlessly, docking pads latching to the wings and settling her inside.
"You may leave your ship. The elevators are nearby. They will take you into the Citadel Tower and from there you may move about. Your leaders are in the place you call the Embassies. Be cautious, as the tower has been damaged."
"Thank you, Horizon." EDI responded, looking to Jeff.
"Just don't mess anything up while we're gone." he mentioned, before moving his chair around to everyone.
"Alright, you heard the, uh, Reaper. Let's go. Shore leave time, I guess."
The Citadel had always been a station of loud noise, of men shouting their sales on items, of people chatting about their day, their business. It was asari talking about the latest fashions, of men moving back and forth between bars, of C-Sec officers patrolling the streets to ensure everyone's safety. As the elevators opened to the tower, they were hit with the silence of the station. Just how quiet it was outside of the silent humming of machines, and the whirring of passing Keepers. The crew immediately moved in different directions, EDI with Joker, Kaidan with James, Liara with Javik, leaving Tali and Garrus standing in the Council Chambers.
They stood in the observation bay of the tower, watching the crew trickle out onto the Citadel. Stores were closed shut, offices locked down. Locks were popped open as people passed by, the station opening for its first visitors since the war.
"Seeing the Citadel so empty..." Tali lamented, "it's haunting."
"In my entire life, I've never seen it so barren," Garrus explained, looking out farther. The artificial sky was gone, letting them see the other wards and arms, and the glittering sky of space around them, Reapers skirting around the station like birds in the sky.
It was silent then, watching the crew disappear into the abandoned station. Tali thought of the Presidium, the Apollo Cafe and the shops they had visited months ago. Garrus thought to his old C-Sec station, if Bailey and Chellick had made it out of the war alive. This was a beacon for the universe, and now as they began to rebuild, it was nothing but a freshly minted ship, preparing for its first boarding. They were the first to make it onto the Citadel, save for the leaders awaiting them. Tali turned to look over her shoulder, gazing upon the far off Council Chamber.
"To think, a few years ago... we fought Saren here. We made history here."
Garrus softly laughed, "We've made a lot of history on this place, haven't we?"
"Saren... landing here from Ilos. Keeping Cerberus from taking out the Council... allowing the first quarians to touch the station after so many years. Watching the first turian-krogan alliance since the Krogan Rebellions."
"Watching Shepard become the first human Spectre," Garrus continued, "Letting everyone know that the Reapers were coming."
"Showing the galaxy that Commander Shepard was always right... and making sure she stopped the Reapers."
It was then that Garrus couldn't keep back his cries, letting it gently flow out before it grew louder, gripping the handrails he leaned on as he struggled once again, Tali keeping a hand on him to help steady him. He was practically standing on her grave, he realized. She died here, making sure everyone else could live to see the future.
"Awfully empty now, isn't it...?"
"Garrus?"
"Goodbye, Garrus. And if I'm up there in that bar and you're not... I'll be looking down..."
"Damn it... damn it..."
"You'll never be alone."
Tali held onto him as he let out his cries, the sound echoing in the empty chamber as the turian cried for the lost, for the burning future he had imagined with her. He was standing upon the ashes of the galaxy, watching life continue on without the woman he had given everything for. He had ordered her to stay alive, and yet... and yet...
"If I'm correct, those coordinates put you here, Garrus..."
Her hands slid off his armor quietly, backing away from him. She had said she would accompany him, but this... he was her best friend but even she had limits before it would be too much.
"I'm going to see if there's any food for us. I'll message you if I find anything."
Tali looked back as she boarded the elevator, his discorded song of sorrow continuing to play, even as she descended down to the presidium. He stood along the railing long after Tali had disappeared down another pathway, toward another set of elevators, watching him sob from below before descending into the ward below. Garrus took a moment to himself, letting the pain flow through him, letting him scream and sing the pain in his heart and chest. He had thought the rocket to his face had been painful, and he had thought Shepard's first death had hurt him.
This was a new level a pain, one he didn't want to go through much longer, not if it continued to burn through him so heavily.
"Even if you're looking down," he choked out to the silence, collapsing to his knees, "Even if you're waiting...
"I don't want to be here without you, damn it!"
He didn't care if his spurs ached in his position, if he dented the metal against his hands. His painful, loud orchestra, the crying of a man lost in the utter emptiness of life, surrounded him and suffocated him, crying and roaring out his pain as he finally could let loose the despair that had begun to consume him so quickly. The silence did nothing to quell him, hurting him more then helping him calm his mind. Shepard couldn't be found, dying in the final blast to let them all live. She had disobeyed his order, but he knew it was an impossible one to follow.
Gentle creaks surrounded him as he picked himself off the floor, looking to the Presidium. No one to be found. He turned from the glass windows, walking toward the Council Chambers, or what they used to be. Pieces of metal and debris still littered the once pristine grounds. He could still pick up the scent of blood, all human. In the darkest corners, not yet cleaned up by Keepers, were piles of human bodies. He focused head at the rising platform before him, up the last flight of stairs.
The balcony in which the seats of the Galactic government were kept. The Council's meeting chambers, an audience hall for those who wished to make a change. The balcony had been destroyed, all that remained was the extended platform reaching over a courtyard below his feet.
This was the place of miracles. Where Commander Shepard became a Spectre, where they fought Saren, where everything began. He stood in her spot, looking upon the wreckage, his painful melody still calling out to the empty space, trying to help himself calm even though he would never be able to move on entirely. He let his omni tool activate, and took a seat upon the platform. Messages popped up now that he had access to the networks.
His father had messaged him, as well as his sister. They were safe in a nearby colony in the Apien Crest, and reported the arrival of Reapers aiding in rebuilding and bringing turians back to Palavan. They worried and asked that the Spirits bring him home safely. Their mother, however, was still on Sur'Kesh taking treatments for Corpalis Syndrome. They had been given no word yet if she had survived.
Messages from Primarch Victus, from old squadmates wondering if he made it out alive. Messages from Kasumi, and Jack, wondering if the Normandy was still out there.
He replied to them. Kasumi and Jack were closer to the pain then his family, his fellow soldiers in arms.
'We survived. We're on the Citadel now, though I don't think they'll let you up here yet. I'll put in a word with someone to get you and the rest of the crew up here.'
Short, but it was all he could bring himself to say. He sent it with little notice, moving through messages and deleting many of them. Swiping right or left for messages to answer, for messages to archive.
He shut the device down once he hit the messages he had never sent, words he choked on for two years. His drafts to Shepard. He sat there on the cold steel of the platform, looking to his hands as if they were not there at all. Phantom images, fake touches, the sight of Shepard's hands holding his, telling him everything would work out.
"You read my message."
His head lifted, barely, as the voice echoed around him. It was mixed with static, a heavy synthetic cover over the female voice. An AI perhaps, or was it Avina still active on the Citadel? Nevertheless, he replied, hoping it was real and not him sitting on the ground in a delusional coma, however great that sounded then.
"I did."
The voice did not answer, as he suspected. He closed his eyes, sighing deeply. He was losing him mind already, and it hadn't even been six months. How would he survived the rest of his life, if he could continue living it? A sharp hum made him open them again, realizing the platform underneath him was glowing. She shuffled for a moment before realizing what was happening as the platform began to rise up into the air. He couldn't do anything to stop it, relaxing as he rose above the ruins, through layers of the Citadel he hadn't know existed. The realization hit him as he started to stand up.
Parts of the Citadel he hadn't know existed. Shepard was always known for the impossible... could she still be alive here, in the hidden parts of the Citadel?
The platform rose for what felt like hours until it stopped, putting him in a longer hallway surrounded by shifting plates along the side. A chasm spread out below the walkway before him, and the gentle light above the crest of the ramp leading forward pulled his feet forward.
"I did not think you would come," the synthetic voice spoke gently, "With everything going on."
"I didn't want to face Victus." Garrus explained with no clarification. Why was he explaining himself to them?
"I see..."
He kept moving, ascending the ramp as he got a first glimpse of what awaited him at the final platform. Gentle blue light decorated the unmarked steels and metal, save for ominous blood splatters covered a few spots. His eyes were drawn immediately to the glowing form absently turned away from him, working at a console he couldn't exactly see. Something curious came to the slope of the body's shoulders, the tightness of a sore back, of an overworked body. The pitter-patter of a tapping toe against the ground as work continued on monotonously. A soft hum of a tune lost in time, lost to the blood of war.
He knew those little tics, the tiny things she had done to pass the time whilst in the midst of boring busywork. He stepped forward, mandibles dropping in disbelief as the form he saw. The seemingly gravity-defying waves of hair surrounding her, the white glow of scars along her neck, the striking scar across her left eye. Wounds she sustained through their campaigns together against the Reapers.
"Shepard...?"
The body stalled, and slowly, oh so slowly, turned toward him. The moment he could make out the slight slope of her nose, the deadly but gentle eyes he had stared into for an eternity, and the scar running up along her corner of her lips, he let his cries come alive once again.
"Shepard."
She blinked, the body looking curiously at him before facing him completely.
"Hello, Garrus."