A/N: My first attempt at Mass Effect fanfiction, but I could not let it end where it did. END of Mass Effect 3, and post-game. It needed to be fixed! I will have a happy ending, Bioware! Even if I have to write it.
Anvi Shepard stood and stared at something she knew was beyond her comprehension. The child…the catalyst, it was giving her choices. The child she had failed to save the day she'd escaped from Earth – hour Zero – when the Reapers had finally arrived to destroy them all. Perhaps it chose this form to torment her; she'd been dreaming of him, and all the others she couldn't save.
Mordin. Legion. Thane.
Her parents on Mindoir, her squad on Akuze, the people of Earth, the Asari on Thessia, all those that had suffered at the hands of Cerberus; would her torment never cease? So many…was it wrong to want to be selfish after so much death?
"You must choose."
Its' voice brought her silver-blue eyes back to rest upon its' form. "I die to control the Reapers…I fuse all Synthetic and Organic life…or I die to destroy not just the Reapers, but all Synthetic life in the Galaxy, as well as the Mass Relays?" It nodded and she found herself laughing bitterly, though the action caused her to grimace in pain. "You really don't give easy choices, do you?"
"It is an imperative choice you cannot forsake. The cycle keeps the chaos at bay."
"At bay? At bay?" Shepard threw out an arm to indicate the massive battle occurring around them. "Does this look like the chaos is at bay? You are creating chaos!"
"No." The child shook his head. "You misunderstand."
She snorted. "No, you misunderstand." A bloody hand was raked through her purple strands of hair. "Yeah, we have war, yeah, we fight – but in the end we always find peace! When we discovered the Mass Relays, we had war with the Turians, now look! They willingly stand at my side – at all of the Galaxy's side – to bring destruction to those who would wipe us out of existence! I brought peace to the Quarians and the Geth who had been at war for centuries! There is always a way for peace!"
"You have your choices for peace."
"No, no. Your choices…they are not peace, not really. I die to order the Reapers away and the Mass Relays are destroyed, leaving us all stranded and separate. I fuse together synthetics and organics, and destroy who we are. I destroy the Reapers, all AI and synthetics, and still leave the Galaxy separated, and our alien comrades stranded. No, I'm sorry. I can't allow it."
"You have no choice." The catalyst nearly scoffed at her denials.
"There is always a choice! I have lost too many friends to your damn cycle!" She groaned and fell back to sit on the white platform floor beneath her. "We weren't even in chaos when you came. You can glorify your solution anyway you want, but…"
She was cut off by a crackle of com communication. It was nothing but static at first, but eventually she could hear Kaidan calling out to her. Kaidan…
"Shepard! Please, answer me! Anvi, are you there?" He was worried; she could hear it. She had learned to catch the underlining tone in his voice that he tried so desperately to hide…until today. He'd grabbed her, kissed her, and in a broken voice, told her he couldn't lose her, not again.
"Kaidan…"
"She's alive! Thank the Goddess!" That was Liara, nearly in tears.
"Damn straight she is alive. I'm still kicking and she ain't going to that bar without me." Garrus. Even now he could make her smile. Her best friend.
"Listen to me…" Shepard coughed, then wiped the blood from her lips even as the Catalyst stood in silence and contemplated her. "The Catalyst…it's something in the Citadel…it's taken the form of a child."
"It is likely an AI," Tali said after a moment of radio silence.
"AI? Well, shit. If it leads the Reapers and created them, it's by far the most advanced AI I have ever heard of," James sighed and they all lapsed into silence again.
At least they were all safe. Maybe she could give her life, knowing that.
"What aren't you telling us, Shepard?" Kaidan was the first to voice what they all were feeling. That there was something going on that Shepard was withholding.
"You cannot waste your time; you must make your choice."
"I know that!" Shepard snapped, frustrated tears welling in her eyes. Think, think; there is always a way you don't see. "The Catalyst has given me three ways to end this; only one I will even think of allowing to happen…and even that is unlikely."
"Commander! We have to end it, Earth won't last much longer."
"I know that James…Kaidan I…where are you?" The last she remembered being with them, they had been making a mad dash for the beam when a Reaper laser had decimated the ground unit. Even she wasn't uninjured.
"The Citadel, Shepard. We followed through the beam though I fear it was too late. I have failed to get any response from Citadel control." EDI even sounded worried. Hell. Why shouldn't she?
"What ways?" His voice was stern. Kaidan. "You promised to be waiting for me, Shepard. I am holding you to that."
"I have to end this, Kaidan I'm sorry. I love you – I always have; I would keep that promise, if I could." She stood shakily and sucked in a breath. A nod to the Catalyst and then they began to make their way to the beam and two platforms; Shepard hobbled, mostly. God, she felt like death, but somehow she kept moving.
"No, no! Anvi, please, there has to be another way! You can't die, not again, I won't let you!" Kaidan screamed through the com and tears rolled down her cheeks. The others chimed in, telling her that this wasn't her only choice, but it was…wasn't it?
"Something is happening!" EDI exclaimed. "Something is reacting to the Crucible. I will connect with the Citadel."
"Do something, EDI. You always find ways out of these damn impossible situations," Shepard laughed softly; even in desperation, Garrus was trying to keep his cool.
"Don't worry so much, all of you…You can't escape from me so easily."
"That sounds more like the Shepard I know!" James exclaimed with a whoop. "Lola ain't going down without a fight!"
"The Crucible and Citadel have linked. Three consoles are available on the upper platform where I sense only one life sign. It must be Shepard." EDI was processing. Shepard could see her, standing at the Citadel control panel where she would be feverishly shuffling through panels. "These consoles; a separate control sequence is running through each if I could just…"
"What? What is it EDI?"
Time seemed so slow. She could hear them as she limped her way closer to her goal. It felt like hours, that short walk down the platform.
"The control sequences…"
"What about them!" Liara snapped impatiently and Shepard could just imagine her pushing EDI out of the way to look at the panels herself. "Oh Goddess…these…there is…what kind of choices are these?" There was a frantic burst of noise, as the information relayed between them and they all reacted in shock and disbelief.
"Yes…hard to believe it has come to this, isn't it?" Shepard turned her head as the Catalyst ceased moving and simply stood back now. It turned its eyes to the battle, watching as its' creations decimated the fleets Shepard had so desperately put together over the last several weeks. She steeled herself and turned to the left; the only way she could let this happen – she would not kill her friends, even her synthetic ones. She could make the Reapers disappear forever…if only she gave her life.
"Shepard is headed for Control Console Alpha – she means to give her life to gain control of the Reaper forces!" EDI exclaimed as Shepard made her way up to the incline toward the control rods that were now getting too close; it was too soon.
"Shepard! Anvi, NO! There has to be another way!"
"I'm sorry Kaidan…take care of everyone for me, will ya?"
"No, NO! Don't you dare say goodbye! You are not dying on us! Not again! EDI DO SOMETHING!"
"Hacking Control Console Alpha; attempting to disable program protocols. Disarming firewalls. Reaper code attempting to compensate."
"Thanks, EDI, for trying." Shepard smiled and set her pistol down on the floor. A couple of steps now. She reached out her hands for the rods, wincing as they burned at her flesh. It hurt, god, it hurt so much. Leave, leave, leave, leave…leave forever! JUST LEAVE!
"Shepard has connected to the Alpha console. It's sucking her life force into the program – it needs her life to power the protocols; in truth Shepard is the Catalyst!"
"Just make it stop, EDI!"
"I'm trying!"
Shepard fell to her knees. No, no. She couldn't let go. Not now. Not when she was close. She pulled herself back to her feet, even as the console burned the flesh from her hands.
"Look! The Reapers, they are leaving!"
"The Reapers have left through the relays now I am able…" Shepard couldn't hear the rest. The overwhelming relief that the Reapers had left was enough to make it feel like her death was worth something. Suddenly, the console exploded and Shepard was thrown back by the blast, landing with a scream of pain, the blackness sweeping over her. "Hold on Shepard."
"Shepard. Shepard. Commander Shepard, can you hear me?"
Was she dead? That was Dr. Chakwas' voice, wasn't it? So much pain. And her hands…God, her hands hurt more than anything. If she was in so much pain, she couldn't be dead, could she?
"I need you to open your eyes, Commander."
Anvi let out a breath and slowly, her lashes lifted, and she had to wait for the blurriness to pass before she could make out of her old friend leaning over her. "Doctor…?"
"Excellent! You are still with us." The doctor ran her omni tool over the laid out form of Shepard, taking in life sign readings and damage reports.
"What…What happened? I…"
"Shhh, Commander. You succeeded. The Reapers are gone and won't be coming back."
"How…?"
"Very simple, Shepard." The med doors opened and EDI walked through with Kaidan at her side. His warm amber eyes were on Shepard and the commander could see how much strength he was using to keep himself from her in this moment. No doubt he had thought he had lost her. They all had.
"EDI?"
Her ship's AI made her way toward the medical bed where Shepard laid, Kaidan coming to stand just beside her. He laid his hand on the Shepard's dyed hair, affectionately and comfortingly stroking the strands with his strong, battle hardened hands. "You did it, Anvi."
"But I was supposed to…and the relays…?"
"I disabled the protocols of the Catalyst's programming, Shepard. It was a far more advanced AI than I have ever seen, or any species has seen. There is no telling when it was created, or by who. You took control long enough for the Reapers to leave and before the shockwave went out, to fully absorb you and destroy the relays, I adjusted the console to overload. In the end, it is still just a machine."
Shepard laughed softly. "Garrus was right – you always manage to find a way, EDI. Thank you."
"There is no need to thank me, Shepard. You are the one who saved the Galaxy from the Reapers."
Kaidan smiled and turned slightly. "Do you mind giving us the room for a few?"
"Of course, Kaidan. I will even mute the sound if that is preferable."
"Heh, thanks EDI. I would appreciate that."
EDI and Chakwas left the room and Kaidan moved away long enough to pull a chair to Shepard's bedside. He took her bandaged hand gently, frowning when she winced. "Does it hurt?"
Shepard nodded. "The rods…they were literally…god, I don't even know."
"Dr. Chakwas said she applied as much medi gel as she could, but Shepard, she isn't certain if your skin will heal completely. Your hands will likely be scarred pretty bad." Kaidan set her hand down and scooted closer, stroking her hair again. "That was reckless, Anvi."
"When haven't I been reckless?" They both chuckled and he sighed, leaning to press his brow to hers, his eyes tightly closed. "Kaidan?"
"Too close…" he whispered, almost brokenly. "I came too close to losing you…again. God, Anvi, I don't know what I would have done without you." He moved, as if to stand and move away, but she reached out and placed a bandaged hand on his arm.
"Hey, hey, hey. Kaidan. I would gladly give my life to keep you safe. I failed too many…I couldn't fail you, not you Kaidan."
"Anvi…" He groaned and leaned down again, kissing her, heatedly, passionately, sifting his hands through her hair. When they parted, he rested his brow against hers.
"How bad is it Kaidan? I hurt…a lot." She chuckled. "Well, more so than normal after a mission."
Kaidan climbed onto the bed beside her, trying his best not to jostle her as he readjusted them so her head was pillowed on his arm and she was cuddled up to his side, his chin resting against her hair. "Your hands were…a mess, Shepard. Won't lie there. Chakwas said you had some internal injuries. You were covered in cuts, bruises, scrapes…there was so much blood when we found you. If EDI hadn't gotten the Normandy there so quickly…It's likely you would have died." He sighed, his free hand stroking her cheek softly.
"Kaidan…I'm sorry."
"Don't, Anvi. It's okay. It's all okay now. You're safe. Earth is safe. Everyone is safe. You saved them, Anvi."
"Finally…" She sighed with relief, but she knew that too many had died. If she could have, she would have given her life at the very beginning to save everyone.
At least they could make a new beginning. Free of the Reapers.
A/N: Intended to be a one-shot, but if I get some good responses, I may continue. This ending I can live with. ^_^