Been a while since I posted one, but here it is at last! A new story! This is part of a Triology I'm making which involved the prequel 'In The End...'. Hope you enjoy the humor in this story and I do hope the swearing doesn't put you off, bad girl Shepard has a mouth on her when she's mad. Didn't put this in humor or drama as it didn't seem right, so Sci-Fi seemed more action based. First ever action story, so don't be mad if it's bad.

...And Ever After

It had been eight long months since Shepard had saved the galaxy, the universe even... During those eight months, she had said goodbye to her former friend, Anderson, made her peace with the death of good comrades in arms, even because a icon of heroism... And fear. True, Shepard was no ideal hero. If she wanted to, she'd shoot someone to get a access code the instead of going on a stupid fetch job... How she hated being the little errand girl of others. But those days were behind her for now. Right now, she needed to focus on her future. Or more so, the future of the little girl inside of her. Cereburus had done a lot of things to Shepard. Screwed her over, used her ruthless ways, tried to kill her... But this was the one thing she liked. Her implants had birthed the impossible...

"Shepard... What are you thinking?"

Two warm, if dry, talons wrapped around her waist as a soft and playful tongue licked her neck. The one thing she was grateful to Cereburus... They brought her back and let her bear the child of the only man she ever loved. Garrus Vakrian...

"Nothing... Just... Us."

She revelled in the feeling of her lover's hold. Just one more month and they would be the first couple ever to birth a human/turian child. Granted, it wasn't easy to start with... The fact Shepard craved a lot more things than a human pregnancy wasn't easy to hand. One day it was food, the next it was violence... Much to Garrus' surprise, it was even sex one day. But now she was ok and their child almost mature. Life on Earth was peaceful now. Just the world their child needed. During the first few months, they had helped Humanity rebuild. It didn't matter if it was clearing out raiders, simply dealing with politics or rebuilding homes, they helped. Shepard didn't truly want to help... But she wanted a home for her child... That was reason to help enough.

So now, eight months down the line, Shepard was stood on their home's balcony, in her black tank-top and black sweat pants, with Garrus in his casual clothes holding her tight, thinking only of the moment when they become parents.

Of course, this story would be much shorter had Shepard been spared her usual luck. Life is only ever easy in fairytales...

It was a simple day when it had first happened. Shepard had just finished a call to Tali, who was overwhelmed with joy for Shepard and Garrus being so close and for being able to have a child together. She'd never admit it, but she did cry a lot from her happiness then blame it on her suit. Just as she turned off the comm, it immediatly burst into life once again. With a angered grunt, Shepard turned it back on.

"What the fuck is it?"

"Shepard, the shit has hit the fan and it's flying at you."

The dull, constantly angry sounding voice of Wrex boomed through the headset.

"The hell are you talking about?"

"Shepard, I don't have much time to explain. Remember the splinter cell of Cereburus? They know where you are! With you carrying the turian's kid, they have more than enough reason to hunt you down like a rabid varren."

"Wrex, what do you-?"

"Just trust me Shepard! Get Vakarian, get whoever you can, just get yourself ready!"

The comm shut off, not from Shepard's or Wrex's hand, but from a sudden power outage. Shepard's house was in blackout, but she could see the lights on in the street. She knew in that very instant... She wasn't alone in the house anymore.

Within seconds, the windows shattered, cereburus commandos and shocktroopers bursting into the once peaceful home of the galatic hero. Wrestling control of one of the commandos, Shepard turned him into a flesh shield, firing back with his own gun as his body was riddled with slugs. The dark room flashed constantly during the assault of weaponry, Shepard soon discarding the body of the commando she used, skillfully using the rifle in her hand to kill several more troopers as they burst into the room.

"Get the HELL out of my house!"

While it wasn't the best idea when thinking of preserving her home, Shepard unleashed her biotics, sending several more troopers through the wall, scattering them outside in twisted and broken poses. Being a smart woman (not to mention impulsively violent), Shepard dove into the kitchen, grunting in pain as she landed on her back to avoid hurting her unborn daughter. Reaching under the counter, she pulled out a hidden compartment, taking out a Carniflex hand cannon and a small shield generator.

"Never leave home without it."

A dark smile cross her lips as she actived the generator after attaching it to her tanktop. Panting, having always been in the prime fitness and never pregnant before, Shepard take a deep breath and stood with her hand out stretched, throwing her sofa across the room to break the bones of some more commandos.

"I swear to god, I will fuck you up for wrecking my house!"

Unaware of the irony that she herself was the primary destroyer of her abode, Shepard continues with the siege, her Carniflex and natural markmanship making many soldiers' heads pop like over ripe grapes in a vice. More and more poured into the house, some with metal shields, others with jetpacks... Not many of them capable of fending off the violent onslaught that Shepard brought. Using her biotics, she violently clubbed some guardians to death with their own shields, ramming the hard metal through another victim afterwards. Those with jetpacks lasted even less as she easily plucked them out of the air, making certain their necks snapped on impact.

"DIE! DIE! DIE YOU HOME WRECKING BASTARDS!"

Throwing her now empty gun to the floor, Shepard rose her arms, growling like a feral creature as she began to release attack after attack with her biotics. However, as any biotic knows, no one can go forever. Sure enough, Shepard fell to her knee, gasping for air as the draw on her pregnant body was nearly too much for her to handle.

"D-Damn it... G-Getting too old... For this shit..."

This was all Cereburus needed to get in close. Several soldiers rushed Shepard's postion before she could get her breath back and no one, not even the most pathetic of shooters, can miss at close range. There was a click as they readied their weapons...

And then came the gunshot...

One of the soldiers fell, a hole where his face used to be. While the others looked for the new attacker, even if it was for a brief moment, it was all Shepard needed. Releasing a heavy wall of biotic force, she leveled the soldiers infront of her, hiding behind the kitchen counter once more to catch her breath. Looking to her side, she saw her savior besides her.

"You took your damn time."

"Sorry. Couldn't get down the street without adding a few to the scratch board."

Garrus always was one to show off. Dressed in casual clothes, he didn't seem as serious as he did in armour. But then again, when a turian's packing a Viper rifle, you kinda need to take him seriously, even if he was running around naked.

"The baby ok?"

"Yeah, she's fine I think. I got a headache and might end up coughing blood at some point, but she's safe."

Garrus smiled as best as a turian could, stroking her belly with a talon as he shot over the counter, nailing a commando in the head, the slug blasting though him to kill an enginner behind him.

"Good. Now, go get your shotgun. I'll cover you."

Shepard, as always when she was with him, smiled and climbed to her knees, rushing to the bedroom as she did. Any commando that dared target her got a round in their head. Making a made dash for the bed, more hostiles burst in through the bedroom windows and unloaded slugs around the room. Sliding along the floor, Shepard snatched up her Scmitar and blasted them hard against the wall.

"Guess not everyone likes it rough."

With a dark chuckle, she charged back into the kitchen, slipping into cover besides her lover.

"When was the last time we did stuff like this?"

Shooting over the counter and shredding into the guts of an enemy with her shot, Shepard shrugged.

"I don't know. I honestly thought my days of being targetted was over."

The turian smirked and popped out of cover, overloading a weapon and causing it to blow the face off of a commando.

"Right, cos you clearly aren't enjoying the violence and having me cover your back."

"Wouldn't be the first time you've covered it recently, only this time it's not in your-"

A loud explosion at the far end of the living room muted her words. Either help or more work arrived.

"You're not going to make me blush."

With a commando flying over the counter, upside down, the heroine curb stomped his face in.

"Not giving up anytime soon."

Giving him a quick peck on the mandible, the two popped out of cover and began a heavy assualt on the troopers remaining, Garrus handling the long range and technical side of war, Shepard the biotic and close range, dealing with mid-range on occasion by swapping out to her Carnifex.

"We still got that Launcher nearby?"

"Yeah, under the sink, why?"

The Titan mech that crashed through the roof, narrowly applying jets to prevent it decent through the lower floors, answered his question. Of course, by the time the dust settled, Shepard had already prepared and armed the weapon, aiming it at the enemy.

"Oh, no reason."

A flash and a bang later, the living room was more a morgue, the collective bodies of dead commandos and rubble from the extra crispy mech littering the area. Working their way to the hole in the wall, stepping over body and dodging flame, the sprinkers only just starting to activate, the two look over at the opposite building.

"Hey, Lola! Heard there was a party, figured you needed some help."

James Vega. Smart mouthed son of a bitch extrodinare.

"You owe me a new wall, Vega! Or is it commander now?"

He shook his head, smirking.

"Not yet. Still training, it's the whole reason I'm here. Command said there was some group gathering here, figured you may have gone loco at last."

"At last? Guess you don't remember the suicide mission me and her went on, huh? Uh, right side."

Turning and snatching the phantom by the arm, Vega throwing the slim body over the roof. No amount of cheap ass backflipping would save them from gravity and cement. Turning back to the turian, Vega shook his head.

"Come on, Scales, she stopped the Reapers and almost died doing so. It's not loco, just Shepard. Above you."

Blasting through the ceiling with her shotgun, another phantom falls. Garrus chuckled, holding his lover tight.

"Damn right it is. So how about we meet you on the roof and we see if you've gotten any better at shooting?"

"You're on. See you guys in a minute."

With that, the three headed to the roof, Vega jumping the gap over the alley below, Garrus and Shepard taking the stairs. Of course, this wasn't without problems. Approaching the stairwell, Shepard fired a few biotic walls upwards, causing several commandos to fall all the way down the many flights of stairs.

"For god sake! You'd think after all the shit we've had with elevators in the past, stairs would be easier!"

Garrus chuckled, covering their acscent from behind.

"You mean the time with Kai Lang? And when Saren deactivated the lifts when we tried to stop him? And all those floating platforms the Collector's had which I almost fell from?"

With a roar, Shepard sent several enemies flying through the wall, some likely to have been thrown into the apartment complex next door.

"Exactly! And now stairs are an issue! I'm getting a damn jetpack when this is over!"

As her lovers chuckled more, she couldn't help but break out a smile too. He was right. She was enjoying it all, she always did. Pregnant or not, nothing could stop her loving every moment of the gore.

There! Done! Part one for you all to read. I always chuckle at some of the things I put in here, the elevator joke has to be my favorite. R&R and hopefully I'll churn out the next few pages soon. Been a very rough time for me recently and I've neglected my stories so much so that there's at least 12 on hiatus! Hope to finish them all and get in the mood again cos I'm already delaying three massive projects (two big stories and a script)! Hope you all enjoy and sorry again for the delay.