Shepard's quarters were in near silence. The only thing that could be heard was the hum of the aquarium. The feeder dispensed food for the fish, and they swarmed around the particles, blissfully ignorant of the quarian sitting on the edge of the bed, looking down at a rectangular piece of metal.

Tali was staring at the plaque that was made only just a day after they had landed on this unidentified planet. Seeing the words "Commander Shepard" had made her cry, but at this point her tear ducts were dry. When the time came to put the plaque on the memorial wall, she couldn't bring herself to do it. Her mind told her that he's more than likely dead, but her heart told her that he must be alive, and in the end her heart always won out. She had tried to get her mind off of worrying about him by making repairs to the drive core with engineers Adams, Donnelly, and Daniels, but it only worked for so long: she barely had any motivation. She had not felt this way since Kaidan first told her that Shepard was dead two years ago; in fact this was probably worse, because last time she had never told him about her feelings for him, and now that she had she hoped that once the Reapers were destroyed, the two of them would be able to return to Rannoch and build a quiet life for themselves. She played the scenario in her head just before Shepard fought the Reaper on Rannoch:

"If we leave now the geth stay under Reaper control and the quarians are dead. This ends now!" Shepard placed his hand on his earpiece, "EDI, patch the quarians to the Normandy's weapons system. I want the targeting laser synced up to the whole damn fleet."

"Understood," replied EDI.

"If this doesn't..." nervously said Tali, "If we don't make it..."

"You worry too much," answered Shepard.

"I love you."

"Keelah se'lai."

Thinking about that forced a few tears to her eyes. Shepard was probably dead now, but she refused to believe it, not until it was confirmed, and they had received no word.

"Please, John," she begged in a whisper, "Don't be dead. I... I can't lose you again, not when we have so much to look forward to. I... I don't want to build a home unless I have you there with me. I... I... oh Keelah!" She broke down in tears. "Damn the Reapers! Why did they have to do this to me?!"

"If you think about it, Tali," said a female voice, "The Reapers are what brought you and Shepard together."

"Oh! Liara. I... didn't hear you come in." Liara stood at the top of the stairs.

"Sorry if I'm interrupting anything."

"No, it's okay."

"Tali..."

"Really, I'm..." Tali sighed. "No, I'm not okay. We're light years away from John, and I don't know if he's alive or..."

Liara came and sat down with her and put an arm around her. "Don't give up hope, Tali. Shepard has survived impossible odds before, even death."

"But last time Cerberus brought him back to life. Now that they're gone..."

"There won't be any chance of bringing him back. I know, and if it turns out to be true and Shepard really is... dead, then you, and all of us, have to move on."

Tali didn't say anything for a moment. "I know, but right now..."

Liara hugged her. "Don't give up."

Tali relaxed a bit. "Thank you, Liara. And how are you doing? Have you heard from Hyde yet?"

Liara sighed. "No, and I worry about him almost as much as you worry about Shepard."

"Don't you give up yet either. If John's alive, Hyde must be too."

"I hope so. In the meantime, Admiral Hackett finally managed to contact us, and he says that he has urgent news to tell us." Tali's eyes widened. This may be it, the moment that would tell her if she should try to move on with her life, or be a reason to hope again.

"Okay," said Tali after a moment, "I'll be right there." Liara got up and headed back to the elevator. Tali got up and put the plaque on Shepard's desk, then proceeded to meet the team in the comm room. The entire team, save for EDI, was there standing in front of Hackett's hologram.

"Hey, there you are Sparks!" greeted James, trying to get her spirits up.

"Sorry I'm late," apologized Tali, "I was just..."

"You don't have to tell us Tali," said Garrus sympathetically, "We know you're going through a tough time right now. We all are."

"Thanks Garrus."

"We're all here admiral," said Kaidan.

"Good," said Hackett, "Let me first start by saying that I'm glad we were finally able to contact the Normandy. I'll admit, I feared the worst."

"The Normandy's systems took quite a beating when we landed here. We repaired the comm system as fast as we could so we could get in touch with the Alliance, let'em know where we are."

"Glad to hear it, major. Now I know all of you must be wondering why I told Major Alenko to bring you all here. This is because the six of you were with the commander since this war first started, and some of you were with him before that, so I knew that the news I have for you would have the greatest impact, as I'm sure you all are concerned about Shepard's health." A spark of hope flared in Tali.

"It has been something we've all wondered about," said Garrus.

"After the Crucible fired," continued Hackett, "The Citadel was severely damaged from the blast, much of the Wards being reduced to rubble. When the dust settled, I made finding Shepard a top priority. I sent recon teams to scout every inch of the Citadel until they found his body. Captain Williams' recon team Alpha found him..." The room was silent. "Alive. Badly wounded, but alive." That spark became a flame, and everyone but Javik's eyes widened.

"Shepard's still alive?!" said James.

"Correct, lieutenant."

"Was Hyde with him?!" asked Liara.

"Mr. Hyde was close by, still somewhat conscious. The recon teams assembled at Alpha so that each team's medic could administer first aid to keep them alive until transportation arrived. We had the two of them sent back to a hospital still in operation on Earth, and have our best doctors treating their injuries."

"Just how beat up are they?" wondered James.

"Shepard suffered the worst of it. Multiple fractures, burns and bruises all over his body, a collapsed rib cage. Hyde suffered similar burns, and has both his lower legs broken, though the doctors suspect that this was before he reached the Conduit."

"So Hyde followed Shepard up despite what he said..." Liara said to herself.

"Admiral," said Kaidan, "You don't know what this news means to us. I think I can speak for everyone that you put our minds to rest on this."

"You're welcome," replied Hackett, "I'm sure they want to see you just as much as you want to see them, so I have an order for you major: I want the Normandy space-worthy again so that your reunion can happen."

Kaidan saluted Hackett. "Yes sir!"

"Hackett out." The hologram phased out. Everyone was speechless for a while.

"I can hardly believe it," finally said Kaidan.

"The commander's odds of survival were slim," pointed out Javik, "But it is of no surprise that he survived given that he has been through worse."

"Odd way of saying you're relieved to hear this news, Buggy," joked James. "Even if you do have a point."

"I always knew Shepard was a tough son-of-a-bitch," said Garrus, "But wow, even I'm surprised to hear this. Bet that takes a load off of your shoulders, knowing Hyde's with him too, huh Liara?"

Liara smiled. "It does, and now I'm all the more encouraged to help get the Normandy repaired so I can see him again. And I'm sure you're relieved too Tali." Liara turned to face Tali, but she was no longer there. Tali had dashed back to the elevator to head down to the engineering bay.

He's alive! He's alive! Keelah, he's alive! She always had a feeling that Shepard was alive, and now that admiral Hackett had confirmed that she was right, Tali was now determined more than ever to get the Normandy up and running again.

Hold on, John. I'm coming.

The hospital room was cold; power was diverged to the machines keeping Shepard alive. A heart monitor emitted a steady beep, an air mask covered his nose and mouth to help him breath, his bruises and burns had barely begun to recover, and there were a pair of bandages on both arms, marking where he received blood from donors, and there were many volunteers. He had been unconscious ever since the Citadel collapsed, but slowly he managed to open his eyes. He tried to move, but he let out a sharp groan of pain as it stabbed at him everywhere inside of him.

"Yeah, probably best not to move for some time, Shepard," said Hyde. Shepard made the effort to tilt his head toward his infiltrator friend. Hyde was sitting in a wheel chair staring out the window even with the Sun flushing the room with light. His legs were entirely wrapped in bandages, and as opposed to the stealth suit that Hyde wore ever since they remet on the Citadel after Earth was attacked, Hyde was in a typical hospital robe, revealing the bruises and burns he sustained, but they were not as bad as Shepard's.

"Hyde?" muttered Shepard.

"Yep. Still alive and kicking, though that's probably not the best way of saying it considering..." Hyde gazed at his busted legs. Shepard couldn't help but let out a short laugh, and his lungs punished him for it.

"Don't... make jokes... right now."

"Sorry. Kind of hard not to when there is absolutely nothing to do here."

A thought popped into Shepard's head. "How... long?"

"Since you fired the Crucible? A month." Shepard wasn't surprised to hear that. Hyde chuckled. "The doc's are gonna be surprised to see you awake, Shepard. They said you'd be a coma for at least a year, but I know that you have a history of waking up when you weren't expected to."

"Where's... the Normandy?"

Hyde's faced turned glum when Shepard asked that. "I don't know. I don't think anyone knows, or even if it's still out there along with the rest of our friends."

"Did... we win?"

"We wouldn't be here if we didn't. That pulse the Crucible fired spread throughout the entire galaxy so I've heard, wiping out all Reapers, and... unfortunately all AI as well. The geth are reported gone, and I assume EDI and Nora are gone as well."

"Had... to be done."

"I'm not disagreeing with your decision. The Reapers had to be wiped out, and I was there to encourage you to destroy them."

Shepard slumped back into his bed. He felt cheated by the turn of events the Crucible brought upon him. He had brought peace between the geth and quarians, only to have that not matter in the long run, and felt even worse that he killed off EDI just as she was becoming more like a person than a machine.

"I'm gonna miss Nora and EDI," continued Hyde, "They were good... people, but destroying the Reapers was the best option."

"Why do you... say that?"

"Controlling them wouldn't really make you any better than the Illusive Man, and synthesis... what would we do if we reached our peak evolution? Without limitations, we can't advance any further. And besides, I really don't like the idea of screwing with everyone's DNA, especially when it's-" he snapped his fingers, "-just like that."

"I... thought about it."

Hyde was shocked. "What?! Why?!" Shepard let out a depressed sigh. "Oh... right. With that you and Tali would've been able to have flesh and blood kids."

Shepard nodded. "Went against it... since that wouldn't have... happened anyway."

"Cause you would've die if you had done synthesis, making that hope redundant." They sat in silence for a moment. "Well, at least you guys can still adopt. After all, I'd imagine there are a lot of orphans out there right now. Poor things... having their parents taken away like that." Hyde looked over at Shepard, and saw that Shepard had closed his eyes. The heart monitor still maintained its steady rhythm; Shepard had fallen asleep.

Still weak I guess... Hyde looked out at the town. It was a small town, which made sense since the Reapers targeted major cities first, but the Alliance brought in the top doctors here to make sure Shepard, and likewise him, pulled through. It was pleasant view, despite that some of the buildings were damaged or demolished, yet surprising the hospital did not suffer all that much. The power systems had to be quickly brought back online, but with Alliance technicians it took no time at all. Meanwhile outside, everyone was pitching in to rebuild: civilians, soldiers, and even other speices who stayed behind to help their human comrades. He had never seen this kind of thing before in his life, and a sense of pride washed over him.

It's just too bad it took an apocalypse to do it. He looked down at his legs, and shook his head. You gotta stop trying to be a hero. They made him think back to what happened. Shepard had brought Tali and Garrus with him to the final dash to the Conduit, but he followed close behind, unseen thanks to his stealth suit. When Harbinger blasted the team, Shepard ordered them to save themselves. Tali didn't want to go, but Shepard urged her to save herself, caring more for her life than his. Shepard went back to head for the Conduit, while Hyde continued to follow, disregarding the order because if Shepard was to die there, who else would make it? That's when he saw Harbinger blast Shepard again, that time, Hyde thought, for good. He didn't have time to worry about it, as the shockwave from the blast knocked him off his feet, and a Mako wheel had the convenience of rolling over his legs...

"Son of a bitch!" shouted Hyde. He had never felt a pain like this before. Getting shot was one thing; getting your bones broken was a whole other world. He looked up to see where Shepard was, fearing the worst. The commander was already limping his way to the beam. "Well I'll be damned. What does it take to kill him?" He knew he shouldn't make jokes right now, but he couldn't help it. But his surprise changed to panic as three husks came out from behind a pile of rubble to bring Shepard down, but the commander managed to bring his pistol up and take them down instead. Shepard kept going, only to be sucker shot by a Marauder.

No...! Despite his legs' objections, he crawled over to his Mantis, steadied his aim, and took off the head of the Marauder. You are NOT holding the line today sir. Shepard didn't even bother to look around to see who saved his life, and inched his way over to the beam. Hyde located a Predator pistol, figuring that this would be easier to use than a sniper rifle. He had no idea what to expect. He slowly army-crawled to the beam, and followed Shepard up.

He appeared in an ominously lit hallway, littered with dead bodies, and a keeper who was completely oblivious to them. He looked up to see Shepard had already started heading down the hallway.

"Shepard!" he called out, making his presence known. Shepard turned around.

"Hyde?!" he said, irritated. "I thought I told everyone to get back on the Normandy!"

"Look at yourself, Shepard! It's a good thing I went AWOL!"

"Well you aren't looking so good yourself."

"I'll... crawl it off."

"Anderson's here too. He already went ahead of me."

"Guess you and I aren't the only stubborn asses here then. Lead the way."

"No. You stay here, I don't need you getting any more injured."

"But Shepard..."

"That's an order, Hyde." Shepard went on ahead. Hyde wanted to argue, but now was not the time, and his legs agreed with Shepard. He looked around at all the dead humans scattered throughout the hallway.

I'll sleep good when I'm dead. I just hope it isn't today though. The place smelt incredibly foul as well. They're gonna have one hell of a clean-up job when this is over.

Hyde was stubborn though. He had crawled his way after Shepard, and witnessed the Illusive Man commit suicide. Shepard opened the arms, chatted with Hyde, and both of them ascended to where the Catalyst lurked. Hyde was losing consciousness, but overheard what the Catalyst said, and more importantly the options that Shepard had. He reminded Shepard that destroying them was the best option, for both the galaxy, and the two of them if they hoped to live. And now here they were, injured and strapped to this room via red tape, but alive. Hyde rolled his chair back to his bed, carefully climbed out of it, and quickly fell asleep.