Admiral Hackett was saying something over the intercom. The Illusive Man lay vanquished nearby. David Anderson stood with Olivia Shepard by the Citadel's console. They had emerged from the darkened corridors, crossed the chasm, and dealt with the clearly indoctrinated Illusive Man all within a matter of minutes… but the fighting still wasn't over.
"Shepard, the Crucible isn't doing anything," Admiral Hackett repeated. "It must be something on your end."
Snapping back into reality, Shepard turned to look at Anderson. She followed his gaze to the console in front of them. They were in a part of the Citadel they had never seen before, and so they fumbled helplessly over the controls. Something seemed to work, though. The panel flashed an array of different colors. The lights around them flickered. Something… initiated.
Outside, the Crucible let loose a large spherical wave of peaceful white energy. It was like a sunbeam breaking through the darkness of space. It passed over everything without harm, but when it touched the dark red energy that made up the protective shielding of the Reaper vessels; it turned the protective barrier into a solid, inert state. The shields then broke like glass around the menacing starships.
Admiral Hackett thought he knew what this meant.
"Continue to engage all Reaper vessels while we assess the effect of the Crucible," he said in his usual calm voice to what was left of Sword Fleet. But the evidence was already quite apparent. Reaper vessels were now being destroyed with the same ease as any other vessel of their size, but with one exception: unlike the other starships in the immediate vicinity, the Reaper vessels no longer had protection, not even in the form of something as simple as a kinetic barrier.
"Commander," EDI transmitted through the chatter of the war broadcast, "the Crucible appears to have nullified Reaper shielding. The affect is planet wide, but it does not appear to go much further beyond that. Reaper vessels are now in a full state of retreat. Earth has been reclaimed. I estimate our losses at 37%. Reaper losses are still mounting. Soft spots and structural weakness continue to be identified now that the shielding is no longer a concern. Current projections estimate Reaper losses will be at 40% by day's end."
"I'll take it," Commander Shepard replied simply.
Anderson was saying something to her about how they had "turned the tide of the war." Olivia couldn't focus on his words, though. Staggering backwards, her knees buckled and she collapsed. She had lost too much blood. Her body couldn't keep her brain properly perfused… and so she passed out.
When she came to, Olivia found herself lying on a hospital bed in a part of the Citadel she did recognize: Huerta Memorial Hospital. An IV was attached to her arm, and a blood bag was dangling nearby. She could see her reflection in the glass window before her. Her raven black hair was tucked behind one of her ears. Except for a busted lower lip, her oval shaped face was largely unscathed.
A pair of doors on the other side of the room suddenly slid open. An older gentleman stepped inside.
"I see you're awake," the man said in greeting. He was a nurse. He approached the blood bag hanging from her IV pole and removed it. "Your body is quite good at replacing its fluids. Just need to keep you hydrated and the rest should take care of itself." He checked a second bag that was hanging not far away. This one was filled with a clear liquid. "You have a visitor, by the way. Kaidan Alenko. Want me to send him in?"
Olivia perked with interest. She tried to sit up in bed, but her stomach sent a shot of pain into her body. She quickly relaxed back into the hospital bed.
"Yeah," she grunted, "yeah, send him in."
The nurse parted from the room without saying another word. Moments later, Kaidan entered. He walked with a quickened gait to Olivia's bedside. Emotions of concern, warmth, and love resonated from his eyes. He took her hand.
"You're okay," he breathed.
"Kaidan," Olivia whispered in relief.
Reaching up with her free hand, she pulled him into a deep and passionate kiss. Her busted lip caused her to whimper once with pain, but she ignored the sting as she kissed him. Kaidan tried to pull away to see what had caused her to cry out, but Olivia wouldn't let him go. So he deepened the kiss. Easing into it further, he kissed her like he had in London. That kiss was a kiss she would never forget. It had been a desperate embrace… a final goodbye… Still, in comparison, this one was pretty good too. To her, this kiss was the culmination of all her hard work.
When their lips finally parted, a single blot of blood oozed forth onto Olivia's lower lip. Kaidan reached out with his hand and he touched it. She kissed his fingertips. Staring with rapture into his eyes, she was completely smitten by him. Everything she wanted in life was now in this room. Nothing was ever going to get in the way of their love again… nothing.
"I love you," Olivia whispered, a satisfied sigh escaping her lips as she spoke.
"I love you," Kaidan echoed. "Can you believe we did it? We saved Earth. You saved Earth."
Olivia shook her head. "We won by 3%. After months of preparation, that's the best we could do?" She shifted her gaze past Kaidan. Disappointment flowed into her eyes.
Kaidan took her by the chin. He forced her attention back onto him. "Don't you short-change yourself," he said. "You accomplished something no one else could do. Without this victory today, the entire galaxy would have no hope—none."
Olivia offered him a kind smile. "Does this mean I can retire?"
Kaidan smirked. "I imagine you can do whatever you want to do after today."
Olivia reached out with her hand to stroke the side of Kaidan's face. "Well, in that case, do you know what I really want to do?" she queried. Kaidan shook his head. Olivia didn't immediately continue. She paused a moment to trace the side of his jawline with her fingertips. "I want to stop fighting," she eventually went on to say. "I want to start living… with you. After all we've been through Kaidan you're the only one I want. I know we've had our differences, and I know I'm not the same woman you first fell in love with, but we've grown closer through it all, and now that the Reapers are in check I can finally say something to you that I've been wanting to say for a very long time: I love you more than anything. I'm sorry I left you when I did… I'm sorry about Horizon and Cerebrus… But I'm not sorry when I say I'm done fighting. I'm done, Kaidan. Let someone else take over the reins now. I want a new path… I want to settle down with you… start a family… When I look at you I know you'd make an amazing father … I've felt this way for a while now… It's clouded my judgment on several missions… when I should have been thinking about the greater good; I was thinking about what would keep me alive so I could come back to you in one piece. I can't afford to think like that anymore… it's not fair to those who serve under my command…"
Kaidan paused to assess what all Olivia had said. After a minute, a smile perked up at the corner of his mouth.
"I've been thinking the same thing," he admitted. "Now that we can finally have this discussion, I want you to know I've been thinking the exact same thing. I never thought you'd beat me to it, though. I always thought I'd have to strong arm you into settling down with me."
Olivia smirked and shook her head. "No, not at all," she confessed, "it's all I want. I want you so bad. I literally ache when I'm away from you now."
"Me too," Kaidan confessed. "Well, if this is what you really want, all I can say is… your place or mine?"
Olivia laughed lightly. "Do we even know if our childhood homes are still intact?"
Kaidan shook his head. Despite the seriousness of the conversation, he continued project only kindness and warmth to her. "No, we'll probably have a lot of cleaning up to do. But what better time to start our lives together then from the ashes and the rubble?"
Olivia nodded her head in agreement, and then she kissed his lips again.