PREFACE: Like manyother avid Mass Effect fans, I was very disappointed in the ending. This fic will be what I would have liked the ending to be. It may be cheesey, fluffy, and at some points ridiculous, but bear with me.
The End Chapter 1: Catalyst
The Illusive Man fell to the floor and lay still. Anderson fell to his stomach and did the same. Shepard limped up to the console, each step sending lightning through his body. When he reached the console, the typed in several commands.
He breezed through the interface, just like any other. Only it was this one that would destroy the Reapers once and for all and leave only peace in its wake.
His task completed, he slumped next to Anderson, who was sitting up against a small step.
"We… We did it, Anderson." Shepard choked out.
"We did. I'm proud of you, son." Anderson paused, looking at the Earth spinning past the open arms of the Citadel. "It feels like it's been years since I… Sat down…" Anderson told Shepard sleepily.
"Come on, Anderson, stay with me." Shepard warned the Admiral, nudging him. Despite Shepard's prompting, Anderson closed his eyes and rested, perhaps for eternity.
"When this is over, I'm going to have a hot meal and sleep in a soft bed…" Shepard commented to himself, his eyes drooping. A crackle of static broke through his bleariness. It was Admiral Hackett.
"Shepard, I don't believe it. Whatever you did, the Reapers are being destroyed. More disassembled, really. They're dissolving, right in front of our scanners. You did it, Commander."
Shepard smiled, letting his euphoria wash the piercing pain from his face. He had done it. Everyone told him he could, but he couldn't ever really believe it. Not after losing so many friends.
"Hey Lieutenant, get me a beer when I meet you up there. That's an order." Shepard told himself. He closed his eyes and saw Kaiden smirking back at him.
"If you say so, sir."
"Damn right I say so. And tell Mordin he's a good guy. Or frog. Thing. Okay, lieutenant?" Shepard felt himself drifting to sleep, and he could hear footsteps behind him. Probably Alenko getting him that beer.
"So soon, LT? I hardly had time to pass over yet and you're already kissing my ass again!" Shepard jabbed at the LT. Kaiden rolled his eyes.
"Commander. You'll have to wait for that beer."
"Why? I sure could use one right now…" Shepard mumbled, his almost closed as he fell into Anderson, who emitted a muffled 'oomph'.
"They still need you. You'll have your time, but you can't leave everyone behind yet."
"Who? Who am I leaving-"
"Shepard!" Ashley screamed from behind him. Shepard tried to turn his head, but it was too heavy for him to move. His vision went black just as Ashley's battered form came up to greet him.
MEMEMEMEMEMEMEME
It smelled like roses. That was the first thing Shepard noticed about Heaven. It smelled like roses. There might have been a slight hint of vanilla. And cinnamon. Everything was cream-colored, almost like he was swimming in a pool of coffee creamer.
Then he heard a voice. It was so faint, Shepard had to struggle to hear it.
"May have been … too much blood … an't say for sure. I'm surprised he even survived. To think, a Reaper hit him dead-on with that blast! It's unthinkable."
Shepard's mind snapped back to reality. He felt his body, laying on something soft. He tried to open his eyes, but couldn't. His limbs were too heavy to move.
He was alive.
The voices came back.
"Doctor, the monitor! His brain has normal functionality!"
"Let me see that!" The second voice said. There was a commotion, and then blinding light seared into Shepard's brain. The light retracted, leaving behind a blurry, gray-topped head. The voices were talking to him.
"Commander! Stay calm. Try not to move; I don't think you're ready to get up yet. There are so many people that want to see you. Sleep well, now, Commander." As the last words were spoken, the rosy-smelling coffee creamer enveloped him once again.
MEMEMEMEMEMEMEME
"Shepard. Shepard, please. Please wake up." Ashley pleaded. The crew of the Normandy had followed the Commander through the beam only a few minutes after he had. They found the Illusive Man, Admiral Anderson, and the Commander all on the floor of the Citadel control panel.
Shepard didn't have a pulse.
"You promised me you'd come back! You can't do this, Shepard. I'm not losing you again!" She yelled at Shepard, whose head she had cradled in her lap. Tears began to leak down her face, two shiny trails where there was no grime from the battle.
Tears dripped off her chin as James and Liara tried to take Shepard back to the Normandy for medical attention. Ashley snarled at them, but after several minutes of soothing from Liara, the Lieutenant reluctantly let go.
Liara was the closest friend she had now, since Shepard was dead.
She cried into Liara's shoulder for what seemed like an eternity, until finally it seemed she couldn't cry any more. She wiped her nose and let Liara guide her back to the Normandy.
When everyone had been hauled aboard, including the now recuperating Anderson, Liara called a meeting of the crew in the conference room. Almost the entire crew crowded into and around the small, glass-paneled walls, trying to hear Liara and the rest of Shepard's squad speak.
"Shepard …" Liara started, then stopped. She paused for an unfathomable amount of time. "We're not sure if Shepard made it. Only Anderson knows what happened on the Citadel, but we can only imagine, given his state, that…" She trailed off again. This time, Garrus stepped forward.
"For now, we're going back to Earth to help with the mop-up. When that's done, well… We'll cross that bridge when we get to it." He finished, then moved to exit the small room. Ashley merely stood in what seemed like stunned silence, his gave unwavering towards the floor. James walked up next to here as the rest of the crew cleared out.
"We should get out of here. We could all use some rest. Garrus said we're gonna start with clean-up tomorrow, so…" He started softly, then waited for a response from her. She remained mute, rooted to the spot. Vega sighed and left her to her thoughts, the only one left in the room.
The next several days were a blur to Ashley. She had somehow managed to wake up in one of the crew beds without her armor on, and Shepard was already at the newly established ICU on Earth. She helped straighten out the LZ, though part of Hammer Team had taken care of most of that.
She then worked trying to piece together the broken pieces of her heart through tough labor. As she was sitting down at the table in the mess, she heard a couple of marines talking excitedly.
"Ording to Cahkwas, Shepard's alive and-" The two were shoved aside as Ashley careened her way to the elevator, mashing the 'Cargo Hold' button until she was sure she had broken her index finger. The elevator chugged down the shaft, with Ashley screaming at it to go faster. When the doors were halfway open, she charged through, knocking over Cortez and another poor soul and marched out of the hold and into the base camp. She sprinted through the camp, trying to find the small underground doorway that led to the ICU. Ashley ran into it with reckless abandon, rushing past the maze of halls and beds, each with a different soldier in it. Finally she came to a small room with tinted windows. On the door read; 'CLASSIFIED: KEEP OUT'. She opened the door anyways.
Inside were Doctor Chakwas along with another doctor Ashley didn't recognize. They were tending to Shepard, who was completely covered in bandages. It would have been funny if he wasn't supposed to be dead.
"Is he okay?" Ashley pleaded of Chakwas.
"Yes. We managed to resuscitate him after the Normandy arrived." She replied with her unique accent. Ashley sighed with relief, then too familiar tears began to grace her eyes.
"Here, now, it's okay. He'll be fine. Take a seat; it could be a while." Doctor Chakwas said, indicating a seat by the wall. Ashley sat in the chair, numbly staring at Shepard. Only minutes ago, she thought he was dead. And now he was alive again. She let out a harsh bark of laughter. Just another day for Commander Shepard. Then there was a commotion.
"Doctor! I don't believe it, he's waking up again!" The other doctor exclaimed to Chakwas, who rushed over. Ashley bolted upright. Shepard's eyes fluttered open slowly, then he gasped. He seemed to convulse as he breathed. Chakwas called to another aide from outside, who shooed Ashley out.
So the numbness was back, as she awaited the news.
MEMEMEMEMEMEMEME
"Scratch one!" Garrus yelled, ducking back into cover. He and Tali along with a group of Alliance marines were trying to push out from the base camp to amass more allied territory.
"Nice shot!" Tali yelled back, blasting off a marauder's head with her shotgun. "It's really too bad that super-weapon of Shepard's didn't take out all the husks.
"Then there wouldn't be any fun left!" Wrex shouted as he ran past the group and straight through a ravager. He disemboweled a cannibal, then smashed a husk's face with murderous glee. He continued on his rage-fueled rampage until only the marines, Garrus, and Tali were the last things standing.
"I'll try to save some for you next time, Garrus." Wrex smirked as he walked up to the turian, covered in blood. Garrus flicked his mandibles.
"I figured I'd let you get some kills; get warmed up before we really started." Garrus examined his talons. Tali snorted.
"Boys."
The group of marines shrugged and followed the three as they carved a path of destruction through the bombed out landscape of Earth. Soon enough, the group encountered some of the remnants of Hammer Team. Garrus and Tali hurried over to the small group of turians and geth that were fighting off Reaper troops as Wrex, Tali, and the marines gave support to the beleaguered squad.
"What's your status?" Garrus shouted to one of the turians as he took up a covered position beghind some low rubble.
"Not good! We've taken heavy casualties, but the geth seem to be doing better than us. They're still pounding 'em whenever they get close, but the enemy's gotten smart off that tactic! They're just trying to break down our cover and keep us suppressed." A bullet whizzed past the turian's head.
"Tell your team to fall back a ways! We're gonna try to get some fire support!" Garrus yelled as he popped out of cover to take a few shots. He ducked back into the rubble as a hail of bullets swept over his head. He slapped out his thermal clip, and it clinked to the floor. Then he brought one taloned hand up to his comm.
"This is Lance Team! We need gunship support ASAP! Enemy is twenty meters northwest of our position!" Garrus shouted into the comm. An answer crackled through.
"Roger that, Lance Team. Razor three-two inbound. Three… Two… One… Splash." At the last word a fighter flew low over them, blanketing the enemy position in flames.
"Thanks for the support, three-two!" Garrus yelled into the comm over the thunderous roar of the flames. He stood up and waved two talons in a circle.
"Mop 'em up! We have ground to cover, and we'll need all of Hammer we can get to." Garrus yelled to the team, who began to move out. He lowered his assault rifle as Tali sidled up next to him.
"You're a very different man than when I met you, Garrus." His mandibles flared in embarrassment.
"You've also matured a lot, Tali. You went from a shy kid on her pilgrimage to a strong woman capable of anything."
Tali beamed under her visor, then nudged Garrus with her hip.
"I'll help them clean up." Tali told him with mirth. He smiled his little turian smile. It was nice to be loved.