So this is an idea I had when I thought wouldn't it be cool if there was something about what happened in ME3 if Shepard and co all died. I mean, Joker still lives, all the events of ME3 still happen, the Reapers still come, and Joker was ordered to go back and warn them. So then what?

This is my attempt to answer the question. It is well and truly canon divergent, as is obvious by the fact that Shepard isn't around, but I try to keep things in character anyway.

This is just a short prologue introduction to set the scene. Hopefully it's enough to catch your interest :)

-l-l-l-

"Commander! Come in, Commander! Damn it, where are you…" Joker took his hat off with one hand and ran the other through his hair anxiously. There were explosions everywhere and considering how horrible this whole mission was going so far, he feared the worst. "Commander, do you copy? Commander! Come on, Shepard, don't leave me hanging! Do you copy?"

"I'm here, Joker."

Joker let out a loud sigh, his head resting back against the seat. He never thought hearing that voice would sound so good!

"Did the ground team make it?"

Joker grimaced and, once more, checked the screens of the area outside the ship, but shook his head seeing nothing new. "No sign of them, Shepard. I… guess they didn't make it," he was forced to admit. He couldn't think about what that meant. Not now. At least they got the rest of the crew even if Zaeed had sacrificed himself to get them there. They were in the med bay now. "And… the others with you?" he asked, fearing the worst.

"They're dead."

Joker closed his eyes, wincing as he felt those words like a physical blow. All of them. Every single person who set out was dead. All but Shepard. Opening his eyes again, he focused on the map EDI had up of the Collector base, of the little dot that represented where Shepard was. "Keep going straight down that hall, Commander. I'll be there to pick you up," he said as the Normandy lifted up, knowing they wouldn't be able to get any more people out.

"EDI, take over. He's going to need cover fire," Joker said as he painfully pulled himself out of the chair and grabbed the M-8 Avenger he kept on the side of the seat. He was sure he was hobbling on more than a few broken bones by now - their journey through the Omega 4 relay hadn't exactly been smooth - but damned if he was going to let that stop him from ensuring the Commander got safely back on board again!

Slapping the panel to open the hatch, Joker immediately raised his gun and started shooting at any Collectors he could see, clearing the way for Shepard just as he rounded the corner, running towards them. EDI guided the Normandy down as Joker continued to rain bullets on the pursuing Collectors, putting all that military boot camp training to good use.

"Come on!" Joker shouted as Shepard took a running leap towards the open hatch.

Only to miss, just managing grab on to the floor.

"Commander!" Joker called, and he tossed his gun aside to reach forward and grab Shepard. He grit his teeth - damn the Commander was heavy! - and pulled. He had barely got a grip before he was thrown back again with a cry of pain, a bullet ripping through his left shoulder.

"Joker…" Shepard said, but Joker ignored him. It hurt, damn it hurt, but a lifetime of dealing with pain meant he knew how to shove it aside and get the job done. And this time the job was saving his commander!

Crawling forward once more, Joker reached out with his right hand to continue trying to pull him up.

Shepard, however, was having none of it. "Tell them," he said.

"You tell them," Joker snapped back, flashes of explosions and Shepard floating lifelessly through space flashing before his eyes. "You're not doing this to me again!"

Shepard just shook his head. "You've got to warn them. More are coming!" His hand slips out of Joker's grip, leaving him hanging on to the hatch by one hand. "Joker… go," he said.

He lets go.

-l-l-l-

"Commander!" Jeff shouts, half jerking upright in bed, breathing heavily. He closes his eyes as he feels hot tears well up for the millionth time. "Shepard…" he says softly to himself. It had been like this nearly every night since that fateful mission, unless he could convince Chakwas to give him the good stuff before bed. They had destroyed the Collector's base, obtained intel to warn the Alliance and the Council of the coming threat and what the Collectors were doing, rescued the kidnapped crew, but lost the entire ground crew. Fourteen people.

The fallout of that revelation when Jeff finally limped the Normady back to port in Vancouver, had been widespread and devastating. The famed hero Commander Shepard, killed in action. No one even mentioned all the others, at least as no more than a passing footnote. The news was all about how the first human Specter had been killed ending the threat of the Collectors once and for all. The fact that it was all at the command of the Reapers, that they were building a proto-human Reaper, that the real threat, the Reapers themselves, were still coming and would be here soon even after the delays Shepard had cost them, all that was covered up. No need to cause a panic, they said. As if it wasn't something worth panicking over.

Taking a deep breath, pushing the remnants of his recurring nightmare aside, Jeff pushed himself out of bed and made his slow way to the bathroom. Time to start another day, under guard, helping the Alliance "retrofit" his ship. At least he would get to speak to EDI even if it was under the continued pretense that she was just a VI. That was something at least. He needed that something.