HOMECOMING

This originated when I thought about what might happen if both Commander Shepard and Gunnery Chief Williams were sole survivors - one from Akuze, one from Eden Prime - and they were faced with the dilemma of whether to help Samesh Bhatia or Clerk Bosker. How do you properly honor the dead? How do respect the living? Set during ME1, side quest "Homecoming" (go figure). As always, I own nothing, Bioware owns everything, blah, blah, blah. Are we surprised by this? Rated T just to be on the safe side.

"What am I supposed to do, Ash? Let more Marines die because one man insists on retrieving the body of his wife?" Shepard sighed, clearly frustrated with the decision he had been forced to make. "Look, I don't like it either, but I know what it's like to lose everyone in your unit." Ash sucked in her breath sharply and squared her shoulders at his remark. "I know what it's like," he repeated, softer this time, sympathetic. She looked back, and for a split second she saw a flash of pain and remorse cross his features before he shook his head sadly and stared into her eyes. "What do you want me to do?" he asked, more accusatory than helpless.

Ashley felt herself flushing with anger. "What do I want you to do?" She whirled around and jabbed a finger into his chest. "I want you to stop betraying what Nirali and the rest of my Marines fought for! What your Marines on Akuze fought for, and what all of us who wear the uniform and take the oath fight for every single day! It's not just about survival, Shepard, it's about what makes us human!" In the back of her mind she heard the voice of reason begging her to shut up, but she plowed ahead. She was furious. "In case you haven't noticed yet, I don't care what the Alliance or the Council thinks, but your crew needs to know that you'll do the right thing and look after us even if it costs you." Her voice was shaking with emotion now. "Please don't get so caught up in stopping Saren and that you lose your humanity, Shepard. Please."

He was quiet for several moments before saying anything or even moving. Finally he reached out and squeezed her hand tightly. Ashley felt her cheeks turning red again, for a different reason this time. "Thanks, Ash. I needed to hear that." He smirked and turned back towards the bar they had just exited.

"Come on. Mr. Bosker needs that reminder too."

"Right behind you, skipper." She was suddenly very self-conscious of how far she had overstepped her bounds. "And, uh, sir? Sorry if I..."

"You want to do the honors again?" he interrupted.

"Uh, no thanks. It's your turn."

"I suppose it is." His dark eyes narrowed as he opened the door and he walked up to the clerk. "Mr. Bosker? I've changed my mind. You need to release Serviceman Bhatia's body."

"Commander? But I thought... Was Mr. Bhatia unwilling to listen to you?"

"No. I never spoke with him." He shot a quick but meaningful look at Ashley before turning back towards the seated clerk. "But I was reminded that the noblest cause we fight for is our humanity and the memory of those who died defending it. We need to honor the memory of the fallen, Mr. Bosker. We owe them that much."

"But Commander Shepard, surely you of all people understa..." But unfortunately Mr. Bosker never got a chance to finish explaining what the first human Spectre should have understood, as he found himself unceremoniously yanked out of his chair and slammed into the wall.

"Listen to me, you insignificant piece of varren dung. I will splatter your tiny brain against the wall of this pathetic establishment if you try to tap dance around me again. You will release Nirali Bhatia's body. Immediately. Is that definitive enough for you?"

The poor clerk only managed to nod and whimper.

Shepard's impenetrable stare suddenly changed to a knowing smirk. "And as soon as you're done making the arrangements for Nirali to go home, Mr. Bosker, you may change your pants."

Ash guffawed to herself as they left the hapless clerk trying to figure out what had just happened.

"Did he really piss himself, commander?"

Shepard laughed. "Sometimes I have that effect. Watch and learn, my young apprentice."

"Thanks, skipper. For Nirali. For all of them."

Shepard stopped walking and looked at her. "I'm the one who should be thanking you, Ash. I... I sometimes forget that at the end of the day, what we do isn't as important as how and why we do it. But you're right. If we achieve everything that Udina and the other blood-sucking politicians want us to, but we lose our souls in the process, I just can't bring myself to believe that it's worth the cost."

"Me neither."

He smiled ruefully. "If only."

"If only what, sir?"

"If only we weren't so dependent on the blood-sucking politicians."

"Couldn't agree with you more, Shepard."

"You know what? I could use a drink. Come on, I overheard Garrus talking about this place in Kithoi Ward." He grinned mischievously. "Unless you'd rather go back to Chora's Den...?"

"No thanks, skipper, I'm good. Kithoi Ward it is."

For every one hundred men you send us,
Ten should not even be here.
Eighty are nothing but targets.
Nine of them are real fighters;
We are lucky to have them, they the battle make.
Ah, but the one. One of them is a warrior,
And he will bring the others back.

- Heraclitus, 500 BC