Chapter 2

Those Lost and Found

The blast of the Crucible had spread across the galaxy through the Relays, deactivating most technology while also damaging the Relays and the Citadel. There was much destruction, but the Reapers were defeated.

The nightmare war was finally over.

All of the Reaper forces had been destroyed alongside the Reapers. The moment the blast had washed over the Sol System like a red tsunami wave rushing across the galaxy, all of time had seemed to stand still. It was quiet at first. The silence echoed throughout the universe, consuming all it touched in a deafening, time stilled silence until it was replaced with a roar. This roar had been different than all of the previous roars that had been haunting everyone from soldiers to children.

It was a triumphant roar.

It was a roar of freedom and it started out wordless. Everyone yelling at once in victory over the defeat of the greatest threat they had ever known. The wordless roar suddenly found its name as soon as the initial shock and awe had worn off. They all knew who had pulled this all together; they all knew who had been the spearhead that had pierced the metaphorical heart of the Reapers.

Every man and woman regardless of race all cried out to the heavens one name, the name they owed their very lives to.

Shepard.

Huerta Memorial had broken into a mixture of sobs full of happy tears and the screams of joy for the one woman who had ended their nightmare. Bailey had found himself among the few who remained silent with a mournful smile on his face as he soaked in the cheers of victory. They had evacuated everyone from the main areas of the Citadel that they could on such short notice when the Reapers had taken control of it to different locations across the Galactic Hub, but even then they had been cornered.

The doors could only hold against them for so long and fighting to hold Huerta had been one of the toughest fights they had faced. The Council was among the refugees in the hospital while Bailey had made sure if it had been his last moments that he had fought to the bitter end.

That end had never come thanks to the forces that had come together and fought the Reapers conventionally to buy time for the Crucible and Shepard to end the war to end all wars. The mournful smile that had crossed Bailey's features as he allowed his men to savor the victory was due to a premonition he felt. They were all cheering her name but the pessimist in the seasoned C-Sec officer told him that despite all the good she had done, despite ending this terrible war, she had not survived it.

Commander Bailey was thankful that the nightmare was over, but the victory came with so much loss that he wasn't sure how exactly he should feel. Many lives were taken by the Reapers and they wouldn't be able to get them back, but the war was over. He hadn't given up hope on the woman who had done her best to make sure they had a fighting chance, but he knew a hero's ending when he saw one.

This story would be told for centuries by the survivors of the war. It would be a story about sacrifice, hardship and never losing hope with one woman and her crew at the head of it all. One woman who had given them all the hope they had desperately needed and fulfilled her duty for not only the people she cared for, but for all those living in the Galaxy…to the end.

That would be how her story would be remembered. It was one that would inspire men and women of all races to rise to action and never forget what had happened over the course of a few months.

After the initial celebrations ended, Bailey and the rest of C-Sec got to work on finding any survivors that had been able to elude the Reaper forces. Comms were pretty screwy at first, but with new invigoration for life they managed to get a comm line up for all C-Sec officers. From there the search began with the remaining members of C-Sec trying to find anyone they could.

The seasoned officer took it upon himself to find Shepard and Anderson who they knew had made it to the Citadel somehow. It was still only a few hours after the Crucible had fired, but many survivors were found as C-Sec combed everything from the Presidium to the Wards. Whatever Commander Anastasia Shepard had done had ended the war and restored the peace that had seemed so foreign and long gone since the war started.

A few hours of searching had gone by and so far there had been no success in finding her, but Bailey held hope. She was too damn stubborn to die even if the pessimist in him was still ever present. Figures, the war ends and the hero of it all doesn't get to live to see all her hard work come to fruition, Bailey grumbled mentally. Damn it Shepard, just because you end the war that doesn't mean you get to have an eternal rest.

She was an admirable person and one Bailey was glad to have met. He was honored to be one of the people she trusted and called friend, but all of the honor in the Galaxy didn't change what he told himself: He was failing her right now. The seasoned officer was failing that trust by not being able to find her and bring her to safety. It really was getting to him that he couldn't find someone who would dive into the deepest pits of hell for anyone she deemed worthy.

Bailey and his squad searched through more of the rubble until the light on his omni-tool hit something that sent a glare into his eyes. Nothing made of rubble sent glares which caused a suspicion to begin to grow in the commander. There was something there that wasn't just some wreckage. What the hell was that? "Sir! We found Admiral Anderson! He's bleeding badly, but we still have a pulse! It's weak but it's there! The Illusive Man is here as well! Looks like suicide," one of his privates called out.

Bailey turned his head back towards them, if Anderson and that traitor are here, then Shepard has to be close by…or my false sense of hope is telling me she is. "Get him back to Huerta, Private," Bailey ordered.

The private, a human man, looked at him with confusion. He hadn't put two and two together yet but Bailey couldn't blame him. They were all tired with a mental capacity hitting close to empty. "What about you sir?" the private asked.

It took some willpower, but the seasoned officer fought back his irritable sigh. He wasn't in the mood to spell it out but he would for the sake of keeping his squad in higher hopes than usual. Most of their work so far led to survivors, but seeing them in their poor states of living and knowing that they only had a limited amount of medical supplies…it all meant that no matter how many survivors they found, they could still all die.

"I'm going to continue my search. If Anderson is here then I believe that Shepard will be somewhere here as well. Take the corporal with you." Bailey turned his attention to the lieutenant of the group. "Lieutenant, keep your eyes open. If Shepard is here then we're going to get her back to Huerta." A synchronized "yes sir!" came from his squad and Bailey began his search once again trying to find whatever his light reflected off.

There was still a lot of work to do to reach whatever his omni-tool had glared off. No point in just staring at it. The seasoned officer began lifting some of the rubble out of the way only to be faced with more rubble as he began to think he made progress. Of all the lousy jobs war has to have, searching through rubble for survivors has to be at the top. Better than playing gate keeper to the paparazzi and politicians I guess.

Bailey let out a sigh, playing gate keeper never sounded so easy with how much hard work was ahead of them. Rebuilding an entire Galaxy was going to be a huge undertaking. Come on Shepard, you better be in here. Bailey grunted as he moved another piece of rubble out of the way. It looked to be flooring of some type, but where it had come from the officer was unsure of. All he knew was that it was heavier than it looked.

He needed to find her, even if she was dead. She deserved a hero's burial if that was the case, otherwise she deserved a hero's rest and some quality time with what friends she had left. No more hero business would be Bailey's doctoral recommendation, but he knew better. This Galaxy still needed to be rebuilt and they'd all be looking to her.

The Council survived the occupation of the Citadel due in no small part to his squad and they were providing some sense of stability, but he knew them better than they thought. They had no idea where to start with this post Reaper War life.

The bonds forged in war, the alliances built to combat the greatest threat the galaxy had faced was all because of one woman. This Galaxy owed their lives to Shepard having the grit to bring all of their blubbering asses together. She deserved a break, and he would stall as much as he could to give her that time.

Playing gate keeper gave him a few tricks up his sleeve.

Bailey lifted another large piece out of the way with a grunt and it thudded to the ground with a loud boom. His tired eyes bulged in shock as he saw the item that his flashlight had reflected off. N7? That can only be… the seasoned officers thoughts stopped short as he saw the woman the tags belonged to.

He had wished to find her and here she was, but it had sent a momentary shock through his body, paralyzing his ability to move completely. When he saw her chest raise followed by the sound of a sharp intake of breath, the shock evaporated into thin air as his senses came flowing back to him. "Lieutenant! Get your ass over here right now and call for another medevac! I found Shepard!" Bailey yelled.

Not even a second passed as the sound of boots hitting the ground at a full sprint began making their way towards the officer. Bailey grabbed the N7 dog tags and stuffed them in his pocket. He would keep them safe until she could wear them again.

Losing her was not an option.

The lieutenant was stilled with shock as he reached the pair just as Bailey was, but the veteran didn't let it hold. "Lieutenant, don't just stand there like she put you in a stasis field! Help me lift this rubble that's pinning her down," Bailey ordered as he grabbed one side of the large rubble that had Shepard's legs pinned.

Bailey and the lieutenant lifted the rubble off with a struggled grunt. As they both went back to grab Shepard, her chest rose with another deep breath. "Damn it Shepard, you better stay alive. I didn't just find you so you could go die on us," the officer told her as he began to lift her up.

"…Ba- Bailey?" Shepard croaked.

She looked like hell. Her entire face was coated in blood with cuts littered across her face and burns around her eyes. He had never seen the strong woman in such a sorry state. "Save your breath Shepard. I don't need you dying because you wanted to hold a conversation. Lieutenant, where is that medevac?" Bailey asked. There would be time to talk when she wasn't in such a bad predicament.

"A minute out, sir," the lieutenant replied.

Didn't they just like to push his realm of dis-believability? Now was not the time for a damn coffee break. A minute could mean life or death and if they thought they had seen him pissed off before, they'd see a whole new level of pissed off if Shepard died on his watch. "Tell them I wanted them here a minute ago. We have the damned hero of the galaxy in need of immediate medical assistance."

Movement from Shepard grabbed Bailey's attention as she tried to lift her head to look at him. Her eyes tried to meet his, yet they were aimed out into the open. She obviously couldn't see clearly by the burn marks around her eyes, but he doubted it was permanent. She'd throw a fit if she went blind. "Bailey…tell her…tell her I loved her."

There was no way he was going to go around asking every single woman he knew that Shepard knew if she was the one the Spectre wished to tell them she loved them. She could damn well do it herself once she was better.

They were not going to lose her.

"Hold your horses Shepard, you can tell whoever it is yourself when we get out of here," Bailey promised.

The shuttle arrived finally and Bailey and the lieutenant got Shepard on board and began heading towards Huerta. The seasoned officer opened up his omni-tool and set up a link to all his C-Sec officers. "This is Bailey. I want C-Sec officers waiting for me at Huerta. We have two war heroes that need medical attention and I don't want a reporter or anyone else crowding the medical officers or the wounded. If you see reporters, keep them the hell away. Am I understood?"

"Officers on the way, sir. The Council would like to know who you found Commander," an officer answered. Mental capacity had officially hit empty it seemed. His men knew who he was looking for so now there wasn't a doubt in Bailey's mind that putting two and two together must have become seriously hard for them all.

The commander rubbed his face in exasperation. "Who the hell do you think I mean, son? I've got Shepard now and Anderson was sent ahead of us. You keep everyone away from them. I don't care if it is the Council trying to see them, you keep them away."

"Yes sir," the officer replied. Bailey returned his eyes to the body of Shepard. She was still breathing, thankfully, but that didn't change her condition. Her body was badly burned, bloodied and her armor was nearly destroyed beyond recognition. Whatever deity was out there needed to grant them just a little more time to allow them to get her some medical attention, she deserved a one more chance at life after everything she had done.

Just hold on a little longer, Shepard.