Author's Note: Apologies if you are confused by EDI's survival when this is a destroy ending, that will become clear in the next section of the story.

'Joker, listen. We have to go,' Kaidan breathed, barely audible as he placed a hand on Joker's shoulder. With tears prickling his eyes, he glanced at Traynor. Her brow was furrowed, her eyes fixated, focused on some tiny detail in empty space. Both of them trying to make sense of the events that had unfurled so quickly.

'Damn it!' choked Joker, wincing as he reluctantly released his control of the Normandy. If he was seriously going to turn the ship around, and leave just like that, he needed a moment to catch his breath. The impossible had happened. Shepard was dead. She'd talked about it often, brushed the matter off as trivial. Laying down her life for the sake of the galaxy was a tiny price to her. And that's what made her so formidable, in that sense. Sometimes, she spoke about her life as if it was already lived. To say she'd committed to the cause seemed too weak. She'd vowed, she'd sworn. She could have given up so many times. But the crew never thought she'd have to do it, not really. They never believed that they'd lose her. They believed so hard that she would find a way to defeat the Reapers and walk out alive. But now it had happened it seemed so juvenile, naïve, to think otherwise. Since the moment she'd touched the beacon on Eden Prime, she'd carried the crushing weight of the galaxy on her shoulders and Reapers stopped at nothing to destroy her. But she'd destroyed them.

'Jeff, shall I activate full autopilot?' asked EDI. Joker squeezed his eyes shut, allowing a fat tear to escape and creep down his face.

'Yes.' He replied, in a painful whisper, 'I… just. Can't'

'Turning about. Beginning preparations for faster than light travel,' said EDI as softly as she could. She glanced at Joker. His head was in his hands. She rose noiselessly from her chair, slid past Kaidain and delicately wrapped her arm around his shoulder. At her touch, Joker sank into her embrace as EDI stroked his hair. Traynor and Kaidan stood with their heads bowed as the Normandy changed its course for the Relay, all of them locked into their grief. Hours could have passed without a sound, but life had to resume.

'Er, we have a situation down here,' James' voice crackled over the intercom, shattering the stillness.

'It's Garrus. He was hit by some shrapnel. He was in a stable condition but when he felt the ship turn around, he panicked. His sudden movement must have dislodged it, there's a lot of blood,' said Liara. An edgy silence crept over the cockpit.

'Sir?' James called. Again there was silence.

'Sir, you're the commanding officer now' said Traynor gently. Kaidan saw that all eyes were upon him. That was it. He'd had his moment of grief. Every life aboard the ship was now Kaidan's responsibility. He felt the immense weight of it already, but he couldn't let Shepard down.

'Normandy, this is Major Alenko,' Kaidan announced 'I want all medical personnel to proceed to the Shuttle Bay at once'. He turned to the others. 'I know we're all hurting right now, but we need to stay strong, for Shepard. It's our duty now to make it out alive.'

'Yes sir!' nodded Joker, sternly. Brow furrowed, he whipped his chair around, diving back into the controls with new fervour.

Kaidan turned on his heels and left the cockpit. The Combat Information Centre was swarming with activity, urgent voices merged into a deafening roar that fuelled the atmosphere of the Normady in combat. Kaidan may have looked in control as he marched through the throng, but his head was a mess. Leave the cockpit. Get to the elevator. Press the button for Shuttle Bay. Baby steps. The doors to the bay wooshed open and Kaidan was met with a desperate scene. Liara and James were kneeled in pools of blue blood, frantically distributing medigel.

'Dr Chakwas is on her way, Garrus. Hang in there', Kaidan said, but there was only one thing on the Turian's mind.

'Shepard,' he breathed.

Liara met Kaidan's eyes, full of worry. How were they going to tell him? But that had to wait, Garrus' life still hung in the balance. Kaidan guessed he already knew.

'Where is he?' demanded Dr Chakwas, as she burst into the bay, followed by two medical assistants carrying large bags of medical supplies. She wasted no time, her hands deftly examining the wound, instinctively reaching for the appropriate tools. She looked up at Kaidan, and flashed a reassuring smile. 'He is not going to die today'. Kaidan believed her.

Back in the cockpit, Joker and EDI pushed the Normandy to its absolute limits, racing to get the rendezvous point. The Relay was in sight, they were going to make it. Suddenly, General Hackett's voice filled the room.

'All ships, the Crucible is armed.'

'What!' Spat Joker.

'Jeff, according to the Combat Information Centre, a second team was sent to the citadel. They were successful.'

'That should be a good thing, right?'

'When the crucible is activated, the beam will pass through the Mass Relays at a very high speed. We are minutes away from the Mass Relay, and our course cannot be changed.'

'The Crucible is preparing to fire.' Hackett uttered over the intercom.

'C'mon, don't fail us now!' said Joker, teeth clenched.

'Mass Relay jump commencing in thirty seconds,' said EDI

'Firing Crucible.'

'Shut that damn thing off!' roared Joker, knuckles white on the steering column.

'Jeff, I am detecting a sizable energy force approaching at an extreme speed'

'Shit.'