AUTHOR'S NOTE: Thank you so much for those of you who took the time to read my story, with extra special thanks for those of you who left a review. I really appreciate it! I'm also glad that you seemed to like my cheesy Citadel line ;-).

Regarding this chapter, I meant to be farther along in this story by now, but I have a nasty habit of getting a little too wordy when I write. So, I hope you can all bear my writing style. Anyway, here is the second chapter.

Wake up.

This brief but desperate thought somehow penetrated Major Kaidan Alenko's deep state of unconsciousness, its fierce need managing to reach even the deepest corners of his mind. Kaidan considered obeying for a brief second- apparently, all his years serving in the Alliance had honed his ability to follow orders so sharply, such that it was almost instinctual to obey commands. Ultimately, though, the thought went ignored and Kaidan once again succumbed to complete senselessness.

Wake UP.

The nagging continued, an unsympathetic force in the quiet black. Kaidan moaned in protest, desiring nothing more than peaceful silence, wanting these persistent thoughts to leave him alone. But they were relentless.

Wake up, wake up, wake up...

This time, rather than uselessly ignoring the pressing thoughts, Kaidan fought his hardest to obey. But, it was taking a lot of effort. The farther away from nothingness he climbed, the more his entire body ached in protest. His will warred between wanting to listen to the intense, prodding thoughts, and wanting instead to submit himself to the abyss one more time.

WAKE. UP.

Kaidan moaned again, but this time, he became slightly more alert. There was something he needed to do, something important. What was it? Maybe if he could just remember what it was, then that would help him understand the urgency behind the unwavering command to rise.

With sincere effort and concentration, Kaidan attempted to recall his last few minutes of consciousness. Suddenly, fragmented memories assaulted his discomposed psyche.

London... Reapers... Crucible... Catalyst... Citadel... Beam... Harbinger...

Running... running with...

"Shepard!" Kaidan yelled with a start, now completely awake. His body, which had been lying supine on the debris-covered ground, shot up unprompted. The pain that followed this seemingly simple motion was so overwhelming that it caused Kaidan to lean over and wretch.

"Pull yourself together, Alenko," he thought. Gritting his teeth against the intense discomfort, Kaidan took a few moments to assess the situation. The last thing he remembered was running toward the beam, trying to avoid the merciless assault by Harbinger. Shepard had been ahead of him, and he remembered watching in horror as Harbinger's blast landed right in front of her. The resulting explosion propelled her body backward, and he would never forget the sound of the sickening crunch that followed as she landed on the ground.

"Sh... Shepard," he gasped, his anguish palpable, feeling as helpless now as he did then. When Kaidan saw her go down he had screeched to a halt, knowing that he should continue his death-defying pursuit of the beam, but wanting, needing so desperately to go to Shepard's aid instead.

Before he could get to her, though, a large piece of debris had gone flying in his direction, hitting him squarely in the head.

For the first time in his life, Kaidan was grateful that his L2 implant had always given him chronic migraines. If it hadn't, he wasn't sure that he could handle the splitting pain he currently felt in his head without passing out again. But, severe headaches were nothing new to Kaidan Alenko, and he knew how to function effectively when afflicted by one. This was just business as usual.

Putting that skill to good use, Kaidan quickly scanned the area. Harbinger was gone, for which he was more than grateful, but everything in sight was completely decimated and the ground was littered with dead bodies. His eyes darted over to the area where he had last seen Shepard, and when he couldn't find her there, he didn't know whether to cry out in horror or sob with relief.

But if she wasn't there, she had to be alive... right? Was it possible that she had somehow made it to the beam? True, Shepard was tough, but getting up and reaching the beam after enduring that kind of assault- the thought of it was just insane!

"Only one way to find out," Kaidan muttered under his breath, eying the blue glow of the beam ahead. It was time to complete the mission and get to the Citadel. Then, he could find Shepard, and they could defeat the Reapers once and for all.

Before he could get there, though, he had another huge problem to worry about. Kaidan glanced down to see that his left calf was completely impaled by a long, sharp piece of metal shrapnel. "Great, just great," he grumbled with frustration, more upset about the delay this would cause than by the injury itself.

He knew that the smartest thing to do would be to stay put until he could get medical help, but he didn't have time for that. Taking a deep breath and bracing himself for something that would, in scientific terms, hurt like a motherfucker, Kaidan lifted his leg up as quickly as he could, watching the blood-covered metal slide through his body.

Kaidan screamed in agony, his leg feeling as if it were on fire, but he continued until he was completely free of the shrapnel. Finally, he saw the last bit of metal unsheathe from his calf, and then laid down on his back again, gasping.

Knowing that he didn't have time for medical treatment, Kaidan slapped a bit of medi-gel onto the freaking hole in his leg, as if that would do any good, and made a makeshift tourniquet with the bandages he carried in his medical kit. That would have to do, for now- Shepard needed him.

Standing took no small amount of effort, and walking was even worse with one of his legs completely gimped, but Kaidan managed to somehow get on his feet and make his way toward the beam, his adrenaline helping him fight through the torment.

Grimly determined, Kaidan was sure that nothing would prevent him from getting to that damn beam, getting to Shepard, not even Harbinger himself. But, he soon realized that he was wrong when a familiar face poking out from a bed of debris stopped him completely in his tracks.

"Garrus!" Kaidan cried out, limping over to his fallen comrade as quickly as he could.

"Good to... see you... Alenko," Garrus managed to say, but his words came out labored. Kaidan suspected that he was suffering from a collapsed lung.

"Hold on, Garrus," Kaidan said soothingly, applying medi-gel to his friend's wounds. "I'm going to get you out of here. Are you alright?" he asked with concern.

"Just a few... bruises," Garrus reported. "Needed... new scars... anyway," he said, and Kaidan couldn't help but laugh. "Feels... better now... though," he told Kaidan, nodding toward the medi-gel.

"Glad to hear it," Kaidan said, relieved. "Shepard would never forgive me if I let you die," he added with a grin.

"Been through... worse," Garrus replied, smiling back. "Missile to... the face... remember?"

Kaidan chuckled. "Yeah, Shepard told me about that one, Garrus. Or should I say, 'Archangel?'" he snickered. "Can you move?"

Garrus shook his head. "Trapped," he said, nodding over toward the large pieces of debris covering the bottom half of his body.

"I see that," Kaidan responded. "Don't worry, I'm going to get you out of here."

After a slight pause, Garrus gave Kaidan a serious look. "Shepard?" he asked, and Kaidan could see the deep concern in the Turian's eyes.

Kaidan wanted to saying something reassuring, but at the mere mention of Shepard, his apprehension over her fate caused his chest to tighten with worry. "I'm not sure but... I think she made it to the beam. She had to have made it," he answered. Yet, as much as he wanted to be sure, to sound sure, his words sounded more like a plea than an affirmation.

Garrus must have heard the fear in his friend's voice because he put a comforting hand on Kaidan's shoulder. "Of course... she did. Stubborn," he said.

Laughing, Kaidan smiled fondly. "Indeed, she is," he agreed wholeheartedly. "Now, let's get you out of here so that we can go find her."

Despite his injuries, Kaidan made quick work of getting his friend free from the rubble, using his biotics as well as his hands to do so. Call it adrenaline, call it determination, call it whatever you want- it made no difference. All that mattered to Kaidan was getting to Shepard, and he knew that the sooner he freed Garrus, the sooner he'd be able to continue his search for her.

Yet, before he could clear off the final pieces of debris, a deafening boom diverted his attention from the pile of rubble covering his friend.

"Look! The Citadel!" Garrus shouted, and Kaidan watched as the whole sky was soon engulfed by a surging red light.

"It's... it's beautiful," Kaidan said with amazement, watching as the red light descended into Earth's atmosphere and swept across the city of London. He had no idea what it was- it didn't quite look like an explosion, but it was definitely some kind of powerful, condensed force.

His suspicions were confirmed as the light made contact with its first Reaper. When the growing red bubble absorbed the imposing synthetic, the Reaper ship exploded into dust, completely obliterated by the blast.

"Holy shit... did it just decimate a freaking Reaper?" Kaidan thought, completely shocked.

"Coming this... way. Take... cover!" Garrus shouted, breaking Kaidan out of his awed stupor.

Garrus was right. The light had already swept past the Reapers and was quickly pulsing toward them. Glancing down at his friend, Kaidan knew that he wouldn't be able to free Garrus from the debris in time before the blast reached them.

Kaidan swallowed slowly. "I'm not leaving you, Garrus," he said with resolve, looking his friend squarely in the eyes.

"Go!" Garrus protested, but it was fruitless. Kaidan wasn't going to leave his friend to die alone. Once before he had abandoned Shepard on the Normandy when she'd commanded him to leave, leaving her to die, and he'd been tormented by that decision for two long years.

He wouldn't make that mistake again.

Closing his eyes, Kaidan planned to spend his last few moments remembering the times he'd spent with the woman he loved. "Shepard... Janey... you did it... you got the bastards. I'm so proud of you," he thought. "I'm sorry that I won't be able to hold you again, like I promised. I did fight like hell- I really did. It just wasn't enough. I hope you can forgive me. I love you..." Letting out a slow breath, Kaidan resigned himself to his fate, waiting for inevitable death.

But … it never came.

"... Alenko?" Garrus asked unsurely after a few long, chilling seconds.

Looking around slowly in bewilderment, Kaidan felt an acute sense of relief wash over him. But what in the hell just happened? "Garrus, we... we're alive?" he asked stupidly.

Garrus nodded. "Red blast went... through us. Did nothing," he said with a shrug.

"So, it killed the Reapers, but left us unharmed?" Kaidan asked, his mouth nearly gaping open in disbelief. Garrus just nodded again. "Damn, Shepard... you never cease to amaze me," he said, grinning like an idiot. It was almost as if he were dreaming- he simply couldn't believe it.

The Reapers were gone. They had won!

A cheer went up in the background, and Kaidan could tell that the soldiers were celebrating their victory against the Reapers. He wanted to join them, but first, he had to find Shepard. They would celebrate the defeat of the Reapers together- in fact, he already had more than a few ideas in mind on how to do so...

Yet, once Kaidan glanced up at the Citadel, his smile immediately evaporated. Small explosions were breaking out all over the giant space station, enkindling a feeling of dread in the pit of his stomach. "Garrus, the Citadel, look!" he shouted.

Garrus obeyed the command, but from the look on his face, Kaidan could tell that he wished he hadn't. "Shepard..." he said grimly.

"Garrus, I have to get to her, now," Kaidan said desperately. He used his biotics to hurl off the last pieces of debris off of his prone friend, then immediately resumed his gimped march toward the beam.

"No! Alenko, that's... suicide!" Garrus wheezed, but Kaidan ignored him. Kaidan had followed Shepard to hell and back many times before, and he damn sure wasn't going to stop now. Garrus was probably right, this probably was suicide, but if he died trying to save her, so be it. He didn't want to live in a world without her anyway.

"Dammit," he heard Garrus swear behind him. "Stubborn, both... of you." He didn't even have to look back, though, to know that his friend was following him. In fact, if he hadn't been worried out of his fucking mind, he would have even smiled.

"You better hang in there, Shepard," Kaidan half muttered, half prayed. "You're not leaving me behind again- not this time," he said fiercely.

With that last thought, Kaidan leapt into the beam, determined to find the woman he loved.

To be continued.