A/N: This chapter came out rather much shorter than I would have liked. It was originally much longer, but the next POV that occurs really begins to quicken the pace in the search for Shepard, and I feel as if it would have been awkward to include it, rather than separate it. Enjoy, and please review if you have a moment. Good, bad, ugly, I appreciate every scrap of feedback.

Earth, London.

One day after the fall of Hammer.

Javik.

I waited until the primitive thief woman gave the signal. She was in the state were she believed herself to be invisible from sight, or "cloaked" as I had heard other primitives of this cycle refer to it. Foolish, I could see her plain as day, but perhaps others couldn't, it would explain how we managed to get this far without Reaper detection, so I was inclined to follow her lead.

I let my eyes wander as she scouted, observing the other cloaked soldiers that were accompanying us. They held rifles in their hands, the type designed specifically for targeting enemies from a position that they would not need to fear return fire. Cowardly, but effective. They scanned the perimeter for signs of trouble, and would relay any information back to the hooded thief who was leading.

Finally the signal that the coast was clear came, and I emerged from my hiding spot amongst the rubble, and cautiously made my way to where the thief known as Goto was crouched down. I kneeled next to her. She shot me a glance, her eyes mostly obscured through her cloth, but I knew already her emotions better than she. She was waiting for some good news, trying to keep an upbeat attitude despite the circumstances. Stupid girl, we were likely all doomed, the sooner she made peace with that the better, and less annoying, she would be.

The environment around us was bleak, could she not comprehend that? Not one soul on the current battlefield was still living. The burned body parts and the empty eye sockets where eyes were literally melted from their places should have been more than enough to snap her out of whatever fantasy she was living in her head. Alas, she persisted. Why were all the damn primitives in this cycle so persistent?

I lowered my palm to the ground as she opened a comm channel to the Human Admiral. They began speaking as I attempted to feel the memories of the scorched Earth around me.

Immediately, I could see the death and destruction. Or rather, I could feel it. The heat of guns and weapons, the ice cold feeling of fear and terror unmistakeable. Slowly, I could feel the Reapers wiping out the resistance, the warm notes of organic life began to perish tens at a time. I wept on the inside for the primit-...for the soldiers, for the warriors, they had earned that distinction with their lives. The Reapers were characterized by...an absence. A gaping black hole where their should have been emotion and thought and feeling. Abominations.

"We are at the site, no trouble so far...No signs of Shep' either." The voice of Goto penetrated lowly through my skull, but it was merely a background hum compared to the sounds in my head. Luckily, her voice was not as annoying as a certain Asari, she would not break my focus.

"Nothing at all?"

"Nothing I can see Admiral Hack'."

"Not even a body? Dog tags perhaps? I need to know what the status of the Commander is, or else we are at a leverage disadvantage immediately with the other races."

"Javik's taking a look now, but I don't think."

I drowned Goto's voice out as a particularly strong feeling entered my consciousness. An extremely obtrusive color. A bright red and orange fire, blazing without shame down through the slope. The other hums and of the organics were warm, some of them admirable and brave, but their light was borrowed from the supernova that led them. I remembered this instantly, after spending so much time among that entity it rang instantly with a name in my head.

"Shepard"

I focused on his path, how he charged even after all the soldiers beside him vanished from existence, extinguished by the black holes. And then, inevitably, Shepard's light dimmed, but it did not go out. Rather, it was obstructed maybe. Regardless, the inferno became weak, very weak.

"A slow death then? How unfortunate an end for the Exemplar of Victor-..."

I cut my thought short. Another approached, not a Reaper, an organic, several of them. They surrounded the dimming light of Shepard, and as soon as they came, others did as well. They were...Reapers? They had a similar feeling, but it was different. I could not pinpoint why, I had never seen anything like them. There was conflict in their hearts, as if for each one body, there was two people. They fought, and the ones who had first come for Shepard's body were forced to retreat by the...Whatever they were.

"This is unexpected interference."

I could hear the words of Goto coming through again.

"If he died, he-...He might have been incinerated. That beam hit him almost square Admiral. Shepard was the most valiant person I had ever met. But I feel like.."

Goto's voice hitched slightly. She could hide much, but not everything. She was worried, afraid even.

"I feel like we forget that he was still Human. Enhanced, but Human."

Shepard's light flickered, threatening to go out for good, before he was taken by the mysterious entities, whisked away before he could pass on.

I snapped out of the memory, raising my hand from the earth, and spoke into the Omni-tool

"The Exemplar lives, but time is short. He was critically wounded, but was abducted by a group of...Things."

The Admiral's voice came back through the comm. "Things?"

"I cannot determine their nature, but I can assume that their intentions were not good for us."

"Understood, damn good work Javik. Can you pinpoint where they took him?"

"I could only keep up with them for a few meters, and besides, this happened many hours ago now."

"that's alright, at least we've got something. This is major. Javik, upload the coordinates that they went toward. Even if it's approximate we can at least get a direction to head in."

"Understood." I replied.

"Good."

"What will you do now that we know of this?" Kasumi interjected.

"Don't worry, the Reapers may have the planet locked down and sword may be running for its life, but we're persistent"

I smiled knowingly, odd when annoying traits become positive ones.

"Besides, Garrus Vakarian assures me that he and his rifle will have something to say about how this war ends."

I exchanged glances with Kasumi.

"Hackett out."

Commander Shepard. Three hours after fall of Hammer.

Wet...there was something wet on my arm. I felt it pooling at my fingertips. I could taste something in my mouth. Dirt...Blood.

"What's happening?"

My eyes opened slightly, it hurt just to do that. I looked at my arm, it was covered with the same stuff that I could taste in my mouth.

"Is that my blood? Must be...I don't bleed easy. Must have got my ass kicked...That hasn't happened since..."

I was on my back, a bump in the road made me aware that I was in some sort of vehicle, an old fashioned flatbed truck, the type you don't see much in the space age anymore. I looked around as much as my eyes could turn from my direction. I couldn't move my neck for some reason.

"I should...Probably get...Chakwas to sort that out."

I glanced around a bit more and see a figure sitting on a crate next to me, a helmet covered his face. It's not like it would have mattered, my vision was so blurry for some reason. I must have drank way too much last night. I was becoming notorious on the Citadel for throwing some pretty badass parties after all.

The figure next to me shifted a bit, and I could suddenly see something that made my heart almost stop. The Alliance insignia was proudly emblazoned across the area of his armor that was placed over his heart. Suddenly it had all came back to me. Reapers, Earth, Normandy, War, Crucible, the last charge, "Save humanity", "Gut the bastards", "One last hill".

I gasped, and the sudden inhalation of air caused a pain the likes of which I have never felt. Moisture began to pool at the edges of my eyes from the sheer intensity of the pain I was feeling. But I had no choice, I had a war I needed to fight, and I didn't have time to lay here on my fucking back while it was being fought. I opened my mouth, but I couldn't speak. I could feel anger and desperation begin to well up in my chest, I could have swore that was hurting too.

God damn it, why couldn't this soldier just fucking read my mind? Did he not know who I was? In desperation, I began to reach for my dog-tags. If I could show them to him, maybe he'd understand that I need to get up.

Dear God, the pain was unbearable.

But I couldn't stop, I needed to do something, everyone I ever knew could be dying right at this moment. My arm seemed to not want to move. It shook and trembled meekly as I dragged it closer to my torso desperately.

"Come on! Move god damn it!"

It eventually complied, slowly I was able to bring it up toward my neck, and wrap one of my digits around the thin metal chain around my neck. These things were easy for someone to rip right off, so what kind of shape was I in that I couldn't even come close to removing it? I struggled, but barely moved. I had zero strength, but apparently my impotent attempts to do something finally caught the attention of my watchman, as he finally rose from his crate and leaned down over me.

I was wrong, I had merely drawn his attention to my dog-tags that I was trying to rip off. I yelled triumphantly inside my head, happy that he had finally gotten the picture.

A slight jerk, and the soldier had removed my dog-tags, and proceeded to throw them off the edge of the truck.

Even my mind sat in stunned silence...

"What the fuck is going on? Why the hell would...I can't...Damn it...I need to...Need to...Get up..."

Everything went black...