Oh Mighty Hero and Savior of Sentient Life,

I heard you tried to fry yourself on the Citadel. Pussy. I swear to god if you crap out on me I will cut out your dead heart and eat it.

Love,

Jack

Dear Jack,

You're a real sweetheart. How're the kids?

-JS

All of the ones with me made it. Some of the others didn't. Word around town is that terrorized Earthlings and stranded alien soldiers aren't mixing too well. Seems like you might be gearing up for another fucking PR campaign. While we're on the subject, how's about I pay you a little visit? I've got a tin can full of teenage biotics and I figure the safest place to stow 'em is that hole you've dug on Luna.

-Jack

Come on down, Jack. If you can make it for the crew memorial, great. Either way we'll put you guys to work.

-JS

Shepard finished typing and cut the quantum connection. The light of the vid screen lit the healing skin on her face with a greenish glow. She sighed, pushing her chair back from the console, and laboriously stood. She still felt a little shaky on her pins, but real pants and a pistol on her hip went a long way toward restoring her body sense.

Garrus had reported the crew on the Normandy was getting restive, and she didn't blame them. She decided she'd leave the bunker today and head back to the ship, address everyone, maybe get a plan of action started for dealing with survivors on the ground. It would be good to start work on restoring the Luna communications hub, too. Not everyone was fortunate enough to have a quantum tie-in, and the thousands of stranded ships littering the Sol system needed another way to talk to one another.

She headed out of her room and down the hallway. Miranda and Dr. Chakwas had done an amazing job - apart from some missing fingers and an eyepatch, all her pieces were working together - but she was very conscious of the fact that she'd been in bed for weeks. Her heart pounded with the simple exertion of movement. God, when did she get so old?

"Going somewhere, Shepard?" said a voice from a dark doorway, and she jumped. Miranda, cat-like as always, leaned against the door-jamb, and damned if she wasn't giving Shepard the stink-eye.

"Thought I'd head down to the Normandy and see how everyone's doing," Shepard replied casually. "Wanna come?"

"I'll arrange transport, Commander."

"Thanks, but I have to stretch these legs out sometime." Miranda opened her mouth to say something, then shook her pretty head angrily.

"At least put on some boots. I'll grab my pistol… and some folding crutches."

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Shepard straightened her back as she walked through the top-level airlock, but no one manned de-con, so she tapped the controls herself. The ultraviolet bath washed over her and tingled against her skin as she stepped through to the helm.

She padded up quietly and leaned against the back of the pilot's chair in a familiar motion. The brim of Joker's hat tipped up towards her automatically. "Hey command- heeeey!"

"What's up, Joker?" She smiled down at him, filled with a sudden sense of well-being. He grinned like a lunatic.

"Your eye looks kind of like that Cerberus asshole's. But I'm digging the pirate thing."

"Smooth-talker."

"Too bad you had to cannibalize my girlfriend. Thanks for that, by the way."

"Tali found her some replacement parts!"

"Yeah but they don't match! The new one is all red. It looks weird."

A voice drifted down from overhead. "I do not appreciate your comments about my appearance, Mr. Moreau."

"Sorry, babe. You're my sexy robot lady. I love you!"

The AI's synthesized voice had a distinctly humorous tinge. "Affirmative, Jeff. And welcome back, Commander."

"Good to be back, EDI. I owe you one."

She moved slowly down the steps to the control center, pausing to look around. The galaxy map was powered down, but a familiar dark-headed man stood at her command terminal, reading. "Hey, Kaidan," she said softly.

He turned abruptly, then froze. She watched him drink her in, from the crumpled Alliance uniform to her patchy, moon-pale arms, to the reddish peach-fuzz of hair that was starting to grow in on her head and brows. His lips tightened, then parted as he let out the breath he'd been holding in.

"You're here," he said, almost to himself. But he made no move toward her.

"More or less," she replied.

"You look…. good, Shepard."

She laughed out loud. "No I don't. I look like hell. But thanks for trying, Kaidan." He stepped forward then, and hesitated only briefly before enveloping her in a careful hug.

"So how's the crew?" she asked as he released her. "I heard some of them were getting a little antsy."

Kaidan sighed. "It's been a rough few weeks. Communication with the Alliance higher ups is sporadic, we're grounded, and there aren't a lot of places left on Luna where people can blow off post-battle steam. I've sent some teams out on missions for the locals, but…"

"Gotcha. Everyone's going stir-crazy."

"Pretty much. I'm feeling the crunch myself."

"Well, I'm going to make the rounds, and then you and I should sit down and make some plans. I'm thinking our next move should be to get the Com towers repaired."

"It'll be good to have your input, Shepard," said Kaidan. My input? she thought. But she shook it off and moved toward the elevator.

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"Shepard!" cried Tali. The little Quarian hit Shepard almost at a run, wrapping her in a fierce hug that pushed the air from her lungs.

"Easy there, partner," said Shepard, surprised to feel her eyes prickling dangerously. She patted Tali's shoulders affectionately. "They only just finished putting me back together again, don't go busting my seams."

"Seams?" hitched Tali anxiously. Shepard laughed. The girl didn't seem to want to let her go, so Shepard touched human forehead to Quarian faceplate for a moment. "It's good to see you, Tali."

"I thought you were dead! And then when they brought you back you were so burnt, and I tried to put medicine on you but nothing seemed to help and you wouldn't wake up…"

"You did good, Tali. And Garrus tells me you've been helping to keep an eye on things, get messages through. I really appreciate that."

"Kee'lah, I'm glad you're back."

"How have things been while I was out?" Shepard asked slowly, thinking about Kaidan's demeanor earlier.

"It's been… rough. Staff Commander Alenko has tried to keep order, but no one knows what's going on outside and he doesn't really tell us anything… and he's not you, Shepard."

Shepard winked. "Not like you need Kaiden to tell you what's on the com, Tali. Nor does Liara, I'd imagine."

"Well… no."

"Any word from Rannoch?"

"Not much. From what comes through, it seems some of the Geth went down when the Reapers were defeated, but… well, our people are coming to see how useful the partnership between Geth and Quarian can be so I think perhaps that is not such a good thing… anyways it's a long way from here. With the mass relays out of commission our fleets cannot return home. So we wait."

"It'll turn out, Tali. If everyone is stranded in Sol for much longer, I think the Migrant Fleet is about to get reaaaallly popular."

"It may be so, Shepard. What is that saying your people have? Grow grass in the shining sun?"

"Make hay while the sun shines. Say, is Garrus on board?"

"What do you think? He's down in the armory, playing with guns."

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When she walked into the armory, she saw Cortez at his station, and two Turian feet sticking out from under the shuttle. For a moment her vision doubled and she saw Vega doing pull-ups in the side office. Then the image vanished, leaving an ache behind.

"Well, hello, pretty lady," said Cortez, leaning back in his chair with a smile.

"You're a sight for sore eyes, man. Although you've got more parts than you had the last time you visited."

He flexed his new foot for her approval. "It's robotic. You like?"

"You didn't get it off EDI, did you?" she asked, alarmed. Cortez laughed long and loud. "Not unless I wanted our fearless pilot to flay me alive. No, Tali scrounged it from one of the supply buildings around here, and Dr. Chakwas got it set up."

"Well you look mighty fine." Across the room she saw the Turian sliding out from under the shuttle, feet first. "Excuse me a moment, Cortez."

She approached Garrus, pausing to place her hands on her hips as he stood up and brushed himself off.

"Fancy meeting you here," she said with a grin.

He looked her over carefully, checking for fatigue. "I'd hate to think you came all this way just to see me, Shepard."

"Nah. You're just a fringe benefit."

His chuckle was low and raspy. "What is a 'fringe benefit'? It sounds very… stimulating." An unexpected heat pooled in her belly.

"Are you asking for a definition… or a demonstration?"

"Oh," he murmured, leaning in to her, "definitely the latter." He straightened. "Later, of course. Wouldn't want to wear you out."

Her grin turned predatory. "Since when have you ever been able to wear me out?"

"Full of ourselves, are we?" he rumbled.

"Prove me wrong, then. 2100, my bunker? Unless you're… chicken."

"Hmmm…." He watched her walk away, covering a smile.