Authors Notes: Nearly at the end of the story, 2 more chapters left.


The Sunrise of Rannoch

Owww!

Shepard woke in the darkness, gripped with pain, wet between her legs, owwww shit!, the baby was coming, she took stock of her surroundings, she had no idea where she was.

A slid open and a familiar person came into view, "Brooks, or Hope Lilium"

"Admiral Shepard, I do hope you're not in too much pain, it'll be over soon anyway"

"I knew I should have just killed you" Shepard doubled over in pain.

"Yes, but you didn't and now Chimera are going to take your baby"

"Chimera, that's a three head monster, sibling of Cerberus, OK now it makes sense"

"Yes, with the baby we can make a new you, a pro-humanity you"

Shepard winced with pain, "How is that gonna work, my husband is a Quarian, my previous husband was a Drell"

"We'll work that out"

"Just one thing, you're not the one who tried to kill my baby are you?"

"No, we killed the person who did, we'll be back for the baby" with that Brooks left the room.

Shepard whimpered in pain as the contractions intensified, she had to get out of here, there was always a way.

Forcing herself to her feet, she fired up her biotics to illuminate the room, she surveyed the room, and found a vent, all she had to do was get it open.

Carefully using her biotics, she managed to open the vent and she clambered in, she stopped as a contraction hit her, silently taking the pain before moving deeper into the vent.

Moving through the vent, her thoughts turned to Han to keep her going, she need to see him, smell him, hold him again, he would miss their child's birth. She'd been seriously thinking about taking Han's name, now she was gonna do it, for herself and their baby, the name Shepard was too famous and it needed to fade away.

Firstly, she need to escape from the damn vent, another contraction gripped her, hold on baby girl, shivers began to other take Shepard, a cold sweat formed on her skin, time was ticking for both of them.

She was close to passing out, her vision was blurry, she found an opening in a vent, she saw what looked like a green shadow moving with purpose, Thane, Shepard carefully climbed out of the vent, she made it to a deserted storeroom.

She hacked the door to keep it closed, and slid down on the floor keeping herself hidden, she removed her trousers and underwear, she waited for another contraction, crying hard, she knew her baby was dead.

Another contraction hit her and she pushed as hard as she possibly could, she pulled the lifeless baby girl out and sobbed at the sight, she should have just let them take her, at least she'd be alive now.

NO! Your not giving in now Shepard!, Shepard removed her N7 hoodie and held the baby girl to the exposed part of her chest, she rubbed at her back over and over, she had no idea what she was doing or even if it would work. Shepard sang twinkle twinkle little star over and over, trying to hold on to her control, then she howled out a relieved cry at the most perfect sound she would ever hear in the life. Baby girl cried, probably in frustration and hunger.

Shepard wrapped the tiny girl in her N7 hoodie and held her to her breast, she planned to let baby girl feed for a little while, then find a way to escape, either way, both Gerrel women were leaving and if people had to die while they did it, so be it.


Miranda Lawson rushed into the meeting room on the Citadel, it still amazed her at how many species thought Shepard as one of their own, Quarians, Turians, Salarians, Humans, Asari, Drell, Krogan, altogether, determined to find their comrade, she wasn't just a comrade, Shepard would always be more than that.

Shepard was a friend, mentor, sister, daughter, mother and wife to this group of people, they loved her more than she'd ever believe.

"The tracker is still active, She's in the Shrike Abyssal, Urla Rast" Miranda informed them.

"Right, Normandy, Neema and Orizaba, we head there, Miss Lawson any idea what's out there?"

"There was an old Cerberus station there"

"Right, we best throw everything we have at them"


Shepard decided she needed to find a medbay, baby girl needed a nappy and cleaning up. Shepard ventured out of the storage room, taking the gun she found with her, she stealthily moved around the station, ducking into an alcove when she heard Brooks annoying shrill.

She found a medbay, she quietly knocked out the 2 doctors, she washed baby girl and found enough material to make a nappy. She turned her N7 hoodie into a sling, securing baby girl into it, she found a pair trousers in a locker and slipped them on.

Having a much-needed drink, Shepard sought out a place for them to have a rest, tiredness was beating Shepard's stubborn determination.


Joker saw the space station come into view, it was vast with a maybe 6 or 7 ships docked, mostly frigates and a couple of cruisers. Joker was very happy at having the Orizaba with them, although the Normandy and the Neema are capable ships in fights, having a strong fire power made things much easier.

Joker opened up comms to the Neema, "Neema, this is Normandy"

"Reading you Normandy"

"Ground crew is ready in the shuttle, we need to get those ships away from the station"

"Understood, get ready, firing now"

The Neema fired on one of the cruisers, it had its desired effect, all ships left the station to pursue them.

Joker open comms to Cortez in the shuttle, "Ships are pursuing"

"Shuttle away"

Cortez expertly manoeuvred the shuttle away from the pursuing ships and landed on the station. The ground team split up into 3 teams of 4, Han taking Tali, Kal and Liara with him, Vega taking Miranda, Cortez and Kaidan, Wrex had Grunt, Edi surprisingly Admiral Hackett.

Each team went into separate areas trying to locate Shepard, Miranda lost her temper at the tracker, something about the station was jamming her exact signal.


Shepard awoke from her slumber to gunfire, heavy gunfire, checking on baby girl who was sleeping soundly, she ventured from her hiding place. The gunfire had stopped, following the dead bodies, she felt herself getting closer to the source the of the fire fight.

Shepard kept moving despite the pain she felt, turning round a corridor, she heard familiar voice, Han's voice, he was angry, she could hear it, she'd never heard him angry before, he'd mounted a rescue campaign just for her, cry about that later you weirdo!.

Then she heard Brooks, bitch!, Shepard was gonna kill the bitch once and for all. Heading closer to the voices, she saw Brooks face to face with 12 very angry people.

Shepard appeared behind her, gun raised.


"Where's my wife" Han demanded, gun raised.

"Admiral Shepard has departed, baby too, Shepard was never going to be a great mother, baby is better off dead, I'm frightfully sorry"

Miranda sneered at Brooks, "Your lying, Shepard escaped on the station and you have no idea where she is"

"Shepard helped me escape from prison, She's pro-humanity, anti-alliance, she only married the Quarian as a cover for her prejudice"

"Still lying Brooks, we know Shepard, so try again" Garrus raised his gun tiring of this little pain in the ass.

"Truth is Shepard really did miss me" Brooks let out a whimper slowly falling to the ground.

"I never miss" Shepard dropped the gun exhausted ready to let go, her knees gave way, Vega supported her weight, Miranda carefully lifted baby girl away from Shepard, and handed the tiny girl to Han, still sleeping completely disinterested in all the drama that had occurred around her.

Vega carried Shepard back to the shuttle and yelled at Cortez to get back to the Normandy quickly.

Tali put her hand on Han's shoulder, even with the masks on, Tali could tell Han's emotions were everywhere. All eyes appeared on the tiny bundle in his arms, as she made a gentle sound.

Garrus decided to lighten the air, "Just like her mother already, likes people to know She's there"

"She's also completely disinterested in what's just happened" Miranda noted.

"Her first word will probably be "Meh" followed by the Shepard shoulder shrug" Kaidan laughed lightly.

Liara stroked the tiny girl's cheek, "She is truly beautiful"

Vega laughed, "Shepard Version 2 with her mothers good looks and infectious personality and Joker's weird and sarcastic sense of humour"

Cortez laughed from the cockpit, "I hope the galaxy is ready for her"

"We still aren't prepared for Shepard version 1" Garrus fired back.


Shepard woke in the Normandy medbay, immediately looking around baby girl, she couldn't see her and panicked.

Dr Chakwas came in and saw her distress, "Relax, She's with the crew in the mess, Han is feeding her and then there's a queue of crew ready for hugs, Admiral Hackett tried to pull rank"

Shepard relaxed, "How long was I out?"

"About 4 hours, you're an amazing woman Shepard"

Shepard shrugged, "Why"

"She was blue wasn't she, when she came out?"

Shepard felt the tears well up, "Yeah, she was"

"Your saved your baby, I always suspected you'd have fierce maternal instincts, I was right"

"I want my baby and my husband, the crew can have cuddles later, I just want baby girl and Han right now"

She heard Dr Chakwas tell the crew, that mummy wants her baby, they acquiesced to her wish. Han walked into the medbay and the door locked, Han settled baby girl next to Shepard, watching her put protective arms around the tiny girl.

"I don't wanna call her Hope any more" Shepard said sadly

"Why"

"That bitch used Hope as an alias"

"Maybe, but our baby really is Hope, don't let a xenophobic fool change your mind"

Shepard looked up at Han, she really did love that man, "I love you"

"I love you, get some sleep, you did beautifully" Han took his mask off, he didn't care about the risk, he wanted to kiss his girls. He kissed Hope tenderly on the head and kissed Shepard on lips before putting his mask back on.

"I'm gonna change my name, I want to be as far from Shepard as possible, and I don't want Hope to be Shepard either, I want her to develop without the expectations to live up too"

Shepard settled Hope onto her breast, Shepard wore a look of blissful happiness, as she let Hope feed, she sung twinkle twinkle little star.

Han smiled at his wife through his mask, Shepard was remarkable in every way, now watching her tenderly admiring their newborn daughter. singing to her, he'd never heard her sing, it was a beautiful sound, one that Hope enjoyed, he realised Shepard thought herself as average, she really had no idea how amazing she really was.


The crew gathered for a very important day, Shepard's 35th birthday, she didn't wanna celebrate it, but they were gonna make her, Han was in on it. The crew was due to arrive on Rannoch and a few of them had news to tell her. The last 7 months had brought a few surprises, first surprise had been Tali's twin news, Shepard was happy that she had someone to go through pregnancy with her.

Shepard was already 3 months pregnant with a second baby, secretly hoping for a boy, but she'd be happy either way.

The Shuttles landed bringing her crew to her, in unison they shouted a happy birthday to her, she tried to be mad and defiant but she was failing miserably, that darn husband of hers just knew when Shepard said no, she actually meant yes, she was just being stubborn.

They found a nice area by the shore, Shepard settled Hope down to play, but Hope wanted to pull Kolyat about and the soft touch let her get away with it.

"So people spill it, you all have secrets and I wanna know they are"

"Well Shep, you're doing the baby thing kinda sparked of desires in all of us" Kasumi said coyly.

"What Kasumi is trying to say Shepard, Kasumi and I are gonna have a baby" Joker looked extremely smug about it.

"OK, now when did that happen, and Joker I don't mean the technical part"

"After you had Hope, the crew went out, got very drunk and things happened, and well Joker is so cute"

Shepard suppressed a snigger at Joker being called "Cute".

"Me and Miranda kinda had a miracle happen" Kaidan added,

Shepard felt her stupid hormones kick in, "I though you couldn't have children Miranda?"

"Hence the miracle" Miranda looked almost close to tears.

Shepard pulled her friend into a hug, "We've finally grown up"

Garrus laughed, "That'll never happen"

"Propose a toast to Shepard, She's getting old now, she'll need a walking stick-"

"-to beat you with-"

"- and to the next generation of misfits this galaxy has ever seen" Vega held his glass out.

"To the greatest ride and the craziest family"

"Again, to Shepard, the strongest, funniest, kindest and most beautiful woman to ever wield a rocket launcher"

"To Shepard" Everyone said in unison.

Later on, Han and Shepard settled Hope down for the night, they sat on the steps of their home, watching the sun go down and listening to the laughter of their family.

Shepard truly found peace on Rannoch, "Not reconsidering your retirement then?" Han asked.

"Nope, we are set for life, my life has been crazy and moving at speed light speed since I was 16, 19 years later, I'm quite happy just to sit and watch life"

Han hugged his wife close to him.

"Keelah Han"

"Keelah Aurora"


Authors Notes: Kasumi and Joker make a cute couple, Thief and a getaway driver, its a match made in heaven.