Chapter 19

Liara had spent the last five minutes hunched over on the ground, clutching her daughter close as tears streamed from her blue eyes. Her chest heaved as she gasped for air.

Aria had remained silent since Killian's ship had taken off but she had been kind enough to stabilize Garrus as best she could with medi-gel. The turian had lost a lot of blood, however, and Aria feared it was too late.

Garrus tried saying something to her but it all came out as nothing but muffled syllables as his eyes rolled back and his head collapsed forward.

"Fuck." Aria muttered to herself and felt for a pulse with little hope of finding one. She was surprised to find the faint thump of a heartbeat. She was impressed with his resilience but she pegged his survival odds at about as low as they could get. Turians could withstand loss of blood a lot longer than most species, it was part of the reason the race had such a military edge. Even still, Aria knew Garrus was bleeding to death. She shot an awkward glance towards Liara. She was still loudly weeping into one free hand as the other supported the child.

Aria didn't usually feel empathy but there was no mistaking the feeling when she looked at the doctor. Shepard upset her most however. Friend was not a term she used often but she counted the commander as one. The two women were very different but she couldn't help but admire her.

She decided she owed it to Shepard to comfort her wife even if she had no idea as to how to go about it. Slowly she approached Liara.

"Liara, I know this is…difficult, but..."

"She's gone. How can she be gone? It's…I can't…" Liara's sentenced ended as another fit of tears overcame her.

She was completely devastated. Shepard had been the first and only woman she had loved, her best friend, and the father of her child. Shepard had been there for her when her home planet was being destroyed, she had been there for her when her mother died. She couldn't picture her life without her; she didn't even want to try.

"Your friend isn't going to make it unless we find him help. He's lost a lot of blood and it may be too late already," Aria said softly.

"I can't let her do this, Aria. Do you have a ship? Something we can use to go after her."

"And then what, we take down an entire war fleet? She sacrificed her life to save yours. Don't go getting yourself killed and make it all for nothing. She wouldn't want that."

"She means everything to me! I will not sit back and allow her to be tortured until she dies a slow painful death! After everything she's been through…all she's done for me, it can't end like this." Liara sobbed.

"The galaxy is a cruel bitch. After everything she did, she deserves to have a happy ending. But if there's one thing I've learned in 1000 years it's that the good people…the people like Shepard. They don't get to stick around long enough to have one."

"I won't let her go Aria... I can't."

"It's over. And you're not hearing me, Garrus needs help. Save who you still can."

Benezia squirmed in Liara's arms and began to cry.

Slowly Liara got to her feet. "You're right. Let's...let's go find him some help."

She took one last look out the hanger view port at Killian's ship as it hung suspended between the station and the relay. Knowing it was the closest she would ever be to Shepard again. That when she turned away, it would be over.

"Goodbye, Shepard." She whispered.

Chapter 20

EARTH- A Few Hours Earlier.

Kaidan Alenko laid asleep in his bed. It was in the early hours of the morning in Vancouver and Kaidan had just been through a very long and tedious day at work. Beside his bed his omni-tool beeped with a notification. The device flashed and chirped over and over again until it successfully woke the sleeping officer. Kaidan groaned and reluctantly snapped the device on to his wrist and opened it.

There was a message from Shepard. Kaidan arched an eyebrow confused as to why his old Commander would be messaging him this late. The shock of the message made him sit up in his bed as he prepared to open it. He selected to play the message and the Commander's voice rattled out of the device.

"Kaidan! Listen to me. On my wedding night you told me if me or Liara were ever in trouble to call you. Well we're in trouble, lots of trouble. A batarian by the name of Killian Tagar is currently attacking Omega in a full out siege; I'll have Liara send you all the intel she has on him. Liara and I are on the station but he has our daughter, Kaidan. He may have already killed Garrus. I need you, I need the Alliance. Please...help us."

Then the message abruptly ended.

"Oh shit." Kaidan said to himself.

Alenko threw the covers off himself and jumped out of bed. He pulled the uniform pants he discarded on the floor before bed up his legs. Not bothering with a shirt he ran out into the hallway.

The large home his father had left him following his death at the hands of the Reapers was shrouded in darkness. But Kaidan knew the place well enough to navigate it blind. He ran down the stairs and approached the closed door of another bedroom. Inside Kaidan could hear the moans of two women.

He had promised to not disturb their privacy before but this was an emergency. Kaidan slammed the bedroom door open and stepped inside. Miranda Lawson and Jack sat completely naked on their bed. Lawson currently had her head buried between the biotic's thighs. For a brief moment Jack didn't even notice the interloper as she finished riding a powerful orgasm. Soon Jack's senses returned and she spotted Kaidan standing in the doorway with a shocked expression plastered on his face. Jack swiftly but reluctantly pulled Miranda's lips from their pleasurable position.

Miranda wiped her chin dry looking up at her lover in confusion. "What's wrong? I thought you loved when I do that."

Without words Jack seized Miranda by the cheeks and tilted her head so she could view their intruder. The instant she saw Kaidan she pulled the covers off the floor to shield her body from Alenko's eyes.

"What the Fuck!" Jack screamed.

"Kaidan, I thought we agreed on a knocking policy!" Miranda reminded him. The raven haired woman's face was bright red.

"I'm sorry but this is an emergency."

"I don't fucking care!" Jack shouted. "Unless the place is burning down you knock!"

"Shepard and Liara are in serious trouble! Garrus might be dead. She needs our help!" Kaidan said.

Miranda sat up and wiped her hair back from where sweat had clung it to her face. "What?"

"They are trapped on Omega. She said some batarians were sacking the station and one of them, Killian Tagar I think kidnapped their daughter and killed Garrus!"

"Shit." Jack said quietly, no longer upset with Alenko's intrusion. "Okay what do we do?"

"We need to get the Alliance's support. Ships, troops, something!"

"Kaidan, I know we're talking about Shepard but there no way the Alliance is going to send a fleet to the Terminus systems to save one woman." Miranda said regrettably.

"Damnit Miranda! She'd do it for us. And we all owe her more than we could ever give! I don't care what the Alliance says. I promised I'd help her and I'm going to. Get your clothes on, both of you. We have work to do."

Chapter 21

Killian's fist slammed into Shepard's jaw with powerful force, slamming her to the metal floor of his private chambers. She propped herself back up with one hand on the floor and the other rubbing her jaw. The batarian's boot caught her in the ribcage, and she felt a handful of her ribs snap sending her crashing back onto the floor.

Shepard gasped for air as she felt Killian's fist tighten around the back of her head clutching her hair and yanking her to her knees.

"You thought you could run away from me. That you could escape. The things I'm going to do to you commander. You're going to be begging me to kill you. That tough soldier act is going to be the first thing you lose. Then maybe your eyes, or your hands. When I'm done you'll be nothing but a pile of meat that I'll feed to my varren."

Shepard moved her tongue around in her mouth and felt a loose tooth amongst the blood that now flooded her gums. She spit the tooth on to the floor and felt her blood run down her chin. She wondered why he hadn't placed dampeners on her hands like last time. Perhaps it was because he knew she had nowhere to escape to this time, that any resistance would jeopardize their deal and endanger her family. She reckoned she was too weak to use her biotics regardless. She was finished, plain and simple. "Why do this? What does this get you?" she wheezed, her voice strained and almost unrecognizable.

"Satisfaction, closure, justice. Pick your favorite. I'm sure you've convinced yourself that everything you've done has been justified. You will have no such luck with me." He moved over to a table on which he had placed an assortment of blades and other torturous devices. "You know when I left Aratoht for the final time I didn't even say goodbye to my wife. I figured I would be back soon and there was no need to wake her. I had breakfast with my children, packed my things and left. When I heard about what you did, all I thought was why couldn't I have been with them. You denied me even that. When the Reapers came I actually thought for a moment that maybe you were right. That maybe my family had been sacrificed for the greater good. And yet my homeworld was still destroyed, my civilization wiped out, and my people left to die out and be forgotten," Killian said as he picked up a large club.

"I did what I had to do. And you would have done the same damn thing," Shepard whimpered.

"You know nothing about me commander. My family was my life, my sole purpose for existence. I would sooner see the entire galaxy destroyed than sacrifice their lives."

Killian raised the club over his head. Just as the batarian was ready to bring it down upon Shepard a voice over the ship's comm stopped him. "Sir, the fleet is ready to make the jump through the relay on your go."

"Excellent. Well, Shepard, your skull will have to remain intact for the time being. I have something I want to show you," Killian said and grabbed Shepard by the arm and dragged her to the ship's cockpit.

Outside the cockpit's view port Shepard saw Omega.

"Take a good look, Shepard," Killian said smugly.

"Why?" She asked fearfully.

Killian reached into a satchel and pulled out a detonator. With a flick of his thumb he primed it. "Because I'm about to destroy that station and everyone aboard it."

Shepard shot up. "You said you were a man of your word!"

Killian slapped her. "Did you really think that after everything you've done to me that I was going to let your family live? That I would just let the Shadow Broker and your friends go? Fuck my word. I have no honor left, the only thing driving me is vengeance. Restrain her!" He barked, and two batarians seized Shepard by the arms. Jane shut her eyes, unwilling to watch what watch what was about to take place. "Open your eyes Shepard! I want you to watch as I kill them!" Killian's thumb hovered over the detonator's button.

"Please…please don't." Shepard pleaded. "You said your family meant everything to you. Mine does as well."

Killian smiled. "I know." Just as he began lowering his thumb towards the button over a dozen Alliance dreadnoughts poured through Omega's relay. "What is this!" He screamed as the Alliance ships began to blast his fleet's ships one after the other.

Shepard took advantage of the distraction and broke free from her restrainers and drove her fingers through their eyes. She felt warm blood drench her fingers as she removed them from the batarian's eye sockets. The two guards fell to the ground clutching at their now blind faces. She snatched the detonator from Killian's hands and jabbed her thumb through his lower right eye. Killian staggered backwards as blood poured from his face. "You bitch!" he wailed.

The first bullet struck her in the thigh. She ignored the pain and grabbed the shooter around the neck before snapping it. The second grazed her head and shredded off the top of her right ear. She reached for one of the dead batarian's guns and put down the second shooter with a perfect shot between his four eyes. Shepard quickly unprimed the detonator and smashed it underneath her boot.

The third bullet struck her from behind and went through her stomach. The exit wound popped through her belly creating a tiny explosion of gore. Shepard coughed and blood came from her mouth.

A second squad made up of seven more batarians rushed into the cockpit and aimed their guns at Shepard. She threw her gun down and fell to her knees while closing her eyes now content to die. She had saved her family, her last mission was complete. But before the squad could open fire the ship's comm system was highjacked by an outside source.

"This is a message to Killian Tagar and all other crew aboard this vessel. This is Lieutenant Colonel Kaidan Alenko of the Systems Alliance Navy. We know you have Commander Shepard aboard, release her unharmed and surrender peacefully and we guarantee your safety. Refuse and we will end each and every last one of you. Count on it," Kaidan said through the comm.

The batarian squad exchanged looks amongst each other before the first one threw their gun down and soon the others followed.

"What the hell are you doing? This woman and her Alliance are the reason our race is in ruin! They are to blame for Khar'shan, for anyone with family in the Bahak system! Take her down!" Killian screamed pressing his palm against his empty eye socket.

"The bitch isn't worth dying over." One of the batarians said.

"Cowards! All of you! I'll kill her myself!" Killian screamed before lurching towards Shepard.

Tagar tackled her to the ground bringing his fist down in wild and rapid punches to Shepard's face. Killian unsheathed a knife he had strapped to his thigh and raised it above his head. He brought it down and stabbed through Shepard's left shoulder. Killian pried the blade out of her releasing a jet of blood that squirted like a geyser from Jane's shoulder only to come down once again pinning her to the ground. Shepard screamed in pain and kicked the batarian off her.

Without hesitation she pried the knife from her shoulder and sat up, ignoring the blood that spilled from the wound and the light headed feeling that was becoming overwehelming as she bled from her multiple wounds. Killian lurched at her again his hands outstretched towards her as he ran. Shepard swung the knife in a diagonal arc and severed off all the fingers of Tagar's right hand. Killian tackled Shepard back to the ground knocking the blade from her grip. The back of Shepard's head struck the metal floor making her go dizzy. Tagar wrapped his left hand around her throat. Blood oozed out of the empty eye socket and dripped on to her face as Shepard thrashed under his hold. Her vision darkened as she gasped for air. Killian bashed her head again against the cold floor. Jane's face began to turn red and Tagar tightened his grip.

"And now you die Shepard. For my family, for my people… for me!" Killian grunted.

Shepard summoned all the strength she had left into one biotic blast that catapulted Killian off her. She scrambled to her feet once more just as Tagar threw one last desperate punch her way. Shepard seized his wrist and stopped the attack before it connected. He attempted to jab at her broken ribs with the bleeding stumps of his right hand, stretching out his remaining fingers and tugging violently to free himself from Shepard's grasp.

Shepard took hold of his outstretched fingers and bent them all back. She felt each one of the batarian's digits snap under her hold before kicking his feet out from under him. Shepard brought up one foot and slammed it down on Killian's chest caving his sternum in

Killian didn't bother getting back up. The batarian crumpled up in defeat and howled in pain. Shepard limped over to a discarded pistol that lay on the ground a few feet from her. She picked up the gun and popped the heat sink and moved back in front of Killian who managed to sit up on his knees.

"Is this where you prove how you're better than me Shepard, by sparing my life? You're no better, you're a monster. And no matter how many years your Alliance puts me away I will find you and I will skin you, your bitch asari, and your daughter alive!" Killian shouted his voice going hoarse.

Shepard silenced him by jabbing her finger through another one of Killian's eye sockets. "That was for Garrus." Killian screamed as Shepard plunged her finger into another eye. "That was for Liara." Jane stabbed her finger once more into his remaining eye and finally blinded the wailing batarian. Blood streamed down his face distorting it into an unrecognizable mess. "That was for my daughter." Shepard pressed the barrel of the pistol against Killian's forehead. Without hesitation Shepard squeezed the trigger and fired, ending his suffering. A splash of warm crimson sprayed on to her face as the bullet traveled through Killian's skull. The batarian's body slowly lurched backwards and flopped to the floor, a pool of blood quickly forming around Killian's bleeding exit wound. "That was for me."

Shepard raised the gun and pointed it at one of the disarmed guards. "You, dock this ship back on Omega."

She was fighting to stay awake as she lost more and more blood by the second. She felt cold all over and soon the unbearable pain she felt turned over to numbness and her fingers felt like they were on pins and needles. She sucked in a few rasping breaths and flopped into a chair in the cockpit. She just had to hope that her luck held out. This one last time.