A/N: sorry for the long delay. Italics indicate thought.

enjoy...

Chapter Start...

Location: S.S.V. Cairo

Date: February 2nd, 2151

Time: 1200 hrs

Commander Sarah Madeline Williams stood atop the catwalks overlooking her flight deck, her eyes surveying the remnants of the damage to her flight deck. Her cane, (something her docs insisted she take with her) leaned against the banister besides her, resting. How had this happened? She asked herself again and again. How could I have failed?... Williams's don't fail!

Her crew; like all ships crews dating back to antiquity, had had accidents before. Lacerations, concussions, minor electrocutions, the occasional broken bone. But all minor wounds. Survivable wounds. Never deaths... Never deaths. And although the ships clock said it had been seventy two hours since the incident occurred, for her and her crew, it had seemed like only minutes. Even now as her deckhands worked to remove scorch marks and debris, the Commander could see the hollow looks in their glazed over eyes.

They needed time to grieve... They all needed time to grieve.

The final casualty toll came to fourteen. Fourteen lost souls. Fourteen men and women who'd served with distinction under her command since day one. Seven deckhands, five pilots, one corpsman, and one engineer. Gone. All gone. These were more than just names on a duty roster to Sarah, they were her friends, they were her family. And as heat began to pool behind her eyes she couldn't stop thinking that she failed them.

Now while the possibility, neigh probability, of dying was a constant companion; forever in the foreground of the minds of all those who voluntarily signed their existences over to the Alliance. Everyone, (including herself), figured that if they were gonna die while on duty, they were gonna die in combat at the hands of an enemy. Not because of an accident. And as Sarah watched she racked her brain in confusion over how she was gonna tell the families.

"It's not fair."

"What was that Ma'am?" Bailey asked from her side. Normally the Commander would have noticed his presence sooner.

"I said it's not fair."

"Life never is Ma'am. Shit happens and then you die. Nothing we can do but pick up the pieces and carry on." Bailey knew he was being cold, but he needed Sarah to move on as an ineffective commander at the helm is just as deadly as the plague.

"You're a real bastard you know that."

"What can I say?" adjusting the sling holing his still broken arm, "If the crew doesn't hate the XO then I'm not doing my job."

"I don't envy you."

"No one ever does Ma'am." handing her a datapad, "But in trying times like these I find stability is the best remedy. Even if the world's gone to shit, the crew can always count on the XO being a son of a bitch."

Sarah let out a sad chuckle as she took the pad, "What's this?"

"Letters to the loved ones of the deceased. As XO the matter of all service related deaths are under my purview." shifting as he took position besides her, "All they need is your signature Ma'am."

"Just like that?"

"Just like that." Bailey stated as he saw her begin to read a few. "As you know we're never big on telling the truth of how someone actually dies."

"No matter if you're the biggest shit on a ship, death makes everyone a hero; is that the secret Bailey?"

"Yes Ma'am. Grieving mothers never wanna hear how their baby really died." surveying the damage, "I know it's hard to believe right now, but we got off rather lucky."

Pressing her thumbprint to the scanner to sign the letters, she was thankful he'd done the work for her. "Really, fourteen KIA is lucky in your book?"

"Yes Ma'am. Along with those letters, is a copy of the findings from Chief O'Brian investigation."

Heavily sighing, Sarah wanted answers, "Just tell me someone's to blame. That someone fucked up. That this could have been prevented. Just give me that."

"Sorry Sarah," Bailey rarely ever used the Commanders first name except in times of importance, "No one's to blame. It was an accident... A combination of mechanical failure and metal fatigue. Pure and simple."

"Accident... Pure and simple." Sarah muttered.

"Yes," Bailey knew he had to pull her from this nose dive quick, "I've ordered the armory to double check all ordinance pallets for signs of fatigue. If theirs another faulty device we'll find it. I've also ordered ordinance officers to add another item to their checklist. Rest assured Commander, this won't happen again."

Sighing once again, "Maybe not like this... But accidents will always happen."

Still seeing the look of defeat in her eyes, "Look, if you wanna blame someone, blame Murphy."

"Murphy? Who the hell is Murphy?"

"Murphy's law... How the hell do you not know what Murphy's law is Sarah?" Bailey tried his best to be mirthful, "Anyway, the law states that "anything that can go wrong, will go wrong." I know right now it's hard to believe, but we were lucky it was only a comm drone. If it was a torpedo or a missile our hull would have been shattered to pieces."

Momentarily grinning at her XO's brashness and cataloging the law in her memory, "Small miracles I guess." scrolling over a few pages in the pad, "Whats this?"

"My recommendations for crew commendations."

Sarah's spirits lifted somewhat at seeing her crews bravery, "I see theirs quite a few civilians on this list."

"Yes Ma'am. Although they're not with the military, doctors Heplorn, Lawson, T'Gori, and Mathers took actions to ensure the survival of the crew. You'll also note the recommendations for Lt. Massani, Master Huntress T'Goni, a few of her commando's, as well as Ensign Moreau."

Smiling slightly, "I never thought I'd see the day where you'd compliment Hilary."

"Over inflated ego and personal quirks aside, her skilled helmsmen-ship is almost the only reason we're all not frozen space popsicles. In truth, without her and Shepard's quick actions we'd all be dead."

"You don't say." Sarah pressed her thumb and signed off on the commendations, it was the least she could do and they deserved it. Then she came to the male T'Soni's recommendation. After reading her XO's report, "This is some mighty high praise coming from you."

"The kid deserves it Sarah." Bailey promptly replied, "You'll note in O'Brian's incident report that from recovered security footage, VIE was able to construct the drones projected flight path. I won't bore you with the particulars, just that it was heading straight for the aviation fuel lines. If T'Soni didn't do what he did, the fires would've cascaded through the lines to the main tanks and we'd of lost the ship." pausing to let that sink in, "Even in the one in a million chance that didn't happen, the damage would've overwhelmed our DC crews and fire suppression systems and we would have had to vent the entire hangar into space." looking at the working crew below, "In short, his actions kept dozens of body bags from getting filled... Plus I think you'd agree that anyone willing to step in front of a missile deserves a little something extra."

"Agreed." Sarah couldn't help but feel a bit overwhelmed, "Going above and beyond the call of duty. Rare to see such dedication in a civilian," signing off on the commendation, "how is he by the way?"

"Still in a medically induced coma. From what the Docs tell me it's all touch and go right now. If he survives the night though, they're projecting a 65% chance for a full recovery."

"Here's hoping he pulls through then."

"Amen Commander. Amen." gripping the railing with his good hand, a long silence passed between them. "Got to hand it to the kid, most of his friends haven't left his side. A lot of the crew have even stopped by to pay their respects."

"Oh?"

"Even Skarsgård and Wotkins have come around. You remember how hostile they are, well were, towards human biotics."

"That's a surprising change of heart." a small warmth sprung through her over this. It was rewarding to know her crew was becoming more tolerant.

"Yeah, I guess animosity goes out the airlock when one saves your life... If Shepard ever does decide to join the military, he'll make a hell of a fine Commander. No offense." Bailey quickly added.

"He does have a certain knack for inspiring loyalty in others doesn't he?" Sarah mused. After a pregnant pause, "And our dead?"

"Preparations for the burial ceremony will commence once the flight deck cleanup is finished. Shouldn't be more than a quarter day from now. Twelve of the bodies are ready to be committed to the black on your orders. However two of the deceased represent a problem."

"Let me guess, PFC Abdul Hakeem, and LCP Fariq Muhammad."

"Correct." Bailey replied, "As you know they're both devout Muslims and no one on the Cairo exactly knows how to carry out their cultures burial practices. Ensign Yagata bunked with'em and filled me in on a few things. But it's hardly anything to go off of, small things like cremation being a major no no."

"Ask one of the Asari."

slightly surprised, "You think they would know?"

"Yeah," Sarah sighed, "I vaguely recall something Shepard told me about the crew of the Lucen's Compass. How they studied a majority of Earths cultures via radio signals before making contact. Master Huntress T'Goni was on that ship, along with Dr. T'Soni, so they would probably be your best bet."

"I'll hit them up."

"You do that," massaging her temples, Sarah tried to ignore how idiotic it was that something so important had fallen through the cracks. "what of our wounded?"

"Roberts says most'll be cleared for active duty in a day."

"That fast!?" Sarah couldn't keep the shock from her voice. While the Commander was no doubt pleased to hear this, she would have bet her bottom dollar that their recovery's would've taken longer.

"You can thank Lawson's Nanites for that. As Robert's puts it," donning his best English accent, "the guys are quite the industrious little buggers." chuckling slightly, "Damn near calls the things a miracle. Without them our burn victims would've taken months to recover... You uhh, might wanna consider getting a few injections as well Sarah. Never know when they might come in handy."

"Thanks but no thanks. I prefer to stay as close to human as God made me." glancing at Bailey's arm, "You however might wanna take your own advice."

"I did. Started the treatment a day ago. Little gremlins are healing my arm as we speak."

hands flexed tightly on the railing, "Hows moral?"

"Pretty low, but that's to be expected, all things considered." shifting his stance once again, "The crew needs a break Sarah. They were tired and worn out before, but now they're just plain exhausted. The sooner we get to Arcturus the better."

"We're in the final stretch of our mission Bailey. We just gotta hold together for two more weeks. I know R&R on Benning will do wonders for the moral, but I'm open to suggestions in the meantime."

"Well I wasn't gonna bring it up, but a few of the engineers have asked permission to convert sim room 3 into a sort of holo spa."

"Holo spa."

"Yeah," scratching his head, "something about wanting to recreate something they saw on an old Earth sci-fi tv program called a holodeck. Mind you, it's nothing more than a pet project right now. But I've seen their proposal, and it'll sure be interesting to say the least." laughing slightly, "They looked so cute with their sad puppy dog eyes that I didn't have the heart to tell them no. I did how ever tell them I'd pass their request on to you. Here."

Taking the other pad and giving it a once over, "They realize they're on an Alliance warship and not some pleasure cruise, right?"

"All the same, I told them I'd pass it up the chain of command."

Sarah knew that pet projects such as these were important for individual moral. Some like herself built model ships, some worked out, and others tinkered. If it made her engineers happy and didn't effect their performance, who was she to stand in their way. And who know's, maybe it'd actually have some benefits. "Alright. Tell them they have my blessing but on a few conditions. First: it's an off duty project only. Second: they'll run everything by chief O'Brian beforehand and get his approval. Third: any modifications to the sim room must be reversible. And Fourth: if the project begins to disrupt ship safety or crew efficiency I pull the plug." handing back the pad, "If they accept those terms tell'em to deliver unto me a new project proposal and have fun."

"Sarah, I'm sure you just made five geeks extremely happy."

Smiling for what felt like the first time in ages, "What can I say, I am a merciful god." sighing as if more relaxed, Sarah knew she needed to get her ship back on mission. "Any prognoses on our flight status?"

"Right..." looking at his omni, "We're still chasing some glitches out of the system, but engineering reports flight ops will be a go in a few hours."

"That's good. Hows our hull looking?"

"Few micro fissures and stress cracks here and there from our emergency stop. But nothing serious."

"Can we land?"

Slightly surprised, "I don't see why not? Our mass effect core is functioning within tolerances, and unless I missed something our landing struts are still operational." inwardly Bailey smiled at the improvement to Sarah's attitude. "Why? What are you thinking Commander?"

cracking her knuckles, "I'm thinking that once we reach Benning, we'll set the Cairo down planetside and give her a thorough inspection. Top to bottom, inside and out. God knows after the tumble we had our baby could probably use some tender love and care."

"Least it'll make organizing the shore leave roster easier."

"Indeed, is their anything else Bailey?"

"Negative Commander."

Taking a deep breath and filling her lungs with air before exhaling slowly, "Then lets get back to work."

Bailey snap off a salute, "Ma'am."

000

Deck 5: Medical

Time: 1400 hrs

Head in her hands to cover her face from prying eyes, Dr. Liara T'Soni sat in silence as she focused on the symphony of noise coming from the medical machines keeping her adoptive brother alive. When Liara arrived she could only bear to look upon his lifeless form for a moment before having to advert her eyes. That was days ago, and by now the sight had become so much better but at the same time so much worse. No doubt the notion would've boggled the minds of to those unfamiliar with her brothers past.

He looked exactly like he did in his memories from Teltin. That wretched sinister hell where her brother was repeatedly dissected and tortured all in the name of scientific progress. But these were memories, and they compared little to the flesh and blood display before her.

From head to toe her brother was hooked up to machines. Starting at his shaved scalp were numerous electrodes with colorful wires leading to monitors displaying his Alpha, Beta, Delta, and Theta brain waves. The fluctuating wavy lines the only definitive proof Johnathan wasn't brain dead.

Below them taped to his mouth was the hookup for the tracheal intubation tube in his esophagus, keeping his airway open so machines could breath for him. The accordion looking device besides his bed made small suction noises as it rose and fell with his chest. Along with the breathing tube was a smaller feeding tube that went to a soft serve looking machine. It pumped a yellowish tan nutrient paste into her brothers stomach, keeping Lawson's Nanaites well supplied with essential cellular building blocks.

Around his neck was a bone regeneration unit. The circular device looked like a thick white neck brace. It sported several ridged arms like spider legs that attached to metal anchors on the gurney, securing the device from moving as it went about it's delicate work. The regeneration unit was fed via a one inch diameter tube that pumped a slurry of minerals and stem cells to the fabricator. The device whirled like an AC unit as it rebuilt several of Shepard's cervical vertebrae.

Liara pushed back the bile in her throat as she recalled watching the surgery where Miranda removed several of Shepard's vertebrae. How the once white bones looked more liked blackened charcoal briquette's. Charred beyond the repair of her nanites by raw biotic power.

Along Johnathan's arms were automated I.V.'s and morphine drips, ensuring his comatose state. The sounds of their pattering drips was almost lost against the backwash of his beeping heart monitor and whirl of the dialysis machine filtering eezo from his blood. Below that on his waist was the urinary catheter which fed to a bank of machines for analysis. Topping everything off was the heavy constriction straps Locking her brother to the bed frame, preventing him from moving in the event of another seizure.

The *whoosh* of the door next to her pulled Liara from her thoughts of machines, idly turning her still sunken head and saw Miranda enter. Almost as weakly as her head turn, "Is something the matter?"

"No, nothing at all. Just checking up on him." Miranda replied as she went to Shepard's bedside and scanned the various readouts. Activating her 'tool and placing it on Shepard's arm, "there... That should do it."

"Should do what?"

"It's nothing serious Liara," Miranda said reassuringly with her best bedside manner, "just an update for Shepard's nanites."

"An update?" Kasumi asked, it was clear from the puffy redness under her eyes that she'd been recently crying. "What?... What kind of update?"

keeping an even tone, "It's just a patch that instructs them to avoid Shepard's left arm at all costs." smiling slightly to comfort her, "So they don't get filtered out by the dialysis."

"And this helps him?" Liara asked. It was clear from her weak and cracking voice that she was beyond tired.

"But of course." scanning John's heart, Miranda rather un-thoughtfully muttered, "Bloody hell!"

"What the fuck now?" Zaeed grumbled as he took a drag from his electronic cigarette. Like Kasumi, Liara, Kelly, and Lilyna, he'd been by Shepard's side the entire time. Like with everyone else the endless waiting was starting to fray nerves.

"Nothing. It's... It's nothing." Miranda tried to calm everyone down as realization dawned on her how it sounded, "Just the minor tear in Shepard's right coronary artery opened up again... Pesky little bugger just doesn't want to stay shut."

"His hearts bleeding!?" Kasumi looked deathly afraid. With all of Shepard's highs, lows, and near death calls over the last three days, the heir to the Ayakashi-Goto corporation seemed to be the only one still capable of showing emotion. Everyone else was just burned out.

"It's nothing to worry about, it was a slow bleed and the nanites have already begun repairs." Miranda wanted to yell. She may be a doctor but she wasn't used to working with live patients. All those in her nanite trials had been cadavers. "Just need to keep my eye on it."

"How is this still a problem?" Lilyna asked. Since the incident in the hanger, the violet Asari had been working as a nurse "I thought we solved that problem yesterday?"

"What can I say?" Miranda mused as she went to work checking readouts and making notations in Shepard's chart, "Putting it simply, it's like trying to fix a car engine while the vehicles in motion."

"Why don't you just stop the bloody engine then?" Zaeed offhandedly remarked

"That's..." Miranda thought for a moment, "That's actually not that bad of an idea."

"No...You're not stopping Shepard's heart." Lilyna stated rather forcefully, echoing a sentiment shared by Kelly and Kasumi. "That's insane."

"Well we wouldn't do it right now. And it's not like we don't have the equipment to keep him alive without his heart." In Miranda's mind she had already begun filling out the requisition forms and planning the operation. Rather uncaring, "It'd be rather simple really. We wait for his vertebrae to be reconstructed and bing bang boom problems solved."

"Liara! Say something!" Kasumi practically shouted.

"If Johnathan were awake he'd probably be muttering that goddess damn Bon Jovi song." the Asari weakly chuckled. "He loved stupid little things like that."

"What?" said no one in particular.

"Bloody hell." Zaeed began chuckling as he put two and two together, "Shot through the heart!"

"And your to blame!" Liara laughed along. In unison with Zaeed, "darling, you give looooove a bad name!"

"What the hell just happened?" Kelly asked as the pair were reduced to laughing hyenas.

"I think they're broken." Miranda replied.

Liara wiped a tear from her eye as she and Zaeed came down from their giggling fit, "No, were fine. Just having a good laugh. And no Miranda, you're not stopping his heart."

Miri felt a cold shiver run up her spine as she locked eyes with the Asari. "Fine."

"Is their any good news Miri?" Kasumi asked trying to change the subject, "Has his condition improved?"

"Ehh." Miranda shrugged her shoulders, "It's all relative really. Shepard's in better shape than he was a day a go, but only time will tell." light bulb going off in her head the Aussy snapped her fingers, "Oh! One bit of good news is I heard back from Kassa Fabrications bio-amp development team. They've agreed to transmit the blue prints and specs for their new mk.X Polaris amp for us to manufacture."

"How'd you pull that off?" Zaeed asked.

"The Amp is set to come to market in six months. I dropped Shepard's name and they practically jumped at the chance of getting their product endorsed by a famous and respected biotic."

"Hey, I helped too." Kasumi added and all eyes went to her, "What? You think a name was all they needed? You have any idea how many hours of security footage and sounds bites I had to splice together to make a convincing Shepard?"

"So that's what you were doing on your Omni." Kelly said in awe. "Can we hear some of it?"

with a few taps a perfect match of Shepard's voice came fourth from Kasumi's 'tool. "Hello, this is Johnathan Shepard. Pleased to meet you... I. am. a. big fan. of your products." it was a little sketchy in parts, but a decent knock off non the less.

A small laughter started among the group and quickly rose in exuberance as more and more of the message began to play. It wasn't that it was funny perse, but rather that with everything going on they all needed a good laugh. Sighing, the chuckles died down as they came back to reality.

taking another puff from his electronic ciggy, "Here's hoping he gets to hear that one day."

000

Time: 1800 hrs

Placing her hands at the hem of her dress blues, Commander Williams gave her uniform a proper tug and smoothed the creases with her palms. Adjusting her auburn hair bun one last time. Sarah gave herself a once over in her cabins mirror, double checking that all ribbons, bars, and commendations were in the proper order according to regulations. Confident with her appearance, she grabbed her top cover and snugly placed it under her arm. Sighing one last time she left her room and entered the lift.

Stopping at the CIC, the doors opened and she was greeted with the sight of empty stations and her equally pressed and dressed XO. "You ready Lieutenant Commander."

"AS ready as I'll ever be Ma'am." taking a half step into the lift Bailey turned around, "VIE, you got everything?"

"Affirmative Lieutenant Commander." the female synthetic voice belonging to the Cairo's VI replied through the PA, "The Cairo is ready and awaits your return."

"Bloody freaking Hal." Bailey grumbled as he stepped into the lift and the doors closed. Seconds later it began it's descent to the flight deck.

"You figure out what to do about Hakeem and Muhammad?"

"Yes commander, everything is taken care of." Baily replied as he tried not to ruffle his uniform with his sling, "You were right by the way. T'Goni knew exactly how to prepare their bodies... Their will be no desecration."

"That's good. Add to the ships log a record of the practice for.." Sarah almost didn't want to say it, "For future reference."

"Aye-aye."

Two minutes later the lift reached the flight deck and the doors opened. Gesturing with her hand, "After you XO."

Stepping out into the sea of dress blue uniforms Bailey snapped his heels and forcefully spoke, "PASS THE WORD!" Upon hearing this over a hundred pairs of heels snapped to with militaristic precision. Taking measured steps, Bailey walked from behind the servicemen to stand at the head of the procession. "DETAIL... ATTENTION!" again this was followed by the sounds of snapping uniforms.

Making equal strides similar to her XO. Sarah donned her cap and walked to take position besides Bailey, as she did she glanced at the fourteen caskets in neat, equal rows with Alliance flags draped over them.

"PARADE... REST!"

Taking a breath, Sarah prepared herself to give the service as taps began to softly play.

"UNTO the almighty we commend the souls of our brothers and sisters departed. We commit their bodies to the black; in sure and certain hope of the Resurrection unto eternal life, through our Lord Jesus Christ; at whose coming in glorious majesty to judge the world, the void shall give up her dead; and the corruptible bodies of those who sleep in him shall be changed, and made like unto his glorious body; according to the mighty working whereby he is able to subdue all things unto himself."

"PRESENT... ARMS!" as a hundred hands snapped off a crisp salutes, a kinetic barrier was raised and the hangar door slowly opened, revealing the star filled swirl of black space. When the hangar was completely opened, the magnetic locks on the caskets deactivated and all fourteen pods slowly rose off the deck. And as the final notes of Taps played, the Cairo's maneuvering thrusters fired and the coffins began exiting the ship. As they did three volleys from seven rifles were fired. And when the glint of the coffins could no longer be seen the crew bowed their heads and remained bowed until the hangar door resealed.

"PARADE... DISMISSED!"

As the crew began filing out to resume their normal duties, Commander Williams turned to her XO and muttered, "Lets hope we never have to do this ever again."

"Agreed Commander."

Chapter end

A/N: So tell me what you think? The funeral part was kinda tricky as I have no clue what a military funeral in space would look like.