After Arrival

It was good Melanie Shepard hadn't had any illusions that defeating the Reapers was going to be easy, because otherwise Bahak would have come as a cruel surprise. Even knowing what she knew, it had been brutal. Sacrificing 300,000 people to stop the Reapers would have been hard. Doing it to kill a Reaper would have been terrible. Having to do it just to slow them down was horrifying.

It had also complicated matters with the Alliance. She'd hoped that completing that mission for Admiral Hackett would repair some of the damage working for Cerberus had done to her reputation and help her to persuade them to take the Reaper threat seriously. Instead, the Admiral had made it clear that, although he thought she'd done the right thing, she had also created a shit-storm of epic proportions. If the files Liara had obtained as the new Shadow Broker were correct, Alliance intelligence had wanted to detain her even before the destruction of the Alpha Relay. Now, who the fuck knew how long she'd be out of commission?

Even considering that, she had to go back to Earth. The Reapers were already in Batarian space, and they'd be everywhere else some time in the next few months depending on how fast their FTL drives were. She had to make the Alliance listen, no matter what it took.

As she looked out on her assembled squad-mates, she marveled at how far they'd come since the start of this mission. While there were some exceptions –there was little love lost between her and the psychopathic Zaeed Massani –they'd become, if not as close as her original team, a real crew, people she'd trust to have her back in any situation, which just made what she had to say harder.

"By now, you all know what I did at Bahak and why I did it. Unfortunately, now I have to turn myself in to the Alliance. Not because they say so, but because I need to try to convince them to prepare for the Reapers. We don't have a lot of time before they get here, and that's why I need all of you to do something for me. I need you to leave."

She could hear the murmurs of discontent from the crew, both from her old comrades and from others like Jack that she might not have expected to mind leaving her. Still, she had to finish what she came to say. "I'm probably going to be out of action for a while, and somebody needs to tell the rest of the galaxy to get its collective ass in gear. Whatever you can do to prepare, whatever resources you can mobilize, you have to do it, and you can't if you're locked up with me. What happened with the relay was my choice and my responsibility, but I can face the fallout from it a whole hell of a lot better if I know you're out here, not sitting in an Alliance holding facility."

In the end they all yielded to her arguments or at least obeyed her orders, and a day or so later, the Normandy had docked at Illium and the crew was disembarking for points varied. One by one, they came to say their goodbyes.

"We never did get to that goddamn refinery."

"We ran out of time."

"You made time for every other idiotic problem every other goddamn jackass on this ship had."

"Well, you did get paid."

"Fuck you, fuck Cerberus, and fuck their money."

"Where to, Jacob?"

"Not sure. Maybe try to get a little R&R. This has been one hell of a mission."

"That it has. Take care of yourself."

"I don't like this, Shepard. Imagine what kind of trouble you'll get into without me to watch your back."

"That may be true, but the galaxy needs the Turian fleet to be ready more than I need your stray shots pointing out Geth I need to kill."

"Stray shots?"

"You may hit one or two occasionally."

"Goodbye Mordin. You going to get back in touch with the Special Tasks Group? I could use their help."

"Of course. Have already sent letter; will be picked up soon. Good luck. Am proud to have been part of illustrious Shepard biography."

"Mine? What about the forthcoming Mordin Solus blockbuster you mentioned?"

"Felt I should make contribution to your story too. Help improve sales."

"Shepard."

"Grunt. Going back to Tuchanka?"

"Yep."

"Tell Wrex I said 'hi' and to kill a few Reapers for me."

"Sure thing."

"So Jack, where to? We did blow up your old home, not that you'd have been looking to go back."

"No clue. But I feel like I'm in a better place now, and that's got to help."

"Try not to get into too much trouble."

"No promises."

"When we started out, I thought the Illusive Man made a mistake giving you command of this mission, but I was the one making the mistake. I should never have trusted him as blindly as I did."

"I'm glad you came on around on that point. Thanks for not trying to shoot me in the back when he told you to."

"It was the least I could do considering your help with my sister. Anyway, I'd better get to work figuring out how he plans on dealing with my 'liberal interpretation of security protocols.'"

"He did seem a touch annoyed."

"Shepard, I, I don't want to leave again. You saved me from exile, but this is my home now. Vas Normandy, remember?"

"I know Tali, but you have to go. We may need the Quarian Flotilla and you're my only chance of making those idiots on the Admiralty Board see reason."

"I'll make you proud."

"I know you will."

"It has been my privilege to serve with you."

"Mine too Samara. I'm sorry about some of the things I said; making you uncomfortable was never what I wanted."

"Do not apologize. In many ways, I wish it could have been otherwise. You are a remarkable woman, and someone else will be fortunate to be with you."

"Be well Samara."

"And you also Shepard."

"Goodbye Kelly. Keep safe."

"I am safe now. I can never thank you enough for what you did."

"No need. You were part of my crew."

"I wasn't sure if you'd snuck off the ship."

"No, just wanted to stick around long enough to see where everyone else was going. Thanks again for helping me get back Keiji's greybox."

"No worries. Just make sure to keep it safe."

"Hey, I wouldn't be the galaxy's best thief if I let somebody else steal back my scores."

"And you are that. As you are fond of reminding me."

"Hey, if you're the best, there's no need to be humble. You should remember that, Shep."

When they were all gone, when it was just her, Joker, EDI, and a few others, she turned to the galaxy map. She had already sent a message to Liara telling her what had happened, just in the new Shadow Broker didn't already know. What she really wanted to say to the beautiful asari needed to be said in person, and depending on how that conversation went, she might find it a lot harder to turn herself in afterwards. Taking a deep breath, she ordered Joker to lay in a course for Earth and whatever consequences awaited her.