Warning!

You are about to read the Control Ending. This is the True Ending, and Shepard's fate stays close to the source material.

This is NOT related to chapter 15. Chapters 14 and 15 are mutually exclusive chapters.

If you wish to read the Destroy Ending, please skip this epilogue and read the next one, called "After, in the Dark".

Blue

.

Sunday stared at the three men, who watched her calmly from a distance. The real ones wouldn't give me those looks, she thought. They were all so warm in their own ways…Her eyes landed on the image of Garrus.

Lonely. She felt lonely, buried by the silence of the chamber. She looked out of the gigantic window that lay at the back. Earth was so beautiful from a distance. Nobody could tell the hardships, the wrongs, the little hurts that awaited certain people down there. People like her.

She took a look at the Garrus that was standing there. He had tried to make her see that there was a life outside the job she was always doing. She had failed to make him understand that every decision she had made had left a mark on her, something that would never go away, no matter how much time they would spend together or however much love he poured onto her.

He had shown her a beautiful dream, but that was not her life. Every bit of it was every life she had taken. She could not keep taking any more of them. Making the universe a better place, eh, Thane? she thought. The quarians wouldn't have died in vain if she could do something about it. Rebuild. Remake. Shape a brighter future. My work. My choice. My responsibility.

"Command," Wrex had said. She would.

She walked up to that image that she had come to love more than anything in the universe and looked into his eyes. The glint in Garrus's real eyes was not there, but that copy would do.

"You're everything to me," she murmured, feeling her throat straining under the weight of unshed tears. She reached out and caressed his cheek, clear of his scars and his feel. "I guess I never got to say it. I'm sorry."

She turned around and looked at Jacob. He offered her his hand and she shook her head. He smiled.

"You have always wanted to do things on your own, your way."

"Whenever possible, yeah."

She walked up the ramp that led her to the control area and remembered Hackett's warning. Harbinger. Prepare yourselves for the Arrival. It didn't matter how many things had happened before that Reaper had spoken to her, leaving those haunting words in her head – for her, everything had started that day.

"Harbinger's coming, eh?" she smirked. "I guess that gaining control over that jerk is not such a bad deal after all."

Sunday noticed her hands trembling slightly. She wiggled her fingers and curled them into a fist. She took a deep breath and let the air out of her lungs slowly, as her hands reached out to get a hold of her new leash.

This time, she would be the one wielding it.

"You're the one doing this, EDI!" Garrus shouted as he got to the bridge. "Did you think I wouldn't notice?!"

"Hey, don't blame her! We had orders, okay?" Joker replied coldly.

"She didn't… She couldn't have…!" Garrus leaned against the wall, his eyes looking out into the fleet-ridden space. Our channel. He quickly input the code into his omni-tool. "Sunday! Sunday, if you can hear this message, please, let me know where you are! I will come and get you, wherever you are! I promise-!" The ten seconds were over. "Crap!" He turned to Joker. "We have to go back to Earth! I want to be there. I want–"

"Don't we all?" the pilot asked bitterly.

"Normandy, it is time for you to leave," Hackett said, his tired face showing up on the screen. "Our readings say the Crucible is about to be fired, and we have no way of knowing how the fleets will be affected."

Joker's jawline became tense. "We're ready for pickup as soon as Shepard gives us word, Admiral."

"Negative. The pulse might interfere with the frequency of the Normandy."

"But-"

Hackett gave the pilot a stern look. "Is that what she told you to do, Flight-Lieutenant? Shepard knew that as soon as this mission got to this point, she had to assume an expendable role. We all agreed, didn't we?"

All? Garrus watched the two men battling in silence. What were you thinking, Sunny? he thought. Everyone knew, so why couldn't you trust me? But he couldn't believe his words. She'd always trusted him. She just didn't want him to be harmed. She cared for him, and even though she knew that he would give everything to storm hell by her side, she wanted him safe. He understood.

He hated it.

Shit, they had been right. Joker and EDI worked side by side, making a run for… what, exactly? They'd never make it to the relay on time. "EDI, set course for Earth!" the pilot commanded.

"The pulse will hit us in-"

"I don't care!" Joker shouted, his hands flying over the controllers. "If we're going to crash, I'd rather die someplace where I can eat a motherfucking steak!"

"At this rate, we will be hit in 9, 8-"

"Brace for impact, everyone!" Joker shouted over the intercom.

"5, 4-"

"Shit, shit, shit!" He wouldn't be losing another Normandy, especially not with all of them inside. He had been helpless when the Collectors had attacked them, but now he had made a promise, and so…

Nothing happened.

Or rather, nothing that he could put into words.

When the light hit them, it enveloped the Normandy in a friendly embrace – a warm energy that felt slightly familiar and yet-

"Joker." EDI's voice, calling him from afar.

He turned to her. She was giving him a soft smile. Her visor had turned a deep shade of reddish-brown.

"Thank you for keeping your promise," she simply said, before her visor turned to its usual orange shade.

A strangled whimper escaped his throat, a noise that soon turned into a full-fledged wail. EDI jumped out of her seat and wrapped her arms around him.

"I'm here, Jeff," she said. "Don't worry. I will take us home."

Her eyes landed on the lonely figure behind them. Garrus Vakarian's eyes were looking ahead, but EDI could tell he was not seeing. She wanted to say something, but words failed her. She noticed the turian turning around and walking away from the bridge, but even if she wanted to follow him, Jeff's hands were clinging onto her with a strength that he'd never shown before. She pressed her lips against his forehead and promised herself that she would use that body to never let go of him.

Only the highest-ranking members of the New Galactic Council knew the truth behind the actions taken by Commander Shepard. The largest among its kind, the Reaper known as Harbinger made contact with the Council and relayed the information needed to sort out any obstacles that might appear as a result of their continued presence in known space. The memories presented by it were enough proof for the Alliance to believe that the commander would not return, as she had become something else.

And so, with the support of the leaders and that of the militaries of every race, the Reapers were allowed to cooperate in the reconstruction of that which had been lost during those long months.

"Urdnot Grunt has just landed, Primarch."

"Thank you." Garrus rose from his chair and walked to the window. Palaven appeared to be peacefulright before dawn. He looked at the time and noticed that it wouldn't be long till that thing showed up again. He had talked to the Council to discuss its removal from his planet, but after some deliberation, the Council had agreed on not taking action. Strange times we're living in, he had thought, when the leaders of the galaxy trust a Reaper this much.

"Good morning, Sunny," he muttered as an orange light appeared on the horizon. "I'm doing well. I wish you could do something about that annoying Reaper that comes every day to block out the sun, but I guess you can't. You've done enough already. I'm meeting Grunt today…"

The large figure of the Reaper showed up. It landed softly, as if it were waiting. Garrus took his rifle off the wall and watched it through the scope. The Reaper's eye, once red, had turned blue. "You'd better not cause any trouble," Garrus muttered. The Reaper seemed to take a sample of the land and then departed again, as silently as it had arrived.

"Heh, already speaking to yourself?" Grunt's deep voice sounded amused. "You're sure getting old."

"So are you," Garrus replied, leaving the rifle and patting him on the arm. "There's a little grey on your head."

"It's always been there, smartass."

"Where's Bakara?"

"Here," the female leader replied. "Our newest addition to the clan still feels a little shy when we go off-world."

"Oh, I haven't met this one. Hey there!" Garrus greeted, crouching next to Bakara's legs. A shy head, already covered by the Urdnot hood. An inquisitive red eye watched the turian and then looked up at her mother. "What is her name?" the turian asked.

"Sunday," Bakara replied.

Garrus's gaze softened as he knelt down. "Hello, Sunday. You've got such a pretty name."

The little krogan let go of her mother's skirt and stepped forward. She sniffed at Garrus and looked at her father when the turian offered her his hand.

"Eh, he's not bad," Grunt reassured her. "You can trust him."

Timidly, her little fingers wrapped around Garrus's talons as she went on sniffing. Once she had found him acceptable, she hid her face against his chest and headbutted him lightly. Garrus chuckled softly and picked her up, not without effort.

"We were hoping you wouldn't mind us naming her that way," Bakara said gently.

"I was just waiting for one with red eyes," Grunt blurted out. Bakara slapped him on the back.

"It's fitting," Garrus smiled. He wondered what Sunday would have said if they'd had a child. She would never have agreed to naming it after her. Wrex, she would have suggested, after fighting him for a while. Children's names, tech, the best planet to enjoy the sunset – they would have argued over everything. As he held the little krogan in his arms, Garrus couldn't help but feel the pang of loss. He didn't miss what he had had with Sunday. He missed what they would never be able to do.

"I hope these negotiations go just as smoothly as the last ones," Grunt grumbled as he walked to the door.

"I am here today," Bakara replied, following him. "They are bound to be even better."

Grunt gave her a sideways look. "You know… You may be right."

Garrus suddenly felt Sunday's little hands holding onto him more tightly. He looked down at her and smiled, and he saw her red eyes squinting gleefully. His heart felt warmer than it had been in years, and he smiled. "Well," he said to the Urdnot couple, "let's not keep the salarians and the asari waiting, shall we?"

. . . . .

A/N: The title of this chapter comes from Cowboy Bebop's song, "Blue".

Thank you for reading Code Blue! It's been really nice to write this Shepard's story. I hope you've enjoyed it!