Beta: pixelatrix
Thanks for the review :)
Bioware owns all.

This was it. The end. Either the Reapers would be defeated or... Kate didn't want to think what came after the "or," so she focused on the winning, and tried not to worry about Zaeed. He'd left with her father after the Admiral had come aboard the Normandy to give a speech to the troops.

Now she was with Kaidan and James, fighting through the streets of London, trying to get to Anderson and HQ. They took down one giant Reaper only to be nearly overwhelmed by Reaper forces while waiting for extraction. Cortez was... somewhere. He'd radioed back after he'd been shot down trying to get back to them.

The rescue shuttle came just in time. James threw Kate into it and her back hit something soft, softer than the inside of a Kodiak anyway. She turned and looked up to see Anderson grinning at her.

"Welcome to London, Shepard."

Another Reaper down. Kate and her squad had barely survived that one too. Now they were making a break for the beam that would take them up to the Citadel and... only God knew what was up there.

An explosion sent one of the humvees ahead flying back towards them. Anderson tackled Kate to the ground as metal and chunks of concrete rained down on them.

"You OK, Shepard?" he asked when the debris stopped falling.

She gingerly turned over. "I think so. You?"

"Never better."

She looked around. "Where's James and Kaidan?"

"Over here, Lola," James called from a spot 50 feet away where he and Kaidan were leaning against another over-turned humvee. "Alenko's hurt bad. Broken ribs and... I don't think he can keep going."

Kate and Anderson made their way over to them. She called to the Normandy for a quick extraction.

She carefully hugged James and Kaidan as they stood on the ramp into the shuttle bay. "Stay safe and keep Joker in line," she said with a half-hearted smile.

"Don't worry about us," James said. "You just make damn sure you come back, Lola."

She nodded and stepped away as the Normandy flew off again.

"They'll be fine," Anderson said, putting a hand on her shoulder. "Come on. We've got to get to that beam."

Half an hour later, Kate was wishing she was anywhere else but on the goddamn Citadel. She didn't even know where she was. All she knew was most of her armor was melted off and she'd been shot in the gut again; she wasn't going to make it. Anderson was dead, shot with her gun. The Illusive Man was dead too, also shot with her gun. He'd tried to take the easy way out, tried to shoot himself in the head. She'd shot the gun from his hand and then emptied the rest of the clip into his chest.

Hackett was patched in to Kate's comm channel. He'd heard everything with Anderson and the Illusive Man. Now, the Citadel and the Crucible were linked, but-

"Nothing's happening," he said. "It must be something on your end."

Silence.

"Commander?" He looked around the bridge. Fuck professionalism, he thought. "Katie? What's going on?"

More silence.

"Katie, talk to me, goddamn it! I need-"

"I don't... I can't see any..." Her voice was weak, but it was definitely her.

A few more moments went by and then suddenly, a beam shot from the Crucible. The Reapers on Earth began to fall and the beam spread through the system.

Everyone on the bridge cheered. Hackett grinned. "You did it, Katie. The Reapers are gone."

Silence again.

His face fell and he panicked. "Goddamn it. Katie, don't do this to me now. You can't die on me again. I can't... I can't lose you again."

"Dad?" He could barely hear her this time. In just the one word, he could hear how much pain she was in.

"Katie? Where are you? I'm coming to get you."

"Dad, I didn't get a chance to say this last time. I love y-" She was cut off again.

"No!" Hackett tried over and over but all he got was more damn silence.