** 39 **

Debris filled the space between Earth and the Citadel. It made for a slow trip as pieces of all sizes moved, colliding, spinning, colliding and heading off in a totally new direction. The pilot had his work cut out for him but he did his job extremely well. Only small pieces bounced off the hull, a dull thud the only clue as they watched on the screens. It still had them on edge, waiting for the one piece that could damage the ship, hit hard enough to send them off course and into more. Tracy's grip on his hand became tighter the closer they got to the Citadel.

'We need to do something about this debris,' he muttered, thinking out loud.

'That would be nice,' the pilot heard him and chuckled. 'Although it's definitely a learning experience.'

'Maybe now we've got most of the people off the Citadel we can use some of the shuttles to try and clear a path at least.' Tracy suggested, watching the screens. 'There used to be a salvage system in place for satellites and things that no longer worked. They were either collected and reused or herded into the atmosphere to burn up.'

They sailed past a dead Reaper and he shuddered. 'What do we do about those. We can't destroy them because their eezo cores are too powerful and the resulting explosion would shower the Earth in the stuff. We can't send them into the sun, who knows what that much eezo would do. There are too many of them and pulling them apart piece by piece … no-one knows if indoctrination is still a threat.'

'We'll work something out,' she squeezed his hand, 'maybe when Uncle Steven gets back we might have enough ships.'

He glanced at her, the worry in her eyes clear to him. Lack of coms was becoming a bigger issue, which they could no longer afford to work around. Pulling his hand from her grip he opened his omnitool, he had the tools and the knowledge, he needed to use them. Setting up his search parameters and sending out pings on known frequencies he set it to work. It could take some time but it would give them some idea of how much the coms network had been damaged.

The Citadel had changed. Fewer people made it quieter and a little eerie. The Leviathan barrier still hung over their heads and he wondered if it would ever come down. They walked hand in hand from the dock, glancing around as keepers worked openly to repair damage.

'Wow,' Tracy said, stopping as they passed the Presidium tower. 'That's beautiful.'

'Yeah, big difference to before.' He looked at where the keepers were working nearby, 'looks like there will be other changes too.'

Keepers pulled down several panels from a blank wall, replacing them with panels carved in coloured patterns, swirls and circles. As he stared at it he understood it to be a representation of a planetary system. He didn't recognise it but as he looked at others he did. The Sol system, the Turian home system and others of the galactic races he knew. Where once had been stark, cold spaces now sat warm, colourful and welcoming corners and platforms.

'You think this is the Keepers or is it Leviathan?' Tracy said, creases marring her brow.

'Maybe both,' he shrugged and urged her forward.

James stood from his seat by Shepard's bed as they entered her room. Stokes welcomed the tight hug and could see the fear in the older man's eyes. Tracy hooked her arm through James', offering support and comfort he gladly accepted.

'How long till she wakes?' She asked, a tremor in her voice.

'Doc says it could be an hour or it could be days,' his voice broke and Stokes saw his fingers clench around Tracy's arm, 'or it could be never.'

'Don't believe that,' she hugged his arm and dropped her head to his shoulder. 'She's a fighter, and she has you to come back to.'

Looking at Shepard Stokes found it hard to reconcile the strong warrior he knew to the pale, damaged woman in the bed. Her head had been shaved, patches of newly healed skin blended in with older, worn skin making her look like an old patchwork quilt his mother used to have. He knew it would get better but right now she looked like she'd been put back together from mismatched parts. On top of her cybernetics she would hate it.

The door opened and Kahlee helped Anderson into the room. The war had taken a hard toll on him and Stokes wondered if he'd ever make a full recovery. His hair had greyed considerably, deep lines etched his forehead and he had lost a lot of his body mass. But he was on his feet, moving slowly and James rushed to help him to a chair.

'Sir,' James took his other arm, 'where's your wheelchair.'

'He refused to use it,' Kahlee said, almost growling the words and Stokes hid his grin behind his hand. 'Stubborn old man.'

'Stop pampering me, woman,' he retorted before smiling at her. 'And what's with the sir?' He glared at James who shrugged. 'We're all family in this room. Stokes,' he held out his hand, which he took, a little surprised by the strength in it considering how he looked, 'it's good to see you.'

'You too, s… Anderson.'

'Uncle David,' Tracy bent down and hugged him, 'I'm so glad you're okay. I would have come sooner but there is so much happening on Earth and Major Coats needed our help.'

He waved away her apology, 'I know how it works, Tracy, no need to explain. I'm just glad you're all alive. Your mum?'

'No word yet, I wanted to go up to the house but Major Coats wants to make sure it's safe, plus getting the world back in order probably takes preference. He sent some teams north so hopefully … .'

Stokes moved closer, rubbing her back. 'By the time we get back we should be able to go and look. If she's anything like you she'll have made it.' She kissed his cheek and took his hand.

'He's right,' Anderson nodded, 'she's a fighter, if anyone could make it she would. The rest of the team?'

'Alive and well,' Stokes assured him and he nodded, relaxing into the chair.

'Good. Any word from the fleet?'

'Not yet, but coms are down and we don't know if the network is still there. I'm running some tests but nothing's come back yet.'

'They're alive and out there,' he said, his confidence unwavering but his eyes lowered before he lifted them to look at Shepard. 'What about the Normandy?'

'Nothing yet.'

He nodded and settled into his seat as Kahlee pulled up one beside him. Stokes and Tracy leant against James' bed and as she wrapped her arm through his he had a selfish thought He was glad she wasn't the one in the bed, he wasn't waiting for her to wake up. Watching James as he stood beside Shepard, his hand holding hers now the protective barrier had been removed, guilt raised its ugly head. He'd gone through this alone, with no-one to reassure him when he needed it, no-one to offer comfort and warmth. Everyone had walked away, yes they'd been needed but he should have come back. He should have been a better friend.

The monitors above Shepard's head beeped a different pattern and all eyes swept upwards. A few seconds later Dr Michel and Miranda stepped through the door and moved to check the readings. The room suddenly felt very crowded.

'Her vitals are good,' Dr Michel reassured them, 'she's regaining consciousness but I must remind you that she may not recognise anyone at first. She may drop in and out of sleep for some time.'

'Her cybernetics are functioning normally,' Miranda said, scanning her with her omnitool. 'We've used nanotech to help rebuild bone and muscle. She's healing very well.'

His eyebrows rose at the thought of nanotech. It had been used for some medical procedures successfully and in tandem with her cybernetics it would make for faster healing. She might not like all the tech inside her but it had probably saved her life.

Just over half an hour later she stirred. First her toes wriggled, then her legs shifted before her hand curled around James' fingers. He let out a soft sob and leant in as her eyes opened, his hand brushing her scalp.

'Hey Lola,' his words came out rough, strangled by his attempt to hold back tears and Stokes had to swallow the lump in his throat, 'about time you woke up.'

'James,' she croaked and Dr Michel held a straw to her mouth so she could drink.

'Yeah, it's me.'

Panic flared in her eyes and she went to sit up, a pained moan making them all wince.

'Hey, take it easy,' James gently pushed her down, 'it's okay, you're safe. It's over Lola. You did it. We won.'

Tears rolled down her face and Tracy pushed herself under his arm and wrapped herself against his chest, soft sobs making her shake. His own cheeks were wet and looking across at Anderson he saw tears on his too. Kahlee held Anderson's hand, her head on his shoulder as she blinked away moisture.

With a long sigh Shepard settled back into the bed, her eyes closing as she dropped back into sleep but the relief on her face softened her features. James rested his forehead on hers and kissed her, oblivious to everyone else in the room. Tightening his hold on Tracy he buried his nose in her hair, thankful she stood beside him, alive and well, because he didn't know how he'd cope if anything happened to her. He admired James for never giving up hope and staying by her side, but when it came down to it he'd had no choice. Just as he would have had no choice if it had been Tracy. Love meant standing by the person you loved no matter what. And there were two perfect examples in the room. He glanced from Anderson and Kahlee to James and Shepard. He had high standards to achieve and he planned to reach them.

'What she needs now is time,' Dr Michel said, 'her body has suffered a lot and will still have to heal but once she's fully awake we can start her rehabilitation.'

Over the next few hours they sat by her bed as she woke, then slept, then woke again. They spoke of what they were doing to restart civilisation as they knew it, Anderson asking questions seemed to give him strength the more they spoke. Stokes wondered if Kahlee had been keeping news away from him for his own good. He could understand why but as the leader of the troops on Earth he would want to know.

They were well into a discussion about the keepers and the changes they'd made and the concern over Leviathan when his omnitool beeped. Looking at it he couldn't hide his smile and everyone stared at him in concern.

'The com buoys are still there, they're just not functioning. I sent out a base test signal which they should respond to even if they're powered down, it's how they test for -.'

'Stokes,' Anderson sighed and raised an eyebrow.

'Right,' he grinned and Tracy squeezed his arm. 'They're there, they just need restarting. It's like they've been deactivated, probably by a Reaper pulse.'

'Can you do it from here?' James asked.

'I think so, I need to access the Citadel com system to send out commands, it's more powerful than my omnitool,' he waved his arm in the air. 'If that doesn't work then I can go out in a shuttle and manually turn them on.'

'How long will it take?' Anderson leaned forward.

'Not sure, sir,' he dropped back into soldier mode and Anderson was still his CO. He glanced at Shepard, James and Tracy. He didn't want to leave but … .

'Go,' she kissed him and pushed him towards the door. 'Maybe you can give us more good news, tell us Uncle Steven is on his way.'

God he loved her. He kissed her, long and hard, before turning and leaving the room.

He'd almost reached the exit when familiar faces appeared before him.

'Stokes,' Major Alenko looked past him in the direction of Shepard's room. 'Is everything okay?'

'Yes, sir,' he grinned at him, 'Shepard's awake, sort of and I've just got word the com buoys are still there just not functioning. I'm on my way to fix them.'

'That's good news, we thought we'd come see how she's doing.' Alenko relaxed and blew out a long breath, behind him Cortez dropped a hand on his shoulder.

'Sir, I might need to borrow your pilot if I have to go out and manually activate them.'

'I don't think Steve will mind some fancy flying,' he chuckled.

'Hell no, beats flying around in atmo.' Cortez said, 'let me know.'

'There's someone here who wanted to come see you.' Alenko stepped aside.

Stokes looked past him to see a young man grinning at him. He was taller, his hair a bit longer and his face a little older. 'Sam? Sam!' He laughed and drew him into a hug. 'It's so good to see you, Tracy told me you were a huge help when she was with the Alenkos. Thank you for watching out for her.'

'No probs, she's fun to be around.' Sam said, his eyes brimming with tears before he wiped them away with a swipe of his hand, his cheeks flushing with colour.

'Hey, want to help me with the communications?'

'Shit yeah,' his eyes widened and his grin almost cracked his face.

'Let's go then,' he led the way to the elevator. 'How are you Sam, after, everything?'

'I'm good, got a bit hairy when the Reapers showed up but Captain Alenko was awesome.' He hesitated for a moment and his fingers wound together before he straightened them. Stokes looked at him from under a furrowed brow. 'I'm going to join the Alliance.'

'The Alliance could use good engineers like you,' he said, grinning at the surprise on Sam's face. 'What, you think I'd stop you. It's your life Sam, you've already had a taste of what it's like to be a soldier. You've got a while yet before you're old enough so use it to build your skills, it will give you a boost going in. I'll help you if you want me too.'

'Did you always want to be in the Alliance?'

'No, never planned on it. I had the option of the Alliance or prison, when Marcus found me I was in a bad place and he pulled me out of it."

'Marcus?'

'Yeah,' he nodded, moving around a group of C-Sec officers handing out food rations. 'Major Marcus Stone. He worked for Intelligence, said he could help me and he did. Went to work for him until he posted me to Shepard's detail. I don't regret joining even though it wasn't my first choice.' Last he'd heard Marcus had been in Rio, he needed to find out if he'd survived.

Walking into the C-Sec office he found Bailey arguing with a technician obviously trying to explain why something wasn't working as it should.

He glanced at them as they entered, 'just fix it.' Waving away the other man he walked towards them. 'Stokes, good to see you, how's Earth?'

'Still kicking.' Taking his offered hand he introduced Sam and looked to where the technician he'd been arguing with worked on a console. 'Problems?'

'Shit, too many to mention unless you've got all day. What can I do for you?'

'Actually, I've come to do something for you, well for everyone really.' He said and Bailey raised an eyebrow at him. 'I checked out the com buoys, they're still there, just not operating. We think we can fix that.'

'We?' He glanced at Sam.

'Yeah, Sam's almost as good as me at this stuff.' A huff behind him made him grin.

'Do you want a job, kid, I could use some good technicians around here.' Across the room the man at the console glared at him. 'So what do you need?'

'Access to the Citadel com controls, it's more powerful than my omnitool. If it doesn't work I'll need to go out and manually configure them. Looks like they were knocked out by a Reaper pulse, just need to get them back on line.'

'Hey, you give me coms and you can have access to whatever you need. Make my job a hell of a lot easier.' Bailey led them through to a back room where they'd hooked into the Citadel controls.

Several days after the Reapers were destroyed the keepers had built a door and provided them with a room full of consoles allowing them access to the Citadel controls. Stokes had been the one to work out what they all did, not that they did much with the Citadel in the state it was in, but every step forward meant they weren't taking a step back.

'Sam, can you check the buoy locations from the test ping," he showed him a console and Sam went to work.

Meanwhile he set about checking the diagnostics coming back in the test. Everything looked fine, he should be able to just flick a switch so to speak and they should be up and running. But things never went that easily. After several unsuccessful attempts he blew out a long breath.

'Sam do you have the locations?'

'Yep, allowing for movement they should be here,' he sent him a holomap. 'No luck getting them back on line?'

'No, everything says they're getting the signal but then nothing." He made a final attempt, scowling when it didn't work. "Just love zero G," he muttered under his breath, knowing he might have to go out and visibly check everything.

'How many do we need operating to get some kind of network happening?' Sam asked as he moved to look over his shoulder.

'At least half, maybe three quarters of the buoys out there. It's going to take forever if we have to check each individual buoy.'

'Can we test them from here, maybe go down the line along the network, it might only be the first one that's out.' Sam suggested, 'don't they run from one to the other?'

'Sort of, yeah,' he frowned, picturing the network in his head, following the invisible links from one buoy to another, picking out the ones with multiple connections and ignoring them. 'If I can isolate the frequencies,' he hurriedly typed in code.

'Use the ones with only single connections,' Sam leant in.

'Send the command directly to one further along the network,' his fingers flew across the holo keyboard and with a flourish he sent a signal. 'Now we just … ."

A beep sounded and the console flashed to life as live feed came in from the buoy he'd activated.

'Yes!' Sam clapped him on the shoulder. 'It worked.'

'Yes it did,' he grinned and wrapped his arm around Sam's shoulder. 'Time to get to work.'

By the time he'd sent the signal to the last buoy on his screen he had a headache brewing. Sam sent the last of his signals just as he did and he admired him for staying and working with him. He'd make a brilliant engineer.

Once all the working buoys were active he opened up the feeds he'd kept muted until they were done to avoid distraction. One by one signals popped up, messages held on the buoys since they were deactivated. Because the network still had holes they had to do a work around to get things moving. He worked his way down the list until they were gone, leaving space for new ones to come in.

Turning the buoys on to receive he waited, tense moments passed as silence settled over them. Maybe there was no-one out there to send new messages, maybe those on Earth and here on the Citadel were the only living beings left in the galaxy. Sam sighed beside him and he could feel the disappointment rolling off him. A crackle broke the silence, then a hiss. A rush of sound flooded the room as voices carried around them. Then something he'd hoped to hear.

'Alliance command, this is the SSV Orizaba, requesting status update.'

Sam cheered and punched the air. He held himself up on the console, Another step on the road to recovery and as tired as he felt he allowed himself a moment of pride and relief. Bailey rushed into the room, coming up behind him and slapping him on the back.

'SSV Orizaba, status is all clear. Repeat, status is all clear.'

'Stokes?' Hackett's husky voice burst through the speakers. 'Is that you?'

'Yes, sir,' his grin couldn't get any wider if it tried. 'It's good to hear your voice, sir.'

'And yours,' he laughed and they could hear cheering in the background. 'Sitrep lieutenant.'

'Reapers are dead, sir, Earth is still here and slowly starting the recovery. The Citadel is partially functional.'

'And Shepard?'

'Alive, woke up a few hours ago. Admiral Anderson is also alive.'

'Thank god,' Hackett said, his voice breaking and exhaustion obvious.

'Sir, suggest you come to the Citadel, I'm sure there are some people here who will be happy to see you.'

'We're just passing Saturn, we should be there in a few hours. We can increase our speed now we know it's safe.'

'Roger that sir, I'll make sure you have docking space. Welcome home, sir.'