Author's Note: Well, this is it. Thank you all so much for giving me the encouragement to see this through to the end. If you would like to see the sequel, please be sure to follow me. I plan on writing at least the first 2 or 3 chapters before I publish the story. The sequel will be named To Persevere. I've already gotten the first chapter busted out and I must say that I am already in love with what I have. But regardless, I'm so grateful to everyone who has helped me along the way, followed, and favorited the story, and I hope you enjoy this last chapter.
This will feature both Emma and Saren's respective points of view.
"They just keep coming, don't they?!" Emma screamed over the sound of the Reaper as she ducked for cover. Saren looked over at her just as he popped back up, firing at the group of Banshees that were closing in. She hated those things and they had terrifying power.
They'd made their way to the spot where the rockets were to be launched at the Reaper. Unfortunately the first launch had been unsuccessful, and now they were waiting on EDI to counteract the beam's influence on the targeting systems. It was taking much longer than Emma would have liked. But since the Reaper forces kept coming, her squad had something to do to keep busy. Liara and Saren were working tirelessly with their biotics. She was glad she brought Liara along to help, actually. Neither looked like they had even broken a sweat using their biotics - Saren hadn't even used them for the longest time, she'd almost forgotten about his ability. Emma put another thermal clip into her pistol, and took a glance over the barricade, surprised that the way was clear. They had a moment to rest.
"EDI, how much longer?"
"One moment... The missiles are ready."
"Cover me!" she yelled as she vaulted herself over the barricade. The launch button was a full 30 feet away and from the corner of her eye she could see several Cannibals and a few Banshees coming over the ridge of rubble as she sprintd towards the missiles. She slid into safety behind the truck, and managed to get the missile launch started. She checked her gun before she peeked out of her cover, firing a few bullets into a Cannibal, pleased when it fell. Then she was nearly deafened as the missiles launched, going straight towards the Reaper. Emma wanted to watch, to make sure the Reaper was taken down, but she had more pressing matters.
Turning to run back to cover, she felt both feet leave the ground. Her pistol slipped from her hand and went clattering to the ground as her eyes saw the cybernetically scarred face of a Banshee. Emma's head was turned slowly to the side, and she could no longer feel anything but fear as she began trying to claw her way out from the situation.
"Don't shoot!" she heard Liara yell.
"Are you fucking insane? Shoot the damn thing!" she yelled back, glancing over her shoulder. If she got hit and wasn't killed, but this monster was, she could forgive a misplaced bullet.
She saw Garrus barely flinch as he lined up his shot, firing his rifle just once. If he wasn't careful, he could shoot her in the head instead of the Banshee that was holding her hostage. Emma closed her eyes, and then she fell back to the ground in a heap. She could hear Liara and Garrus start to fight, and when she got herself to her feet she picked up her pistol and stormed over to the pair.
"Shut the hell up, and let's get moving." she glared for a moment. The two then stood up straight and fell back in line.
They followed the trucks until they had both been destroyed, and after that they crawled through building after building, trying to reach the beam. And when it came in to view, she couldn't help but be in awe, and wonder what the hell they were doing with the beam. Some had said they were using it to transport bodies to the Citadel, but it was barren for at least a mile around the beam itself. Harbinger landed just moments later, and began protecting the beam by taking down soldiers rushing towards it. There was an unspoken vow that someone - at least one person - had to make it to the beam. Everyone made the push forward, and Emma forgot about her teammates as she ran forward at full speed, knowing that it would likely be her that would reach the beam. Her luck never seemed to run out when death was on the line.
As she ran vehicles were being flipped and destroyed left and right, and there were missiles hitting the ground which made it near impossible to just run straight. A truck happened to be hit by Harbinger's beam, and it flew into the air, spinning. Emma dropped to the ground to avoid getting hit, and realized her friends were right behind her. She turned and watched in horror as the vehicle landed, slowly falling with Saren and Liara in the shadow of it. Luckily the two jumped out of the way, and Emma scrambled back up to her feet and ran back, radioing Joker in advance to get them out.
No one was making it to the beam. She was still alive.
Liara was clutching her leg, and Emma hardly needed to look to see that it was broken severely. And Garrus, who had been nearby, was bleeding from his head. She shut her eyes, pained.
"I can't let you die here." she said as she looked up at the three, safe behind the vehicle. As Saren helped Liara stand, he shot a look over to her, and she held up her hand to continue speaking, "I'm not letting you come with me. I can't risk it, I have to know you're safe." Just the the Normandy came down, and the shuttle bay door lowered. "Go." she said softly, feeling more emotional than she ever had before.
Garrus took Liara off Saren, and the two walked half way up the ramp. Saren and Emma stood face to face, staring at one another. Her hand reached up and she brushed her fingertip against his mandible, trying not to cry. She knew that she was the reason he was able to be who he was. Emma was the reason Saren had any purpose at all, and she was forcing him to leave without her.
"You're coming back, right?" he asked. She was glad she couldn't hear his subvocals because he was probably about ready to break. All she could do was smile.
"I'll come back. The Normandy is yours until then."
"I'm not leaving on the Normandy." he shook his head and brought her close, pressing his forehead to hers. "I'm waiting for you here, in London, until you come back."
Emma squeezed her eyes hard enough that a few tears slipped out. The chances that she would make it back were... She didn't think she would be coming back from this, honestly.
"We gotta get out of here!" Joker said over the comm.
"Leave, Jeff. We're staying behind." Garrus said, closer than Emma thought. She opened her eyes in shock, looking over. Liara was leaning heavily against James, the entire crew waving them off as the doors closed.
"What are you doing?" she nearly screamed.
"Disobeying orders." Garrus smirked. "You know I'm a bad turian." Emma could help but laugh, and then wiped her eyes, looking between the two.
"Just don't follow me. I can't risk both of you." she said, taking a step back, towards the beam. They both looked at her and nodded. Before she did something stupid, Emma turned, running towards the beam, knowing the two would run in the opposite direction. She just hoped they would be safe, wherever they ended up going, and after that, she pushed them both from her thoughts. She was the only one she could worry about now. She was the only one she had any control over.
And then, as if waiting for her to step into a circle, Harbinger fired a shot right at her, effectively knocking her unconscious for some time. When she finally cracked her eyes open, she didn't know how much time had passed. She only knew that her skin felt hot and itchy. Lifting her head to look down at her body, she could see that her armor wasn't really there anymore. Slowly, she got up, and her back popped, making her groan from the pain. She definitely had bruises, and when she got to her feet, she nearly doubled over again. Looking down, her stomach was a mess of red and melted armor. She took a moment before putting one foot forward, following it by the other. She had to keep a slow pace or the pain would be too much to bear. And the pace alone was agonizing.
A Marauder popped out and with a set jaw, she slowly raised her pistol, shooting it square in the head, glad it fell. She was almost to the beam. With a burst of energy, she ran into it, not sure what to expect. It was a nice warm feeling, and it surrounded her body, making her suddenly feel very safe. And it wasn't bright at all, but very dark. The two observations offset each other, and when she was suddenly thrown on to her side, she felt like she was going to pass out again.
"-omeone made it." she heard the radio crackle in her ear. She was barely able to keep herself conscious, and she heard a distinct buzzing sound. Looking around, she realized where she was. Bodies were strewn around, and Emma thought she could see some of the massive piles moving. Taking another moment to, yet again, pull herself to her feet, she heard another crackling sound in her ear.
"Shepard. Is that you?"
"Anderson? How did you get here?" she started her slow shuffle ahead. A keeper was standing in the middle of the bodies, not looking like it noticed its surroundings.
"Followed you to the beam. Doesn't look like we came out the same place, though. What do you see?"
"I'm in a... hallway, but I don't recognize it. There's bodies everywhere."
"Same here. I'm going ahead, I'll see if I can figure out where we are."
The line went silent and Emma trudged on, beginning to feel something, probably blood, dripping down her head. She didn't bother to wipe it off as the blood left a trail down the left side of her face, following the curve of it down to her chin. She came to a bridge apparently the same time Anderson did, and it seemed as though she lost contact with him as he went ahead. Emma figured he was doing better off than she was, and had the ability to move faster. The buzzing was growing louder but when she shook her head it was gone.
"Probably the Reapers." she muttered to herself. She'd only spent the past few years dealing with their influence, it was a wonder she hadn't been indoctrinated yet. She came to some stairs and began her slow climb. As she reached the top, she could see that this was the top of the Citadel tower. And surprise, surprise, the Illusive Man had decided to join the party.
The Illusive Man's face was a mess of cybernetics that had been scarred over, and reopened. It was a mess and he had Anderson at gunpoint. Emma could feel an impulse to raise her gun, but she fought it off, confused as to why Anderson was simply standing there. Then she saw the glow of the cybernetics flaring and she understood it now. He was indoctrinated and using the Reapers to control Anderson. Against her better judgement, Emma pulled her gun out and aimed it at the Illusive Man as he began speaking. She could hear him as he started talking, but the buzzing came back as her gun slowly turned towards Anderson. She tried fighting but the more she fought the more she could feel her control slipping away. But she couldn't give in. She wouldn't shoot Anderson.
She flinched as she was forced to watch him take a bullet from her gun, and she felt her control come back little by little. She still had control of her voice, at least.
"Have you listened to yourself? Do you know who you sound like?" she scowled at the Illusive Man.
"I'm in control. No one is telling me what to do." he spat.
"You sound like Saren right before he killed himself below us, 3 years ago." she narrowed her eyes.
"They own you, now." Anderson chipped in as he sat on the floor, trying to stop the bleeding as much as he could.
She watched as the Illusive Man looked between the two, panic in his eyes. The cybernetics had died down, and he suddenly ripped the gun out of Emma's hands, making her collapse onto her hands and knees. She didn't look, but she knew what happened next, and instead crawled to the console to activate it, sitting back beside Anderson. She glanced at his hand and saw how much blood there was. She looked down at her own hand and saw that there was almost as much blood.
"I'm proud of you, Emma."
"We're not done yet." she said, looking over to him. His head fell forward and she sighed heavily, reaching to remove the chain from his neck. When she had it in her hand, she looked over it, trying to keep her composure even though she was the only one in this room. It was quiet for the longest time and Emma watched the silent battle continue until she was interrupted.
"Shepard! The Crucible is docked but it's not doing anything. It has to be something on your end!" Hackett's voice came through. She stood up, going to the console. The loss of blood made it hard for her to keep herself upright, and she looked at the controls, confused.
"I'm not sure... I don't..." she knew she was about to collapse. She was so sure this was it, that she would never see Saren or Garrus ever again. Why did everything have to be this way? Why couldn't she just live out her years quietly, like a normal person? Her cheek hit the metal and she thought she was done. But she just felt tired, and sore. Like she wanted to sleep. Then the air changed and she opened her eyes - truly at the top of the tower, now.
The Catalyst was on the Citadel? More importantly, why did it look like that child she'd seen back in Vancouver? This made no sense, but she listened carefully as everything was explained - the Reapers, the Citadel, the cycle. The more she listened the more it made sense, in a very sad way. Suddenly, Emma was being presented with various options, seeing as the "old solution," as the Catalyst put it, no longer worked. She had to determine the fate of the entire galaxy and it's future. Sure, this wasn't the first time she'd been asked to save it, but... This was different. After a few questions and some heavy thinking, Emma felt more confident that what she was about to do was the right thing.
One step forward.
Saren had gotten into a vehicle with Garrus and they were heading back to where they had come from. The Reaper forces seemed to have thinned out some, but there was definitely a lot of fighting left. He couldn't sit still, and he knew that it was because he was worried for Emma. She'd told him to go on the Normandy and he denied her. He couldn't be apart from her, he'd thought that maybe if he'd stayed they could go together. But she asked him not to follow, so the next best thing would be to wait for her. Saren started to whine quietly until he felt a hand on his shoulder.
"She'll be alright." Garrus said quietly.
He nodded and stared at the metal floor of the vehicle until they were ushered out, back into the building. The two wandered around until they found some other turians who were too injured to fight, and while Garrus began talking with a few, Saren stood off to the side, looking out the window towards the beam.
She'd started crying. He hated when she cried because he felt as if he couldn't help her. It didn't happen very often, but he always felt responsible when she was feeling bad, or at least he always tried to fix things. She deserved quiet, and nothing but happiness after this, and he intended to give her that to the best of his ability.
"Saren, you should rest." Garrus came over.
"I'll rest when she comes back." he said, glancing over. He had to ask, now. "Why didn't you go on the Normandy?"
"Someone needs to look after you, Saren. No one else would have been willing to do that."
"Thank you." he nodded, looking down.
Garrus had complicated things for Saren, but he wasn't going to let that ruin everything. They could be civil and talk things out, come to a consensus. But all parties involved had to be there, so for now all they could do was wait. Saren sat on the floor near the window, the Crucible and Citadel shining brilliantly in the sky. It seemed like hours before anything happened, but Saren thought he saw a flicker of light. He kept looking until a solid red light came flashing, expanding out from the Crucible. Everyone had stopped to observe the light, and quickly realized it was coming towards Earth. Most looked for shelter, but Saren sat there.
"It's not coming for us." he muttered, confused and worried as he looked at the event. Then a steady beam shot out for a moment, before dismantling the Crucible and likely a part of the Citadel. Saren dropped his head, closed his eyes, and actually began to pray. "Emma, please come back to me." he kept muttering. The wave of red light came crashing over everything. His head lifted, to watch it consume the land. It didn't appear to be hurting anyone, just-
"The Reapers." he realized, suddenly relieved. It was done. The war was done.
His omni-tool lit up, and he glanced at it. There was a distress beacon being sent out to his omni-tool. He pulled it open and saw that the movement was too fast - it had to be a glitch. With some searching, he saw the proximity to himself, then looked up, and saw something headed for the area about 10 clicks away from where he was. A match. Nothing else was falling. Standing up, Saren raced over to Garrus.
"We have to get a search party going. Now." he said, holding up his omni-tool.
