AN: Once again apologies for the delay. Hubby had to have emergency heart surgery, we're surrounded by bushfires and Christmas is coming. Writing kind of took a back burner during all of that. However, this is the final chapter of this fic with the epilogue going up today too. I hope you enjoy how it's all wrapped up.

** 41 **

'Stop.'

'Joker,' James removed his helmet and stepped forward, ignoring the weapons and pulling the pilot into a hug. 'Thank fuck you're alive.'

'Vega.' Joker blew out a sigh of relief, accepting the hug. 'Glad I didn't shoot first.'

'That would have been very unwise,' Javik gave what amounted to a chuckle.

'James,' Chakwas hugged him with tears rolling down her cheeks.

He too was engulfed in a warm welcome and as James filled them in on Shepard and received a sitrep he carried out further scans. Kaidan let them know about those on the engineering decks and while important he focussed more on finding a way into the systems, finding EDI.

'I thought … when we left … fuck.' Joker scrubbed his face with his hands and looked at James, 'I thought I'd left her to die, again.'

Joker's distress pulled him back into the conversation.

'Nah, she's too stubborn to die,' James placed his hand on Joker's shoulder. 'You did the right thing, she needed you to save her crew, her ship. She's waiting for you all to come home.' He glanced around the ship. 'What's going on? Why are the crew sedated in sleeper pods? And the med bay, are they alive?'

Dr Chakwas assured him they were. With life support under stress and systems failing they had no other option. He shivered at the thought of going into sleep knowing there was a chance he might never wake up.

'How did you find us?' Joker sounded puzzled.

'We got your message.' James said.

'What message?' Joker's eyes narrowed, 'we have no coms so we haven't sent anything, we couldn't even get the emergency beacon working. When we lost the reaper tech the ship went dark. If it wasn't for Adams you'd have found us all floating in the cold.'

James looked at Stokes and he brought up his omnitool.

'We found this message buried in the coms chatter when we got the com buoys working again.' Stokes brought up the lines of code and what it meant.

'It's EDI,' James said, a grin on his face as Joker's jaw dropped. 'Shepard said to remember when you first met her, the VI on the moon. Well she's sent almost the same message.'

'Bullshit. EDI's gone,' Joker looked everywhere but at them as he fought to control his emotions. 'She went down with the ship.'

'Maybe not,' he said, not wanting to give them false hope but not ruling out possibility. 'If she sent this message she's still here, somewhere, or at least part of her is.'

'Even if she's not, she saved your lives.' James placed his hand on Joker's shoulder, 'let Stokes take a look, let's find out.'

Joker nodded, 'Liara's in the AI core, she's been trying but … come on.' He motioned for Stokes to follow him.

'Do you have any idea where EDI backed herself up?' he asked as they walked and Joker shook his head.

'She didn't give us details, she promised … ,' his voice cracked and he blinked away tears. 'She promised me she would do her best to survive but we can't find her.' He loved her.

To some people it would sound ridiculous. How could he love an AI, a collection of parts and wires with some intelligence and free thought? But EDI was much more than that. He'd never thought of her as anything other than a person and the pain of her possible loss was visible in everyone who knew her. Parts and wires didn't raise that kind of emotion. He wasn't about to make promises he couldn't keep but he would do his damn best to get her back. The man beside him deserved it.

The asari turned as they entered the AI core and while he had never met her he knew of her. The infamous Shadow Broker and part of Shepard's crew.

'Liara, this is Stokes, he's got some ideas about EDI.' Joker said, his tone neutral.

So he didn't believe in false hope either.

'EDI said you would probably be the one to come on board,' she smiled at him but it didn't reach her eyes. 'She said to give you free reign because you would know what to do.'

His knees buckled, a weight heavier than any pack he'd ever carried settled on his shoulders. EDI trusted him to find her even though they'd only known each other for a short time. She believed him capable. It was a significant boost to his ego but it humbled him, she had put her life in his hands. He had work to do.

'She said you see things differently,' Liara said, tilting her head.

'Yeah, I see things in a kind of 3D, I can follow the code like it's a living thing. It's just something I've been able to do all my life. Never thought of it as anything special till I found out others couldn't do it.'

'So you and EDI have been talking,' Joker said, a frown creasing his forehead.

'Now and then,' he hid his amusement by dropping his eyes to his omnitool. He knew how EDI felt about Joker. He wondered if the pilot understood just how much she loved him. 'She helped us on the Citadel, to take down the AI before she disappeared. She said she'd saved as much of herself as she could.' He raised his eyes to meet the pilot's questioning stare. 'If I can find her I will.'

Joker simply nodded and sagged. Exhaustion, stress and fear had taken its toll. It showed in his dull eyes, the paleness of his skin, his bowed shoulders. He'd been fighting this war with Shepard from the beginning, the war might be over but the fight to save the Normandy wasn't.

'Why don't you go get some sleep,' he suggested and before Joker could argue he added, 'I promise to wake you if we find anything.'

'He's right, Joker, you've been on your feet for days now.' Liara backed him up.

'Okay,' he nodded, 'but you wake me the moment you know something.'

Stokes nodded and watched him leave. Turning to Liara he could see the same exhaustion in her.

'I'm fine to work here if you want to get some rest.'

'No, I'm good,' she indicated the AI console. 'Let me show you what EDI did and what I've managed to find.'

Running through what Liara already knew made it quicker for him to understand what EDI had done and she had knowledge that EDI hadn't shared with anyone else. Minimal power made it difficult to work in the AI core but EDI had used Liara's servers for storage and they had their own power source.

'We can't do much without risking losing what's here, any loss of power or a spike could destroy the remnants. She's lucky your servers have their own power source.'

Liara nodded, 'can't be the Shadow Broker if I don't have information and I can't have that without power.' She grinned and he chuckled.

'I imagine it would make things difficult.' He ran a series of probes from the AI core to Liara's servers. 'There's not enough here.'

It was more thinking aloud than anything else but it drove him to search further. Which frustrated him more than helped because without power he had no access to places he needed to reach.

'EDI was working with the geth too,' Liara said, a frown marring her forehead. 'They would suffer the same fate.'

'And we haven't heard from them either. But I don't believe they're gone, they had the intelligence and ability to protect themselves.' At least he hoped they did.

It occurred to him then that maybe they were looking in the wrong place. A curse formed on his lips at the frustrating lack of power but it vanished when the lights flicked on and the AI core lit up. The Normandy would be feeding off the Orizaba but it was enough for him.

'Finally,' he said, his fingers flying across the haptic interface on his omnitool. 'Now we can really get to work.'

The system came to life before him, the lines of light indicating connections, the flow of movement. If he had to describe it all he could compare it to were star trails in a photograph, bright dots of larger stars indicating a join or dissection. He followed those trails around the ship. EDI had broken herself into parts, paring her intelligence down to those pieces that could survive without Reaper intervention. Enough to keep the ship running and keep the crew alive. But the bulk of her was gone.

Even with the pieces on Liara's server it wasn't enough to make up the whole. He frowned and dug deeper. EDI wouldn't have given up and neither would he. It took him a while but something caught his eye, an almost invisible break in the flow of movement. A pathway, closed off and locked, as if to prevent the fire of destruction from following. He grinned.

'Smart girl.' He looked up as James and Kaidan entered.

Liara rushed over, hugging Kaidan she hesitated before James but he pulled her into a hug and she seemed relieved. As they caught up he double checked his findings, distractedly listening in on the conversation behind him.

'Shepard saved myself and Javik, after a mako landed on top of us. Called the Normandy to pick us up but she refused to come with us.'

'She's alive and recovering and as stubborn as ever.' James reassured her. 'Why don't you go and get some rest,' he suggested but she shook her head.

'I'd rather stay here, help with EDI. It's the least I can do. She saved our lives so I'd like to return the favour.' He followed her to the console where Stokes scanned through lines of code.

Stokes followed James' gaze as he looked at EDI's body lying on the bed at the end of the room. It looked cold and metallic but he remembered how she'd asked him about making herself pretty, he'd thought she was already beautiful but she wanted to fit in, for Joker. She'd sent him pictures of her experiments, the colour of her hair, the style of clothing she liked. She'd trusted him as a friend and his eyes burned with unshed tears.

James moved beside Stokes, 'what have you found?'

He looked up, his forehead tightening as he frowned. 'Not sure. EDI has left traces of herself behind, enough to make sure the ship and crew survived. It's like she's here but she's somewhere else too. It's like she's split her mind into smaller parts. All we have to do is find them and bring them all back together. I've found some on Liara's servers but there are huge chunks of EDI missing. I think she sent herself off ship.'

Kaidan stepped up to look and he showed him what he'd found. Behind him Liara sighed and she mumbled something about taking a break then left and James hesitated before telling them to keep him updated. He gave him a casual wave and heard the doors close.

'Any guesses on where she's gone?' Kaidan asked as he studied the AI interface.

'I think she might have trusted the geth to protect her,' he said, realisation making his eyebrows rise.

'If they survived,' Kaidan frowned, 'we haven't heard from the either.'

'Yeah, but it's the only explanation. She's not here, she fled the Citadel so we know she's not there. There is nowhere on Earth she could have gone and I think it's the only way she could keep herself whole.' He ran a hand through his hair, 'I can follow the pathway once I break the lock but I'm not sure if I should.'

'You're afraid the geth might have been taken over by the Reapers and if you open up a conduit they might be a threat.'

'Something like that.' He paced the room slowly, 'I'd like to believe they had failsafes in place to prevent it happening. But how do we know? I want to get EDI back as much as anyone but is it worth the risk?' He stopped and looked down at EDI's body, 'I can set up barriers, my own failsafes but I can't guarantee they could hold back something with the power of a Reaper.'

'I think you underestimate yourself,' Kaidan grinned at him.

Did he? He turned and looked at the major and saw nothing but respect in his eyes. EDI had trusted him so why was it so hard for him to trust himself. Because if he got it wrong he could kill them all. Taking the leap he set up his walls, took a deep breath and pushed through. Light shone in the dark as the doorway broke apart. He opened his mouth to speak when his omnitool flared to life and the AI core lit up like a Christmas tree.

'Lieutenant Stokes,' a familiar voice spoke from the ceiling. 'Major Alenko.' A ghost of an image appeared beside them, 'it is good to see you again.'

'EDI,' he blew out a breath, 'it's good to see you too. Where are you?'

'I am aboard the geth ship Legion, we are approaching to dock with the Normandy. I would very much like to come home.'

'A geth ship, they survived and are not under Reaper control?' Kaidan frowned at the image and Stokes understood his hesitation.

'Yes, they and I managed to protect ourselves and no we are not under Reaper control. I understand your caution but I would deactivate myself before I would let any harm come to Jeff or the Normandy crew.' The flickering image stood straight and met Kaidan's questioning stare. 'If you would prefer the geth are willing to let you come aboard Legion and confirm my statement.'

Kaidan shook his head, 'I believe you EDI, if you'd meant us harm you could have done it from afar.'

'Thank you,' she nodded her head and looked at Stokes.

'Tell me what to do.' He rolled his neck and shoulders, easing the ache he could never seem to shake.

'Jeff, is he all right?'

'Yes, he's sleeping but I can wake him.' He smiled at the softness in her voice.

'No, I would rather do that if I can.'

He jumped and looked towards the door as James rushed into the room.

'EDI's back.'

'We know,' he laughed and indicated the image alongside him.

'Commander Vega,' EDI smiled at him. 'It is good to see you.'

'You too EDI.'

'Lieutenant Stokes, several geth engineers will be coming on board, their shuttle is approaching the cargo bay. My hardware is no longer suitable for my purposes so they will be replacing the necessary components.' She paused as if listening to something, 'please assist by doing the following.'

Stokes dug into his work, sensing rather than seeing James leave while Kaidan watched over his shoulder, the tech in him fascinated and Stokes completely understood. Getting a look inside EDI was mind blowing, at least the part of her she had allowed to return to her servers. The door opened and four geth units stopped behind them.

One moved to EDI's body and began working on it but Stokes had no time to question what they were doing. James returned and he stood beside them with a frown on his face.

'Are we sure about this?' He looked from Stokes to Kaidan.

'That this is EDI?' he glanced at him and James nodded. 'Yeah, she's different but she's not Reaper if that's what you're worried about.'

'Okay, I trust you.'

'I would not harm this ship or her crew, James,' EDI said, and they all stared at her.

She'd never sounded more human and Stokes fought back tears. Joker had no idea what he was in for. The door opened and Dr Chakwas stepped into the room.

'What's going on?' She glanced from the geth to EDI's flickering image. 'EDI.'

'Yes, doctor,' she smiled and tears ran down the doctor's face.

'I'll wake Jeff, I sedated him for his own good.'

'Please don't,' EDI said, 'I would rather be beside him when he wakes.'

'Okay,' Chakwas smiled, 'it's good to have you back.'

'Done,' Stokes broke in and looked to EDI. 'What now?'

'You need to let Ansel, Lumos and Mike work to physically alter my servers.'

'Mike?' Stokes, James and Kaidan all spoke at once and EDI chuckled and one of the geth stepped forward.

'I chose the name to honour a human who assisted me when I was … broken.' There was sentience in the way he hung his head and sadness filled the room. Mike lifted his head and looked at them, his head tilted and his one optic sensor focused on them. 'I am humbled by his sacrifice. He died before I was fully functional. The reaper troops who took his life did not live long enough to move on to another victim.'

'It's nice to meet you, Mike,' Stokes stepped forward and held out his hand which after some hesitation Mike took and shook gently.

Stepping aside he watched as the three geth went to work ripping out the physical units that made up EDI. They made short work of rebuilding the entire collection of servers into something akin to a single quantum communication network.

'We will need to add additional nodes to replace those destroyed when the Reapers died.' Mike looked at James, waiting for permission.

'Go, do what you have to do.' James waved at the door, 'let's get EDI back then we can go home.'

Kaidan opened up a com, 'Adams, you've got geth coming your way, let them work.'

Mike nodded and led two of the geth from the room. The third was still working on EDI's physical form. Stokes moved closer to have a look.

'They asked how I would like to look in my mobile form,' EDI moved with him, 'I said I wanted to fit in.'

Stokes nodded, 'you already do, EDI.'

'Yes, but if I want to go out in public with Jeff, perhaps on a date, then I need to look more human.'

'You planning on going on dates?' He grinned at her.

'Jeff did say he would take me to Earth, show me the sights.'

'Good on him,' he said, his grin widening, 'you both deserve some down time.'

The geth finished his work and the mobile platform changed before their eyes. Skin cascaded over the metal shell which seemed to soften as the liquid like material flowed over it, hair fell around her head, eyebrows and lashes popping to life. The geth had covered her with a sheet of some kind which moulded to her body and created a dress, probably a good thing because Stokes was pretty sure she had all the physical external parts of a woman. She was stunning.

The flickering image disappeared and he watched as the body came to life. Her eyes opened, blue with hints of grey, the colour of open ocean with the same depth. If she hadn't seemed real before she certainly did now.

'Hi, EDI,' he took her hand which was warm and soft to the touch, 'welcome home.'

'It is good to be home,' she smiled. It was very human and he had no doubt she would fit in just as she wanted to. Sitting up she glanced around the room. 'Lieutenant, you can run scans, check my code, reassure everyone that I am me. Please feel free to do the same Major Alenko.'

'Are you sure EDI,' he frowned, feeling like it would be a violation of her privacy.

'Yes, if at some time in the future I need assistance you or Major Alenko would be the ones I call on, along with Specialist Traynor who I believe is aboard the Orizaba right now.'

'Thank you for your trust,' he swallowed the lump in his throat and brought up his omnitool. Beside him Kaidan did the same.

'This is amazing,' Kaidan said what he was thinking.

'What?' James scowled at them and Stokes moved to show him what they'd found.

'EDI is a part of the Normandy like never before.' He brought up the information in a format James could understand, images and patterns overlaid on the Normandy. 'The geth have put in quantum nodes around the ship, like the communications network we use but way more advanced. EDI is the ship basically.'

'So what happens when the Normandy is decommissioned and broken up for scrap?' He looked at EDI, the worry in his voice making her smile.

'If that ever happens the geth have promised to build Jeff and I a new ship of our own.' She stood up and they stepped back to give her room, 'now, I would like to go and wake Jeff.'

Stokes watched her leave, the sway of her hips, the bounce of her hair and the smile on her face leaving little doubt in his mind. She was alive, and Joker definitely had no idea what he was in for.

'Commander Vega,' Wilkins, the Orizaba XO spoke into the room, 'We're ready to disconnect.'

'Acknowledged,' Vega nodded even though there was no visual. 'Let's get these people home.'

Home. Tracy. His heart picked up speed at the thought of seeing her again and he had a very important question that needed an answer. Hopefully it would be the one he wanted to hear.