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When Shepard stepped off the elevator in the CIC, young Lieutenant Traynor was staring at her. Traynor was an analyst—this was her first combat mission. It didn't surprise Shepard at all that flying into battle with a Reaper might have shaken her up some.

"Lieutenant?"

"Commander. You were—you were on the ground, with a Reaper." There was a mixture of awe and terror in Traynor's voice. "He fired up at us a few times."

"Scary, wasn't it?"

Traynor nodded. "Joker pulled the Normandy through some insane maneuvers to stay out of the line of fire."

"It's hard being in a fight like that, especially when you're not the one flying the ship," Shepard acknowledged. "Joker's the best there is, though."

"At first, I was nauseous, swinging around in my safety harness," Traynor confided. "But then I got mad. I wanted that thing dead."

"You didn't want the Reapers dead when they attacked Earth?"

"I wanted them defeated; I wanted Earth saved. But I never wanted to physically tear them in half and watch them blow up. It's a … disturbing feeling."

"It is that," Shepard agreed. "Congratulations. I believe you discovered your fight-or-flight instinct."

Traynor nodded gamely, although Shepard thought she still looked a bit green around the gills. "Maybe I should have stuck to chess …"

Shepard patted her on the shoulder and headed for the cockpit to check on Joker.

EDI was the one to stand up to greet her, however. "Thank you, Commander, for what you did for the geth. I dobut many organics would have trusted a synthetic race."

"And now we get two fleets for the price of one," Joker added. "We didn't lose anybody."

"Except Legion," EDI said softly. "Before it sacrificed itself, Legion referred to itself as 'I' instead if 'we'. Its independent personality had fully actuated. In its last moments, it was not an avatar of the geth consensus. It was a person."

"I know," Shepard said. "I'll miss him."

"I, too."

"Well, when the geth fleet helps us retake Earth, I guess we owe it to … him," Joker said.

"We do, at that. Him, and all the others." Shepard saw Thane for a moment in her mind's eye, and felt the pain of his loss all too keenly. "EDI, can you see to it that Legion is added to the board? His sacrifice should be remembered."

"It will be my pleasure, Commander."

Shepard headed down to engineering, where Tali was processing what had happened by tinkering with the engines. "How are you doing, Tali?"

Tali sighed. "In the old days, I'd send any new technology I found back to the fleet. I should probably be doing that with agriculture samples … but I don't know anything about raising crops. And where would I find agricultural samples anyway?"

"It's a new world, Tali. You can't expect it to be just like the old one."

"But what if I don't have a place in this new world?"

"You'll find one," Shepard assured her. "Once we've defeated the Reapers, you'll go home to Rannoch, you'll build your house, and you'll find your place."

"You sound very sure, Shepard."

"I am sure."

Tali nodded. "Then I'll trust you."

"Good." Shepard squeezed her friend's shoulder, letting her get back to the engine. She would find her answers somewhere there in the midst of the nuts and bolts.

While she was on that level of the ship, she dropped into Emily Wong's quarters. "How goes the war on the air?" she asked.

"Shepard, you are a journalist's dream."

"I don't know if I like the sound of that."

Emily looked her over. "You look tired."

"It has been something of a long day."

"You have a minute to give a quick interview? Seeing your face on the air is always a shot in the arm for the Alliance."

Shepard had never understood that, but she trusted Emily's instincts. So she let Emily train her camera on her, and explained what had changed with the geth since Saren's death, and why they should be judged the same way as any organic species.

"This will help, Shepard. If someone on the Citadel, or in one of the outer colonies, can understand how the geth are suddenly our allies, then they're more likely to be accepted across the galaxy."

"I hope so. We need everyone pulling together, or we'll never win."

As she was about to leave, Emily called her name. "You need rest, Shepard. I mean it."

"When this war is over," Shepard promised.

As she left, she thought she heard Emily mutter "If you last that long," and decided to ignore the comment. She had to last. There was no other choice.

In the lounge, she found Kaidan and James playing cards, and sank into a chair to watch.

James was just laying down his hand. "Full house. Caught it on the river."

Kaidan frowned. "Of course you did." He laid his cards down as well, and James gave a bark of laughter.

"Thought you were bluffing on the flush. Good for you."

"Can it, Lieutenant."

"Yes, sir, Major Alenko, sir." James turned his cheeky grin Shepard's way. "Deal you in, Lola?"

"No, thanks, James. Not tonight."

"Vega just cleaned me out, anyway," Kaidan told her.

"Come on, Major, that really as deep as your pockets go? No sentimental crap stowed away? Investments?"

Kaidan considered it. "I've got some property on the Sunshine Coast I could put up."

"Pass."

"You don't know what you're missing out on." Kaidan reached out a hand to Shepard, who took it, feeling a comfort in the warmth of his touch. "That was quite the negotiation you pulled off today. Plus you totally took down a Reaper."

"Sure did."

"All in a day's work, huh, Lola?"

"Maybe too many days of that kind of work," she told him. Still … "But, hell, yeah."

"That's the spirit. Don't let 'em get you down."

That was easier said than done, Shepard reflected, wishing she had James's enthusiasm. Sometimes she found him energizing. Other times he just made her feel old.