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Kaidan was down to his last heat sink, and he could see Javik wasn't far behind, and still the waves of Reaper forces just kept coming. Shepard had disappeared into the depths of the sea long enough ago—well, he couldn't think about that. If he stopped to think of how long it had been and all the things that could have gone wrong for her so far below the surface, he would go out of his mind. Instead, he loaded his last heat sink, and made every shot he had remaining to him count.
Just as he was sending a bullet through the brain of a husk, trying to remember if he had three more or four, he saw a flash of light. One of the few of the spherical Leviathan artifacts they hadn't yet smashed had glowed briefly. Uneasily, he wondered what that meant. Did that mean Leviathan had agreed to help, or did it mean they were all about to die?
"Look." Javik's voice cut sharply through Kaidan's worries, and he followed the Prothean's pointing finger.
One of the Reaper brutes had turned on the others, and as Javik and Kaidan watched in confusion, the whole knot of them began to fight each other.
Behind them, Cortez whooped. "I'd say that means she did it! Commander Shepard wins again."
Kaidan wished he shared the pilot's confidence. He turned from the Reaper forces to look into the depths of the water. "Come on, Shepard," he whispered. "Come on."
He squinted to see through the rain and the waves. Was that metal he saw? The top of the mech, coming rapidly toward them? And then he staggered back as suddenly the mech burst out of the water and landed on the deck not far from him. It took a few stumbling steps and the hatch popped open. Shepard fell out of it onto the deck. She tried to get to her feet but fell again even as the empty mech swayed and toppled back into the water.
Kaidan rushed to her side, putting his arms around her, hardly daring to believe it was her, that she had survived again. "Shepard! Shepard, are you all right?" Without waiting for a response, he lifted her in his arms and hurried toward the shuttle.
Cortez had the shuttle doors open. Javik reached it just as Kaidan and Shepard did, and they all fell inside.
"This thing ready to go?" Kaidan asked, taking his seat and cradling Shepard against him. She had yet to speak, and he wanted to get her off this planet and into the capable hands of Dr. Chakwas as soon as possible.
"As long as we don't run into that pulse again, we should be good. Hang on!" Cortez punched a few buttons and grabbed the steering mechanism. The shuttle rose into the air, and Kaidan held his breath. "Incoming!" Cortez called out, and through the windshield Kaidan could see a Reaper entering the planet's atmosphere.
"Oh, no," he groaned.
But even as the Reaper's arms reached out for the shuttle, it seemed to lose control of itself, and it fell heavily into the water far below them.
In Kaidan's arms, Shepad stirred and groaned. "Shepard! Can you hear me?" he asked urgently.
She sat up violently, nearly clipping his chin with the top of her head. "What—where?"
"We're on the shuttle. Going home. You okay?"
Shaking her head, Shepard shifted off of his lap and into the seat next to him. "Yeah. Fine. Hell of a headache, though."
Kaidan felt the fear that had gripped him ever since she got into that mech starting to ease. "Never do that again," he told her.
She started to say something, but was interrupted by Cortez calling back to her that he had Ann Bryson on comms.
"Put her through, Steve."
Shepard got to her feet, looking at the small video screen where Ann Bryson's face appeared. "Commander! What happened?"
"We found it, Ann! We found Leviathan."
"Was it worth it?"
"It was. We exposed it; pushed it into the light. Whether it likes it or not, it's a part of this war now."
"An amazing story."
Shepard nodded. "One for the history books."
"I look forward to hearing all about it. My father would appreciate this, knowing the truth is out there." Ann sighed wistfully. "If you need me, I'll be working with Admiral Hackett's scientific team."
"Good luck, Ann. I'm sure we'll see each other soon."
Ann's face disappeared.
"Damn, Commander, you did it again!" Cortez called from the pilot's seat. "I have to admit, when I saw you hop into that submersible, I wasn't sure you were coming back. But honestly, I don't know why I ever worry about you. Take on ancient aliens from the deep? Sure. No problem!"
Shepard chuckled. "I don't think that's quite what I said, Steve. Still, it had be done."
Kaidan stayed silent. She was right; it had to be done. He just wished, just once, that it didn't have to be done by her.