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With an effort, Kaidan tore his eyes away from the sight of Reaper after Reaper touching down on Thessia. There was nothing they could do now to stop the attack, just as there had been nothing they could do on Earth. The only way to help Thessia now was to get back to the Normandy and go after that bastard Kai Leng before he and the Illusive Man had a chance to destroy everything with the data from the Prothean VI.

He turned to his companions to say as much, but both of them were beyond his reach. Liara's face was contorted in agony, tears rolling down her cheeks in a silent stream as she watched the destruction of her beloved homeworld.

And Shepard stood here amongst the ruins of the temple as though she had become one of its statues. Her eyes were wide open, glassy, and she stared into space but it was clear she saw nothing.

"Shepard!" Kaidan waved his hands in front of her face and snapped his fingers while calling her name. "Juniper?"

But there was no response. For the first time, he had seen her fail. She had lost to Kai Leng. For the second time, Kaidan reminded himself. The first was the death of the drell at Kai Leng's hands. And now … perhaps the death of the galaxy. To Kaidan's knowledge, those were the only times Shepard had ever been faced with a fight she couldn't win. She had held herself together after the drell died, but this—this was too much for her.

Kaidan put a reassuring hand on her shoulder, hoping she could feel it, then hit the comm link in his collar. "Cortez! Cortez, you out there?"

"I'm here. Everything all right?" The pilot's voice was sharp with concern.

"All present and accounted for," Kaidan assured him. "We need evac. Right now."

"I'm on my way. There won't be much time—we can't risk the shuttle being spotted by a Reaper. You'll be ready?"

"Ready as I can be." Kaidan made himself sound confident, although he was far from sure he could get through to either of his companions in their current state. He reached for Liara's hand. "Liara! Liara, come on. We have to go."

He had to tug on her hand sharply a couple more times before she responded. She looked at him blankly, making no effort to wipe her tears away. "Go? We can't go. Thessia … Thessia is burning. Look at it!" The tears flowed faster.

"That's why we have to go. We can't be caught here!"

"We have to help," Liara said softly, staring at the destruction of her homeworld. "We have to—"

"We can't." Kaidan caught her by the shoulders. "I had to leave Earth this way, too. Hardest thing I've ever done. I left my parents there! They're still there. Liara, if we're going to have any chance at all of helping everyone who's left, we have to go. Now!"

"I—"

He shook her gently, and she gave a loud sob. "Liara, we don't have time! You have to help me with Shepard."

"Shepard?" Finally, Liara turned away from Thessia, looking into Shepard's unresponsive face. "What's wrong with her?"

"She—she broke. Kai Leng broke her."

"That bastard."

"Exactly. So let's get her off this planet and go after him."

A hardness came into Liara's face. For the first time, Kaidan truly understood what being the Shadow Broker had done to the rather naïve asari archaeologist he had met so long ago. "Gladly."

Together, they pulled Shepard out onto the concrete apron surrounding the temple, which was miraculously still intact. And just in time. No sooner had they stumbled out of the ruins of the temple than the shuttle came into view.

The door slid open, and Cortez's voice came from inside. "Let's go!"

Liara jumped into the shuttle, reaching for Shepard. Kaidan lifted her and Liara pulled and they got her unresisting form inside. Then Kaidan leaped for it, rolling across the floor as Cortez closed the door and took off in what felt like a single movement.

The pilot was silent and tense as he guided the shuttle through the Reaper-strewn skies above Thessia, and Liara and Kaidan stayed as still as possible, holding on to Shepard, until they left atmosphere and Cortez turned to look at them over his shoulder.

"Is the Commander— Is she okay?"

"No." Kaidan squeezed her hand. "She … the mission went sideways."

"The mission went upside down," Liara corrected. That hardness was still in her voice. "Kai Leng was there, and the Illusive Man. They took the data."

Cortez digested that in silence as the Normandy came into view. Shepard's comm link was pinging, and from the cockpit Kaidan heard Cortez speak. "Joker, the Commander is … not able to speak right now. We're almost in. Soon as we are, get us out of here."

"Got it. Is the Commander—" Joker's voice broke.

"No, she's fine. Just … it was a lot."

"We didn't win the war today."

"Not exactly."

Kaidan held Shepard close, resting his cheek against her hair. As long as they hadn't lost Shepard, as long as they could get her back from wherever she had gone … that was what mattered. To him, and to the rest of the galaxy.