Mass Effect: Recovery

by AthenaShepard

[Modified Destroy Ending] Post-war, Commander Shepard has done the impossible, ending the war against the Reapers. Not only that, but she has survived, though her crew are currently unaware. This is a story of recovery, the aftermath of war, and finding their places in the galaxy, again. Rated T as a precaution. AU of sorts. (FemShep x Garrus) (Joker x EDI)

1. Chapter 1

Title: Mass Effect: Recovery
Author: AthenaShepard
Genre: Romance/Family
Main Characters: FemShep (Athena Shepard), Garrus Vakarian
Pairings: Shakarian (FemShep/Garrus), Joker/EDI
Secondary Characters: Jeff 'Joker' Moreau, EDI, Liara T'Soni, Tali'Zorah, James Vega, Steve Cortez, Urdnot Wrex, Admiral Hackett, Citadel Council, Mass Effect characters
Summary: Based on a modified destroy ending. Post-war, Commander Shepard has done the impossible, ending the war against the Reapers. Not only that, but she has survived, though her crew are unaware. This is a story of recovery, the aftermath of war, and finding their places in the galaxy, again.
Note: This is one of my several headcanon FemShep characters. Athena Shepard is a Spacer/War Hero background, Infiltrator Class. This character followed a Paragon route, with some of the funnier/more dramatic Renegade moments.
Note 2: This is complete! I'm editing as I go, so please do point out any obvious mistakes. Some of the Mass Effect canon has been deliberately messed with. Final word count is ~61k.
Disclaimer: Mass Effect belongs to Bioware. I'm just playing around in the massive world they created. On that note, I have over 500 hours playtime over this series, I am just a little bit obsessed with these characters. This is my first fic delving into this world, please be nice :D

---

This could not be happening. He stared at the perfect garden world in front of him with unseeing eyes, running over the past few hours in his head as he attempted to figure out how they had all gotten from point A to B. The gauntlet of emotions they had all been through was staggering, incomprehensible. Now they were here, unable to believe that they were all still alive, that the previous few months of events had even happened.

Behind them the Normandy lay in ruins, salvageable but not without intense work, some was impossible with the limited tools they currently had available. He stared at the polished, gleaming black, white and blue hull, covered in scorch marks and pitted and pocked with so many holes it was near impossible to believe that this had been the pride of the Systems Alliance fleet.

That it was even down in mostly one piece was a credit to the pilots, certainly both Joker and EDI had surpassed what he thought possible. The best pilots in his own fleet would probably have not been able to duplicate the feat. He had already held considerable respect and admiration for Joker's abilities, but this was an accomplishment that he didn't doubt would even impress her, who had known him for so long.

As his thoughts inevitably landed on her, he initially thought to violently push them away, not ready to acknowledge who had been at the core of all of this. But Garrus knew that she wouldn't be pleased with him for avoiding the subject. She would be standing in front of him, pale hands perched on slim hips, long black hair bound in a complicated, neat style, glaring at him with pale gray eyes that were like shards of ice when angry.

No, Athena Shepard wouldn't be pleased with his actions at all, nor any of her loyal crew. She knew she was at the core of this whole thing, this impossible war. It had weighed heavier on her slender shoulders as it progressed, only sheer iron will and stubbornness keeping collapse at bay. In the lull of things, he'd been able to see how it was affecting Athena, seeing a part of her that few ever did. He doubted there was another living soul besides perhaps Chakwas that had known of her vivid nightmares, how much she had feared disappointing those both living and long gone.

Yet she had been the picture of calm composure in front of her crew and teammates. She had made herself a rock for them in turbulent, unpredictable conditions. Garrus had admired her strength, her rigid military composure and conduct not dissimilar to that of his own species. He knew that the Turian military probably highly respected her. Some could probably even learn a thing or two from the dainty human female who came to the base of his own shoulders, yet held the respect of teammates current and former from practically every species known.

It was not knowing her fate for sure that made Garrus so reluctant to think about her. It was infinitely worse not knowing for sure that she was gone, stuck between daring to hope for the impossible and facing what seemed inevitable. He knew one thing for sure, he wasn't going to find out standing here. Bracing himself, he made his way to two quiet female figures. He tapped Liara on the shoulder, getting Tali's attention as well as a result. Liara gave him a weak smile and said softly in a tremulous voice, "it's unbelievable, isn't it?"

"It is," he confirmed, once he was sure his wavering sub vocals were under control. He didn't want her to feel worse if she heard his own turbulent emotions.

"However, I have a proposition for you. As I am sure you are aware, we don't have all the tools necessary to get the Normandy into flying condition ourselves. So, I think we should first see to the shape of life support and then work on getting at least our long-range communication operable again. I doubt the Systems Alliance will abandon one of the major starships responsible for the end of the war. However, finding us would be near impossible without getting some sort of signal going."

Liara let out a wavering breath. It was Tali who spoke, voice rich with emotion. "You're right Garrus. We need to see to our own survival and then worry about rescue. it's only then that we will all be able to put our uncertainty to rest."

In perfect accord, the trio turned away from the stunning garden world and made their way towards their home. It was time to pull off the impossible yet again, for her.

---

Light-years from where the Normandy had crashed, the remainders of the united fleets had finally limped back to the Sol system, where the war had finally ended. The mass effect relays, their swiftest form of interstellar travel, were badly damaged but able to be repaired. Scientists that had spent the past few months building the Prothean-based Crucible now devoted their attention to the problem of the relays. Otherwise, it could take months for some of the allied races to get home.

The Citadel had been torn into several pieces from the strain of firing the Crucible, which made boarding the station a dangerous procedure akin to a space-walk. Then of course there was the sheer horror of what they found inside. Bodies of every species, not just humans, lumped together in massive piles of rotting flesh. Sorting out the dead was a top priority, and grim work for those actually on the station.

Admiral Steven Hackett, for now the highest-ranked member of the Systems Alliance, coordinated closely with the Asari Matriarchs, Turian Hierarchy and the Salarian Dalatrasses to set up as smooth an operation as possible. Volunteers only from amongst their militaries, working in shifts to separate the dead into each individual race and send them, shuttle by shuttle, to the ground where more volunteers sorted them out and tried to identify the remains by any means possible.

The Reapers had used their own census reports and medical data against them to find their victims. Now the collaborative efforts of all species sought to identify the dead and finally give their living relatives some form of closure. The Council had miraculously survived, evacuated upon the Reapers' arrival by a Turian Blackwatch squad. They agreed with Hackett, along with finding the victims, they needed to try and find two individuals in particular. Admiral David Anderson and Commander Athena Shepard, who had led them to the victory they now savored, even so bitterly won.

The Commander had been alive up to a certain point, Admiral Hackett had conversed with her via her personal communications just before the Crucible had activated. It was a funny thing, the Crucible. The sickly red light had spread out from the Citadel so quickly, destroying the Reapers upon touching the massive machines. Yet the VI personalities, Geth and any other synthetic on their side had remained untouched.

He had a feeling that was due to one woman's sheer stubbornness and strength of will. If there was ever a person that could bend a weapon of untold strength and destructive power to her will, it would be Athena Shepard. She had been a real driving force behind the war, completing many things that most would say were impossible and along the way, forcing all of the races to work together, ending centuries-old wars in the process.

Steven stared out from the bridge of his ship with weary but still sharp blue eyes. There was a conviction and strength of character in his face that some would find familiar. It had held him through the First Contact War and the attack on the Citadel, carrying him through the Reaper war as well. He firmed his jaw and gave a sharp, decisive nod of his head. They would find Shepard and Anderson, along with the Normandy. He wouldn't settle for anything less.

---

The asari commando Saira had been helping sort out bodies on the Citadel for over a week now, though it felt like months. It was grim work, but at least now they had power working to most of the intact sections, enough to have decent lighting and basic life support. At first it had been even more eerie, working with only the headlamps on her hardsuit. She, along with her two teammates, was a Spectre. They had been given the priority mission of locating the room where the arms of the Citadel had been opened from and locating the bodies of Systems Alliance Admiral Anderson and their fellow Spectre, Commander Athena Shepard.

Her two teammates were both turians. Rigid military doctrine and a strict code of ethics came in handy, as did their tech abilities. However, neither of them could lift anything similar to the weight her biotics could, so Saira had maintained point through most of their ventures, moving debris out of the way. They would tag areas with new bodies for later teams, occasionally sorting a few smaller rooms themselves, but they remained focused on their goal. One of her companions, a deep ebon black with white facial paint, indicated that they needed to turn to their left.

They had been given a classified copy of the Citadel's entire layout in order to find their target, technically they could have just walked from point A to B in a matter of hours. But with the debris and the sheer volume of bodies in their way, it had taken nine days to work their way to this point. Saira eyed the massive chunk of metal blocking their way and sighed. She was already exhausted, depending on the quantity of debris after this piece, they would need to take a break soon and let her biotics rest.

She reached out with her hands, summoned the innate abilities present in every Asari and forced the metal to shift, to lift out of their way. Carefully, she judged the distance to the pile she'd been creating and threw it, wincing at the resounding clang that clattered through the massive corridor with the move. To her relief, most of the debris behind it was very small in comparison, a few chunks of concrete and a smaller slab of metal or two.

Beyond was a round circular chamber that looked out onto the human homeworld, Earth. Saira had never traveled to Earth before the Reaper war, so she had never seen it in its full glory. It was said to be beautiful in its own way, but with much of the natural essence muted under the buildings that had grown to cover the megatropolis. Still, she wouldn't mind visiting sometime, after the world had been given time to heal and repair the damage the war had caused.

Almost directly across from the damaged console at the center of the platform was the body of a human male, darker-skinned, with the uniform of the Systems Alliance. His head was tucked to the side as if he'd simply fallen asleep. Saira knelt across from the body and ran her omni-tool over it, comparing his information and DNA markers to those on file for her two targets. Her omni-tool flashed, turning a bright green in several places.

"This is Admiral David Anderson," she told the two behind her, who were looking around.

"Good," one of them said gruffly. "Now all we have to do is find the Commander. She was here with Anderson, according to our intel. But if she was the one to activate the Crucible, the explosions could have flung her anywhere."

"Reasonable," Saira nodded, putting a marker on Anderson's body so that they could get a body capsule sent here for him. She straightened, eyed her companion and said, "Can you extrapolate a course from the center's approximate height? I'm not looking for her specific location, just a general range that her body could have been thrown. We have her physical statistics as well as her biomarker."

He nodded curtly, raising his omni-tool and typing into it rapidly with his long, sharp fingers. Their other companion ignored them, moved over to the opposite edge of the room and started shifting some of the wreckage. There were pieces of metal, some requiring him to brace against his own body, but nothing he wasn't able to handle. They were all used to working independently, but if he needed help, he would holler.

"It's calculating," her companion said finally. "Shouldn't take longer than an hour to get our final range. You should rest your biotics, eat an energy bar or something. We can do some lifting manually, you may need to move heavier stuff later on if we keep looking."

Saira grimaced but nodded, pulling one of her nutrient-filled but not exactly tasty bars from her hardsuit pocket and taking careful bites, thankful that the life-support in this area functioned enough to let her remove her oxygen mask and stand on solid ground for longer than a few seconds without activating her magboots. She watched their last companion curiously, intrigued by his intent focus on that one section of rubble. He flung slabs of metal and stone with relative ease onto the pile near the console, building a steadily-growing mound as she watched.

A dark, cavernous space opened up in front of him suddenly, just wide enough that perhaps Saira would be able to slip inside. Certainly not either of the turians, who stood almost seven feet tall. He raised his omni-tool and turned on the built-in light, shining it into the dark cavern. His hand stilled, and he remained motionless for a long moment. Finally, he turned to Saira and said, "Can you come over here a moment?"

Refreshed and needing to sate her curiosity, Saira complied. She walked over to where he was and crouched, looking through the dark crack into the space beyond. At first her eyes didn't catch what the other was indicating. Then she realized that his light shined upon something far rounder and smoother than a rough piece of rock or metal should be. In fact… it looked very much like a boot.

Hands trembling, Saira slipped into the narrow opening as her two companions cautioned her. The entire thing wasn't necessarily stable, it could collapse on her at any moment. But she had to know. It took only a few more moments of careful climbing to reach the object. Looking up, she was suddenly confronted with Commander Athena Shepard's badly injured but easily identifiable face.

Still, she activated her omni-tool and let it confirm the woman's identity. Her eyes widened as it not only confirmed her identity, but gave light to some other startling, impossible statistics.

Looking up at her two teammates, she said, "Get a medical stasis pod here immediately. Somehow, Commander Shepard is alive." When they froze, staring at her in shock, she barked, "NOW!"

As one jolted into action, speeding back out into the hallway and down to the location where they had set up a stable comm link, the other used his omni-tool to send a burst transmission to the Council, informing them of the first human Spectre's survival. Against all the odds, somehow Athena Shepard had done the impossible, again.

Saira jolted herself back into action, standing up and beginning to carefully shift rubble around them with renewed vigor, making a safe path wide enough for her teammates and the special capsule that would preserve the woman's faint but steady life-signs.

---

Her world was pain. It was the only thing that existed, the only thing that mattered. Behind closed eyelids she lived in a world tinted red and black, colors that throbbed with her nerves, which felt as if they had been flayed. She had suffocated in outer space, been flung around like a rag-doll by a proto-Reaper, suffered injuries from someone that was her mirror image. Yet all the pain she had suffered over the years dimmed in comparison.

Athena Shepard was aware, but not in control of her own body enough to wake up nor even make a sound. Behind her closed eyelids, she suffered in silence. Her mind ran over the conversation with the Catalyst over and over, walking her through her own decision to destroy the Reapers. It was what she had set out to do from the moment she was aware of their existence, why would she make any other decision?

The Catalyst had offered a supposed perfect solution, synergizing machine and man into one ultimate race. But the Catalyst itself was a machine, a very old one. What had been to say that its synergy wasn't a way for synthetics to finally win a supposedly eons-old war against organics? She refused to make that decision for every one of their allies and the beings throughout their galaxy.

Instead, as the Crucible had fired, she had focused, with all her determination and strength, on her synthetic allies and how valuable they were. She had focused all of her anger and hatred directly onto the Reapers and those like them, including the remains of Cerberus. She had no idea if her attempt to control the energy had worked, but even if it hadn't and the Geth had perished, EDI destroyed, it would be worth it. They had lost too much at the metaphorical hands of the Reapers for any type of ambiance to exist between them.

Her mind flickered to her crew on the Normandy, to her friends, pseudo-family and Garrus. He had been injured when the Mako had flipped, prompting her to call an emergency evac. Her heart had been in her throat the entire time, with Harbinger in the distance. It would have been so easy for the Reaper to fire his weapon and catch her, Garrus and the Normandy all in one blast. Thankfully, they had gotten to safety, leaving her free to focus on getting to the beam.

Hopefully Garrus was okay. He was tough, incredibly so, but that didn't mean he was invincible. None of them were, as they had learned over the course of this awful, horrible war. He had to be okay, she couldn't bear to think otherwise. She wondered if eventually he would forgive her for sending him away in the first place. Athena hated doing it, hated forcing him onto the Normandy while she remained on the ground. But with Harbinger there and him already injured, she couldn't stand to risk it.

She wouldn't know any of that until waking up from this blackness. For now, that was a long way away. She could tell, by the pain, that the damage dealt to her exhausted, weary body was extensive. Right now, maintaining any form of consciousness was almost too much. So, Athena let herself fall away into the blackness and the red haze of agony, clinging onto life with the fierce grip she'd maintained over everything for the past three years.

---

Tali gave a small sigh and sat up, stretching out her back from where she had been bent over, repairing a small section of wiring on the Normandy. They had gotten minimal life support functioning again, inventoried their supplies of food, water, medicine and other essentials. Most importantly, they had gotten the emergency beacon functioning, broadcasting a distress signal strong enough to be caught by any starship in the system.

The galaxy map wasn't functioning enough to give them a clear idea of the general system they had crashed in, let alone whether their planet had a colony or not. Going by its vast undisturbed beauty, Tali wagered that it wasn't yet claimed by any race, Council or otherwise. Chakwas had tested some of the plant life and small game in the area, finding that it was edible to amino-based life forms.

Out of necessity they had also tested the water, finding it pure and drinkable. The Normandy had a water recycling program, but it was a non-essential system and had been shut down to preserve power. Every spare jolt of energy was being used to power the beacon; all of the Normandy crew understood that there was little chance the Systems Alliance had abandoned them. But they wouldn't know where to look without a signal.

It had been almost three months since they had crashed here. They didn't know how badly the relays had been damaged when the Crucible had fired. It could be a while yet before a starship arrived in their system. They didn't even know if the war was truly over, all they had seen was the initial projection of energy that had then pursued them through the relay. It had been frightening, watching a blaze of red energy reach out and seek to overwhelm the Normandy.

But they had survived, Joker and EDI managing a crash landing that hadn't caused anything more than minor injuries. Garrus and Liara had burns and small injuries sustained from the flipped Mako, but they were healed with relative ease. It had caused immense relief from the rest of Athena Shepard's crew. They had all been together for so long, especially Tali, Major Alenko, Liara and Garrus. Tali and Garrus had been with Athena on all of her adventures, Liara and Kaiden had just been absent for the run against the Collectors.

Getting up, she shut down her repair drone and closed her omni-tool, exiting out of the tight space near the bridge that she had been working on. Strolling to the still-functioning elevator (it consumed minimal energy), she took it down one floor and headed for the main battery, where she knew she would find Garrus. Even with the Normandy down and no weapons functioning, he still preferred the quiet of the battery.

In fact, all of them maintained their original quarters, even Diana Allers, the Alliance News Network reporter. She didn't have much to do with the Normandy downed and communications offline, but she still kept herself busy somehow, trading her dress and heels for a spare uniform and sturdy boots. Glamor could wait until she got back to civilized space, she had explained briskly.

The battery door slid open as she approached, revealing the control terminal, abandoned for the moment. Garrus' sniper rifle, an M-98 Widow, was disassembled on the nearby workbench, his armor stashed below it. Turian armor was heavy, even the lighter-weight but still protective sets that Athena had shelled out credits for on one of their last trips to the Citadel. Plus, the only reason to wear the armor for right now was to protect against the local wildlife.

Garrus himself was sitting in contemplative silence at the terminal just to the left of the doors, where some of the last information about the Turian fleet still displayed on the screen. He wasn't actually looking at the old information, just staring at it absently. Head propped on his hands; his jaw would occasionally twitch in thought. Tali watched him quietly for a long moment, sympathizing. She couldn't imagine how difficult this was for him.

Athena Shepard was someone different to all of them. To Tali she was an older sister, a best friend, a confidante. To Kaiden she was a superior officer and a comrade, a former flame and a friend. Athena and Liara were close friends and co-conspirators, plotting and planning in Liara's spacious office. But to Garrus she was everything. Tali knew not all of the crew were aware of the pair's romantic relationship, certainly people like Kaiden and some of the other crew weren't aware of it. But Tali had seen it coming a long way off, perhaps even before Athena and Garrus themselves.

They were two sides of a very similar coin, both incredibly determined, forceful individuals, with well-disguised empathy and an at times strange sense of humor. Both were incredible fighters, neither would give an inch of ground they gained to an enemy, nor would they turn their backs on them. Both were also somewhat slow to trust, all too aware of the cost of betrayal. They would make the hard decisions that others wouldn't, beating themselves up for it in private.

One was turian and the other human, but that was nothing more than labels. If there were two individuals better suited for each other, Tali had yet to see them. And now they were here, crashed on this garden world, unsure as to what Athena's fate had been. Had she done the impossible yet again, surviving being at point zero of the Crucible blast? Or was the indomitable presence of the woman that had united the entire galaxy finally gone?

Garrus refused to contemplate it. The plaque reading Commander Shepard laid across the abandoned control terminal, gathering dust. He'd refused to hang it on the memorial wall here on the crew deck. She was alive, he insisted, to believe less was to dishonor her and her memory. There were some that disapproved of his choice, Major Alenko at the forefront of that group.

"It's time to face facts, Garrus," he had insisted. "The Commander has survived many incredible odds, that is true. But she's gone, there's no way that she survived this time. Otherwise, she would have contacted the Normandy before the Crucible fired."

Garrus had just stared at him, his jaw not even twitching. He'd drawn himself up to his full, formidable height and said, in a cold, final tone of voice, "She's not dead, Alenko. I refuse to believe it, as do those that have stood by her side the entire time. Face that fact, if you will."

Garrus and Kaiden had barely spoken since. No one else dared to get in the middle of the argument by agreeing with one side or the other, nor were either one willing to back down.

"Garrus?" she said finally, gaining a small reaction from her friend. Slowly, he dragged his eyes away from the screen and turned to her, a small sigh leaving his sub vocals, wavering a little.

He was either tired or distressed, normally he exerted fierce control over both his voice and the deeper 'tone' expressed by his sub vocals. The sound escaped most human's notice, if they did it was called a 'burr'. Only those that knew the Turians well knew that the sub vocals were an essential part of their communications as a species, conveying a wealth of meaning without using an audible word.

Tali and Liara both knew that, their species had known the Turians a lot longer than humans had. The crew of the Normandy, almost exclusively human, seemed to miss most of the subtleties of his conversations. Aside from Athena. She understood Garrus almost too well. Tali had seen her expressions and gestures at some of his words, in turns admonishing, amused or pleased. Her ear caught the different meanings of Turian sub vocals with impressive clarity, allowing her to interpret different emotions or the sub-context of a conversation.

It was a skill she had never fully given away, which gave her a distinct advantage when she came across other Turians. Able to understand the true meanings of their conversations, she had known precisely what angle to take and where to push. It meant that she had generally gained the respect of most Turians very quickly.

"Hello Tali," Garrus finally said. "What brings you down here?"

She tilted her head and said teasingly, "Wouldn't this be up from my usual location?"

He blinked and then gave a low, startled laugh. "I suppose it would," he agreed, sounding amused.

"How long have you been sitting here, staring off into space?" She asked.

His facial plates furrowed in a small frown. He appeared to contemplate her question and said, "I'm not sure, actually."

"Then you need to leave this room for a bit," Tali demanded firmly. "Join me outside, you could use the fresh air. You don't even need armor, we secured our immediate perimeter, remember?"

That had been Garrus and James' activity their second week, establishing a perimeter free of the more aggressive local fauna. They used signal projectors to establish a perimeter barrier, which emitted a shriek at a range Liara had confirmed the local wildlife considered irritating. So far it worked as intended, keeping out the bigger nasties and establishing an area where they could get some fresh air as well as a path to the nearest freshwater supply.

"Very well," he agreed, a rumble of reluctance in his voice. She understood that he was upset and distressed by their situation, at not knowing. But it couldn't come at the cost of his health. Sitting here in the battery staring at nothing wasn't good for him, physically or mentally.

They proceeded to the elevator, ascending back to the CIC level which gave them access to the outside. Several crew members working on repairing smaller consoles or systems waved a greeting at them, which Tali returned. They were met at the door to the exterior by EDI.

"It's nice to see you on this floor, Garrus. I was beginning to worry about how much time you are spending in the battery. I was debating with Jeff on a means to get you to come up and spend time with us, but his suggestions were not very helpful."

Garrus smiled at her. The expression was a little forced, but Tali knew he appreciated EDI's concern. She was becoming a little more 'real' every day, but she still couldn't fake emotions like concern, happiness or displeasure. She had to genuinely feel it to express it, something that Tali appreciated as well.

"Thank you, EDI. I'm sorry I worried you, I will try not to in the future. Tali came down and convinced me to go outside for a bit, perhaps you and Joker can join us?"

EDI smiled. "I will ask Jeff."

The door finished cycling and opened, releasing a stream of sunlight into the Normandy. Garrus raised a hand to shield his eyes and stepped out, walking at a slow but steady pace until he was near the middle of their cleared area. He lowered his hand, staring out across the rolling mountains and hills of green to a distant sea, the color too far away to determine.

"At least we came down somewhere that looks like a paradise," Tali commented, standing next to Garrus. "Not somewhere with acid rain, swamps or some of the other less pleasant weather. Like Haestrom! Remember there, where you guys came and recruited me? The sun burnt straight through our shields when the marines and I first landed, nearly fried our life support systems too."

"Burned through ours as well," Garrus agreed, "and it was damn near impossible to find shade. Even if you did, there was a good chance one of the geth was already there."

"Haestrom posed significant hazards, the geth heretics that had a base there only complicated matters," EDI's computerized voice agreed, as she and Joker stepped out into the sun to join Garrus and Tali.

"Nice to see you Garrus. Thought you'd disappeared on us, with how long you've been holed up in the battery," Joker quipped.

"It's quiet and there's no sarcastic pilots there," Garrus answered back levelly, his amusement given away by his twitching jaw and the rumble of his sub vocals.

"Aww, I knew you missed me," Joker teased right back.

As the two of them playfully argued back and forth, Tali stood and watched the horizon with a smile on her lips. EDI stood next to her, contemplating the view. At least, until she gave a small reaction, like she was startled, turning her head back towards the Normandy. She raised her arm, launching her omni-tool.

"What is it?" Tali asked her curiously.

Their conversation had drawn the attention of Joker and Garrus, who listened quietly.

"I am getting a signal in this system, it's faint but getting stronger. I believe someone is attempting to hail us," EDI stated.

"Holy shit," Joker breathed, before rapidly limping back towards the Normandy. It was the fastest Tali had ever seen him move, not that she was far behind. Was there a possibility that someone had finally reached them?

She could hear the faint crackling and rasp of a badly-tuned voice from the Normandy's speakers. "Can you clean it up a little?" Joker asked EDI.

"Working on it. Our systems are badly damaged, but I am booting a few more to try and amplify the signal."

"..llo? I… SR… Hello?"

"Hello," Joker said firmly, his voice wavering a little. "This is the Normandy SR-2. Is there someone out there?"

"H..llo. Can you repeat, is this the Normandy?"

"Yes," Joker repeated firmly, "this is the Normandy SR-2."

"Finally! This is the SSV Everest, it is good to hear you Normandy. We've been looking for you guys for ages!"

"It's good to hear from you too, Everest," Joker said, grinning. "We were hoping that someone would come across our signal."

"Damn right we would!" The tech from the Everest spoke up indignantly. "Finding this ship has been a top priority for all the Allied fleets, we've been working in groups going system to system along your projected path. We weren't about to abandon the ship that won us the war!"

"We've taken some significant damage and can't leave the ground without assistance," Joker said. "Our hull isn't breached and we retain FTL capability, but the blast from the Crucible fried our systems and we crashed onto this world."

"We'll get you off ground and out of there," the tech reassured. "Each team was prepared for the possibility of the Normandy being damaged, all of the ships assigned to search and rescue were specced to handle a frigate of Normandy's size. Along with the Everest we've got a quarian ship from the old Angler-class haulers and the turian frigate Integrity."

"The Everest isn't meant for lower atmosphere, is it?" Joker asked.

"No it's not, but the quarian craft and the Integrity are. They'll get the Normandy in the air, then Everest can lock on a strong mag-link to keep you from crashing back down. We'll get you home, don't worry."

As Joker ironed out the details, Tali excitedly turned to Garrus and said, "We're leaving! Finally!"

"Aww," the turian replied, grinning at her, "this place was just beginning to grow on me."

She glared at him for a long moment, gave a huffy sigh and then turned, running off down the corridor to spread the good news. They were finally leaving this planet and would be able to find out what had happened since fleeing the Sol system three months prior.

Some good news, finally.

---

Steven Hackett had been notified when Athena Shepard was found, as well as when she first regained consciousness three weeks later. She hadn't been awake for longer than a few moments, but the medics working on her case were shocked that she had woken up at all with the severity of her injuries. Hackett was not surprised; he had privately thought their estimates of when she would start regaining consciousness were off. But then, these medics weren't familiar with how stubborn Athena Shepard actually was.

She had woken up three times since, uttering one lucid word the last time, when she had been awake for almost five minutes. The word catalyst. Her doctors were optimistic. Based on the word, she had lost a few days' worth of memories at the worst, a few hours at best. Steven remembered hearing her struggle to breathe, to speak to him via her communications link. He wouldn't be surprised if after she had been hit by Harbinger's laser things were a little bit hazy.

An all-encompassing relief and shock so profound as to actually knock him off his feet had overwhelmed Steven when he had received word that Athena was actually alive. She had survived incredible hurdles over the past few years, done things that many would consider impossible. But this? Ending the war and living to see it? Facing a Reaper head-on and surviving? It was odds even the most reckless of gamblers wouldn't have taken her up on.

Since first waking, Athena was alert for longer and longer periods of time, though her rehabilitation sessions often had her blacking out. She had severe burn damage over more than 40% of her body, some of which had melted her armor to her skin. Luckily, she hadn't been awake when they had removed her armor, nor had she been for the resetting of her shattered ribs or badly damaged legs, collarbone, knee or wrist. Athena wasn't allowed to walk, but at least now she could sit up and feed herself rather than having to have a tube inserted.

She had a near-constant companion in a young turian female, Solana Vakarian. Once or twice weekly they would be joined by a retired C-Sec operative and commander, Castis Vakarian. Solana was his daughter, his son Garrus had been part of Athena's team from almost the very beginning. Of course, he was more than that, Steven had seen through the lines easily enough and realized the pair were romantically involved. From what he had seen, they suited each other.

At least now, while waiting for word on the Normandy, Athena had someone to talk to. Someone who shared her concerns, hopes and desperate need to know. He had visited her a couple of times, when his duties allowed. But running the Systems Alliance solo and working with the Allied fleets to facilitate repairs on the Citadel and relays was a draining task. He hadn't been able to visit her as much as he would like, which is why he was glad the pair of Vakarians were keeping her company.

Now, they just needed to find the Normandy and reunite the crew. That would be one major worry off of his mind. Plus, there was nothing like the presence of friends and loved ones to speed up the healing process. Something they all needed after this blasted war.

---

In the end, getting the Normandy off the ground was less complicated than her crew had thought it would be. After evacuating all of the crew to the Everest via shuttles, EDI had remotely switched all power from the beacon to the thrusters and given one full-power blast from all of the chambers, powering it with the mass effect core. The Normandy had almost leapt off the ground, seeming as eager to be airborne as her crew.

Before the frigate could hit the ground again, the quarian Angler-class tower had attached a mag-link, along with the turian frigate. They had both boosted power at the same time, gaining altitude before the Normandy could fall back under the tree line again. It had been a tense few moments for everyone watching, but a collective cheer had rung out when the Normandy was successfully carried through low atmosphere, the drag of gravity lessening significantly.

After that, attaching a mag-link with the Everest had been smooth sailing, the Normandy bobbing along behind the much larger dreadnought like a child's toy being tugged by a string. They had been directed to temporary personal quarters to get refreshed and given a good meal. The Everest being a human vessel, the dextro-rations weren't as palatable as they could be, but Garrus wasn't going to complain.

Now they were being escorted as a group to a conference room, where they had been promised they would get some much-needed information. Crewmembers of the Everest cheered and waved as they walked by, the Normandy's crew being as infamous as the ship herself. It was a much-needed boost to general morale, Garrus could practically see tension lifting off his companion's shoulders.

The conference room was wide open, with opaque glass walls and the name of the ship scrawled in gold calligraphy across the wall behind one larger chair, the commanding officer no doubt. The chair was empty, and the crew of the Normandy were directed to take the seats around the rest of the table. Garrus sat down at the opposite end, needing a clear view of his surroundings. He'd been fighting for too long, sitting with his back to an open area made him nervous.

When nobody moved to take the commander's chair the crew of the Normandy looked around with surprise and a little unease. Their escort, the first officer, explained quietly. "Our commanding officer was killed during the fighting above Earth. He's yet to have been replaced, but none of us are comfortable with using that chair just yet."

"I am sorry for your loss," Liara said after a moment, her diplomatic nature taking over. "I can understand your uncertainty and lack of desire, it is hard to just 'replace' the commanding officer of a ship."

"Thank you, Doctor T'Soni. You may be wondering where your information is going to come from, if we have no superior commanding officer besides myself."

He reached over, lit up the commander's keyboard and typed in a few digits. The opaque screen turned black and then lit up with the bridge of another Alliance ship. Garrus took a wild guess that it was the Okinawa, the head of the Alliance fleet. He couldn't tell one bridge from another when it came to the Alliance ships, but the person looking back at them was a dead giveaway. It was Admiral Steven Hackett.

Several Alliance members of their crew immediately leapt to their feet and saluted, while the first officer said, "The answer to that is: you're getting it straight from the source."

He then saluted Admiral Hackett, who returned the gesture and said, "At ease, all of you," in his distinct gravelly voice.

"Thank you, First Officer," Hackett said to their guide, who nodded and then turned around, leaving the conference room.

"I cannot begin to tell you how pleased I am that the Normandy has been found and that you haven't suffered any casualties since we last saw each other," Hackett began. "I have been coordinating with our allied fleets to try and find you ever since we arrived back in the Sol system. We didn't want to get our hopes up, but finding all of you in such good condition is a miracle indeed."

"Thank you, sir," Joker said, looking unusually serious. "It is good to see you as well, we knew the Okinawa was still in the game when the Crucible started firing, but we weren't sure exactly what happened or if any other ships had gotten into our same predicament."

"Several ships across the allied fleet suffered damaged systems, but none were affected quite so badly as the Normandy. So far the only reasoning we can come up with is how long you stayed in the system once the Crucible began to fire."

Kaiden outright glared at Joker across the table, who stared back defiantly. He hadn't wanted to leave the system, trying to give Athena every chance at signaling for extraction before leaving the system, and her, behind. Garrus reinforced Jeff's decision with his own level stare, forcing Kaiden to look away and down at the table.

Hackett's sharp blue eyes absorbed the byplay with ease, no doubt sensing the tension in the room. He continued, alleviating it a little. "After working so diligently to gather resources, allies and information, you will no doubt be glad to hear that the Crucible worked as intended. The Reapers and their allies are no more. The blast did not damage our own synthetic allies nor the VI systems and technology that we have adapted from the mass effect relays. The relays themselves were damaged significantly, as was the Citadel, but all of that can be repaired."

"It worked?" Tali repeated, voice quivering. "It was such a long shot, especially considering all we found out about the Crucible. It never worked for any other cycle, but it worked for us?"

"It did," Hackett patiently repeated. "Communications are still down for the most part, but we are getting reports from the Council worlds as well as those of our allies, the Reapers are nothing more than hulking corpses on their worlds or in orbit. We have decided that aside from a few smaller models to study, all of the Reapers are to be towed into range of nearby black holes. We can't risk their indoctrination ability still functioning, no matter the possible scientific benefits."

"Good," James Vega said firmly, a mutinous look in his eyes. "There's nothing good that can be learned from those things. They've cost enough lives."

"As soon as we reached Sol, we started having teams board the Citadel. There are an untold number of bodies on the station, both citizens present at the time that the Reapers took it over and those that were harvested prior on Earth and other worlds. Cataloging and clearing the bodies is going to take time, we will be lucky if even half are identifiable by some means. Those that were converted for the Reaper's purposes are going to be undetermined, the Reapers manipulated their DNA, which makes our biometric genetic identification obsolete."

The crew's mood became somber as they pictured what Hackett described. Many of them had missing family members or friends. Being unable to know for sure if they were dead or alive would be torturous. Heavy on their minds was one specific individual, of course. Seeming to realize this, Hackett continued.

"As the sole remaining highest officer of the Systems Alliance, I have been coordinating with the Council from the beginning of this effort. They were successfully evacuated before the Reapers took possession of the Citadel. We agreed that a top priority was to find the chamber that opened the Citadel arms and locate Admiral David Anderson and Commander Athena Shepard. It took nine days for a team of three Spectres to reach the control room, due to the amount of wreckage and bodies."

Garrus could feel tension spreading through his entire body, as he waited to hear what had happened to Athena. He could hardly stand it, not knowing what had happened to her. Even if the worst had happened and she was gone, he needed to finally know for certain.

"The team found the body of Admiral David Anderson first," Hackett said somberly. "He sustained one gunshot wound to the torso, but the thing that killed him was internal damage, several of his ribs had punctured his lungs and caused hemorrhaging. Even if found immediately, he wouldn't have lived longer than a few hours."

The collective crew of the Normandy, alien and human, lowered their heads at that. They had all known Anderson or known of him, hearing that he was gone was a blow. He had been a close friend of the Normandy and of Commander Shepard, his protégé at the beginning of all of this mess. Hearing that his last stand on Earth had taken his life hurt on more levels than one.

"It took approximately another hour to find Athena Shepard," Hackett continued, the entire crew tensing. "She had severe burns covering 40% of her body, numerous broken ribs, a broken collarbone, severe lacerations on her arms and her right knee and wrist were shattered. But somehow, she managed to do the impossible yet again."

"Despite losing a quarter of her blood, sustaining severe shock to most of her bodily systems and remaining in these conditions for almost a week and a half since the firing of the Crucible, Athena Shepard was alive."

Garrus jerked his head up, staring with unerring focus into the screen and Admiral Hackett's blue eyes. As the rest of the crew froze, shock, surprise and relief filling their eyes, he continued. "Athena Shepard has survived. She is here in the Sol system with us, on an asari dreadnought being used as a medical ship. In the two and a half months since we found her, she has somehow continued to cling to life and is now awake and lucid for increasingly longer periods of time. The medics of the combined fleets are a bit boggled by her resilience; they keep overestimating the amount of time before she'll meet one of their progress markers."

"She's alive," Joker whispered, almost choking on the emotion. Shouts and cries of relief and joy spread amongst the Normandy crew. Sitting closest to him, Tali reached out a hand and lightly touched Garrus' arm, looking him in the eye.

"She's alive, Garrus. Somehow, she beat the odds yet again."

Garrus smiled, his hands trembling. "She has a habit of doing that, you know."

If his sub vocals wavered with emotion, Tali didn't comment on it. He was grateful for that.

---

It took two months for the Normandy to reach the Sol system. Most of the relays were still severely damaged, but there were a few that had been repaired. These had been done to expedite travel through the Council planets, easing the transportation of materials and people back and forth. In that time, repair of the Citadel continued, the census of the dead marched on, and Athena Shepard continued to heal, hushed under top-level security clearance by the Citadel and Admiral Hackett.

Both parties were concerned that some dissenters would try and do harm to the woman, or that pockets of Cerberus resistance would attempt an assassination as retaliation. One of the individuals in charge of her security was actually Castis Vakarian. Retired though he may be, he was still one of the more brilliant former leaders in C-Sec security and a vigilant guardian. Innately distrustful of both humans and Spectres, Athena Shepard appeared to have worked her way past both to a relationship based on mutual respect.

Solana Vakarian gave a small burr of amusement at the thought, lounging back in 'her' chair in Athena's room. She was here so frequently the woman had humorously granted her the chair, proclaiming it to be 'Solana's spot'. The young turian female, almost ten years younger than her brother, lounged back in the chair, staring out into the void of space. Somewhere out there her brother was with the rest of the Normandy crew.

Her lower jaw spines twitched in amusement as she considered Garrus' reaction to the amicable, almost friendly relationship between his woman and their surly, unpredictable sire. She would make sure she was in a good spot to observe his reaction, it was sure to be priceless. Castis Vakarian was a proud man, a good sire, if a bit distant. He had seemed to curl in on himself more since the death of their mother in that accident on Palaven several years prior.

Their mother had been the only female capable of pulling him out from behind his protective metaphorical shields, with her gone he had retreated further and further behind them over the years. Solana saw small signs of what her father had been like when she was younger, but they were fleeting moments, interspersed between retrospective, almost frigid silence.

Garrus was far too similar to their sire, they had butted heads for years. Her brother had chafed against the restrictions that Castis enforced with proud dignity, resulting in Garrus resigning from C-Sec to follow a young, newly minted human female, the first human Spectre. His only son resigning from C-Sec had hit Castis hard, but to follow a human and a Spectre? Her father's disappointment was almost a tangible thing.

Knowing how much her father had disliked Spectres and their lack of respect for established laws, Solana had anticipated the first few meetings between Castis and this particular Spectre to be tense. However, her brother's woman wasn't quite what either Vakarian had been expecting.

The first time they had met her, Athena Shepard had been awake for all of two weeks and had just finished an agonizing treatment session for the last of her most severe burns, which covered her left forearm and hand. Still, when she had spotted them, she had waved off the strong painkiller she no doubt desperately wanted. Instead, she had sat up and spoke with them, clear-eyed and sharp-witted, quickly recognizing them as being Garrus' relatives due to the familial facial paint markings. While each were slightly different, they were all the same shade of pale blue-gray.

She had spoken to Castis calmly and respectfully, refusing to rise to the bait when he'd attempted to deliberately goad her. Her sharp wit and canny intelligence had clearly impressed Solana's father, despite his best efforts otherwise. When quite blatantly confronted about her relationship with Garrus, she had said just as bluntly, "I love him. I don't give a damn that he's a turian and we're supposed to not get along because of the war. That was before I was even born. I respect the Turians that I have fought alongside and worked to earn their respect in return. Garrus is a good man who has stayed beside me through some of the most dangerous missions known in our galaxy, I wouldn't want anyone else at my back."

Castis had backed down a little and they had taken their leave. When Solana had begun her daily visits, her father had merely looked at her and told her to be careful, her own leg was still healing. He hadn't tried to stop her, nor voiced any dissent to her destination. It had been a couple of weeks before she had walked into Athena's room to find her father teaching the human woman how to play one of their most traditional strategic games.

Now they played weekly, and Athena had actually beaten her father a couple of times, to his amused surprise and respect. He valued the woman enough to volunteer his assistance when it came to her personal security, something that he took very seriously. To Solana's knowledge, Athena was unaware of Castis' role in keeping her safe from any who wished to do her harm. In her greatly weakened state she was vulnerable, something that Solana knew Athena hated.

Athena was out for her rehabilitation session at the moment. She was still in poor condition, but they had begun her physical therapy to get her walking and using her right side better again. Apparently, the right side had taken more damage that the left in the final push of the Battle of Earth. Solana had served her required four years in the Turian military as all young turians did, but she had done her stint in military medical teams, something that suited her far better than the front lines.

Athena had just returned, once more in her hoverchair, when the human Admiral Steven Hackett arrived. Solana stood, nodding respectfully at the man. She looked to Athena, concerned. The woman's already pale complexion was almost ashen from pain and exhaustion. The session had clearly worn her out, but she looked at the Admiral with a focused alertness that belied her active military background.

"Can you stand to stay in that hoverchair for a moment longer, Athena? I need your presence on the bridge."

Solana frowned, confused. "Is not Athena's presence here still supposed to be a secret?"

"The crew of this medical vessel are all from the Citadel and bound by Council authority. Athena being here is bound to surprise most of them, but they won't give her presence away anytime soon. Our main concern is her security from outside threats. But this is a necessary exposure," Admiral Hackett answered.

"Why, sir?" Athena asked, curiosity lacing her voice through her obvious exhaustion.

"We found the Normandy two months ago," Hackett admitted. "I didn't want to say anything while it was still so far out, but they're arriving through the Charon relay momentarily. I thought you may want to be on the bridge to welcome them home. They know we found you alive, they were all very relieved to hear so."

Athena's breath hitched, not that Solana blamed her. She had been waiting, along with Solana and her father, for any sort of news on the Normandy and its status. A series of emotions raced across the woman's face, far too quickly for Solana to categorize any of them. Then she turned to her nurse and said quietly, "Can I get a low-grade painkiller, just for now? I want to see them with a clear head."

Her nurse, an asari, frowned. "The low-grade won't do much for you, Commander. You know that after your rehabilitation sessions it usually takes a stronger dose to provide relief. If I give you the low dose, it will be a couple of hours before I can give you anything else."

"I understand," Athena said firmly.

After the nurse gave her a quick injection, she turned to Solana and said quietly, "You may want to go let your father know. I'm sure both of you are anxious to see Garrus after so long."

Solana beamed at her, gave a small happy rumble and raced off after excusing herself politely, much to the Admiral's amusement.

Athena's heart was racing faster than it had in months as Admiral Hackett took control of her hoverchair and set off at a brisk pace for the elevator. She could hardly believe that the Normandy had not only been found, but was almost home. It felt like she had been waiting ages for news on her crew and friends. Licking her dry lips, she said quietly, "Did we lose anybody?"

"No," Steven reassured her, "which was miraculous. According to Flight Lieutenant Moreau, the blast from the Crucible fried their systems when they reached the end of their FTL jump, which caused them to crash onto the closest planetary surface. They apparently discovered, by complete chance, a rather rich garden world for human and other amino-based lifeforms."

Athena gave a small snort, ignoring the pain that the sound caused her ribs. "Sounds about right. That ship and crew seem to have some of the weirdest luck sometimes."

"Your party members from the run to the beam sustained minor injuries, which were easily healed by Doctor Chakwas. Luckily, they are all very level-headed individuals and quickly got life support repaired as well as an emergency beacon functioning within the first week. They had shut off all non-essential systems to boost the signal to the beacon, which is how the Everest caught it the moment they arrived."

Athena gave a quiet sigh of relief at hearing that Garrus and Liara hadn't sustained any major injuries. Garrus had been limping and holding his side, but it appeared the expensive but protective armor she'd purchased for him had done the job. She had not been stingy with her funds; all of her crew had the very best of equipment and upgrades. It had saved their lives many times over the course of the war.

Of course, she had done the same for herself, buying expensive armor components to boost her own skills and health as well as the very expensive, but fucking amazing Black Widow V sniper rifle. It had been too expensive to buy a matched one for Garrus, but she had sprung for the also powerful M-98. He had borrowed hers a couple of times on the firing ranges, which gave voice to almost flowery compliments from the normally reserved turian.

Rolling her right shoulder a little, Athena grimaced at the spike of pain it gave. Her medic's best estimates gave her almost full functionality of the arm, but not the strength nor steadiness it would take to fire most of her usual firearms. Luckily, she knew just the person to give her exclusive, extensively modified, Spectre-issue rifle to.

As the elevator hissed open and revealed the bridge of the medical ship, whispers of surprise sprang up all around the room at her presence. Her survival had been on a need-to-know basis up until this point, most had probably assumed that she had died in the final assault on Earth. She knew from Steven that there had been a military funeral for Anderson a few days after they had both been found.

Shaking off the memories of her last conversation with Anderson, for now, Athena focused on the quickly approaching command consoles at the front of the bridge. Beyond were the huge bay windows that looked out into the blackness of space and the pinprick that was the Charon Relay. To her left was the Citadel, slowly beginning to look something like its former appearance. Athena quickly averted her eyes from the Citadel, not wanting to think about the end of the war today.

"Good timing, sir," the bridge communications officer said to Hackett, after saluting the Admiral. "The Everest is signaling their final approach to the relay."

Almost simultaneous with his words, there was a flash of light and the vague shape of an Alliance dreadnought appeared, being escorted by a towing ship and a Turian frigate. Athena's heart leapt as she spotted the smaller craft being towed along behind the dreadnought.

"Open a general bandwidth, listening only," the Admiral ordered.

The bridge officer quickly complied, and the sound of cheering filled the speakers of the medical ship. Voices from all different species, each on one of the ships in orbit or down on Earth, raised in excited greeting at the sight of the Normandy, infamous amongst the allied fleets.

"Hail the Normandy specifically, voice only. I will tell you when to switch to visual."

The officer nodded in understanding, while Steven turned to Athena. "Ready?"

"More than," she whispered, her hands shaking a little from the emotion.

"Normandy SR-2, this is Admiral Steven Hackett."

"We read you, sir. Loud and clear," Joker's familiar voice filled the speakers, making Athena smile broadly.

"Do you have the crew of the Normandy on the bridge with you, Flight Lieutenant?"

"I do, sir. Most of them anyway."

"You may want to switch to visual for this," Steven nodded at the officer.

The screen flickered to life on Athena's side first, revealing Joker, next to him in the co-pilot's seat was EDI. Behind EDI were Tali and Liara, while behind Joker were Garrus, James and Kaiden. She spotted Specialist Traynor, Diana Allers and Javik in the background, amongst other familiar faces. She was smiling so hard it was hurting, moisture brimming in the corner of her eyes, but she didn't care.

She spoke, which was when most of them seemed to realize who exactly was being projected onto the Normandy's bridge.

"Welcome home, Normandy. It's about time the rest of you joined the party."

"Commander!" Joker yelped excitedly, while behind him a tumult of voices chattered at once, each trying to speak to her. Laughing, Athena held up her left hand (less damaged) and said, "I'm sure I'll be seeing you all shortly. Let's not clog the comm channel with chatter."

"You bet we will!" Joker said, grinning wildly. "I'd like to see anyone try and stop us!"

"Luckily, Flight Lieutenant," Steven said, mock sternly, "we have no intention of trying to stop you. The Everest used shuttles to bring you over to the Normandy. Those same shuttles will bring you here to the medical ship. I'm sure our people would like to check you all over and make sure that you're healthy after everything."

Joker groaned and started to curse, before someone (likely EDI), wisely cut the comm channel.

"Are you sure you want to remain up in this chair long enough for them to be shuttled over?" the Admiral asked her, concerned.

"It's better than all of them invading my room," she countered. "I'm already up, I want to see them in person. Then I'll go back to my rooms and be the good little patient, I swear."

"I doubt you have ever been, as you put it, the 'good little patient', Commander," the Admiral responded wryly, but he complied, turning her away from the bridge and back towards the elevator.

Athena was too excited and happy to comment on his remark. The crew of the Normandy were safe and she was about to be reunited with her friends and beloved. Nothing could bring her mood down, even the slowly building pain in her weary body.

---

Excitement and anticipation built in the Normandy's crew as they were shuttled over. They were all eager at the prospect of being able to see their Commander for themselves after so long. Garrus sat calmly in one of the seats near the door, having purposefully waited until almost the end to board the shuttle, Liara and Tali quickly catching on to his plan. Seeing her face on the Normandy's bridge screen, his heart had raced a little. But seeing her in person? He was hardly holding himself together, managing to exert just enough of his self-control to avoid giving up the game entirely.

Tali was almost bouncing, excitedly watching the vid-screen that showed the rapidly approaching medical ship and their destination. Steve Cortez was flying the shuttle (he'd insisted, since all of the Commander's main crew had boarded the same shuttle. He'd said that he would never forgive himself for letting anyone else fly them over if something were to happen now of all times.)

Kaiden had been strangely quiet ever since they'd learned that Athena had survived. Whether he was in shock or it was something else, Garrus couldn't guess. Well, he could hazard a thought, but it was almost traitorous towards one of the original Normandy crew. But it niggled at him that he almost seemed… disappointed that Athena had survived. Had he hoped to gain the post of the Normandy's commanding officer? He was a Spectre after all, the second human member of the elite task force.

Whatever his reasons, Garrus did his best to ignore them and as a result, tended to ignore Kaiden himself. He had always been the least courteous member of the Normandy towards him. Garrus barely resisted rolling his eyes. He'd run across people, both Turian and human, who still held a deep prejudice against the other race for what the humans called the First Contact War. It was ridiculous, they were allies now and humanity had a seat on the Council, something that several older species resented them for.

Thankfully, despite growing up in a military family, Athena herself held about as much disdain for the old prejudice as he did. She withheld judgement on those that she met until they gave her a reason for a logical, reasonable dislike. Perhaps the only Turians she'd ever had a real reason to dislike were the mercenaries they'd run across, like Warden Kuril. She hadn't even really disliked Saren, admitting later that if they had been able to negate his indoctrination, she would have tried talking to him more, getting him to turn himself in.

With what they'd learned about Reapers and indoctrination, Garrus was inclined to agree with her. All he felt towards Saren Arterius now was a deep pity and sympathy. It couldn't have been easy, he was brilliant and exceptionally strategic by all accounts, one of the most decorated members of the Spectres. Having another voice in your head, overriding your own thoughts with theirs, it must have been maddening. His death had probably been a relief.

Their shuttle entered the hangar, Cortez neatly setting down the UT-47 with a deft hand and a barely-there bump to announce touchdown. He was an incredible pilot, managing maneuvers in a shuttle that Garrus wouldn't have dared tried to pull off. Him being on board the Normandy when it had fled Earth had been a bonus for the Normandy's crew and Athena herself, who had relied heavily on Cortez's dependable flying.

Garrus, Liara and Tali were the first three off the shuttle, pausing outside the doors to wait for the crowd that was the Normandy's crew to thin out a little. However, Steve stepped forward and gestured to the door.

"You guys should go on ahead. We know she'll be glad to see us, but you're the ones that have been with her the longest."

Liara shot the pilot a grateful smile, gesturing Joker, EDI, Kaiden, James and Javik forward. "Your part of the group, aren't you?"

While both James and Javik murmured thanks, Kaiden remained quiet. When Liara looked at him questioningly, Garrus shrugged. He wasn't sure what his problem was, but it had nothing to do with him.

As a group, they stepped forward, moving with a quiet eagerness to the hangar doors. When they cycled open, all of them immediately sought the figure sitting in the hoverchair, legs covered by a hospital issue blanket. Garrus gave a small rumble of distress. Seeing her over the vid, he'd realized that she was not in the best of shape, but seeing her in person. Well, she'd been worse, but not by much.

Athena was ashen in complexion, which made her black hair stand out all the more starkly. A few deep cuts still crossed her face, the deepest had thin stitches. Her hair, normally shiny and almost to her waist, had been cropped almost to her skull. There was extensive bandaging on her right arm and hand, with a slim but heavy metal brace around the knee and ankle of both legs, barely visible under the blanket.

The moment she spotted them, a smile wreathed her lips and moisture shined in her luminous eyes. Her hands trembled with the emotion and Athena gave a watery laugh when Tali raced over and gave her a cautious hug, unable to stand the temptation any longer. Tali's movement seemed to break the silence and the others all moved over to see her, talking over each other quietly.

Garrus waited for them to thin out a little before he walked over, opposite Admiral Hackett, and dropped one of his hands gently onto her slender shoulder, near the base of her neck. Athena looked up and him and smiled, her beautiful eyes almost glowing. She raised her left hand and placed it lightly over his. The touch was almost featherlight, but Garrus couldn't' have stopped the soft subconscious rumble of relief if he had tried.

Athena of course caught the noise, her smile softening in understanding. But she would understand and feel the same way, it couldn't have been easy on her end of things, not knowing what had happened to the Normandy. Nor anything that had transpired since she had somehow activated the Crucible. The part he loved about the current situation was, he didn't have to say a damn thing. They understood each other well enough to know what the other would say.

After a while, Garrus noticed a change in Athena. He watched with concern, noticing her shaking hands and the slightly drawn expression on her face. Admiral Hackett seemed to notice it as well. By this point, the rest of the crew had come in and greeted Athena and they were all standing around and talking excitedly, reveling in the presence of their much-loved commanding officer.

"I think it's time I take you back to your quarters, Commander," Hackett said firmly, drawing the attention of Liara, Tali, Garrus and Joker, who were all standing closest to her.

A slightly resigned expression crossed Athena's face and she nodded reluctantly. "It's becoming less tolerable," she admitted.

At Garrus' questioning expression, Hackett said, "The Normandy arrived on the tail end of her rehabilitation session. The Commander insisted on a low-dose painkiller so that she could see you, instead of the larger dose she normally requires after those sessions. Her medic wanted me to return her after your arrival, but she refused to until I let her come down to see you all."

Garrus shot Athena a pointed glance, a soft, exasperated rumble leaving his throat. Of course, she would put off what she needed. Well, there would be no more of that. She would adhere to the schedule that she needed in order to heal properly. He would see to that himself!

Athena shot him a look in return, clearly following his train of thought. He stared back, unimpressed. He'd seen her at her most intimidating, which right now she was not. He would make her take the time to heal properly, even if she fought him the entire way.

With a soft sigh, Athena shook her head in resignation. Before he could feel triumphant about the minor victory, her eyes flicked over his shoulder. She smiled; the expression almost smug. Almost at the same time, a very familiar sound came from behind him. A deep rumbling noise, from a Turian clearing their throat. Garrus had heard that particular sound all too often in his youth. Eyes widening a little, he turned around slowly and came face to face with his father, Castis.

Oh crap, Garrus thought.

---

Thankfully, Castis Vakarian was too relieved to see his son alive and unharmed to lecture Garrus. He had not been looking forward to one of his father's disappointed lectures on the dangers of an uncertain enemy and letting one's guard down. Nor did he comment on Garrus' relationship with Athena, which he had surely picked up on. Not much passed that man unnoticed. Instead, he had hugged Garrus and expressed how thankful he was that his son had survived the harrowing war intact.

Solana, less restrained, had squealed and thrown herself at her brother, sub vocals practically chittering in excitement. His sister was younger than him by almost nine years. Soft-hearted and quick-witted, she was very much like the mother that Garrus barely remembered. He'd been young when their mother had died as a result of injuries from that traffic accident on Palaven. The few memories he had of her were softened and dulled by time and grief he had distanced rather than dealt with.

They had been back in the Sol system for a little over a week now. Garrus had been to visit Athena near-daily during that time period. He hadn't realized the extent of her injuries until he had read the medical data attached to her quarters one day while she was asleep after one of her rehab sessions. The extent of the injuries had his breath catching in his throat, thanking every deity he knew that she had somehow managed to survive.

If she remembered what had happened prior to the activation of the Crucible, she wasn't sharing any of the details. And not just with Garrus either. According to Admiral Hackett, she was being unusually tight-lipped about whatever had transpired after sending an injured Garrus and Liara to safety aboard the Normandy. The Admiral wasn't pushing her, the information wasn't strictly necessary. They were all just curious how she had managed to actually accomplish the feat. Given her injuries, just transporting her to the Citadel should have killed her.

Garrus was glad it hadn't, don't get him wrong, but like the others, he was curious about how she had managed to activate the Crucible. For now, he wouldn't push her, but he hoped someday she would share the information on her own. He keyed her door, which slid open easily. Solana occupied 'her chair', which didn't surprise Garrus. Initially, he had been startled to realize that Athena and his sister knew each other and conversed rather often to go by how comfortable they were.

He was glad to see it. Introducing Athena to his remaining family had been one of his niggling worries. Not so much Solana… but Castis. His father was known to not be fond of Spectres, he'd told Athena that himself. He wasn't particularly fond of humans either, having fought personally in the Relay 314 incident, which was how Turians referred to the First Contact War. Both Athena and Castis were strong-willed, stubborn and proud. Introducing the two of them had caused Garrus a few headaches just thinking about.

Athena wasn't in her bed, which surprised Garrus. He knew she had just finished one of her rehabilitation sessions. He'd witnessed a couple of them himself, they were intense and at times incredibly painful for her. His heart went out to her, realizing how hard it must be on Athena to be dependent on another person in order to walk, to move properly outside of her hoverchair.

His eyes drifted over to the pair of chairs and small table that sat next to the viewport. He froze, staring. Athena was sitting upright in her hoverchair, chin propped on her left hand in contemplation. Garrus was glad to see her sitting up and not seeming to be in as much pain as she had been. That wasn't the cause of her surprise. No, that was due to the familiar board and pieces on the table in front of her and her companion, leaning back in his chair and studying the board with intense focus.

It was his father, Castis. They were playing a traditional Turian strategy game, savarl. Castis' pose was reclined, at ease, though his eyes were intently focused on the board. Athena watched him in quiet contemplation, the beginnings of a smile curling her lips. She lightly tapped her chin with her fingers, occasionally looking down at the board between the two of them.

Solana watched him, an amused expression on her face at his reaction. She gestured for him to sit next to her. As he did so, she said, "Neither one will notice you for a few moments, they get like this when playing."

His mind whirling with questions, Garrus finally settled on, "How long have they been playing these matches?"

Solana contemplated. "Twice weekly since oh, about a month after Athena first woke up. I started visiting her once she was awake for longer than half an hour at a time, I was curious. You've been traveling and fighting with her for so long, telling us all these crazy stories. It wasn't hard to read between the lines and realize that you were in love with her, I probably had that pegged before you two even got together."

Garrus rolled his eyes at her and waited for her to continue. Yes, he'd been a bit oblivious, people didn't need to keep pointing that out.

Smirking, Solana continued. "Father accompanied me out of the blue one day about a week later. At first it was a bit stiff, what with father's disapproval of her being human and a Spectre on top of that. Athena called him out on that, it surprised him and I think he was a bit amused by it as well."

"He left soon after their conversation and showed up three days later, carrying that savarl board he's had since his days in the military. He told Athena since she had the time, he may as well occupy some of it. She caught on to it quickly, they like to play against each other. She's sharp, which he respects. Father was stumped silent the first time she beat him, but she's repeated the feat a few times. I think he likes the challenge."

Garrus practically slumped in his chair in relief. It appeared that one of his biggest concerns about his relationship with Athena wasn't going to be a worry after all. The pair had traded a few moves since his arrival, Athena's eyes glimmering with a hint of a spark in them. She was fiercely competitive and Garrus was glad to see the hint of her old self under the weariness that still dominated her face.

"It's safe to say that Father is more than fond of her," Solana continued quietly. "Athena doesn't know it, but when Admiral Hackett started to increase her security, Father took over the planning and execution of it. Admiral Hackett was quite impressed, he's given Father full reign over what he needs done to keep Athena safe while she recovers."

Garrus blinked, shocked. It was one thing to admit a grudging respect for Athena, to agree to a lack of hostilities for Garrus' sake. To show enough concern that he was in control of her personal security? He hadn't expected that amount of concern, not in any form. It was practically Castis' way of saying that she was family and under his protection.

The board flashed, turning blue before shutting itself off. Leaning back, Castis contemplated Athena and finally said, a rumble of subtle amusement in his voice, "Another draw. Those are starting to become more frequent, aren't they? I'm starting to understand why you were such a dangerous opponent, Athena. I recognized a few of those tactics."

Athena's lips turned up in a small smirk. "I learned a long time ago, Castis, that one of the best ways to go about defeating an opponent was to use their own strengths against them. You're least prepared to defend yourself from yourself, or at least they say."

Castis shot her a sharp look, a small burr leaving his throat. "The way you think, my dear, is almost Turian at times."

"I take that as a compliment," Athena quickly shot back, earning an actual laugh from the older turian.

Garrus restrained the urge to sit there blinking in shock. He hadn't heard his father laugh in years.

"It was meant as one, Athena. In the most positive of ways."

Castis closed the board and stood, nodding goodbye to Athena. Turning his head in their direction he said, "Son. Shall I expect to see you later at some point?"

"I'll drop by. Should I let you know beforehand?"

Castis waved a hand dismissively. "No need, just drop on in. I'm usually not doing anything important. Solana, come with me please. I believe you have an appointment for the medical release on your leg, I'd rather you not miss it."

Giving a small huff, Solana stood, walked over and gave Athena a hug, chirping a goodbye. Then she scurried off after Castis, who had already left the room.

Shaking his head, Garrus stood, walked over and gently caressed Athena's face in greeting, placing a kiss to her forehead as he took his father's abandoned spot. Smiling at him, she said, "Let me guess, you weren't expecting to find your father here?"

He gave a small laugh and said, "No, I was not. My father is formidable, I have been trying to plan out how best to introduce the two of you for some time now. To see you two getting along so well is fortunate."

Athena's lips twitched. "I remember you telling me he wasn't fond of humans or Spectres. It was a little awkward at first, but I'd like to say we get along fairly well now. His main concern was you; he was concerned that I was 'leading you on' basically, or that our relationship was one of those created in the tensions of war and would fall apart without the external conflict."

Garrus groaned, slightly mortified. "His exact words, I recognize the phrasing. I'm sorry I wasn't there to act as a buffer, he can be a little abrasive."

Athena snorted. "No less than some of the characters we've met over the course of this. Though I'm sure you were glad I didn't take my usual course and either make a really snide comment or try and shoot him."

"I am very glad you didn't shoot my father, yes," Garrus deadpanned, at which they both laughed.

"But no, he's a good man and he loves you, which I respect. Even if I had to spend the next several years proving that I love you as much as you do me, I would gladly do so. I can't fault him for being concerned about his son's emotional well-being."

"He respects you as well," Garrus said, pointing out, "my father doesn't just play savarl with anyone. Certainly not as often as he's played with you apparently. Nor does he usually have the patience to try and teach someone how it works. He taught Solana and I, but that was when we were both much younger and our mother was still alive to temper his impatience."

"She died a few months into the war, right?" Athena asked carefully.

"Yes, just after I returned to Palaven."

"I'm sorry," Athena said quietly.

Garrus gave a small sigh. "She is better off, or at least that's what I hear all the time. She had Corpalis Syndrome, a disease of the mind. She was happiest in the past, hardly recognizing us."

"Grief affects everyone differently," Athena replied quietly. "When my step-father died, my mother closed herself off from everyone like you. However, she never really stopped doing so. I lashed out, angry at my mother, my father's job, everything really."

Athena had never really mentioned her family much. When Garrus had first joined up with her on the hunt for Saren, he'd looked up a few of her details, finding her files sparse but informative. She was a military child, shifting from base to base following her step-father and mother's postings. Her mother, Hannah, was apparently still on active duty with the Alliance.

"Your mother still serves the Alliance, right? I read that in your files," Garrus said.

The change in Athena was startling. The warmth in her unusual eyes disappeared, her entire facial expression melting away until she practically wore a marble façade. Stiffly, she said, "My mother still serves, yes. She's with the Fifth Fleet."

Garrus was startled by her abrupt change of mood but decided it was best to let the subject die, at least for now. He knew it wasn't just a human thing, her reaction to the mention of her mother. Knowing so little about her past aside from what was listed in her files left him at a bit of a disadvantage at what was clearly a sensitive topic.

"I am pleasantly surprised to see you still in your chair after one of your rehabilitation sessions," he commented instead, a pleased rumble in his voice. "It must have gone well?"

Warmth filled Athena's face again and she smiled, emotion creeping back into her face. "It went much better than some of my last few sessions. It's difficult, more than I thought. I'm not used to having to depend on others, especially after what we have been through the past few years."

"You've depended on the crew of the Normandy and myself and the rest of your team," Garrus pointed out.

"Yes, I have," she said softly, a small smile on her lips. "I couldn't have done this without you guys, or our allies we forged in the last few months. But I have always been a little independent, relying on myself for most things. You've seen it yourself on missions where I've had to rely on others for critical tasks or information. It agitates me when I fail myself."

"You haven't failed yourself though," Garrus pointed out patiently. Thanks to their similar backgrounds, he understood where she was coming from. Luckily, he also happened to know how to get through to the stubborn, strong-willed and beautiful human woman he'd fallen in love with.

"We succeeded in our ultimate goal, Athena," he said quietly. "The Reapers are gone, the threat they've posed since we first found out about them is finally null and void. You got all of the races in our galaxy to cooperate and as a result, we won. There are no species in the galaxy that would call that a failure."

"As for your current condition," he continued, "that will pass in its own time as well. There's no urgency, no next mission to worry about. Nobody is relying on your immediate readiness to come to their aid. For the first time in a long time, you've got a moment to take a breath and relax. We all do. That's not an opportunity that anyone who has lived through what we have should pass up."

Athena smiled, admitting his point without saying anything. After a few moments, she reached out and laid her hand in his. "I'm glad I had you through this Garrus. I don't know what I would have done otherwise."

"Well," Garrus said with an amused grin, "you would have still won, but not so handily I care to wager."

She laughed softly, the sound making him smile wider.

They would be okay, that was all that mattered. Everything else was just details.