With Daniels back in the Engine room, she and the three men could now lift up the stabilised Donnelly for the short carry over to the elevator. "See, this is why I kept telling you to spend less time in the mess hall!" Gabby quipped, trying in foolhardy fashion to lighten the mood. It wasn't strictly necessary, either, as the Medi-gel was quick to get to work. Plus, as became apparent when the doors opened to the Crew deck, Ken would have to find a cosy spot somewhere in the mess hall anyway. Most of the Normandy's crew was here. It was difficult to tell who was treating and who was being treated. It was very difficult to navigate through the ever-expanding network of bodies, in varying states of distress. Eventually, the four of them found somewhere large enough to park their cargo.
"Can I get some help over here? This man has a head wound!", Garrus shouted. With no response came an exasperated "Anybody?!". A moment later, an understandably overburdened medic made his way over. "Calm down, we're doing the best we can!" he snapped at Garrus. "Besides, who died and made you Captain?". The Turian's initial reaction was to grab the man by the collar and lay into him - That was quite a sore spot that he touched. However, he settled on clenching his fist, and saying to himself "Who do you think?" That was a good point, actually. Who was in charge? Does the chain of command matter much at this point? Garrus spotted Kaidan among the wounded. Well, he's not going to be getting up for a while, Garrus thought to himself.
There wasn't officially an XO on the Normandy, and Joker wasn't exactly command material. Traynor? She'll be trying to restore communications. Shepard must have planned for this, developed a contingency. "Wouldn't she have told me?", Garrus muttered to himself. As the chorus of chatter and groaning reaches fever pitch, he decides that the only way to be sure is to check Shepard's quarters. The silence of the elevator is a relief, and Garrus lets out a long sigh. At the top, the doors open, and he strolls through, seemingly unburdened by the urgency of the previous few minutes.
The quarters had seen better days - Garrus was all too aware of that. It was a good thing all the fish had been taken out of the tank before they got to Earth, although the ship collection will need a few replacements. Furniture was out of place and personal effects were strewn everywhere, but Garrus made it to Shepard's desk. On it was a datapad. On that, an audio recording. Garrus pressed play. The face of his lover appears on the screen. "Garrus", it begins, "I've made this recording in case, for whatever reason, you get back and I don't. IF I don't... I want you to take command of the Normandy, at least until everyone can be debriefed by Hackett. Some people won't like it, but you're the only one I trust to keep things going in my stead." Both Garrus and Shepard look down. "I'm sorry I couldn't get back, and I hope that at least we kicked the Reapers all the way to hell, then a bit further. Build that beach house for me, and we'll see each other again soon, I promise. I love you...". The recording ends. Garrus, tightly gripping the datapad, says with a strained voice "I... ahhhh... love you too, Shepard". The Turian closes his eyes, sits down on the bed, and rests his head on the datapad screen.
"Admiral Hackett! Over here!" An Alliance Marine called overhead.
It wasn't usual that he stepped away from the bridge of his ship, but when the crucible lit up like fireworks and the citadel crashed into the city of London... Well it was his duty to find out what happened. And where Shepard was.
"What is it soldier?" Hackett's voice grumbled with authority and a little bit of urgency.
"Look!"
Shepard had managed to prize herself out of the wreckage and leaned against some metal plating sticking out of the ground. The cold soothed her burns for a time. Unfortunately that meant forcibly breaking her buried wrist and thanks to the debris, both her legs were in bad shape. To add to the nightmare, almost all of her ribs were broken so there was no calling for help.
The only thing that was left was her Omni tool.
Its bright light should be enough of a beacon. She let out an incinerate tech power for good measure before sliding back onto the ground. The sight of azure and white was calming as a familiar voice came closer...
"Shepard! Shepard you're alright." The Admiral, normally stoic and rigid, came right next to the Commander. Was that fear? Worry? In his eyes?
"Ha-Hack-" she coughed as her lungs filled with fluid. "Hackett." She winced out but with more clarity. Determination.
"What.. brought you... Out here?"
Hackett smiled for the first time in Shepard's career.
"The Alliance is bringing you home Commander."
There was a god after all.
"Good to be back." Shepard wheezed out a laugh. "Let's go home."
As the Admiral nodded, She closed her eyes. Peace washed over her mind. Hackett coordinated the extraction. Everyone was rushing around.
Sleep shortly overcame the commander's fragile state.
One step closer to Garrus she whispered to herself.
Garrus had no idea how long he had been sitting there, thinking of better times... happier times. When he finally snapped out of it, and remembered the less-than-ideal situation he was in, he strode towards the elevator with renewed confidence - The Turian was in charge now. It didn't matter if Shepard wasn't there, the crew respected her enough to adhere to her wishes. He was back where he'd started, in the CIC. He wondered if anyone had gone to check on Joker, and it wouldn't hurt to get a good look of where exactly they were.
Someone had indeed come to check on the Flight Lieutenant - None other than the Doc herself. "How is he, Doc?", Garrus asked Chakwas. "Well, the force from the crash was almost entirely lateral." Chakwas replied. "So, while everyone who was standing up had a bad time, Jeff hardly has a scratch. Only some fractures in his hip." Joker chimed in "Yeah, so you don't need to come and babysit me, Garrus. I'm not much use anyway - What with the ship being all crashed and everything.", but Garrus was used to human sarcasm at this point. "Well, forgive me for wanting to check up on the ship's pilot - The Alliance's best, mind you - and the only person who can get us out of here when the ship has been un-crashed."
"Looks like you're rubbing off on him, Jeff!", Chakwas remarked. "I didn't really need that image in my head, but thanks I guess..." Joker replied. He turned to Garrus "...As you can see, we're doing fine up here. Why don't you go, I don't know, find something to calibrate?". With that, Garrus walked away. What I wouldn't do to just be able to stand at the forward batteries and do some calibrating right now, he thought to himself. He made his way back down to the Crew deck, hoping to find Adams and the engineers again, instead finding only Cortez. "Hey, where did you go? Everyone was waiting for you to come back." Cortez asked. "Found this in Shepard's quarters." Garrus remarked, holding up the datapad. "She's left me in charge while she's absent, at least until we get back to the Alliance." Cortez nodded "Yeah, okay. Normally I'd be a stickler for chain of command, but Major Alenko is laid up after a few knocks. That leaves me, Chief Adams and the illustrious Mr Vega." He shook his head. "I don't think any of us are made for this kind of crisis management." Garrus looked round. "So, where did the others go?"
"They went to the AI core. They wanted to check on EDI, and see if she could help with damage analysis." Cortez responded. "Thanks. Go back to the Cargo Bay, and check to see if there's any materials stored away that we can use for repairs. Take parts from the shuttle if you can." Garrus commanded. "Aye-aye!", came the reply, and Cortez quickly vanished on his mission. Garrus made his way through the medbay - Even more crowded than the mess hall - and into the AI core. "Damn it, Gabby. I've checked four times already. Checking a fifth time isn't going to bring it back!". Garrus stops by the door. The three engineers, all stood by EDI's interface, turned to look at him. "Bring what back?", Garrus asked. "EDI's program." Daniels responded. "The whole thing's been wiped clean." Adams clarified. "Even the backups that she made. All the data... It's like she never existed."
Garrus pondered for a moment. "Well, that complicates things." he said, stoically. "No shit." Ken said in return.
Steven Hackett's Dreadnought was the crown jewel of the Alliance Navy and he was proud to be a part of its long line of captains.
As the shuttle neared the SSV Orizaba, the Admiral could feel the nervous tick in his leg come creeping back. Rear Admiral Hannah Shepard had been promoted and assigned under his command and he knew she would have his ass if he didn't let her know the condition of her daughter.
They docked swiftly, Shepard's condition rapidly falling. Thank god they had one of the best med-bays still standing.
"I want guards posted outside Shepard's room 24/7. Do not let anyone in unless the proper checks have been made. Security is of the utmost importance. Always expect danger."
Yes sirs were heard across the busy hum of rushing bodies. Hackett couldn't have anyone giving him the slip. Indoctrination and Cerberus spies were still a concern amongst the chaos. He had to be certain she was safe. He owed it to Hannah. And himself.
Hackett watched wearily. Shepard looked so deathly pale. So vulnerable.
When the doors closed and the corridor became silent, he let out a silent sob and wondered how he was going to break the news to Shepard's mother. He didn't want to pretend any more. His family had made so many sacrifices. But now the over arching threat was over and the excuses were running out. He owed it to Hannah and Shepard.
His Wife.
His Daughter.
"Doctor, you're going to have to run that by me again. You are going to do what?!"
"Rear Admiral, we are out of options. I'm happy to go through it again but Shepard is running out of time."
"Shit."
Hannah's emotions were flying through the roof since Steven told her about Shepard being alive. At first she was elated, she was proud. She knew her daughter was strong. It was in their genes. But then as the reality of war hit her she became scared, angry. It took all of her professional training not to slap her superior in the face. Hackett was lucky that he hadn't lied or she might have. Maybe she was wrong about lecturing him over the long standing absence in their lives. Raising a child as a single mother, hiding the truth. It was hard. It was years that Hannah and Shepard would never get back.
She had to be thankful he was there when it mattered but...
Hearing what her daughter would have to go through to get back to a normal life just made the pain worse.
Garrus stood with Adams down in Engineering. "Alright", Adams began, "The good news is that Cortez managed to find enough Eezo to get the Drive Core back up and running, and enough metals that we can repair most of the overloaded systems - The Normandy can be repaired in a couple of weeks. The bad news is that the communications seemed to be integrated into EDI's systems. When she got wiped, she took a chunk of the QEC program with her. Traynor can't get it to work."
Garrus sighed. "So... we can't call anybody for help or to ask if galactic civilisation still exists. What about navigation?". "Traynor's working on it now. She said that the chances are this is an uncharted planet we've landed on, as she isn't even picking up any local signals from in-system." Adams replied. Garrus rubbed his chin in contemplation "It figures. The scouting party I sent out came back with good readings. Breathable atmosphere, tolerable gravity, dense flora... If this place was known, there would at least be a science team out here."
Adams nodded. "We don't even know if there's a Mass Relay in this system, or where the nearest one is if not, or how far away from Earth we are. Navigation is our priority at the moment, followed by power and propulsion.". The Turian's mandibles jumped. "Thanks for the report, Adams, I'll let you get on while I check with the doctor." "Aye-aye", Adams responded. Garrus took the elevator up to the Crew deck - It was significantly emptier than 12 hours ago. In the medbay, Chakwas had finished up with those still needing treatment, and caught a glimpse of her new guest. "Ah, Garrus. I was just about to come find you." she stated, exasperated. "How's the crew doing, doctor?", Garrus inquired. Chakwas smiled "By some miracle, all crew and guests are accounted for." Garrus chuckled "That miracle being you, Chakwas?" "Me, and almost the entire ship's supply of medigel! Tell the truth, most had bruises, lacerations and a few minor fractures. The majority of the crew are in their quarters of helping with repairs, they'll be fine. The only ones I have left in here are Engineer Donnelly, Private Westmoreland and Major Alenko."
Garrus nodded. "Keep up the good work, doctor. We've got a long few days ahead of us..."
The medical team started to prepare the long list of treatments that awaited Commander Shepard.
Thankfully, messages were sent out to make contact with Miranda Lawson who gave valuable advice on fixing the cybernetics and performing skin grafts that would be compatible with Shepard's DNA. It helped that the surgeon's had access to both Shepard's parents.
The only thing that they could do to calm Admiral Shepard down and get her to take a break away from the med bay, was to tell her the ins and outs of each procedure.
"Ma'am, as you can see here, here and here..." The lead surgeon began bringing up x-rays and data pads. It showed that Shepard's body had been fused with fragments of what was left of her N7 armour.
"We need to cut the Commander out of her armour first before we are able to do anything else."
"I see." Hannah murmured with anxious tension.
"Then we will start the process to drain fluid from her lungs. In medical terms this is what we call a hemothorax. To treat it, a pleural catheter is inserted through the chest wall between the patient's ribs in order to drain blood and air. A probe remains in the patient and is subject to suction for days to re-expand the lung. In cases where a catheter cannot control the bleeding, the patient will need surgery thoracotomy to stop the bleeding."
The doctor paused for air.
"We will alert you as soon as possible if we get to that point Admiral."
"Thank you. Is there anything else?" She hoped not.
"Yes ma'am. We need to regenerate skin tissue from burns using stem cells. Preferably yours..and.,"
"Hacketts.." Hannah interrupted. " I know."
The doctor gave an awkward look and shifted to another part of the med bay.
"To prepare the treatment, we usually remove a piece of skin about the size of a postage stamp from the patient and douse it with an enzyme that liberates skin's component cells: fibroblasts, keratinocytes and pigment-producing melanocytes. These cells are then loaded into a nozzled syringe and sprayed onto the patient's wound. People with burns who require skin grafts typically receive pieces of skin that are harvested from unaffected parts of their bodies. However in Shepard's case, almost all of her body is affected, so that's why we need a close DNA match. Don't worry, surgeons take only the top layers of skin to create these grafts, which are known as split-thickness can be cut into a mesh that covers an area about three times their size."
"Whatever it takes." the older Shepard sighed.
"Indeed. But after that we need to let Shepard rest before the last procedure is done. We need to fix the broken bones.I know bones are usually the first to be fixed due to blood flow. However Shepards bones are reinforced with Cerberus cybernetics and her bones do not work the way they used to, so the treatment is quite specialised. We consulted Miranda Lawson who was in charge of the project that brought your daughter back. As long as we pull the bones back into place, provide a constant blood supply to the cybernetics and the rest of the body, Shepard will not lose any limbs. She suggested that by reinforcing the skeleton with a synthetic weave, bones can be made almost unbreakable. In the event of bone trauma, medi-gel conduits allow for bone regenerations in a matter of days. Once we put this system in place, Shepard will be able to recover much more quickly."
"That sounds good. I'll let Hackett know."
The doctor noticed how tired the Admiral looked and nodded. "Thankyou for your time. I hope this relieves some of your worries. The Commander is in good hands."
"If there's anything your team needs let me know." Hannah said sternly before turning and heading out the door. Her head was hurting. She needed a drink.
Repairing the Normandy was never going to be particularly difficult - Adams was intimately familiar with all of the ship's systems - but a ship of this size was going to take a few days. A few days that everyone else had to think about things. The fight against the Reapers, those that they'd lost, whether they were going to be able to get home. Almost everyone fractured to some degree; Many cried, others sought solace with fellow crew and there were more than a few fights. This had extended to even the more senior members.
It was early on the third day of repairs. Kaidan had been given the all-clear from Chakwas - Mostly external injuries from the run to the beam, as well as severe fatigue from overuse of his implants. He had been acquainting himself with the situation, when he suddenly confronted Garrus. "Where did we get all the materials to repair the Normandy?" he asked. "Cortez checked the cargo bay, and there were crates full of refined metal, electronics and even some Eezo." Garrus explained, and shifted in his seat. "Aaaand nobody knows where it all came from? No-one thought it strange that there are all these crates just sitting in the cargo bay, that nobody knows about?" Kaidan queried. "No. But if I had to guess, it was probably brought on board by that clone we fought back on the Citadel." Garrus quipped. The Major became agitated. "That could have been sent back to Earth! It could have been used to help the war effort. Why was it just sitting here?!". Garrus rose to his feet. "How the hell should I know, Major? Are you even a Major anymore? Is there even an Alliance navy for you to be a part-" The Turian was unable to finish his sentence.
A stiff right hook - Thankfully not biotically-charged - Interrupted Garrus mid-sentence. He fell backwards and ended up on the floor. Dazed, he staggered to his feet. Kaidan looked meekly at him. "Oh God. Garrus, are you okay? I'm s-" was all Alenko could muster before the solid carapace of Garrus' forehead connected with his own. Kaidan was thrown back into a bulkhead. "Perfectly fine, Alenko." Garrus cracked. Rage had come down over Kaidan, and he charged at the Turian and tackled him to the ground. The force of the impact, combined with their previous exchange of blows, meant that they were only capable of clumsily attempting to grab each other while trying to land more hits. The punch-drunk dance ended when various crew members made their way over to separate the two.
A few hours later, after they had been checked over by the Doctor, Garrus finally broke the silence between them. "Alright, what was the problem, Major? That was about more than just a few supplies that may or may not have made a difference." he asked. "Yeah." Kaidan sighed. "You're right. I'm sorry. I'm just so torn up about... about Shepard." Garrus looked pensively at Kaidan. "Then you can imagine how I must feel. I understand that you two had something, but that was a long time ago. She's moved on, and it's about time you did as well." Kaidan looked at the ground. "It's... It's not like that, it... she is... was... my commanding officer. And she's still my friend, even after... everything. I'm sure the rest of the crew would feel the same way if they weren't so busy with the repairs."
Garrus softened his stance. "I'll take your word for it, but I will say this. Shepard put me in charge, so for the time being I'm your commanding officer. And right now, we have an uncharted planet that we need to be getting off of. You need to put those kinds of feelings aside, otherwise the rest of the crew will start fracturing. Is that understood?" Kaidan looked back up at Garrus and nodded. "Sure. We need to be better than that."
Admiral Hackett found Admiral Shepard in her cabin, a glass of scotch on the rocks, soft music playing. She had invited him in and poured another glass when he took a seat on one of the white sofas.
"Steve.." Hannah sighed as the glass touched her lips.
Hackett looked down at his drink.
"Hannah. Please, I never wanted it to go this way." Eyes wearily looked up to meet her steely gaze.
"I know, but it did. Don't you think it's time we came clean? To the brass, to Shepard.." she sipped the amber liquid.
"What else do we have to lose at this point with the war finally over? Rebuilding is on everyone's mind. We should do the same, starting with our own family."
Hackett never considered he had a family. Until now.
"Yeah. I guess you're right. I should do better. For you both."
Hackett realised that Hannah was crying. "Oh Steve.. I don't want to hide anymore."
He put his glass down and took her into his embrace. "It's okay.. you've never stopped being my wife. Always know that."
"Thank you. Maybe.. I don't know..." She sniffed
"What?" Hackett raised an eyebrow
"Oh well, when Shepard gets better we can make it official again."
"Its a start." He smiled and took Hannah's face into his worn hands. Their eyes met and he wiped a tear away with a thumb. "and I want to make things right. I'm going to find Shepard's crew. I'm going to find the Normandy."
The crew had no idea how long they had been on the planet by the time the Normandy was considered, passably, to be spaceworthy. The days on the surface seemed to be quite fast, although few of the crew were born on Earth, and none of them had been back for a while. "It's amazing just how lost we've become without technology helping us do... everything", Adams said solemnly to the gathered engineers and senior officers. "Aye", Donnelly responded, "But if you want to wear a loincloth and live in a cave, go ahead." Gabby glared at Kenneth.
Garrus loudly exhaled. "Well, it seems like you've all done a pretty good job without technology. Most of the systems are back online, chief". "Yeah, all except communications and weapons". Garrus and Kaidan looked at each other. "So... two of the most important systems, then? One of which would be very useful right about now?" Kaidan asked, glibly. The engineers looked sheepishly at one another. Donnelly then piped up "Actually, we could fix the systems. The main problem is that our Eezo core is working at about 45% of normal capacity, and even with the new couplings you bought, the power draw would still cause-"
Daniels put a finger to her colleague's mouth. "Shush, Kenneth!" she snapped. "What we're trying to say is that if we wanted to fire our weapons at any point, we'd have to stop the ship dead... And turn off the artificial gravity... And life support..." Alenko raised an eyebrow. "...And all the lights." Garrus chuckled. "What, you've never had to shoot in complete darkness before? Or vacuum? The Alliance is beginning to disappoint me." The engineers began laughing, while Kaidan sighed. "What about communication? Adams?" The chief engineer cleared his throat "Well, the main issue is that the QEC system, like most others in the Normandy, operated through EDI at some level. While all the other systems can work independently of EDI's presence and influence, the communications were retrofitted after she was unshackled. Her interactions with the QEC were intrinsic to it's functionality. No EDI, no comms. Not for months, at least."
Kaidan looked down. "You know, I almost forgot about EDI. How... How's Joker taking it?" Chakwas shrugged "I don't know. He hasn't said a word about it to me since we crashed here. It's very unlike him." Garrus nodded "He's probably keeping it to himself until he can find the right person to shout at about it". "Well Garrus, why don't you go talk to him? You've... probably got more reason than most to sympathise." Garrus scoffed "Because I'm a bottomless well of sympathy, Alenko." while staring at the Major. Eventually, he sighed and looked down "Buuuut you're right. We're going to need our pilot if we're going to be able to use the ship we've spent all this time repairing." Garrus turned and walked to the ship. He stopped just short of the door, and turned round "But if I come back with his boot up my ass, it'll be going up yours, Major." Garrus then departed.
"Looking forward to it.", Kaidan responded.
"Shepard.." A soft whisper entered her ear. The familiar subvocals caused a shiver down her spine.
"I just want something to go right... just once."
They touched foreheads. Shepard's hand traced the scar on the Turians face. Supple fingers caressing the torn skin, remembering how he got them.
"You always tried to protect me Garrus. You never gave up, even when I died. I want this."
"Okay Shepard. I'm ready."
That was the first night they had shared their bodies and intertwined their souls. It was more than sex. It was love making. It didn't matter that they were heading into the Omega 4 Relay. It didn't matter that it was a suicide mission. They had each other and nothing was going to take that away.
But then Shepard woke up. She opened her eyes.
"Beep, beep, beep." went the monitor. Bright lights and white walls loomed over her head. "W-where am I?" She croaked out. Her vocal chords unused to making sounds, feeling unnatural with every breath.
When no response came she looked down at her hands. So many tubes. So many needles. She winced at the sight. This was more painful than when she woke up at Pinnacle Station with Miranda over the comm. Okay so she was in a hospital. Not her favourite place but at least it meant she was alive. Finally the Reapers were dead and she made it. For once Shepard didn't fight back. She let out a long sigh of relief and let her mind slip back into the coma.