Blinding light seared through Shepard's eyelids, refusing to let her catch one more minute of shut-eye. With a groan, she reluctantly rolled up into a sitting position and cracked her stiff bones. It was morning, and Shepard had a headache. And a need for bacon. And a need to barf. She wasn't sure in what order. Swallowing down her nausea and hunger, she noted that Liara was gone. On the small side table was a note from her; Liara had left earlier to go out on "business," whatever that meant.

A quick glance at her omni-tool gave her a sinking feeling. It was already noon, which was cutting into the time she'd have to ring up Joker and meet with him. Another disappointment was that Kaidan had not replied to her message from the previous night. Had he chalked it up to just late-night drunken rambling? Had he not wanted to respond because he didn't feel the same way? Maybe he had already put her behind him. Maybe he was with someone else last night. Maybe something happened, and he wasn't able to access his messages. Not enjoying her increasingly panic-ridden train of thought, Shepard starting to rub her temples in a weak effort to relieve pain. No. She wasn't going to regret sending the message. It was true, after all. Kaidan could think whatever he wanted to think.

Now came the moment of truth. Her hands began to sweat, and her fingers became shaky. Several deep breaths later, Shepard was calling Joker.

He picked up the call, but didn't answer with video, which Shepard was grateful for. She knew she probably looked like hell, and she didn't really want to see him in a state of disheveled despair. Nevertheless, Shepard could picture him when she heard his raspy, groggy voice.

"Shepard?"

All of her nerves felt like they were on fire. Her mouth dried up, and her mind drew a blank.

"Helloooo?" Joker repeated. "Anyone out there?"

"Yes, Joker, I'm here," Shepard managed to get out, her own voice varying in pitch from a rough night.

"Shepard. Wow. The hero of our universe. Require my services? Another galactic calamity to fix? Or is this a personal call?"

Yup. Jeff was up to his old joking hijinks, but his words were barbed. Shepard winced. "Sorry for not calling for you earlier."

He snorted. "It's been a while, that's for sure."

"Uh huh. I'm sorry about that." She hoped it sounded as sincere as she meant it. "I've been meaning to ask... can we get together and talk?"

"About what?" Joker asked bluntly.

"There's... there's just stuff that I want to say. And I figured we could catch up. Ooh, we could go for sushi!" Shepard tried to sound as upbeat and positive as she could.

"Not really in the mood for sushi, Commander." Commander? The formal title felt like a punch to the gut. "But I guess we could meet."

"Great, great. Your place or somewhere else?"

"How about yours?"

A private place would be preferable for a conversation dealing with such confidential matters.

"Fine."

"Okay. You're at the rehab center over in the West Side, right? Liara told me. I'll be there in 15."

"What-" Shepard blurted, but he had already ended the call. Fifteen minutes? She was probably not going to make it there in time. Shepard called him up again, but no answer. After weighing the options, she hustled out of the building and called up a taxi as fast as possible.

In the taxi, she brushed her hair with her fingers and attempted to smooth out her rumpled clothes. Shepard had the cab pull to the back of the facility. While she wasn't hospitalized or kept in a prison, she had been on the receiving end of too many disapproving looks from the medical staff for not coming home at night or other unhealthy behaviors which would supposedly hinder her recovery.

There was a securely locked door at the back, but there was also a friendly custodian taking out the trash who let her in without a second glance. Being Commander Shepard had its benefits sometimes. Her omni-tool told her that she had spoken with Joker nearly half an hour ago. Shit. Well, at least in her rush to get over, she didn't have time to start second-guessing the plan.

She stealthy moved through the hallways, hiding behind the corner whenever she overheard the voices of her least favorite staff members. Shepard made it to the lobby and gave a big smile to the receptionist.

"Someone here for me?"

"Yes, a Mr. Moreau. He checked in here, but said he was going to step out after a while."

"Thanks so much." Shepard prayed that he hadn't gotten tired of waiting and had just taken off.

Hurrying through the glass doors, she walked out onto the front entrance walkway. There were grass lawns flanking the path, and to the side were a bench and a rose garden where patients frequently sat down for a rest during their physical therapy walks. She spotted a man with brown hair over there. Joker. He wasn't sporting his old Normandy baseball cap, and Shepard was surprised to see a little bald spot at the back of his head. She approached him cautiously.

"Joker?"

He looked up at her. Sure enough, it was him, but he looked tired and significantly older than the last time she had seen him. Shepard was pleased to see his eyes warm a bit when she greeted him.

"Hey, Shepard."

Shepard knew it was a risk, but she went in for a quick, light hug. Despite her initial hesitance, he actually hugged her in return. "Long time, no see," she whispered breathlessly.

"Feels like a century ago."

They pulled apart and scoped each other out. Joker's clothes hung loosely on him, but they were clean and in good condition. Casual wear, not a pilot's attire.

"Nice legs."

Huh? She was wearing jeans. Apparently, her cuff had rolled up to expose her mechanical leg during the rush to meet up with him. Shepard knew there wasn't any reason to be embarrassed, but her face flushed as she tugged her jeans back down over it. When she looked back up at him, his face was set in a confused frown. Joker was staring at her chest.

Now she was confused. Joker wasn't one for checking her out, especially so obviously. Shepard pointed her head down and also frowned when she spotted a tiny red dot on her neckline. Drink or food from last night was the answer her brain sluggishly came up with, but then the little mark hovered and moved.

All of a sudden, something solid was slamming into her, and she hit the paved garden path with a thunk. The back of Shepard's head hit the concrete, making a dull sound that made her want to be sick. She then felt a secondary wave of shock.

It was heavy. It was a man on top of her. It was Joker. His face was pained, and he was screaming something at her. Her chest and stomach started to feel wet. Why was it wet?

Shepard inhaled deeply. Someone had been shot. There was a sniper. She didn't feel any pain except for her head, so perhaps she hadn't been shot. But Joker was on top of her, which meant he had most likely taken a bullet.

Times like this, Shepard wished she was a biotic. Or had Kaidan around. A shield would have been priceless at the moment. Without one, they sitting ducks for whatever jackass was trying to kill them. Luckily, she still had her arm strength. Shepard managed to rise up and grasp Joker. She dragged him as fast as she could to the doors and inside the building. Shepard moved erratically to try and throw the sniper off, though she knew it was a pointless endeavor. In the space of time it took to arrive indoors, she had noted the sound of four shots. One hit the pavement near Joker's body, one had hit her leg and sent sparks flying, and one had grazed her neck. The last one had gotten Joker again. She heard him scream.

People inside had heard the commotion and were panicking. They saw her and started to back away.

"Lock the doors! Call an ambulance! Get me doctors, quick!" She barked orders to anyone who was listening and could help. Shepard got a good distance away from the windows and the door, and she finally laid Joker down on the ground.

His eyes were open, and he was conscious. One gunshot wound to the abdomen, and one to the chest. She gently tilted his body. No, make that a gunshot wound to the upper back; the one at his chest was an exit would. He had taken it in the back for her. Blood was leaking through his clothes. She pulled at his shirt to examine them. The bullets had been hollowpoints, maybe even armor-piercing ammo, resulting in what appeared to be serious damage. Who knows if they were cryo ammo or whatever else as well.

In the back of her mind, Shepard knew the sniper was still out there, and that there may be other assassins roaming around after her, but she didn't care. Shepard wasn't going anywhere. If she was going to sink with the ship - again- so be it.

Though rife with panic, she managed to quell the bleeding somewhat by using her shirt. Her battlefield instincts were still there, but it had been a while, and her damn emotions were getting in the way. Joker looked shocked, and she was sure he was actually in shock too.

"Jeff… Jeff," her voice quivered. She could see him struggling to stay awake. She needed to hold his attention and prevent him from slipping into darkness. Shepard blurted out the first thing that came to mind before she could stop herself, the thing that had been at the forefront of her mind before everything had gone to hell. "I killed EDI."

Joker's eyes got even bigger. His mouth formed words, but nothing came out. It was clear, however, that he wanted some follow-up to her sudden confession. She wanted a change of subject, but there was no going back now.

"The Crucible… there was this AI boy, and he made me choose between three awful things."

Even in pain and severely injured, he gave her a look that said he thought she was out of her mind.

"Trust me, it happened. I think. In order to get rid of the Reapers for good, it meant shutting down the relays, the geth… and EDI."

Joker visibly winced. Shepard began crying.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry. I'm so, so sorry. I knew what it meant, I didn't want to, but I had to."

It was getting tricky to see Joker because her eyes were so watery, but she saw the red blur across his torso grow bigger and bigger. Her hands were warm and slick with his blood. Shepard could feel it gushing between her fingers, a sickening sensation she had felt before and didn't enjoy.

"I understand." Jeff whispered. It was barely audible, but she had picked it up. Shepard, careful to not spread blood across her face, wiped at her eyes with the crook of her elbow. Full vision restored, she noted that his face had gone a ghastly white.

"You just took a bullet for me. Not okay! I killed EDI, don't you understand? Not okay!" her hands pressed on the main wound even harder, though she was afraid of breaking his ribs.

Jeff's lips, firmly pressed together, managed to turn up at the corners. "I'm going to see her."

"See her where? Heaven? Do…" Shepard stopped herself. It would be of no help to question whether artificial intelligence had a spot at the bar in the afterlife. And just like that, Joker's eyes twitched and closed.

"Wait a second! Don't think you're going to join her just now! You're not!" Shepard screamed, releasing her hands from the wound to check his pulse. It was there, but faint.

"Ashley, too." Shepard heard him over the sound of her own gasping breaths. Oh, Ashley. Shepard began crying harder, her heart contracting painfully.

"Stop it! You're going to be fine! I won't let you die!"

Joker's eyes opened at that, and his hand weakly grasped at her wrist. "My turn."

"You weren't supposed to do that! I'm the one that takes the hits for the team, got it!" Shepard had stopped shouting. She didn't have the energy anymore.

"Joker," she cried, laying her forehead down on him. The fingers that were pressed to his neck fell away. The light thump of his heartbeat had fallen silent.

Hands grabbed at Shepard, dragging her away from him. It appeared the emergency cavalry had arrived. She struggled to inch back to Joker, but eventually stopped resisting. Medi-gel and a defibrillator were used by the doctors and nurses right in front of her. Through gaps in the cluster of people huddled around him, she could see his body shake with the electric shocks. They kept on going, but in less than twenty minutes, they had halted their efforts. Shepard wanted to yell at them to not give up, but she saw the red pool around him as the doctors started to back away. She slipped out of the grasp of her handlers and sunk to her knees. Joker was gone. And in a lifetime full of witnessed casualties, this one already hurt the most.

And with that, we say goodbye to Joker. A hard chapter to write. Thanks so much for your reviews, as always.