"We will not last much longer, Shepard!" Samara grunted as she popped the heat sink in her assault rifle.

"I know." Shepard glanced down at her omni-tool to see how long they had been trying to beat back the darkspawn. "Just a bit longer. Hopefully the Kodiak is almost here."

Kasumi leaned over. "Uh, Shep, how is the Kodiak supposed to get us out of here?"

"The Cain blew a hole in the wall over there." Shepard jerked her head in the direction of the decently sized hole. "We'll get out through there."

"Oh, that's good. But there's a gigantic bird coming through that hole right now."

Just as Shepard turned to look, a large black bird swooped into the room and snatched up Alistair in one of its claws. Yelling, Shepard stepped out of cover and began firing shots at the bird, trying to get its attention. In response, the bird suddenly changed into an old woman who was standing with one foot on Alistair's back. "I'm here to get you people out of here! Stop trying to hurt me!" Then she morphed back into the massive bird and picked Shepard up in her free claw.

"Samara!" Shepard screamed over the darkspawn. Samara broke into a run and managed to grab onto Shepard's outstretched hand. Their hands slapped onto each other's wrists and formed a secure grip. The mage tried to catch Samara's hand but was run through by a darkspawn.

Kasumi cloaked and sprinted over. She shouted at Alistair, "Hold out your hand!" Unsure of what to do since he couldn't see her, Alistair hesitated a moment before extending his hand in what he thought was the direction Kasumi was coming from. The bird cleared the tower. Kasumi de-cloaked before making the jump and managed to catch Alistair's arm in a similar hold. "Don't you drop me, pretty boy, or I will come back and haunt your ass!"

They flew a fair distance away from the tower before they came upon the Kodiak. It followed the bird's path but kept its distance.

"Shepard," Miranda's voice came through Shepard's ear piece. "do you need any assistance?"

"No, we're fine. This bird is actually an old woman who's trying to help us. She's taking us away from the battle; we should be in good hands. Follow us until we land.

"We have the king and Duncan with us. The king is injured, I don't know how severely."

Mordin's voice interrupted, "King requires medical attention. Proper care only available on Normandy. Request permission to return to the Normandy first."

"Granted, get the king to Doctor Chakwas."

Shepard stood in front of Flemeth's house waiting for the Kodiak to return. Alistair came up next to her. "Well, that battle was a disaster. At least the king and Duncan survived, I suppose."

She turned to him with a smile. "Yeah, good thing. It should be easy to expose Loghain's treachery now." Then she sighed. "But all those people that died... It's not fair."

Alistair didn't say anything for a moment. Then he blurted out suddenly, "Are you going to join us? Loghain's probably got an army at Denerim just waiting for survivors like us. We could use your help."

"If the circumstances were different, I would help, but I've got other things I've got to do," Shepard replied neutrally.

"What other things could you possibly have to do? There's a Blight coming! Nothing's more important than a Blight."

Shepard offered Alistair a sad smile. "There are more important things in Orlais and that's all I can say."

Alistair looked like he was going to argue but was silenced by the arrival of the Kodiak. The shuttle touched down a ways away from the house. Garrus, Miranda, the king, and Duncan exited and made their way towards them. Shepard couldn't help but grin at the sight of Garrus. She crossed the last distance between them and accepted his hug

"Good to see you," she said when he let go.

"Good to see you too. Looks like you were right this time. You are indestructible."

She laughed. "Told you so." She looked over at the king, who still looked a bit shaky on his feet, and Duncan. "I'm glad you two made it."

"We're grateful as well, Ayn," Duncan replied. "Loghain's betrayal was unexpected."

"We need to get to Denerim and confront him!" the king stated. "He needs to be exposed for what he is."

"Your Majesty, we can't go directly to Denerim. It's too dangerous. Loghain will have his army with him. We must first gather allies using the Grey Warden treaties."

The king thought for a moment. "You're right, Duncan. Who shall we approach first?"

"Before you do that, I have a gift I would like to send with you," Flemeth interrupted. Samara and Kasumi came out of the house after her. "Morrigan, come here."

"Yes, mother?" Morrigan drawled.

"You will be accompanying the king and the Grey Wardens."

"What? Mother, you can't be serious!"

"You have always wanted to leave here. I am giving you that opportunity. They need your help, Morrigan."

"I…I understand," Morrigan sighed, relenting to her mother's will.

Shepard coughed politely. They all looked at her expectantly. "I'm sure you'll do well in your mission, but I must take my leave." Kasumi and Samara walked over to her side and stood behind her. They had all heard Joker's message about how the Normandy was operational again. "Good luck. And Alistair," Shepard pulled out her pistol and twirled it so that the butt was pointed at Alistair. "I want you to have this. It has twelve shots. Just point and pull the trigger. Don't lock out your elbows when you shoot. Prepare for the recoil. And uh, this goes without saying, save those shots."

Alistair stared at the gun. Then he backed away with his palms facing outward. "I can't take this."

"Take it, I can get another one. Consider this as me helping you even when I can't join you."

After another moment, Alistair relented and gingerly took the gun from Shepard's hand. "Thank you, Ayn."

"Don't mention it. Now we will be taking our leave." Shepard turned to the assembled group behind her. "Let's load up."

As the Kodiak lifted off and began climbing, Shepard looked out the window. She watched the three men wave. Miranda followed her gaze. "Do you think they'll accomplish what they're setting out to do?"

"I've got no doubts. They'll be just fine. Besides, we won't have time to worry about them if we get back. We have our own problems to deal with."

"True," Miranda concurred.

Shepard walked quickly towards Joker. "Tell me you've got some idea of how to get us out of here."

"Tired of this place already? From what Kasumi told me, it seems like a cool place to stay. You could get away with anything if you just told them, 'it's magic'." He punctuated his statement with a laugh. Shepard gave him an exasperated look. "Okay, okay, I get it; we don't have time to swindle these people. EDI's been running some scans and she thinks that this isn't even really a planet. It's another dimension of sorts."

"So how do we get out?"

"EDI says all we have to do is leave the atmosphere and that'll be enough to put us out of sync with this dimension and something about the balance of dimensions should put us back in our proper one. I don't really get it. All I know is that we have to leave the atmosphere."

Shepard stared at Joker. A part of her wanted to ask him if he was joking, but she decided against it. "Well, it's better than just sitting here. Punch it."A few moments later, the whole Normandy shuddered, much like it had when they had first arrived. After regaining her balance, Shepard asked, "So where are we now?"

Joker paused. "Hey, look, it's Ilium! We're back!" He turned to Shepard. "Now what do you say to another couple of days off? You guys worked your butts off fighting those monsters right? Right?"

"I…I suppose maybe a day off. I have to go see Liara and we have to get some more ammo again…"

"You are a wise commander, Commander."

"You said that on purpose."

"That I did."

Author's Notes: Well, it's done. Last explanation is...not the best. But really, what can they do? Hope you enjoyed it. I had fun writing it and discussing it with my friends. Brought a lot of laughs, at least for me. Thanks for reading and reviewing!