Interlude: After the Fall

"Shot through the heart, and you're too late, honey you-" Joker scrambled to take the call on his omni-tool and cut off the song that was blaring through the Normandy's cockpit. He was definitely going to have to get EDI back for that one. The crap she managed to scrounge up for his ring-tones... Still half-asleep and bleary-eyed, it took him a moment to recognize the face that appeared on his omni-tool's display.

"Wha- Kaidan?" Kaidan Alenko was probably the last person he'd expected to see calling him, unless there was some kind of emergency. The realization jolted him to full alertness.

"Look, Joker," Kaidan began, "I thought about what you said, about doing this for her, and, well, you're right. She needs everyone standing behind her, and us... me fighting with you isn't..."

Damnit, he didn't care about any of that. "How is she?"

"Huh?"

Seriously, if Kaidan wasn't overreacting to something, he was being completely fucking dense. "Shepard. Is she okay? She was pretty fucked up before."

Kaidan blinked, seemingly surprised at Joker's display of emotion. Sure, he might have a thing or two to work on in the empathy department, but he was more than just the Normandy's comic relief. "She's asleep," he finally said. "Beyond that... I want to say she'll get over it and come back even stronger, but I just don't know. It's a lot to have resting on any one person."

Joker had seen Shepard beaten and bruised. He'd seen her struggle, physically and emotionally. He'd heard her promise him, at his lowest point, that they'd get their crew back, then watched her come through and bring everyone home safe. But only once before had he seen her despair. "Just a reminder that I lost more than time."

"Well, you know what you have to do, then, Kaidan."

"What's that?"

"Hold her up."

Cathy Alenko hummed to herself as she put the last of the peaches away. It had been long work, canning them all, but it had been worth it. Ben had made sure she had enough protein rations to last a good long while, but it was nice to have something sweet to supplement them. The apples would be ripening soon, now, and fortunately they would keep a bit longer unpreserved than the peaches. She'd have to dry them, eventually, but maybe all this would be over by then. She might even go ahead and bake a pie.

Ben had always loved her apple pie, and the thought of it made her miss him terribly. They'd said no body had been found, but she knew in her heart he was gone. She hadn't heard from Lori since all this started, but she was a smart girl and with luck would have gotten somewhere safe. And Kaidan had messaged her just last week. Nothing big, just letting her know he was alive, and safe, for the moment.

She'd expected it, of course. Her son was a survivor. Just the fact that he'd been born without complications, after that damned freighter accident, had been the first miracle. Every doctor's visit, every test, she'd waited anxiously, until the fear in her heart turned to relief, and over time, cautious optimism that he had, in fact, been one of the lucky ones.

And the day he'd finally come home from Jump Zero, after those two long years away, nearly a man, broken, but alive, all she could do was take him in her arms, grateful that he'd made it back to them, even as her husband cursed the circumstances that had taken him away.

And somehow, after everything, he'd not just survived, he'd thrived. He was out there, somewhere, fighting for them all. And she knew that if there was anyone left to come back to her, it would be Kaidan.

Matt Tyler surveyed the perimeter of the camp as the last rays of sun began to fade, piercing red in the smoky air. He spotted Michelle perched on a chunk of blacktop that had once been part of a road, before a Reaper's claw had dug it up and tossed it aside like a child playing in the sand. Her face was blank as she gazed out over the ruined city. Silently, he took a seat beside her.

She looked up at him. "This is fucked up."

Matt could only nod in agreement. From Chicago they'd gone to Detroit, then Toronto, then just a few days ago a shuttle had arrived to take them to London. The pilot, a young man with sandy brown hair who looked fresh out of high school, had told them that everybody was needed in London, that something big was going down.

And he'd been right. London had been something else. Reapers had hit here hard, worse than anything they'd seen so far. The destruction made it hard to believe there had actually been a thriving city here just a few months ago. But now, Major Alenko's prediction about the action they'd be getting had come true in spades. They'd been thrown into combat almost as soon as they arrived, and Tyler had lost his first man just hours later. "It's not something you can plan for," Alenko had told him months ago, as he prepared Tyler for command. "But somehow you have to just learn how to take it, and keep going." So he did.

"You think we're gonna make it through this?" Michelle asked. Matt wasn't sure. He couldn't take heart in the news they'd gotten, that Commander Shepard and the Normandy had located a key piece of tech that would help them defeat the Reapers. Seeing what he was seeing, it was hard to pin his hopes on something he couldn't see in front of him.

But he knew Michelle wasn't looking for honesty. She was looking for reassurance. She was looking for a reason to get up in the morning and bust her ass fighting the enemy. So he smiled and told her, "Yeah. I really do."

"Hannah."

Hannah Shepard looked up, surprised to hear Hackett's voice. It wasn't like him to drop by her office, especially unannounced. Then again, he didn't seem to be treating this like an entirely professional encounter. Without even waiting for a response, he removed his cap and seated himself in one of the chairs across from her desk. So Hannah kept her response equally informal.

"What the hell happened to you?"

"It's looking bad, Hannah. We're holding Earth, barely, but our defenses are wearing thin. The Fleet's still holding together, maintaining offensive actions, but with so many colonies taken out it's gutting our supply lines hard. And earlier today Commander Shepard came across a Prothean VI on Thessia with information on the Crucible, including the Catalyst. And Cerberus got their hands on it before she could get what we needed. Things are coming to a head, and fast."

"If Cerberus stole it out from under her, she'll waste no time in getting it back. Elisa's pretty damn dangerous when you piss her off."

"I wish I could agree with you, but you didn't see her afterward. I barely even recognized her, like Cerberus stole the fight right out of her when they stole that VI."

Hannah frowned. The daughter she knew did not give up so easily. She had to believe that Elisa would spring back from this setback as she had from so many others. But this war was enough to infect even the stoic Admiral facing her with bouts of pessimism, and it showed.

"You've looked better, yourself, sir." He waved a hand at her, dismissing the formality. "When was the last time you slept?"

"Are you going to mother me, too, then?"

She gave him a sad smile. "Only because no one else would dare. You have a room here for a reason. Get some sleep. I need to send a message to my daughter."

"Damnit!" Miranda's remaining contacts within Cerberus were few, but honest. She didn't trust them entirely, of course; Niket had taught her that. Still, Michael's promptness in contacting her was appreciated, and evidence in his favor. Shepard had found information to help the Alliance complete the Prothean anti-Reaper device, and Kai Leng had stolen it from her, and he was on his way there.

And if Kai Leng had it, so did the Illusive Man. She wondered if it have been better off for her to have stayed with Cerberus. She didn't doubt her ability to work the double-agent angle-she'd been undercover before-and if she'd been the one confronting Shepard in that Thessian temple, this could all be over right now.

Miranda approached the small shelter that she shared with Oriana. It was a few kilometers away from the main settlement, tucked in among the mountains, well-hidden. "Oriana," she called softly as she opened the door. The inside of the trailer was a mess. A spilled drink covered a tabletop. Datapads lay scattered across the floor. Oriana was nowhere to be seen.

It was a sloppy kidnapping job if she'd ever seen one. It wouldn't have taken long to tidy the place up, make it look like nothing was amiss, leave her to speculate on a hundred other reasons why her sister wasn't there. Her father clearly wanted Miranda to know that he was responsible. He wanted her to come after Ori. Well, she wasn't about to disappoint him. Miranda checked her weapons, grabbed an energy bar to eat on the way, then raced out the door.