Author's Note:

I'm back… ish. Took a while to churn this one out. Lots of stuff going on in my life, but enough about that; Here's the final chapter.

Chapter 28

Sean groggily opened his eyes. Slowly and steadily his vision returned to him. The grey metallic ceiling of the Normandy greeted him. He let out a groan of pain as his other senses settled in. His entire body ached and throbbed and his stomach growled angrily at him.

He paused as he looked around the room. Confusion set in. He was in his room, sleeping in his own bed. Normally he would cherish the comfort and warmth of his bed, but everything felt off. He had no memory of what happened the previous day. "Not this again." Sean grumbled rubbing his hand across his face as he propped himself up.

"Oh good you're awake." Chakwas said walking forward to the side of the bed.

"What happened?" Sean asked, head still swimming in confusion.

"You lost quite a bit of blood yesterday from the injuries you sustained inside the Collector base. I need to check up on you." Chakwas said. Then began to slowly lift Sean's shirt.

Sean looked down to see a large bloody bandage strapped across his abdomen. "Yeah, I remembered being helped back by Mordin. What happened between that and now?" Sean asked as Chakwas began to inspect his wound.

"Well when I saw you, you were quite pale… I quickly patched you up. The medical bay filled up quickly so brought you down to your room to recover." Chakwas said as she began to gingerly remove his bandages.

"Ah… I guess that would explain why I feel so lightheaded."

"You look much better, and so does your wound. Looks like all you need is one more injection."

"Injection?" was all Sean could say before Chakwas jammed a syringe of Omni gel to his wound. His vision flashed red for a second, and then quickly returned to normal. Cringing, Sean said, "Thanks a lot doc."

"Doctor?" A familiar voice said from the doorway, causing Sean to quickly turn. "Sean?" Tali said, surprise in her voice.

"Tali…" Sean said as a smile crept up his face.

"I'll leave you two be." Chakwas said standing up and taking her supplies with her.

Tali quickly moved over to Sean's bedside. Sitting down she gave Sean a tight hug. "I thought you were still recovering, or so I was told."

"Well I guess I still am." Sean said prodding his bandage. He looked up and just stared at Tali quietly.

"What?" Tali asked confused.

"I don't know… I guess I'm just happy." Sean said smiling, "It's been a long time since I could say that without lying."

"I'm just glad to see that you're alive." Tali said leaning up against Sean's chest.

Sean smiled and held Tali tightly.

One Week Later

The Normandy was silent, but Sean enjoyed the silence, it felt almost serene. No quiet pitter-patter of Gabby and Ken moving around Engineering, no thumps from the Port Cargo, nothing. Sean quietly stared up into the core once again. This time he wasn't worried. Only one thing was on his mind, it left an empty feeling in his stomach.

"Sean." Shepard greeted him, walking up beside him, "I had a feeling I would see you here. Tali said this was the favorite place on the ship."

"Yeah." Was all Sean could say, his voice slightly cracking.

"You know you don't have to leave." Shepard reminded him, "The ship will be different without you."

"I know, I know." Sean said, still looking at the core, "It's just so much has happened in so little time. I just need some time to take a breather. You know… before the Reaper invasion."

"I understand." Shepard said nodding.

"Commander, we have docked on Earth." Joker's voice said over the intercom.

"Come on, I'd like to see you out." Shepard said ushering Sean forward.

The walk to the airlock was long and painful. Every step Sean felt a piece of him being torn out. He kept reminding himself that it was only a few weeks. The thought of returning put his mind at ease, for a moment. As he looked up from the ground he saw Tali waiting besides the door. He flashed a painful smile.

"I can't believe you're leaving us!" Tali said, anger in her voice.

"It's going to only be-" Sean began, but Tali cut him off.

"I mean you come on board and become part of the crew and you're just going to leave us? How? How can you do that to us? How can you do that to me?" Tali said, her eyes welling up with tears.

"Tali, I know. It hurts me just as much." Sean said embracing Tali, "I just need some time to recuperate. This entire journey has tested every fiber of me."

"But you can't." Tali protested, tears rolling down her face.

"It'll only be for a couple of weeks." Sean said opening up his Omni tool and pressing some of the buttons, "There. That's everything you'll need. I'll keep in constant contact while I'm gone."

"I'll miss you." Tali said, squeezing Sean tightly.

"I will too." Sean said returning the hug. Tali slowly let go and stepped back, sniffing. "Shepard." Sean said extending his hand, "It's been an honor serving with you."

Shaking his hand Shepard said, "It's been an honor having you on my squad."

Sean smiled weakly as he stepped onto the airlock. He turned around and watched the interior of the Normandy disappear behind the thick doors of the airlock. As the second doors opened the natural light of Earth flooded in. Sean took a deep breath and stepped off and onto the dock.