Post-Mass Effect 3

Consciousness returned abruptly and painfully to Melanie Shepard. Her whole body was in agony: cracked ribs, a broken leg, blood loss, burns; the last time she'd been hurt this badly, they'd declared her dead. As she tried to get to her feet, something blocked her. A piece of debris, she saw, and then it all came rushing back: the Illusive Man, the Catalyst, her decision, and she realized that what was left of the Citadel had crashed down around her after she shot the power conduit. She had survived the explosion, but if she didn't get free soon, it wouldn't matter.

With what strength she had left, she pushed against the beam. In her weakened state, she could barely budge it, and as spikes of pain shot through her, she slumped down, her body demanding rest she can't give it. Lying in the rubble, her every breath pained, her hopes surged when, in the distance, she heard voices she recognized as krogan.

"What a crap job."

"No shit. Nothing alive down here. Why the fuck do we have to sift through all this junk anyway?"

"Shut up you useless Pyjaks! You'll do it because otherwise I'll cave your whining heads in!"

Wrex! Shepard would know the sound of his contempt anywhere and she'd never been happier to hear it. She tried to call to him, but all that came out was a harsh whisper, her throat parched and burned. Bracing herself against the rubble, she tried again to move it. Her cracked ribs screamed in protest as she strained but she could take pain and she couldn't die down here, not with help so close, not when she had a last chance to get back to Liara.

She only lifted the girder a few inches, but that's all she'd been trying for this time. As it crashed back down, the clanging of metal on metal resounded through the cavernous space. She collapsed, spent, but even as she did, she heard Wrex's booming footsteps as he rushed through the debris towards her.

"Shepard!" he bellowed, pulling aside the girder. As she slid back into unconsciousness, she felt his short, strong arms lifting her out of the wreckage and heard his gruff voice growling on the com for a medic.

She awoke in a familiar way; in a medical bed hearing the sound of Miranda Lawson's voice. She felt considerably better than she had on the Citadel, her wounds tended to and her body pumped full of painkillers, but she was still far from well.

"Shepard? Can you hear me?"

"Miranda? Where am I?" The commander's voice was a pained rasp, her throat still raw.

"On an Alliance medical ship. You've been unconscious for about 10 days since Wrex found you."

Shepard's head was still fuzzy and though speech hurt, she had to know. "What happened?"

Miranda gave her a rare smile. "You did it. The Crucible worked. We won."

"Liara? The Normandy?"

"They're fine. They were a jump out when the Mass Relays were damaged, but we've been in contact on the QECs. They'll be back as soon as the relays are working again, in a week or two probably. Everyone's been working around the clock on it. In the meantime, you should get some more rest, Shepard. It's a miracle you're alive." Miranda was not wrong, and the Specter could only nod, relieved, before slumping back onto her pillow.

She slept again, drifting in and out of wakefulness while the doctors and machines healed her. Her dreams were a jumble: memories of war, of Liara, of the final moments on the Citadel that no one else knew about. It was hard to process all of it, especially lying in a hospital bed, so she just tried to sleep. Now, with the war done, she had plenty of time.

Word had spread quickly that Shepard was alive, but Miranda kept most of the prospective visitors away from her patient, admirals and politicians being firmly informed that Shepard was not able to speak with them. Reluctantly, and at Melanie's insistence, she did make one exception however.

"Shepard," the krogan chuckled when he walked into the room, "You look like crap."

"Good to see you too, Wrex. Miranda said you never gave up on finding me." Her voice, though still hoarse, had mostly recovered and she could speak with minimal discomfort.

"Heh. You always were one pretty tough human. The Primarch thought you were probably dead, but since when has a turian ever had an idea worth listening to?"

"Well, thank god for krogan stubbornness. You came through when it counted, with the Reapers, and for me."

"Hell, you've done plenty for us too. I shouldn't stay too long; for a human female, your nursemaid is trouble." As Melanie gave him the best offended look she could muster, he laughed and added, "Reminds me a little of you, Shepard."

A few days after Wrex's visit, Miranda brought Shepard the news she'd been waiting for: the Normandy had returned. As soon as she heard, Melanie started extracting herself from the tubes and sheets keeping her in bed. She'd expected to have to argue with Miranda, but the former Cerberus operative surprised her by helping her to her feet instead.

"There's a spare uniform in the dresser," she said when Melanie had found her footing. "Let me give you some space to change."

"Wait, Miranda. Before you go, I just wanted to say that that's twice you've brought me back now. I owe you."

"No, you don't. You saved Oriana and you saved me too. If you hadn't gotten me to leave Cerberus, it's doubtful I would have lived long enough to repay the favor."

"Well, I guess I'll have to live more carefully from now on. Hopefully, neither of you will need any more saving."

"The galaxy does seem to be a somewhat safer place now, thanks in large part to you. Try not to overstrain yourself in the next few days, but going forward, you should be fine; your recovery thus far has been quite impressive. Clearly the upgrades I put into you last time paid off."

"Better than new. I guess Cerberus did get at least one thing right."

"Of course, Shepard. You were my project after all." Melanie laughed as her former XO left the room, pleased to feel her throat was back to normal.

Bending and stretching to get out of her hospital gown and into the uniform hurt, and as she walked to the shuttle bay, Shepard's right leg throbbed every time she put weight on it. Miranda had supplied a cane in case she needed it, but she'd left it back in the room. Compared to what she'd been through already, the pain was nothing and she wanted to make this trip on her own terms.

When she got to the hanger, she was pleasantly surprised to find Steve Cortez waiting to fly her back. "It's the least I could do," he told her as she climbed gingerly aboard the shuttle. "Besides," he added with a laugh, "I should check on how much trouble James has gotten into while I've been gone."

On the flight to the Normandy, Melanie's thoughts went to her past reunions with Liara: on Illium, Mars, the Citadel, but none of them prepared her for this. The first two times, they hadn't been together, and her battle to retake Omega from Cerberus didn't end with her presumed dead. She could only speculate on what had gone through her lover's mind since they'd been separated. She remembered the way her heart had almost stopped in the instant when she thought Harbinger's blast might have killed Liara, and this must have been so much worse. She'd promised the scientist that they'd be together at the end and then she'd put her through this; she only hoped that Liara could forgive her.