[AUTHOR'S NOTE: SORRY FOR THE DELAY IN POSTING, GUYS, AND SORRY IT'S TAKING SO LONG TO GET INTO PLOT. CHRISTMAS AND FAMILY LIFE HAS BEEN TAKING IT'S TOLL ON ME. I PLAN TO HAVE CHAPTER 3 WITH YOU AS SOON AS POSSIBLE SO WE CAN GET ON TO ACTUAL PLOT. HOPE YOU'RE GETTING INTO THE STORY SO FAR...]

Garrus

"Shepard! NO!" He screamed, running to her as fast as he could. The beam hit her. Oily shadows, dragging her down. A building nearby collapsed, scattering rubble over the unconscious, prone form of his mate. Garrus panicked, the thought of losing her eliciting a pained howl from his throat. When at last he reached her, he began lifting chunks of rubble away. He pulled her, limp and frail from the rubble, her face covered in thick, claret blood and matting into her hairline. Such beautiful auburn hair, so fascinating and alien... Just like the woman herself. He tried checking for a pulse at her neck. Nothing. An eternity stretched before him, holding the small, pale woman in his arms.
"Shep... You can't leave me. Not again."

Garrus woke with a start, panting heavily. Looking at the clock, he considered his next move. 05.00 GMT, suppose it's as good an hour to get up as any, he thought, before rolling out of bed and into the shower.

Shepard

Shepard was tired, bored and increasingly exasperated with her lingering time in the National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery, London. She didn't like sitting still at the best of times, and even less so when people were checking up on her every five minutes and lecturing her as if she were a child.

"Doctor, I'm fine. Honestly. I know my name, my date of birth, my entire life history! I can walk, talk and I would dance, but as my partner would tell you, I couldn't do that before I got hit by a reaper beam. If at all possible, I think my memory might well be better now than it ever has been. Please just get Dr. Chakwas in here. She's been my doctor for years on the Normandy, she knows me better than any other physician. She also knows very well that I don't like hospitals, and would recover much better if I could be on my ship, having a few weeks R&R," Shepard sighed and drew a slow, calming breath. "I want to be with my partner. I want to sleep in my own bed. Just let me have that."

The Salarian doctor eyed Shepard with a suspicious gaze. "Very well, Commander. I will put in a request for Dr. Chakwas to take over your care, and get the paperwork started so you can be home soon," he brightened up a little, or so she thought. He turned to walk away, but shot a glance over his shoulder at the door. "Although, Commander, expect quite a lecture from the good Doctor. She was... Somewhat worried about you while you were here." Then off he strode, as fast as his nimble little legs would carry him.

Shepard sighed once more and climbed from her bed, padding softly to the wardrobe to see if she had been left any clothes. She smiled at what she found there, her favourite black tshirt and loose, cotton pants - the ones she threw on straight out of bed most mornings, before she went sparring with Garrus and Vega. Pulling them on over the various sore welts across her skin was like walking through fire, but well worth it to have another little part of her life back.

Of course most of her life would be different now... It had to be. She finally had a chance at a future. A chance to have a home that wasn't on a ship. The last 32 years of her life had been spent in space, at first with her mother Hannah, and then when she enlisted at 18. The possibility was scary and fascinating, all at once. Where would she go now? What would she do? Should she retire and settle down? What about that Turian-Human baby Garrus mentioned before the final push to the Conduit?

She tried to imagine what their child might look like. A small, soft, chubby little person with Garrus's eyes and nose, a slightly smaller mandible structure than the Turian average, human skin and lips, blunt omnivore teeth behind them, the turian fringe structure with a soft smattering of hair across it. Three fingers or five (including the opposable thumb present in both species, of course)? Shepard tried to put the thought to the back of her mind for now, knowing full well that it wasn't likely, unless they could find an exceptional geneticist the equal of her old friend Mordin Solus... Who, like so many others now, was dead.

A throat-clearing cough at the door pulled her from her reverie. "Commander?" called Dr. Karin Chakwas from the door. "How are you feeling?"
"Like hell, Karin, but about 75 percent of that is just being in here," Shepard gestured around the room, indicating the hospital at large. "I'm sore and tired, I just want to go home. Be with Garrus. The usual stuff."
Dr. Chakwas walked over to Shepard, examining her silently, in the manner of an old friend rather than a physician. "You look it, Shepard, but I don't think it's anything we can't fix with time and medigel. You might have a few scars though, but I can't see Garrus being too bothered. I think the man is just glad to have you alive..." Karin paused, visibly erring about how to phrase her next point. "You died again, Shepard. Your Cerberus implants saved your brain long enough for them transport you back here and get your heart started, but that was a damned close call. Don't ever do that to us again." Her voice was a whisper at this point, and there were tears in the older woman's eyes. Shepard put an arm around her friend to pull her close and replied earnestly."I won't. I promise. Now let's get the hell out of here."

The United Races Council
(Formerly The Citadel Council)

"We have a lot of work to do," began the Asari Councillor. "Not only must we replace the Human representative quickly and efficiently, but we must also begin work on a new citadel. We need you, Captain Anderson, and we need the Systems Alliance."
Anderson cleared his throat and continued to stare at the council in awe.
Councillor Sparatus continued from where the Asari cut off. "I know we have disagreed over many issues, Captain, but Udina was a grave mistake. Tevos is right. You are the only person for this job, the only human the council can trust with this, and I don't see there being a great deal of galactic conflict in the days to come. The Batarians have been decimated."
A deep sigh overcame Anderson, as he took a step forward. "Then I accept your offer as re-instatement. I swear to serve my race as a representative of this council. Again."
Councillor Valern shifted in her seat, "Fantastic. We will need you to prepare a team of your finest to collaborate on the technical aspects of the build. Also... We'd like a few suggestions from you, on the subject of Commander Shepard..."