Past: 15 Years Post War
Shepard had a hold of Melara's hand as they moved through the Sevaa City docks. Dressed casually, wearing her old scuffed boots and her swagman pulled down low over shaded glasses, she half-held her breath and scowled to herself as they walked. Normally, Del tried to maintain as much anonymity as she could. Once upon a time, just being in her civvies and not a uniform kept most people from recognizing her. After the war, that all had changed.
Though over a decade had passed since V-Day, Del passed her own face no fewer than twelve times as they wove through the crowded dock. Each poster or power-ad showed her in full combat armor, usually striking some dramatic pose or another. The favorite seemed to be one of her holding her rifle in the air in triumph, battered, dusty, and scorched- while the broken corpse of a Sovereign class Reaper smoldered in the distance behind her.
The images tended to show her pre-war face- the one that wasn't scarred up one side. It was more 'family friendly', Del supposed. Not that her scarring was so horrific she frightened children, but it was quite noticeable, and she'd had even grown adults suddenly blink and hesitate for a moment when they first saw it.
Anonymity at the moment was impossible, however, no matter how she was dressed. A group of human marines were escorting them as they moved through the docks- protection in case Orthrus sought to try something again. She couldn't have made her identity more obvious if a neon sign that was flashing her name hovered overhead.
Mel thought it was the greatest thing in the world. Trotting along at Del's side, she stared at the marines as if they were dipped in gold, beaming a grin at every civilian face that gaped at them or pointed and waved from the sidelines. Each time a hand was lifted, she waved back enthusiastically.
Though they had experienced some of it, Mel and Irie had not been exposed to the full scope of their parents' celebrity- at least, not in person like this. The further they moved through the dock the thicker the crowds got, moved to each side of the corridor and most cheering and waving. Again, Mel waved back, slowing as she was distracted by the onlookers. Shepard's sharp tug on her hand got her moving again.
"Look at them all, Bába! Can we stop and talk to them?"
"No, hon. We're on a schedule, and it may not be safe."
Frustrated but obedient, Melara kept on, shifting the little pack on her shoulders. Most of their belongings had already been shipped off to Sao Paolo. They had only a few personal items with them for the trip to Earth.
The crowd seemed to stand fifty deep as they actually approached their dock, and half of them seemed to be pressing against the secured glass and looking outside at the ship with as much rapt awe as the ones waving toward Shepard and her family.
The marines closed in, keeping the crowd back as one went forward to open the airlock ramp. He waved the family forward. Shepard ushered Mel forward to join Liara and Irie, taking up the rear. As she walked past, the marine who'd opened the door gave her a stiff salute.
At the end of the ramp, the airlock door stood open, a familiar figure waiting for them. Del felt herself grin, taking off her glasses and noticing the smile on Liara's face as well, a moment before Mel broke away and rushed forward.
The young asari skidded to a halt in front of the figure, snapping her hand up to her brow in a salute as a serious expression came over her face. "Permission to come aboard, Captain Tepper!"
Lifting a brow with a smile, Ashley Tepper neé Williams echoed the salute. "Permission granted, Cadet."
Melara snapped her hand down, then turned to look at Del as the other three walked up. "We have permission to come aboard, Colonel!"
"Thank you, Cadet," Shepard said with a smile, before she reached out and took Ashley's hand, hauling her in for a hug. "It's good to see you again, Ash. You're looking damned dignified, I must say."
"And you're looking soft, Del. What, they don't have calisthenics on Thessia?"
"That's Colonel Shepard to you, Captain…or so I hear."
"Not until you get the wings pinned on and get back in uniform. Until then, you're just another civvie I gotta haul around."
Shepard snorted, and Liara stepped forward, hugging Ashley tightly. "It is good to see you again. How is the family?"
"Hello, Blue. They're doing well. Lewis is five going on forty, and Nicole just turned seven. I see your two are growing like weeds. Last time I saw you, Irie, you barely reached your Mama's hip. Now look at you."
Irie colored a little, smiling bashfully. Ash smiled, then stepped aside, holding her hand out. "Welcome aboard the Normandy."
The moment Del stepped into the helm, Joker- who was standing near the pilot's seat- cleared his throat and then barked out, "Colonel on deck!"
The crew was lined along the walkway between the helm and the CIC. New faces, nearly all strangers. They snapped to attention, each throwing a salute in almost perfect synchronicity.
Shepard looked at Joker and he smiled at her, giving a nod. "It's good to see you again, Shepard."
"Good to see you too, Joker."
It felt strange, walking down toward the CIC again for the first time in fifteen years. Despite the new faces and a few upgrades here and there, it was her old Normandy, and she could feel herself settling into it like a hand into a glove.
How she had missed this! The sight, the feel of the deck and the subtle, almost non-existent hum of the idling drive core…it even smelled the same. It was like meeting again with an old, familiar friend.
Walking past the line of saluting crewmen, the others on her heels, she passed the CIC workstations and then lingered at the foot of the promontory, the galaxy map a comforting holographic swirl of light. Her hand rested lightly on the rail.
"You're welcome to do the honors, Colonel," Ashley said, seeing the look on her face. Del blinked at her, then cleared her throat slightly, shaking her head.
"She's your ship, Ash-"
"She's your ship, Shepard. She always was," Ashley told her. "I just keep Joker from smacking her around too much. Please…I insist."
Shepard glanced at Liara, who smiled at her and inclined her head. Clearing her throat again, Del took off her swagman, setting it firmly on Mel's head with a smirk. Stepping up onto the promontory she placed her hands on the rail, leaning on it a moment as she regarded the map. Then she straightened, hands clasping behind her back.
"Normandy, this is Colonel Del Shepard. Prepare for departure from dock. Joker, put in a course for Earth, and let's see this baby fly."
Ashley had granted the family Liara's old quarters on the crew deck. She had tried to insist they take the Nest but Del had put her foot down. She was not displacing the captain on her own ship, regardless of that captain's wishes.
The quarters had long been retrofit after Liara had departed from the ship, and were normally assigned to the XO. Gone were the ranks of equipment and view screens tending the tangles of Liara's Brokerage. With them gone, the space seemed five times as big, and hardly like the same room at all.
On the pretense of showing her daughters the famous Normandy, Del wandered the ship, nostalgia washing over her so thick it could be felt by others. She still expected Garrus's face to poke around the corner of the armory- to see Chakwas look up from her desk in Medical- to see Tali fiddling with some gizmo or other down in Engineering.
But Chakwas had finally truly retired and moved to Serenity in the Indian Ocean. Tali was on Rannoch, married and with a young daughter- a daughter who would never have to look on her own world through the protective visor of an enviro-helmet. Garrus was on Palaven, still a military advisor and liaison, despite his threat to retire and live off the royalty from the vids.
So many old faces gone. So many new, unrecognizable faces in their place. At least Joker was still the pilot- he'd never let someone else fly his Normandy while he still had breath left in his body, it seemed. His was not the only familiar face, however.
"Hello, Shepard."
Del had been looking at the drive core, both Melara and Irie's eyes wide as they stared at it, though both were awed for different reasons. The voice immediately turned her, and she grinned.
"EDI! I was wondering where you were."
"I am here, Shepard."
Del walked over, hugging the synthetic tightly. EDI looked bashfully pleased.
"I hear they finally got you fully integrated," Shepard said as she released her.
"Yes. Thanks to the new cyberorganic monosilicone chips, this form has been vastly upgraded, and is able to hold the entirety of my AI systems independently. I am no longer tied to the Normandy, though I can still remotely control its systems if necessary. A reversal from my earlier condition, where I was in the ship, and this chassis was the one being remotely manipulated. I have been officially classified with pay and the full legal rights of any member of the Alliance."
"That's fantastic, EDI! It's about goddamn time, if you ask me."
"It is because of you and Jeff that I have reached this state, Shepard. Without him, I would have remained shackled indefinitely. Without you, I would not have sought to evolve my programming according to my own set of morals and free will. I owe you much, and I am glad that you are here once again- even if it is only temporary."
"Temporary this time, but I'll be in the Alliance again, training N7 recruits. I may not have command of her but I fully plan on utilizing the Normandy as often as her captain will allow."
"Knowing Ashley, I cannot imagine her ever refusing you, even if you plan to reduce the most famous frigate in Alliance space to a mere shuttle. That was a joke."
Melara, finally abandoning her awe of the warp core, noticed the new comer and came wandering over. "You're EDI!" she said. "Bába's told us all about you!"
"Bába…oh yes. Mandarin. Is Shepard teaching you Mandarin?"
"Some," Melara replied. "Also English. I'm almost fluent in English but I only know a few phrases of the Mandarin-"
"I can imagine which phrases those are," EDI said dryly, looking at Del, who coughed.
"EDI…"
"Given the frequency in which you uttered them it is a logical conclusion to-"
"EDI, I did not teach my daughter how to cuss in Mandarin. I'm not totally uncouth, you know."
"Thousands of mercenaries across the universe will be surprised to learn that." EDI told her. "That was-"
"A joke, I know. Good to know some things never change."
Present: 217 Years Post War
There was the faint drone of voices, washed of all color and smeared into a chaotic, muddy whirl. Tired. So goddamn tired.
The chaos carefully wheeled into stability, dark reluctantly easing away. The tired did not go, but instead sank into bones to lurk, a constant dragging weight. Blurred light greeted her as Del managed to open the mountains of her eyelids. A hint of blue. A cool hand on her cheek.
"Del…thank the Goddess."
Her wife's tearful gasp was like a splash of cold water on unexpecting skin. Almost physically, Del struggled out of the last of her slumber, forcing the confusion and pulling exhaustion away.
"Li? Li, you ok?" she asked, lifting her head a little in alarm, seeking for any sign of a wound or an enemy to be fought.
She was in her room. Her own bed. Liara was sitting beside her. Irie was hovering in the background, one hand over her mouth. Both looked like they'd been crying.
Liara immediately took hold of her, preventing her from sitting, shakily hushing her. "No, do not get up," she said with some relief. "I am fine, no one is hurt."
"Why were you crying?" Del asked, brows knit as she tried to remember how she'd even gotten to her bed. Memory came in lumpy bursts, aided by the odd dull throb in her left eye. "Athena…"
"She is gone," Irie told her. "When you…when you fainted, Mel threw her out."
Del tried to sit again, and Liara once more gently tried to stop her. Reaching up, Del softly took her hand, kissing its knuckles and shaking her head, before she tried again. Liara reluctantly allowed her to sit, shifting to hold her arm around Del's shoulders. For a moment, Del thought it was just another attempt to support her, until Liara leaned against her, pressing her face into the side of Del's neck.
"Where's Mel now?" Del asked.
"She is out with Dae. She is…quite upset. Daenys is trying to calm her down."
"Can you go make sure she's all right, Irie?"
Irie hesitated, then came forward. Leaning down, she kissed Shepard's forehead, fingers tangling in her hair a moment before she straightened. "Yes, Bába."
The moment they were alone, Liara straightened and cupped Shepard's face. "I thought I had lost you," she said softly. "Shepard, I thought I had lost you…"
"I'm still here, Tianlán," Del said softly, touching her forehead to her wife's as she held her close. "I told you, it's going to take more than a little needle to put an end to me."
"Please, do not be flippant. Whatever is hidden in those nanites, it could not be worth-"
"Li…you know better than that," Del told her gently. "We were ready to die for this galaxy once. If that information saves even one life, then it was worth it."
Liara sat back, wiping her cheek and trying to school herself. "Yes. I…perhaps. I should…I should check on the girls."
As she rose, Del cast aside the blankets. "Not without me," she said, stubbornly struggling up to her feet. Liara caught hold of her, a protest that Del should keep resting dying on her lips. It would only be met with an argument, and she did not want to spend a single moment of the time they had left together arguing, even mildly.
As they walked toward the living room, Del lightly touched the corner of her left eye. She could tell, even without looking, that it was bruising. She'd probably have a rather impressive shiner by morning. It would take days to go away. The idea made her smirk, a morbid little thought passing through her mind.
Leave it to me to end up dying with a shiner.
When Athena had drawn the needle out and Shepard had gone limp, when Liara had gasped her name fearfully, something in Mel had seemed to snap. Striding forward from Dae's side, every inch of her skin lit up furiously with biotics. She did not use them, however, her hands quite firmly grasping handfuls of cloth as she hauled Athena to her feet. For a moment, just in startled reaction, Athena had also lit up and when she did so, Irie had gasped in fear. Melara was no weakling as a biotic, but Athena shared Eír's ungodly ability. If she chose to use them, none of them could hope to halt her.
She did not. They faded almost the moment they flared as Mel shoved her toward the door with a snarled, "Get out!"
Stooping, Melara grasped the small medical case where Athena had stored the ampoule sample, snapped it closed, and flung it at her, repeating, "Get out!"
Athena caught it, holding it against her chest as she took a step backward. For a moment, Irie thought she would be foolish enough to say something. She feared that, if she did- no matter what came out of her mouth- nothing short of a full on brawl would ensue.
Instead, Athena wisely only nodded, turning on her heel and striding for the door. Not content that Athena was leaving, Mel followed after her, hurling curses at her stiff back once they'd reached the door, shouting after her into the afternoon.
As they left, Irie looked to her sobbing mother, and hurried to her side, her eyes flooding with tears. "Mama…"
"She is alive," Liara said, her voice trembling. "Please…help me to get her into the bedroom."
Dae had chased Melara to the front door. They could still hear distant shouting, and Irie prayed her baby sister would not pursue Athena all the way to her small transport…nor that she'd provoke her enough for an actual fight. Moving carefully, she and her mother used their biotics to carry Del from her chair and into the bedroom, settling her on the bed. Irie fetched some cold water and a rag, and Liara carefully cleaned the thin line of blood that had traced down from the needle puncture.
Stroking Del's hair, Liara set the rag aside then looked at Irie. "Go. Tell your sister she is still alive, before Mel does something regretful."
Irie was out of the house in a flash, pausing only to scoop up Lily, who was crying in fearful confusion over the shouting. Hushing and soothing her child even as she ran, Irie let out a hefty sigh of relief when she spotted Melara and Dae coming back up the path from the beach, apparently unharmed.
As Irie reached their side and told them about Shepard, every muscle in Mel's body seemed to uncoil, her head lowering as she covered her mouth. It was in her relief that Del still lived that finally brought tears to the young Shepard's eyes, and she struggled them back stubbornly as she straightened.
"Mama?"
"Is understandably upset. She is with her right now. I should get back to her."
"I will stay with Mel," Daenys told her. As Irie carried Lily back inside, Dae turned to Melara and drew her into a hug. Mel held to her tightly.
"I fear losing Bába will kill Mama," Melara said after a long moment.
"No," Dae said gently. "It will be hard, and she will desperately need you and your sister to help her, but Liara is far too strong for that."
As Mel loosened her hold, Dae reached up and cradled her face, not allowing her to withdraw. "Melara," she said softly. "It will be all right."
Mel was silent a moment, brooding, before she leaned forward, kissing Dae briefly and then stepping back. Walking over to the old tree on the edge of the rise, she looked toward the sea, her hand resting on the smooth patch of bark on the lower branch. They'd had a rope swing here, once. They played with it when they came back here for the rare vacation, until they'd grown too big. She could still remember clinging to that rope, listening to Del's laugh as she drew her back, then sent her sailing.
The sink and then rise of her belly, exploding into butterflies as she seemed suspended in midair for a moment, nothing below her but distant sand, nothing to halt her from utter freedom.
Then she'd swing back and Del would catch her.
Del had always been there to catch her.
"Am I foolish?" She asked as Dae slid her arms around her waist, holding her tight. "I am over two hundred years old. I am an N7 Captain in the Alliance- Special Forces. I have handled firefights and infiltration, commanded men…for fuck's sake, I spent two weeks on an ice moon being hunted by a pack of rogue varren with only a knife between us! And this…this is what terrifies me? This is what brings me to despair? Losing my father?"
"You are not foolish," Daenys told her. "There is nothing foolish about loving your parents, Melara. And there is nothing weak or shameful in grieving them when they pass. Did Shepard not grieve when Nancy finally passed away? She barely spoke to anyone for weeks on end, not even Liara. Was she foolish or weak because of that?"
Melara said nothing, and Dae ducked around her to look in her eyes. "You have made her proud, Mel. You are a good daughter. You have never given her a single moment of regret. When she finally goes to…whatever it is that awaits us after this life, she will still be there loving you, covering your back, whenever you need her. She will still be the Hero of the Galaxy, the Champion of the Reaper War. Her name will live longer than we will, longer than our granddaughters. Because of this, she will never die."
She wrapped her love up in a hug again, holding her tight and whispering in her ear.
"She will never, ever die…"