Somewhere in the darkness, she began to hear voices. Fear gripped her heart as she listened. The forest came to her mind, and she began to wonder if there would be more voices calling to her. Certainly the shadows would be more densely packed now, reminding her of the lives she was responsible for, the people she had let down.

What if the Crucible didn't work? Now she would be surrounded by the voices of nearly everyone in the galaxy. She feared they would be angry with her. Though they had every right to be, she hoped she couldn't hear them. Maybe she was meant to spend eternity plagued by these lost spirits. Constant reminders of her failure because she was supposed to save the galaxy, the guiding light to all life. She wanted to laugh at herself. No pressure or anything. But the humor in her was gone.

It wasn't enough; all of this had been for nothing …

Commander Shepard wanted to call to them, ask the voices what happened to them, how they came to be in the forest with her. She wanted to find Thane or Mordin, the familiar voices that strangely comforted her when she was here. Maybe the forest was just part of her afterlife. If she began walking, there was a chance it would break up into other parts of eternity: her family home, the Normandy, maybe even a quiet bar where a tall turian with blue markings would be waiting for her with two drinks in his hands, his mandibles flared up in a grin that made her feel weak when it caught her off-guard …

Her throat was clenched up, unable to let her voice come out. The darkness was still solid. No trees or shadows began to form around her, but the words continued. She couldn't make sense of them, no matter how hard she concentrated. Moving her legs, or hands, was out of the question for now. Willing herself to move, she began to feel panic creep into her, like cold tendrils weaving into her thoughts. This better not be her eternity, unable to move or speak, listening to the distance murmur of voices that she couldn't understand.

Cold panic began to blend with hot anger at the prospect. Shepard was already fully aware that she had to spend the endlessness never knowing what came of the people she cared about, or the galaxy she knew. That was enough. Hadn't she earned the chance of some kind of peace here? Even if the galaxy ended with her, didn't all of them deserve some kind of peace? Not this torturing constriction, trapped in her thoughts and feelings. Not this … bullshit!

Open your eyes, Shepard, she ordered to herself. Clench your fists. Wiggle your toes. Move, damn you!

Damnation be damned; this was not what anyone deserved. Whatever greater being decided this fate for her had another thing coming. Her anger swelled in her thoughts, a red haze forming in front of her. As she mentally struggled against the darkness, determined to be free of it, the voices became clearer. The red haze began to burn her eyes. Emotion in the voices came to her before the words finally did. Worry, panic, slight anger …

"—edatives," the first voice began to make sense. It sounded stressed, worried.

"Enough to take down a rhinoceros, I'm fairly sure," a second answered. This accented one sounded tense, but amused.

"Her eyes have been moving rapidly … She can't be regaining consciousness."

"Let's hope not. The commander has a lot to recover from before we can allow that to happen."

Hearing the second voice say "commander" snapped the pieces together. The voice was nobody but Miranda Lawson, her second-in-command in her days with Cerberus. A flash of hurt came through her. Miranda had the most promise to live past all of the Reaper attacks. The woman was smart, resourceful, and basically too damn stubborn to go down quietly. Shepard wanted to ask her what happened, but her voice continued to be constricted, stopped by some obstruction in her throat.

The red haze continued to become brighter, hurting her right eye at this point. Momentarily, she wondered why her left eye didn't see the same thing, but this was eternity, possibly her damnation. At the moment, every question she wanted to ask was stopped short. Obviously she was not meant to make sense of all of it yet. Shepard urged herself to move, open her eyes.

After a struggle, her right eye snapped open. Bright light made her want to turn away, but she began to blink it away sluggishly. The red haze lingered, clouding her vision. To her right, she finally saw the familiar dark hair, an intensely stern look in her direction. Miranda Lawson. She wanted to speak to her so badly. The woman took a step forward, speaking over her to someone to her left. On her left, though, all she saw was darkness.

"Damn woman," Miranda's voice came to her before Shepard saw her lips move. "I should've known. Increase the sedative."

No, wait! Shepard wanted to yell, but darkness began to shiver around her eyesight again. She didn't understand what she saw, what she heard. This eternity made no sense. What was all this?

"Sleep, Commander," the smooth accented voice ordered. "You'll be awake when you're ready."

Ready? The darkness swallowed her vision completely, taking the brightness, red haze, and Miranda from her. Her urge to struggle was drained away, and she allowed her thoughts to quiet. At least she could sleep in eternity …

"She's reported as temporarily critical, but alive, sir," Kaidan Alenko said with a lighter tone than what he'd had in days. "Not out of the woods yet, but there's a lot of promise."

"That's fantastic," Admiral Hackett answered, his blue hologram smiling. "Shepard is a hell of a soldier. If anyone can make it through this, it's her."

"I agree, sir."

"She's on Earth?"

"London, to be specific. According to Wrex, they've cleared out some buildings that had minimal damage and turned them into make-shift hospitals. The military and civilians are pooling everything they have together to help with injuries. We don't have knowledge of number of casualties yet, but we should have an idea soon."

"Understood. Am I correct in thinking the Normandy is operational again?"

Kaidan nodded. "Yes, sir. We took off from Eden Prime about six days ago. All systems are remaining stable. We're in good hands with Joker at the helm … Actually, sir, that is one of the reasons I've contacted you."

"Go on, Major."

"The Normandy is at your disposal, Admiral … but the decision has been made for us to head to Earth. With the news of Shepard, it is where we feel we need to be."

There was a long silence as Hackett's hologram looked down at its feet. His hands were behind his back, and he seemed to tense up at the major's statement. Kaidan wondered for a moment if he had lost connection because the hologram didn't move for several seconds. Hackett finally looked up at him again.

"I understand the excitement," he said hesitantly. "I would love to know that Commander Shepard is in a stable condition … With that said, the Normandy is an Alliance ship, Major Alenko. And right now, the orders of any Alliance ship is to ready for rescue and recovery missions. Travelling all the way to Earth right now should be out of the question."

"I assume full responsibility for the decision, Admiral Hackett," Kaidan answered in an unwavering voice. "Full reports on the conditions on Earth and suggestions for what we can do to help will be sent to you as soon as I am able. Of course, I also assume full responsibility of any punishment you feel necessary for the disregard of orders. But Admiral, she would do the same if it were any of us, and Commander Shepard's crew is not about to leave her after all she's done."

Hackett was quiet once again. Kaidan held his breath, preparing for any backlash he would receive. The elder soldier sighed, but a smile slowly came across his features.

"I expect a notification once you've landed on Earth. Any and all reports that could help with organizing assistance will be read thoroughly. If the Normandy will be more helpful on Earth, I expect to hear about it. Same goes for Shepard's condition; I expect to be updated when necessary. And Major?"

"Yes, sir?"

"Tell Commander Shepard she has quite the crew. Hackett out."

The hologram faded out as the vid-call ended. Kaidan exhaled heavily, but couldn't help smiling as he straightened up. He turned to see Garrus Vakarian leaning in the doorway, his mandibles flared up in a grin of his own. The turian had been insistent to stand nearby in case the conference went awry. If Hackett wasn't willing to listen to Kaidan, Garrus was willing to risk his freedom to tell the admiral otherwise. He was thankful it didn't come to that.

"Hell of an authority voice, Major," he joked.

"I'm the second human Spectre," Kaidan shrugged. "You gotta put the face on."

"What a great face it is, sir," Joker said over the ship's communications. It came as no shock to the two of them that he was listening in on the conversation.

"How are we doing, Joker?"

"ETA, 13 days, give or take. It'll take a little bit longer, but we're making good time."

"Thanks."

Kaidan then nodded at Garrus before the two of them left the vid comm room. After a moment, the major asked Traynor to have any available crew meet in the lounge. Garrus looked at him questioningly as they continued out of the War Room.

"The lounge?" he asked.

"Hey, it's not much, but I think we earned something to celebrate," Kaidan explained. "It's been all worry and business since we left Earth. Maybe it's not completely proper, but I think it's something we all need, at least for one night. So, what do you say? One drink with the crew to toast to Shepard?"

Garrus grinned again, feeling lighter since hearing about Shepard. She held her end of the bargain, and they would see each other soon. He was starting to understand why his girlfriend insisted on positivity so much, or at least faking it. It actually felt really good. "I think I'll take two. Especially if Joker has a recording of that performance."