He was going to die. Of that he was certain. Of course technically everybody died eventually, but his demise was closer than most. Truth be told he was surprised he'd held out this long. He dimly wondered if he was supposed to be afraid. He was angry, full of hate and regret, but not really scared.

He'd already recorded a message. His 'final reckoning'. An attempt to set the record straight and tell his side of the story, to combat the lies and propaganda that would circulate after his death. He wondered if anyone would ever listen to it. Would they care? About who he was and why he'd come? Or would he forever be known as Archangel, the fool turian who thought he could change Omega.

That had been several hours ago. Every time he dared to hope that they might run out of mercs to send against him yet more reinforcements arrived. The mobile turret he'd installed along with the barricades on the ground floor finally fell silent, utterly destroyed by overwhelming firepower. It was only a matter of time before he shared its fate. The fate of his squad, lying in body bags in the other room.

He was so tired. Even his anger had faded, drained away along with the last trickles of adrenaline that had been powering his body. Exhaustion taking up camp in every muscle of his being. He wouldn't last much longer. It was simple mathematics. The time needed to reload his rifle meant he could never kill them all before they made it across the bridge.

It was strange how your priorities changed at the end. He never would have believed it if anyone had told him he'd end up calling his father in his last moments in this galaxy. That he would tell Vakarian Sr. he was right. He'd also told him he was doing target practice but his father wasn't stupid, he knew what was going on, even if he didn't know the where or the why.

The enemy had taken the bridge and were into the hall below him. He'd locked the door to his vantage point but knew it wouldn't hold them for long. He couldn't get out but he would take as many with him as possible. He was only sorry it wouldn't be enough. He wouldn't be able to avenge his team like they deserved. No... they deserved more than that. They deserved to be alive, to have had a better leader than him.

He popped back up, overruling the protestation from his aching body as he sighted another one, nearly dropping his rifle in shock at the face that appeared in his scope. It was the face of a ghost. Or maybe a valkyrie.

He'd heard the ancient Earth myth from a human at C-Sec years ago; of warrior women that came to collect the souls of those who died in battle. According to turian tradition it was supposed to be the spirits of his clan, a mix of the greatest warriors and the closest family, depending on how he'd lived his life and earnt his death. At least that was the stories they were taught as children. He'd never really believed it. Just like how he'd never been a good turian. Maybe those character flaws were enough for his clan to turn their back on him and allow his old commander's spirit to be the one to come collect him. Either that or she'd fought them for the honour. He wouldn't put it past her.

The beep of his shields failing brought his attention back to reality and he ducked back into cover, shaking his head with an irritated growl to clear the stupidity from his brain. Great, sleep deprivation was making him hallucinate again.

"They're with Archangel!" The sudden, panicked call from below confused him. He didn't have any backup left. Erash, Monteague, Mierin, Krul, Melenis, Ripper, Sensat, Vortash, Butler, Weaver... They were all dead. The only one missing was Sidonis and he somehow doubted that traitor had come back to help.

Taking a peek, he saw the valkyrie attacking his enemies, he didn't remember physical help being part of the legend but the opposition went down regardless. For the first time he noticed the others with her; a young krogan and two human males occupying opposite ends of the age and skin tone spectrum. He didn't recognise any of the others but they were displaying far more teamwork than any of the other freelancers, even if it fell short of the smooth, instinctive, almost telepathic synergy the Normandy squad had developed by the end of their hunt for Saren.

Of course the Blue Suns on the barricade had to notice eventually, opening fire on his would be saviours from behind. He'd call it cheating if Shepard's team hadn't just done something similar. Instead he lined up a head shot and got to work, covering the squad's back as they advanced towards his position.

The next few minutes passed with agonising slowness, fear and hope squeezing tight around his lungs in equal measure as he waited to see who would reach his position first. Strange how he hadn't been scared until he had hope. He'd been resigned and accepting of his fate until there was a chance of something else. He heard the door open behind him but didn't turn around, concentrating on the human merc hiding behind a pillar in his scope. There was still a chance this could be the last shot of his life and he wasn't about to botch it.

"Archangel?" He breathed easy as he heard her voice. It was a little curter than how she normally spoke to her crew, but it was undoubtedly her voice, besides... if she was calling him that then she had no way of knowing he was crew. He gently squeezed the trigger, ruining yet another merc's day, before he turned to face her, making sure he was in cover before he sluggishly sat down and removed his helmet.

"Shepard... I thought you were dead." He'd heard rumours that it was possible but never believed he'd see it, let alone be the one to cause it as his former commander was rendered speechless. Her jaw dropped in surprise and she blinked owlishly a couple of times before finally her brain and mouth managed to recover their usual unstoppable connection and she blurted out:

"Garrus? You- here... what-... How the hell did you manage to piss off every merc organisation in the Terminus systems?!" He chuckled.

"It wasn't easy, I really had to work at it." She grinned in appreciation of his response, but it quickly faded as her sharp, analytical gaze roved across his face. He must look as bad as he felt.

"Taylor, Massani, balcony. Grunt, door." She ordered, her squad instantly moving to set up guard while she closed the distance between them, pulling dextro rations and medi-gel from a pouch in her armour. "Eat, drink, you're going to need the energy if we're to get out of here."

"They'll slaughter us if we try to get out that way." He protested, gesturing towards the bridge. "They've got the rear of the building covered with snipers and I sealed off the access tunnels in the basement."

"Have you considered flying out?"

"There's two X3M skycars in the garage but they're too slow, the Blue Suns have a Mantis gunship, we'd be shot down before we make it half a block. No... I suggest we hold this location, wait for a crack in their defences and take our chances. It's not a perfect plan, but it's a plan." Her lips twitched again and he could hardly believe there had once been a time when he'd found human facial expressions so difficult to read. Not when this smirk seemed to so clearly say: Bitch, please, I'm Commander Shepard!

"Would this be a good time to mention I have a kodiak shuttle just waiting for co-ordinates for extraction? We follow your plan until we can takeout the Mantis, then we should be good for pickup."

...

The plan went off perfectly. Well... If you ignored the bit where the Blood Pack decided to send a demolition team through the auxiliary tunnels forcing Shepard and Grunt to head down to the basement to fend them off while the rest of the team helped defend the bridge.

Oh, and that bit where the gunship wasn't content with playing the part of sacrificial lamb, instead deciding to spray the wall with its turret mounted machine guns and launch rockets through the windows. Garrus was caught in the blast and it took all of Shepard's training and combat experience to keep focused on the fight until they'd taken care of the threat.

The moment the Mantis was destroyed she was by the turian's side. Villa training had included basic front line trauma care for the major alien species, but a quick glance was enough to tell her this was far beyond her skill set.

Nikki wanted to scream, to cry, to beg for Garrus to hold on and not die on her. Instead the commander buried the feelings deep, it shouldn't have been so easy but she'd had plenty of practice in her career.

A numb horror, an almost hollow feeling, took up residence inside her chest but she ignored it as she called the shuttle for medevac and ordered her squad to watch the perimeter. Just because the gunship was down didn't guarantee all the mercs would instantly stop fighting.

The part of her that thought and felt watched on in a semi-detached way as she carried out her training on autopilot: apply direct pressure to the wound, try and stem the bleeding. Tourniquets worked great for this if the injury was on an arm or leg, not so useful with a head injury. Medi-gel was widely considered a miracle worker by civilians and troops alike but even it had its limits.

She needed more hands.

She wasn't sure if it was evolution or creationism that was to blame but the fact that most dominant species only had two arms was, right now, the stupidest thing ever. Four or more arms would be so much handier. She didn't even notice the pun as she tried every trick she could think of to keep Garrus alive long enough to get him to Chakwas.

Chakwas could help.

Chakwas was god.

Chakwas would have had the common sense to give her four arms if she'd been responsible for divine creation.

The shuttle finally arrived and she had her more hands. The fact that they were attached to more bodies that were getting in the way and not to her brain, forcing her to come up with words to coordinate them instead of simply knowing what needed to be done, made it less than ideal, but still an improvement.

An omni-tool glowed bright orange, scanning the wounded turian and forwarding the details to the Normandy, warning the doctor what she would be up against before the patient arrived. Saving time and hopefully saving lives.

Doctors Chakwas and Solus were waiting for them in the shuttle bay, taking control of the situation as soon as the doors opened. For once Shepard had no problems relinquishing command. She followed them up to deck three, slightly disappointed but neither surprised nor protesting when she was ordered to stay outside the med bay.

She knew the doc needed space and arguing against her instructions only delayed the time before she could get to work and start her magic. She did however protest when Lawson tried to enter. Nikki didn't want that terrorist working on her turian friend. Who knew what the bitch would try to do to him.

"Commander! I need her." Chakwas' firm voice interrupted the less than friendly debate. Shepard took a deep breath, clenching and unclenching her fists helplessly.

"Fine, but no funny business." She warned the Cerberus operative darkly as she stepped out the way. "He dies, you die."

...

The mess was practically empty, no one willing to stay around the volatile commander as she paced impotently up and down the side of the med bay. With the mission over, the adrenaline that saw her through had faded and now she was bone tired. Her brain deep into the cycle of 'should have, would have, could have' that had her replaying the mission over and over in her head. Desperately trying to work out a way she could have done things differently. A way that didn't leave her friend fighting for his life in the med bay.

You should have got Archangel first. Mordin could have waited.

The vorcha shut down life support, if I hadn't been there at the time the whole district would have suffocated including the professor.

Not if you'd listened to Lawson. Should have gone straight to Omega not pissed about on Korlus first. You just wanted to show her who's in charge and now Garrus is the one who'll suffer.

Shut up, shut up, SHUT UP!

She frustratedly ran bloodstained hands through her short cropped hair, oblivious to everything around her. The only thing that mattered was sequestered behind the opaque tinted infirmary windows and the shut med bay door.

"Why do you care so much about the turian?" A voice penetrated her haze and she spun round, forcefully pushing Grunt against the nearest wall before she realised the rather surprised krogan had been asking with curiosity rather than vindictiveness.

Internally she winced and externally she sighed.

"He's my friend... My battle brother." The young tank born didn't seem satisfied and she searched her mind for a way to explain that he would understand. "He's my krantt." Grunt nodded slowly.

"Then you have nothing to worry about." It was Nikki's turn to be confused. "Anyone worthy of being your krantt must be tough."

She wasn't sure he quite understood how life and death worked. How fickle and uncaring fate could be. But she hoped he was right.

...

"He's going to pull through." Those five words broke through Nikki's stupor, causing her to look up at the tired but caring face of Doctor Chakwas.

"Thanks doc."

"It wasn't just me." Karin replied pointedly but wasn't convinced Shepard was with it enough to get her meaning.

"Can I see him?"

"Not like that." Nikki frowned until she realised the doctor's hand gesture encompassed her battle scorched armour and dyed blue hands. "He's still out at the moment regardless. Have a shower, some food and some rest Commander, I'll let you know as soon as you can visit."

...

"Shepard!" Garrus noticed her the moment she walked into the med bay. He tried to rise from his bed but was pushed back down by Chakwas who continued her checkup scans. "We were just talking about you."

"Nothing bad I hope?"

"Oh just the fact that apparently we're both alive, that this isn't actually the Afterlife."

"Well duh, I have much better music tastes than Aria." Nikki teased, trying to gloss over the darker subject matter, she still wasn't entirely sure what to think about the implications whenever that particular topic came up.

"Debatable." The turian scoffed before turning his attention to Chakwas: "You're right, she hasn't changed."

"Much to my dismay." The doc teased back, giving them each a reassuring squeeze on the shoulder as she left, allowing the two friends privacy for their conversation.

Her departure left a void, an uneasy silence seeping in as neither was sure what to talk about. They hadn't had this problem when they were under fire, their banter had flowed easily then, just like old times.

"So... Chakwas wouldn't give me a mirror, how bad is it?" Garrus finally broke the silence, gesturing at himself. Nikki looked up at him, the bandages covering one side of his face, it certainly wasn't going to be pretty but considering the last time she'd seen him, the worry she'd had that he was going to bleed out right in front of her... it was a definite improvement.

"Hell Garrus, you were always ugly. Slap some face paint on there and nobody'll even notice." She decided to stick to ribbing and banter, it usually served them well. It was a good choice, making him laugh before he winced in pain.

"Oh, don't make me laugh damn it, my face is barely holding together as it is." His voice suddenly became sly, almost purring as he mentioned: "Still, some women find facial scars attractive."

"I wouldn't know." Trish had been more accepting of her scars after Akuze than Shepard had been herself, even if the civilian tended to worry over each new one Nikki acquired since then, but Nick had never had any scars on her face before. She wondered if that would make a difference, bringing a hand up to trace one of the faint lines before reminding herself sharply that it couldn't, she'd sworn not to interfere with her partner's happiness so she'd never know. Garrus was watching her closely, he wasn't sure what she was thinking about, but he could make an educated guess about who.

"How is Trish taking all this?" He asked softly but when Nikki didn't respond his eyes narrowed, mandibles flaring in startled realisation: "Wait! You haven't told her?!"

"Leave it Vakarian." The spectre requested, but despite not showing up on his medical tests it seemed he had a hearing problem as he continued pushing.

"Why wouldn't you talk to her? I know people who would kill for a relationship like you had. You two are perfect together."

"It's not like we had a row and stopped talking Garrus. I died. Do you have any idea what she must have gone through?"

"Yes I do, I was there!" That gave her a moment's pause, but she quickly shook her head.

"Then don't make me put her through that again. It's been two years. She's grieved and she's kept on living. I turn up now I'm only going to make things worse."

"So what, you're going to let her think you're still dead? What if she finds out some other way? You really want Trish to find out you're alive from some random news report?"

"Don't be stupid."

"Me stupid? You're the Hero of the Citadel. The first human spectre! Do you honestly think nobody's going to realise you're back Shepard?" Truthfully she hadn't actually thought about that, she didn't have time to dwell on the implications now however as Vakarian demanded: "Don't you at least owe her that much? Do you love her or not?"

"Of course I do!" The N7's eyes blazed with emotion. "But what the hell am I supposed to do Garrus? Just turn up at the house after two years and say: Honey, I'm home?"

"YES!" They stared at each other incredulously before Nikki scoffed.

"Forget it Garrus. She deserves better than me. Someone who won't hurt her."

"Don't you think she deserves to make that choice herself?"

The stubborn spectre had had enough, turning to leave.

"Shepard!" There was a clatter as the turian attempted, and failed, to follow. Nikki stopped, seeing him on the floor she softened her voice but didn't go back to help him up.

"Get back to bed Garrus, you don't want to get on Chakwas' bad side."

"Won't you at least think about what I've said?" He pleaded as she stepped towards the door once more. She paused for just a fraction of a second, voice so soft he wasn't sure she meant him to hear as she admitted:

"I think about it every night."