Reapers End

New Beginning

The next morning, Shepard's physician gave her the all clear and she quickly re-packed the rucksack of personal belongings she had and got ready to leave. Wearing her favourite N7 top, Kaidan's jacket and her training trousers had meant the pack was very light and kept slipping from her shoulder. As she headed toward the exit, she said goodbye and thanked Dr Michel and Sylvie once more only to turn and not just see Kaidan, but all of her friend's waiting to take her home. So pleased to be finally leaving, Shepard accidentally dropped her bag as she jogged over toward them, hugging Kaidan and greeting the others. When she noticed her bag was missing, she looked over her shoulder to see Sylvie raise it up and smile. Shepard was about to head back when a memory dawned on her.

"Hey Vega, I dropped my bag by the nurses station, would you mind grabbing it?" She asked.

"You mean where that really cute orderly is standing holding a bag and looking at us?" He asked, raising an eyebrow.

"That'll be the one." She replied, a grin spreading across her face. She could've sworn James strutted over, flexing slightly as he approached Sylvie. He took the small bag but clearly did an excellent job of shamelessly flirting as she saw Sylvie tap something into his PDA, presumably her number. Vega then whispered something in her ear which made her giggle before rejoining the others. Sylvie gave Shepard a subtle thumbs up, her smile gleaming and Shepard replied in kind with a wink.

"I think Dr Chakwas could really use more assistance on board the Normandy, don't you Commander?" James asked once close enough.

"Who could you possibly have in mind James?" Shepard replied, taking her bag back and laughing. As they made their way toward the main exit, Shepard heard a commotion followed by a familiar, gruff voice.

"Shepard!" Called Commander Bailey in his friendly yet no-nonsense tone. He was on crutches, his left leg in a huge cast. As he hopped toward them, the crowd seemed to part, allowing him to reach them.

"Bailey, it's so good to see you. What happened?" Shepard asked pointing at his leg.

"Oh this? When Reapers forces seized the Citadel, I managed to get a handful of people out, but one of those fracking things crushed my leg, fractured my femur in six places. C-Sec had to drag my ass onto the escape shuttle. We landed on the outskirts of London and I was transferred here. Doc reckons it'll be 3 months before I'm walking without these damn sticks." He explained, shifting on his crutches. "All I could do was co-ordinate the C-Sec forces during the invasion from a hospital bed!"

"How did C-Sec cope during the invasion?" Garrus asked, curious to find out how some of his old colleagues were doing.

"Most of them joined the resistance and focussed on rescue missions, getting civilians or wounded soldiers out of the war zones. I lost a couple of my new kids, too eager to prove themselves, but the majority and especially the veterans did a damn good job. Saved a lot of lives." Bailey replied. "After the Citadel coup, Lamont hadn't been on active duty but he didn't hesitate when the resistance asked for aid."

"How's he doing?" Garrus replied.

"He took a few shots for some of the young-uns, saved their asses. He survived though and is resting at home with his family." Bailey answered and Garrus' relief was palpable. "What about all of you? I heard you've been here for about a week Shepard..." He asked.

"Yeah, I blew myself up destroying the Reapers." She said, partially covering her face with a hand, looking at him through a gap in her fingers.

"Of course you saved the galaxy, again... Glad to see you not dead this time!" He replied smiling.

"Thanks!" She replied laughing. "How does it feel to be back on Earth, are your family okay?" Shepard asked.

"My ex-wife died in the invasion. She'd taken the kids to a resistance cell in San Francisco. The kids were kept in a bunker but she volunteered to go on supply runs and her unit was hit by Reaper forces." He replied, his eyes sinking to the ground.