Survivor

Chapter 18

((~Note: This chapter is going to switch between Shepard and Garrus. Shepard is in a dreaming state (italic lettering), while Garrus will be in 3rd person as usual (regular text format).))

  Shepard/Garrus
I walked through an empty city, dressed only in jeans, a tee shirt and my N7 sweater. I could see my breath, but the cold didn't bite at me so bad thanks to my climate adaptation training in the N7 training, though I knew hypothermia was still a risk.
  The only sounds were my footsteps crunching beneath me, my controlled breathing, and the wind whispering between the buildings.
  It was an eerie sight. Most of the buildings were damaged in one way or another. The lucky ones were the ones with a simple few broken windows. The rest mostly had chunks taken out of them or were leaning on another building for support.
  Abandoned skycars littered the ground along with datapads, clothes, papers, and weapons.
  Where was everybody? Didn't we win the war? There should be celebrations going on. Work to repair the damage. People searching for the lost and dead.
  Why weren't they out here? Didn't they care that they had Earth back?
  I stopped and gripped my waist, where blood seeped out onto my fingers and I grimaced.
  Apparently I busted that open. I walked to a Skycar and opened the door, reaching into the back where it was mandatory to keep a med-kit.
  Sure enough, my hand brushed it and I grabbed it, hauling it out and ignoring the pain from lifting the weight.
  I opened it and dug through the messy box to find a pack of Medi-gel and bandage wrap.
  I busted open the Medi-Gel and rubbed it into my wound before I started undoing the wrap, my hands sure and steady. Experience made me good at this, as was necessary if you were a soldier getting into trouble all the time and lucky enough to survive it.
  Once I was done, I stood up and contemplated where to go.
  Ahead, there were only more broken buildings, old and new, all decimated. To my left was the same view, but behind me and to my right, where I had been headed before I stopped and searched the Skycar, I could see the outline of the London Eye in the distance.
  I smiled to myself. If I could get up there, I could see what was going on. Where everybody was.
  I grabbed the last two packs of Medi-Gel and put them in my right pocket before I started on my way.
-------------------------•
Garrus typed in the report of a stolen item as the agitated Asari described it and what she had assumed happened.
  Of course, it must have been the Batarians, according to her. They had been trouble as soon as they came to seek refuge on the Citadel while new colonies were rebuilt for them.
  Everyone blamed crime on them, though honestly they were the ones causing the least amount of trouble right now.
  They were busy trying to find family or helping to arrange for supplies for their new colony to rebuild their people and their legacy.
  The population of the Batarians was too low for many of them to be concerned with petty things like a VI that runs the hot tub and plays music for someone.
  "Has your ex had access to your apartment lately," Garrus asked, rather irritated with the whole situation.
  "What? No! I don't know. Maybe. I think it was probably a Batarian, though! Weren't you listening?"
  "Ma'am, who bought the VI?"
  "My late husband, he's a Volus but he's too rich to care about a simple VI. He pays his alimony as he should."
  "I'll speak to your ex. And any Batarians that may be a suspect with access to your ward."
  "Thank you. I'm sure you'll find the Batarian that did this soon enough. I want my VI back."
  Garrus sighed as the Asari stood and marched out of C-Sec headquarters with her head held high.
  He rubbed his face with both hands, aware that someone was approaching him.
  "I'm already on a case. I'm sorry but you'll have to speak with another officer."
  "Sorry to hear that. It was supposed to be your day off today."
  Garrus lifted his head at the sound of Captain Bailey's voice. "Sorry, Captain. I've just been busy from the moment I stepped out of the Skycar."
  Bailey chuckled and shook his head. "I hear ya. I actually came in because of this. Specifically, to relieve you. With Shepard in surgery, you should be at the hospital, not eating cases. Go. I'll take over."
  Garrus sighed and shook his head. "I've got this case to take care of. I'll go after I finish it. Can't stand to just sit around and wait for them to tell me what's going on, anyways."
  Bailey hesitated but nodded his consent and jabbed a thumb toward the door to send him out.
  Garrus muttered his thanks and rushed out the door, glad to be free of the desk, even if it was for a petty case.
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I stopped underneath the London Eye, breathing hard from the pain in my side more than from the long walk.
  A couple of pods on the London Eye were hanging by a thread, others completely gone, but a few still remained mostly in tact.
  I found a service ladder and shook my head as I cursed at myself for choosing the most open point of view possible. It was way too exposed for my liking. I was an open target for enemy snipers.
  I shook off the apprehension pricking at my neck and started to climb. The city seemed empty, after all. I was just making sure it really was.
  The pain tightened in my wound as I climbed ever higher, which made me grit my teeth and hold tighter to the rungs.
  Everything in me screamed to not look down, but I had to see where I was at.
  I looked down to see the ground far below me already, though I wasn't surprised, as I was going half the speed I was trained to climb at.
  Behind me I could see the city spanning out pretty well, so I found the closest pod and edged my way out along the arm, my breathing carefully controlled.
  My heart seemed to stop before it took off racing in my chest when my footing slipped and I hung from my arms and one of my legs until I pulled myself back up and crawled along the arm instead.
  It was a relief when I reached the pod, though the creaking was discerning, I did my best to ignore it.
  The city really was empty.
  There wasn't even fire anymore, just smoke from fires gone out billowing out into the sky.
  Pain gripped my chest and I shook my head, not wanting to believe it.
  Suddenly, the ground shook, and the horrible blaring sound of a Reaper grew behind me and I spun around to see it rise from what used to be the Thames river.
  It was facing right at me. It knew I was there.
---------------------------•
"I know, sir," Garrus sighed. "I just have to question anyone the owner said may be a suspect while I follow any other leads."
The Batarian snorted in contempt and crossed his arms. "And let me guess, she said it was a Batarian? She's full of it. We've been busy trying to organize Clan rights in this district. We had a meeting last night. You can check the log on board room 6. It was from 3 PM to 9 PM. Arguing takes a lot longer when it's not settled with a gun."
Garrus shook his head but put away his datapad and held out his hand to the Batarian, who shook it.
"Thank you for your time and cooperation. You've saved me a lot of hassle."
"Thank you for not assuming it was my people immediately."
Garrus muttered another thanks as the Batarian left and made his way to the apartment of the ex-husband.
His gut told him this was who actually stole the VI, especially with alimony to pay his ex-wife.
He knocked on the door and announced himself as C-Sec.
To his surprise, a Volus opened the door and greeted him. "Can I help you?"
"Yes, I have a couple of questions I would like to ask you. May I come in?"
"Of course."
The Volus stepped aside and Garrus entered cautiously.
"What's this about, Officer?"
"Your ex-wife had an item from her house stolen last night while she was at dinner. A VI assistant. Do you happen to know anything about that?"
"No, of course not. I haven't seen her for days."
"Where were you last night between 6 and 8 PM?"
"Here at my house, like most nights. Am I a suspect, Officer?"
"I'm following any leads on this case at the moment. There are no official suspects." Garrus watched the Volus, who paced the room. They never were very good liars.
He pulled out his datapad and scrolled through it as he spoke, but watched the Volus.
"So, if I were to pull up the video feeds right now, I wouldn't see you in the hall outside your ex-wife's house?"
The Volus shifted his weight and shook his head. "Of course not. As I said, I was here all night!"
Garrus nodded. "I could understand if you decided to go get the item you had bought. After all, you're paying alimony, why should you have to leave her with the VI too? They're not exactly cheap."
Garrus pulled up the video feed from last night and scanned through until he found it. A Volus that looked an awful lot like the ex-husband outside the Asari's door.
"So, this isn't you?"
The Volus stumbled back and pointed a finger at him. "You planted that! I wasn't there!"
Garrus stared at him, clearly not amused or worried.
The Volus sighed as his shoulders sagged in defeat. "She took everything from me! I used to be rich! Filthy rich! Then suddenly she didn't love me anymore and here I am in a lower class apartment with nothing!"
Garrus snorted his disbelief and put the datapad away so he could arrest the Volus.
"Yeah. Nothing. You're in a high class apartment still. The refugees? They have nothing."
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I backed away with my hand outstretched behind me until it found the frame of the pod.
My heart was racing faster than my mind, which was struggling to find a way out of this mess.
The Reaper finished rising to its full height, and it released another ear splitting blare, which made me want to cringe, but I stood strong.
"Shepard."
I lifted my head in defiance and took a couple steps forward, despite all my instincts screaming at me to stop.
"So you know who I am."
"We all know of you. You are the one who tried to defeat us. Who tried to use the mortal made device to destroy us. It was a valiant attempt. One that did not work."
My heart dropped what felt like out of the pod and to the ground.
"What the hell do you mean 'one that did not work'? It was complete! You're just a defect late to the party."
The Reaper blared again before it spoke as it shifted. "You're foolish to think that you would be able to defeat us. We are more than something you can defeat. We are your destiny and your doom. There is no future for your people. Or the others."
Rage boiled in my veins and I marched to the edge of the pod and jabbed my finger down toward the ground in front of me. "As long as I stand here alive, I'll find a way to kill all of you bastards. You won't have peace until I've heaved my last breath and my body has gone cold."
"Don't you see, Shepard? This is all in your mind. You are already dead. We have won."
I grit my teeth and shook my head. "That doesn't mean the war has ended, then. I'll still find a way to fight. You're here now. That must mean something."
"It means we have used you and the others to make more of our own."
"Then I guess I'll just have to take you down from the inside."
The Reaper went silent, stood motionless, I didn't know what to think or do until it spoke again.
"Your will is admirable. It is the reason you're still alive. Why you truly did succeed. We were not programmed to be able to dominate a will this strong. It was inconceivable."
I stood slack jawed staring at the Reaper as it shut down and slowly collapsed back into the Thames.
Did... The Reaper just admit defeat...?
Relief and joy filled my chest and I sank to the ground and rested my head against the wall behind me. I shook my head as I grinned until it hurt.
Finally. The war against the Reapers is over.

((A/N: Wow! This chapter is super overdue. Just been super busy with family and personal problems you guys don't need to be reading about, it screwed up my time that I usually try to set aside for writing. It's like 1- almost 2 AM as I write so that should speak of desperation for writing time there lol
Anyways, I hope it was worth the wait for y'all! Not really the best chapter out but it's still likable for me, which says something with how picky I am about my own writing!
So if you guys liked it, please don't forget to give it a vote and comment! Thank you so much for reading!!!))