Author Notes (July 2011): I started writing this because there wasn't much of Male Shepard/Miranda post ME 2 and since that is my favorite pairing I thought I could try my hand to make a respectable story. The feedback it received over the months was humbling and I appreciated every last favor, alert and review that I received.

Looking back at this story I realized there was some things I did right and some things I did wrong. I like to think I have grown as a writer in the course of the year it took me to write this story. So consider this a revised version of my story, an attempt to clean up parts of this story and fix many mistakes. This will be an ongoing process.

Thanks again for Reading. I hope you enjoy. Don't forget to leave a Review.

-Spectre4hire

The Characters, planets, species, entire galaxy is the property of Glorious Bioware.

Except for this story and the few Original characters those belong to me… (Spectre4hire)

Aftermath

By Spectre4hire

Prologue

Bullets were absorbing into Shepard's shields but his shields did not waiver from the growing Collector onslaught. He had defeated the hideous human reaper, defied the Illusive Man and set a bomb to wipe the base off the face of the map.

The only problem was returning to the Normandy.

The Collectors might have been defeated but they were not going to lie down and accept their fates. They seemed determined to bring down Shepard and his crew before their own demise as they continued to fire on him and his crew.

He momentarily dove behind a rock, pulling out his rifle, checking to make sure his incendiary ammo was on, he turned around to face a group of the Collectors and opened fire. The Collectors were engulfed by flames, as Shepard shot in rapid procession, one after the other, within seconds the first wave of Collectors had fallen, succumbing to fire and becoming ash.

"Shepard!"

Shepard turned around to see Miranda and Grunt were ahead of him. Miranda was the one who had yelled his name, looking dismayed that he was still firing at the Collectors.

Appearing out of nowhere was the Normandy SR 2 hovering meters away from their position. The frigate was faithfully waiting for the last of its crew to come aboard before they could truly forget about this place.

Shepard holstered his rifle and continued to run, his entire body was aching from this suicide mission. He had more than a half dozen new scars, which he applied a liberal amount of medi gel.

Bullets were exploding all around the Commander, alerting him to the fact that more Collectors were chasing him and his squad.

"Damn it, why won't they just die!" vented an annoyed Shepard, looking forward to see the Normandy's airlock open and to his surprise and amusement, Joker stepped out, rifle in hand and began providing cover fire for him and his squad in the final stretch.

After all Shepard had seen on this mission, nothing brought a wider smile to his face then watching Joker handle the rifle. To the Commander's surprise, he could hear several of the Collectors were being taken out by the helmsman. After providing ample cover fire, Joker stepped aside to allow the squad to enter the frigate and escape the Collector attack. Grunt was the first to enter the ship, followed a few steps later by Miranda.

Shepard breathed a sigh of relief to see that his squad was safe especially Miranda who in the last few weeks, who began to care deeply for. His breathing was becoming sharper, his legs felt like lead but he continued to run, as he was closing in on the ship until…

A large chunk of the Collector base crumbled between Shepard and the ship, leaving him with two options: Either turn around and make friends with the Collectors or jump.

Shepard wisely chose the latter, calling upon all of his resolve, and adrenaline, he miraculously picked up his feet, steps away before he had to make the leap. Looking up at the airlock to see Miranda was shouting at him but he couldn't hear what she was saying with the Collectors shooting behind him and the distance between them.

Shepard took a deep breath, as he took his last step, locking his legs; he leapt with all of his might, as he propelled himself towards the Normandy. The jump to Shepard felt like an eternity as he was carried through the air, his body began to descend too early, before he reached the ship.

Oh shit, he thought as his hands clasped onto the ledge of the airlock while his body smashed into the Normandy.

The pain alone from the impact was enough for him to release his grip. Numbness immediately began to set in his arms, while his chest and abdomen writhed in pain; his legs were franticly kicking air trying to push himself up.

Miranda grabbed one of Shepard's arms with both of her hands and began to pull him up, but he was too heavy for her with all his battle armor. "Damn it Shepard!"

Even with the thought of certain death, Shepard couldn't help but admire her beauty as she struggled to try to lift him up.

Grunt, the pure krogan seemed to realize that help was needed. Towering over the pair, he bent down grabbing Shepard by the collar, before yanking his battle master up and safely carrying him into the cockpit.

Garrus shut the airlock doors. "Commander is on board."

"Then let us get the hell out of here," Joker said wobbling towards the chair.

"Ten, nine, eight," EDI counted with no emotion.

"We know EDI," said Joker sitting in his chair.

The Normandy activated its mass effect field, disappearing out of the Omega 4 relay.

Shepard was kneeling on his tired legs. His hands were still shaking from the adrenaline of the hours of battle he and his squad had gone through. His breathing was short and heavy, his face was nearly touching the floor. Every muscle in his body was screaming in pain.

"Battle master we made it." Grunt said, cheerfully patting Shepard on the back.

Shepard groaned as the young krogan enthusiastically patted him a bit too hard on some new bruises.

"What is the matter Shepard, survive the Collectors only to fall in pain from a krogan celebratory pat?" teased Garrus, who was standing over his friend.

Shepard snorted, he was too tired to laugh, too tired to roll his eyes, too tired to give Garrus a response. He lifted his head to see sitting on her legs watching him closely was Miranda, who greeted him with her sparkling blue eyes and warm smile, both of which brought back some of his strength.

"Commander we did it!" shouted Joker spinning around in his chair.

"I know Joker." Shepard said in between his heavy breaths, looking up and smiling at his helmsman. "We did."

"I must say Joker; we could have used you on the base. You handle a rifle exceptionally well." Miranda teased with a smirk.

"Ugh… well," began Joker a bit flustered by Miranda's praise.

"You know I am just doing my part that is all. I mean it's not enough that I can fly the Normandy and save your asses, but I thought I could do it stylishly with some firepower," Joker said regaining his trademark cockiness and humor.

"Well I will surely be considering taking you groundside on our next mission." Shepard said as his breathing finally began to settle down.

"Yes, I can see the extranet articles Spectre Shepard and the Cripple." Joker said, waving his hand in front of his face as if he was reading the headline.

"Shepard, I think it would be good if Mordin got a look at you." Miranda said getting to her feet.

"I don't suppose it could hurt," Shepard admitted, staggering to his feet. His legs immediately protested while his muscles in his arms and chest ached. He was definitely going to be sore.

Miranda smiled, glad to see that he wasn't going to be stubborn about getting medical treatment. Which he admitted was his style but right now, nothing sounded better then lying down on a hospital bed and getting some much needed rest. She and him began walking in step with Garrus and Grunt falling in a step behind.

"How is the rest of the crew?"

Miranda could only shake her head and smile after all the pain that Shepard had just been through; his first thoughts were on his crew's well being. "All of the crew survived."

"Really?" asked a relieved Shepard. He and everyone on board were told this was a Suicide Mission, he had accepted the certainty that his crew or squad could be killed during this mission especially after his crew had been taken by the Collectors.

"Hawthorne had a broken arm and some of the crew are still in shock about their treatment from the Collectors," Garrus added.

"But everyone is accounted for," finished Miranda.

"You did good Shepard," complimented Grunt. "A true Battle Master!"

"That is the best news, I have heard in a while," Shepard admitted.