The Mako shook as it drove down the dark and gloomy ruins of what was left of London. Every member of Hammer team knew that this could be their final hour, that they could all die here and now under this sky of black, but memories of loved ones and happier times fueled their spirits. Inside the Mako, Shepard was dwelling on memories such as those as he watched Tali, rejoicing in each memory he relived in his head of their time together. I'll never forgive myself if I don't manage to somehow get us both through this, I cant live without her, and I'd hate to think of what she would go through if I died and left her here alo...His train of thought was interrupted as the Mako smashed violently into some debris of what once was a building.

Shepard, Tali, and Garrus were the first to exit the damaged vehicle, looking out over the field of rubble that lay between them and the beam to the Citadel. Good, all we have left is a short sprint and we can finally end this."Commander," Anderson said coming up to the three of them, "We've got to move now! I've just received word from Hackett; Harbinger will be here any second. A portion of the fleet was able to stop the rest of the Reapers following him, but he broke through!" A deafening roar broke the eerie silence around them and to everyone's horror there was Harbinger, touching down right behind the beam. The sounds emanating from him were enough to chill the bones of even the most hardened of Hammer team. "Everyone move! We've got to make it to that beam or we're all screwed!" Shepard yelled, dashing forward with Anderson in front of him.

And so it began, all of Hammer pressed forward, desperately trying to make it to the beam. One by one Harbinger's laser picked off the forces of Hammer, it seemed more and more unlikely that at least one person would make it to the Citadel to open the arms. A Mako exploded in front of Shepard, causing him to be thrown to the ground. He was helped up quickly by Tali, a look of concern and fear in her eyes. In the distance they saw Anderson who was just about to make it to the beam. Harbinger must have realized this also, his eye-like laser turning towards Anderson's position. "Anderson! Look out!" Shepard screamed, trying to warn him. Just as all hope for Anderson seemed lost a familiar blue light appeared. The Thanix Cannon's beam connected with Harbinger and sent the old reaper stumbling back, he had not been aware of the Normandy's approach.

"Sorry I'm late," said Joker to Shepard via radio," had to take care of a few of his buddies with the rest of the fleet. You see Commander, this is what happens when you do things without me, the **** hits the fan. Anyway, we'll try to keep him busy you just get yourself on to the Citadel." Without wasting another second, Shepard and his squad renewed their sprint to the beam, the Citadel, and safety. Anderson had most likely already gone through the beam and would be awaiting them. They were nearly there, they could see a makeshift ramp of rubble leading up to it, but Harbinger would not allow them to succeed no matter what damage he may take while shifting his attention from the Normandy. He fired off an inaccurate shot at Shepard and his team. Although it didn't directly hit any of the three, the beam hit just close enough to Shepard to cause some major damage and send him flying forward into the beam as Tali and Garrus, catching the edge of the blast, were knocked backwards behind some rubble.

"Shepard, glad to see you made it," grunted Anderson as he helped Shepard to his feet," My god son, you look terrible." Shepard's armor was all but destroyed, most of it had been seared and there were rips and tears everywhere with parts missing entirely. His blood was spattered on just about all that was left of his armor and parts of his skin, most of it concentrated in the chest. "I've felt better," Shepard said, coughing up some blood," I think we're the only ones Anderson."

"Garrus... Tali... Major Coats... does anyone read me? Damn it, the comm must be down."

"This doesn't look like any part of the Citadel I've ever seen before, it's pretty dark in here... my god, look at all these bodies Anderson."

"You don't think they could be building a Reaper here do you?"

"I'd rather not find out although it seems likely, come on...let's see where this leads to."

They began to walk down the passage, Shepard trying his best to stay conscious. I've got to keep going, for everyone, for Garrus and most of all for Tali...Blood dripped from the ceiling, the ground beneath them was a puddle of crimson, Keepers stood on mounds of decaying bodies while working at control panels, they were truly in a living hell. They finally reached the door at the end of the corridor, the light from the next room poured over the two of them as they looked out on a vast chamber, a chasm of sorts. They kept going, the walls seemed to be shifting, changing, on either side of them as they crossed the chasm and made their way up a ramp, the sound of electricity crackling in the distance. They made it to the top; the room didn't have walls and looked out across the Citadel, a white-blue light in the shape of a circle cut into the floor. A single control panel was in the room and to their surprise someone was already waiting for them, someone with a black suit and white collared shirt.

The scene that followed their arrival at the control panel was equal parts horrific and sad. The Illusive Man had augmented himself with reaper tech, much like Saren had done years ago. His face was mutilated, dark; he looked more machine than man now. There was now a new evil behind the mastermind of Cerberus, a dark and sinister evil. With his new found power of dominance, he controlled both Anderson and Shepard, snake like fingers spreading throughout their minds, powerless to resist. He even forced Shepard into shooting Anderson as a demonstration of the ability of his control. The Illusive Man believed that the Reapers themselves could be controlled, that they could be used to advance humanity, but what he couldn't see is that he was just another pawn to be used and discarded by the Reapers.

"Are you willing to sacrifice humanity, to undo everything you've ever stood for when you finally realize that you can't control them, that you were being used? If there is anything human left in you, you would step aside and let me end this, once and for all. You're stronger than them, fight it!"

"I tried Shepard."

It wasn't clear exactly what was going on, had the Illusive Man given in? Could he not break the Reapers hold on him? Then the answers came, the Illusive Man put his gun to his head, pulled the trigger and collapsed upon the floor. It seems some semblance of his humanity did remain, even with all the horrible things he had done in the past, he had managed to do the right thing in the end. The end of Cerberus was complete; all that remained were the Reapers.


Shepard stumbled towards the control panel with just the press of a button between him and the end of the nightmare that were the Reapers. The arms began to open, the Crucible started to dock with the Citadel, it was finally over. Shepard turned back towards Anderson who was still alive and sat down next to him, both of them looking out at the view of Earth.

"We finally did it Anderson."

"Yes, we did. It's quite a view," said Anderson, "god, feels like it's been years since I just... sat down."

" After all of this I think you've earned a rest," Shepard looked over and noticed Anderson might be starting to go, "Anderson? Stay with me, it's almost over."

Anderson groaned, and then said, "Hell, if anyone deserves a rest here its you, look at everything you've done...Saren, Sovereign, the Collectors, and now the Reapers...I may have also heard about you and a certain Quarian, you'd make a good father Shepard... whatever happens, know this, you did good son...you did good... I'm proud of you..."

"Thank you sir," replied Shepard, " Anderson?"

Anderson had finally gotten the rest he deserved.

"Shepard, nothing is happening. The Crucible hasn't done anything, must be something on your end." said Hackett via radio.

Shepard forced himself to his feet, walked back over to the control panel and saw that a new area of it had become unlocked. He pressed a few of the buttons; energy began to gather in the Crucible. The energy then expanded from the Crucible in a shock wave of sorts, a beam of the energy shooting off towards the mass relays. After a relay was hit the energy would then produce the same shock wave-like effect and the beam would continue on to the next relay, eventually hitting all relays. The relays were fine after being hit; it seemed that they were only used to spread the energy so that all Reapers would be affected. Shepard didn't know exactly what the energy was doing to the Reapers but he did know that he didn't have much time left. Looking down at his hand covered in blood, his thoughts dwelled upon those he had come to care for and even love.

He saw his friend Joker, the best pilot he had ever known. Joker had been even more loyal to him than Kakliosaur mounts are to Krogans. He also thought on Anderson, a father figure to him of sorts, who had always had his back even when the majority was against him. Most of his thoughts were of Tali, all of the time they spent together, the love that they had for each other. I'm sorry Tali, I don't know whether or not you made it, but right now I'm willing to believe that your safe, I guess I won't be able to build you that house, you know, that beachfront property... I'll look in on you from time to time; make sure you stay safe... I love you Tali, Keelah'Selai. A single tear rolled down Shepard's face as he lost consciousness.

"Garrus! In here!" Garrus and Tali came running into the room where Shepard and Anderson were, the Illusive Man's body on the outer edge. When Tali saw how bad Shepard looked, she started to cry.

"No... no... you can't be... please, you can't be..." said Tali as she reached down to check him.

"Looks like Anderson's gone."

Tali gasps, "Garrus, he's alive! Shepard's alive! We have to get him to the Normandy, Oh Keelah please don't die on me Shepard." Tali said, sobbing.

"Joker... Joker its Garrus, we found Shepard he's injured pretty bad, have Cortez bring a shuttle to our position and make sure Chakwas is with him, the faster they get here the better."

"Aye, shuttles inbound, should be there in around 5 minutes."

"Shepard," Garrus said, a tremble in his voice, "I'm not sure if you can hear me or not, but help's on the way, hang in there. If you can hear
me I thought you'd like to hear some good news, about what happened to your old friend Harbinger after you got knocked into the beam. We stayed behind some rubble after the blast, waiting for a good opportunity to follow you in. Joker was still trying to keep him busy as best he could and even a portion of the fleet began bombarding him from orbit. The bastard was taking a beating but he
just wouldn't go down... not until we saw that flash of energy from above anyway. It washed over him, and everything around us. And then an explosion, his barriers had gone down; a shot from the Thanix Cannon went clean through him. That, accompanied by more orbital strikes and he was finally down for good. We can talk more about it when you're... better."

As Garrus finished, they could see the shuttle in the distance, nearly to them. Holding Shepard's hand, Tali said, "The shuttle is here Shepard, hold on, if I lose you..." They picked Shepard up and got him into the shuttle where Chakwas immediately started to do what she could for him until they could get to the med bay on the Normandy.

Tali was in the med bay, it had been a week since Shepard had been brought on board and she remained by his side for hours each day hoping that any one of these hours could be the one where he woke up. "I've been thinking about the house. A window looking out over the water in the living room would be nice," she paused for a moment, she was on the verge of tears; her voice shaky, "when you wake up... we can talk about it some more, until then I'm not going anywhere, I told you I'd be here whenever you needed me and I meant it. I've never felt so close to anyone before like I do with you. I want to spend my life with you Shepard."

She stayed by him a few hours afterwards; it was getting late and she was starting to get tired. She was just about to fall asleep there beside his bed when she heard it. A faint groan came from the bed Shepard was on, Tali jumped to her feet and looked at him, "Shepard! Doctor, Shepard's waking up," Chakwas came walking over as Shepard's groggily opened his eyes, "you had me so worried Shepard, when I first saw you in that room on the Citadel I thought I'd lost you."

"I couldn't leave you here alone Tali, I love you too much, besides someone's got to build that house. You wanted a window looking out over the water if I heard correctly... ugh... my whole body hurts."

"Shepard, glad to see your finally awake," the familiar sound of Hackett's voice filled the room," it seems the Crucible doesn't destroy
Reapers, but it did even the playing field out, even gave us the advantage over them. From the reports I've been getting all Reaper ship's barriers have been disabled, permanently, making it a lot easier to destroy them just as Sovereign was without his barriers. Earth has been retaken more or less, aside from a few stragglers that remain in areas of the major cities. I'm hearing similar stories all across the galaxy; it'll still be awhile until we are rid of them for good though. Well I better get back to it, you rest Commander; you've done good work."

Shepard spent time recovering on Earth and later in Huerta Memorial Hospital on the Citadel once things started to get back to normal there. Normal was a subjective term though; the Citadel could never go back to the way it was before the Reapers had taken control of it. People had lost loved ones and entire families had died there; including children. It would stay with all of them, in the back of their minds; a dark stain on their memory. The war with the Reapers raged on in the meantime

Tali stayed by Shepard's side as he recovered, helping him in anyway she could. The love the two of them shared was something that couldn't be put into words, just seeing them together could put a smile on even a Krogan's face, it was truly something special. The Normandy rejoined the fleet to help with the war, Ashley in temporary command until Shepard could return. She felt rather strange having command of the ship; this was Shepard's ship not hers. This was his crew and they looked to him to guide them just as she did when he had been here. After four months of recovering Shepard was able to rejoin the Normandy, his squad overjoyed that they had him back. When he and Tali stepped onto the Normandy all of them were in two lines on either side of the hall that led to the galaxy map, each with something to say as they walked slowly down the hall; Tali, holding Shepard's arm with her head rested on his shoulder. They paused at each of them to hear what they had to say.

"It's good to have you back Commander." Ashley said, with a salute.

"Shepard, finally back from your vacation I see, I hope you didn't go soft laying in that bed and forget how to hold a gun."

"So, king of the boy scouts is back, you want a patch or something? Ahhh shit, I'm just messing with you Shepard it's good to have you back. Figured I'd give my students a break and help out here on the Normandy"

"Welcome back Loco, you're one tough son of a bitch."

As they passed Javik he gave only a respectful nod towards the two of them.

"Shepard, it would seem the Goddess has been kind to us both." Samara said, with a slight bow of her head

"No shortage of Reapers here Shepard, ready to knock some heads? Heh...heh heh heh"

"Nice to see you've recovered. Maybe this time we can get loud, spill some drinks on the Citadel after."

"See, I told you Jacob could get me to come back to the Normandy. There's also the fact that the suicidal part of your mission is over, so I'm here Shep. Also, you look better, but you looked even better in that suit I got you, where did it go?"

"Well, you're like every other big, goddamned hero I've ever heard of Shepard. Nothing seems to put you down for good, just piss you off. You're more like me than I thought."

" I still don't have a window Shepard and the food hasn't gotten better, but how could I pass up the opportunity to spend some time here... killing things with big guns like old times."

"I guess what I said before during our mission together was true. You truly are the best that humanity has to offer Shepard."

"We were all worried about you Shepard; I have to admit that you didn't look good when you came on board from the Citadel. We weren't sure you would make it, I'm glad your back." Liara said with a smile on her face.

"Shepard, when you have the time I have more questions to ask you, I've accumulated quite a few since you've been gone. They should only take an estimated three weeks to answer...that was a joke."

Shepard and Tali made their way to the galaxy map, ready to fight the reapers anywhere they may remain. A familiar voice came over the comm as Shepard was picking a destination.

"Where to Commander? And may I say it's damn good to have you back...again... seriously Commander, how many times are you going to pull this stunt on me?"

Shepard with a chuckle," Last time Joker, I promise," he looks at Tali," I've got things to do once this is all over."

The following months were interesting to say the least. The Normandy and a portion of the fleet were sent to Feros where they met up with what remained of the colonists of Zhu's Hope, Shiala among them. After defeating Reaper forces on Feros, they went to Noveria and ran into an old friend, Gianna Parasini, who was still alive and had been leading a resistance group there.

"Looks like I owe you another beer Commander." she said when the Reapers had been beaten there.

Planet by planet the Reapers were pushed back; Illium, Horizon, Palaven, Tuchanka, and many others had been reclaimed including Omega, where Zaeed decided to stay. As the threat continued to diminish, a few members of Shepard's squad decided that it was time to head back to their worlds and loved ones. Jacob, Miranda and James returned to Earth; Jacob to be with Dr. Cole, Miranda to be with her sister Oriana and James to begin his training in the N7 program. Kasumi also returned to Earth; she never gave a specific reason as to why. Although reluctant to leave, Wrex decided it was best to get back to Tuchanka to keep the clans in line now that the genophage had been cured; Grunt also accompanied him back. Jack returned to Grissom Academy with her students; the facility was starting to return to the way things had been before the war and Cerberus kidnapping.

Samara, Ashley, Garrus, Tali, Liara and Javik stayed onboard the Normandy; they had to see this through to the very end. That end finally came after just over a years worth of fighting; the Reapers had finally been defeated! They could finally breathe easy now knowing that this darkness was finally over. Although it was impossible to determine for sure whether every single Reaper had been killed, there had not been sightings of Reapers or any of their ground forces in a month.

"Ready to go home Miss vas Normandy?" Shepard said with a smile on his face. He was relieved to think that now he would be able to settle down; he had done enough.

3 years later in a house on Rannoch.

"I received a message from Garrus," Tali said moving towards the window Shepard was currently looking out, "here it is."

She pressed a few buttons on her omni-tool and a hologram of Garrus appeared.

"Hey Shepard. Everyone's getting together for drinks on the Citadel tomorrow, you know, to celebrate the anniversary of when we sent the
Reapers to hell. Figured you'd like to see the Normandy again too so Admiral Williams has insisted on getting you and Tali herself. I hear she's settling in nicely as CO on the Normandy, finally getting used to command of what was your ship once. Anyway, see you then Shepard. And by the way, I had them put that monument up on the Presidium. I'll have to take you up there again sometime, maybe have a rematch?" the hologram then faded away.

"Guess I'd better bring the suit, just to be safe, we'll probably be there for quite some time. What monument was he talking about anyway?"

"Oh that," Shepard said a smile on his face, "probably his 'King of the Bottle Shooters' statue. I wouldn't be surprised if he really did bronze his gun too, you know Garrus."

They both laughed and then turned to watch the sun set. The sky was a fiery reddish pink; it was one of life's simple beauties. They put their arms around each other; Tali laid her head on his shoulder.

"I love you," she said tenderly touching Shepard's arm, "Who would have believed four years ago we would be here; have such a beautiful life like this."

"I love you too Tali and I would have," Shepard said affectionately, "I wouldn't have had it any other way."

They looked into each others eyes and kissed passionately. A few moments later, a little girl walked into the room.

"Father, can you read me a story before bed?"

Shepard walked over to her, picked her up and said, "Of course sweetheart, maybe I'll tell you the one about Garrus and the main gun on my old ship the Normandy."

He walked towards her room, laid her down in her bed, tucked her in and then began telling her the story. Tali watched from afar; a smile was on her face. This was everything she could ever have wanted. They had beaten the odds all those years ago and it was totally worth it.

The End