Epilogue

Shepard looked through the newly replaced glass as the elevator dropped from the top of the Citadel Tower. He saw faint hints of reconstruction in the wards. While most of the internal damage was concentrated in the Presidium, the arms of the station received a barrage of weapons fire and debris from the space battle. The most recent estimates said it could take a decade to return the station to its former glory.

The weeks that followed the attack had been busy even for Shepard, the Savior of the Citadel as the news networks had dubbed him. The Alliance brass thought it would be a good idea to take advantage of his sudden popularity. They sent him on a tour around the major Earth cities and the major human colonies. By the time he was done, Shepard had stood before hundreds of thousands of people, giving speeches in his dress blues that was adorned with many new medals.

After that entire process was over, he looked to take care of his crew. First was Ashley. Her funeral was held on Terra Nova by her family. Shepard had offered to pay for everything, but Mrs. Williams politely turned him down. So he decided to pay the caterer without her knowing. After all, the entire crew of the Normandy planned on attending, and they could eat the Williams family out of house and home.

Once the service for First Lieutenant Ashley Williams (Shepard pushed for giving her a commission posthumously, and the brass agreed wholeheartedly, stunning the commander) was over, Shepard prepared himself. He approached Williams' mom and asked for her forgiveness for not protecting her daughter. Her response was interesting; she slapped him.

"Don't start that, Troy," she said not unkindly. "You don't get to carry that. Ashley did what she did because she knew it was the right thing to do. It's not your fault."

She surprised him again when she pulled him into a tight embrace. After getting over his astonishment, Shepard hugged her back, taking some comfort in the older woman's arms. Mrs. Williams refused to let him go until he promised that he would keep in touch and visit them from time to time.

Next were Tali, Wrex, Garrus, and Liara. Since their mission against Saren was done, Shepard asked each one if they wished to stay onboard or part ways. Garrus answered first and asked if he could stay with Shepard for the foreseeable future. He thought he could do more good with him than at C-Sec. Shepard gladly accepted him.

Tali said that since she had an appropriate Pilgrimage gift, she would return to the Migrant Fleet. Initially, she was merely going to pay her way on some small shuttle. Shepard would hear nothing of it and personally escorted her back home in the Normandy. Just before she disembarked, Tali hugged him fiercely and promised to message him whenever she found time.

Wrex had decided to head back to Tuchanka. He explained that Saren's manipulations showed him that the krogan needed a strong leader if they were going to survive the genophage and not be pawns to the Council. While he will miss the grand battles Shepard always found him, Wrex knew that he could be that leader. He left the ship with hearty handshake and extending an invitation to endure a Tuchankan summer.

Liara's answer didn't surprise anyone.

The elevator doors opened, and Shepard saw the asari leaning against the railing next to Avina. They smiled at each other and closed the distance between them.

"What did the Council have to say? Did we get new orders?" she asked.

"'We'? Since when did you get orders from the Council?"

"Since I decided that you need me along to keep you from wandering space aimlessly."

Shepard smiled. "Now you're making those decisions too?" He sighed. "You're probably right. At least now I know that I have someone there to keep me flying straight."

"So? What did the Council have to say?"

Talking with the Council was the last and least anticipated item on Shepard's list. But it needed to be done, and he was lucky to leave with temper still under control.

He sighed as he remembered the Council's orders. "They want us finding and destroying any lingering geth that may be in Council space or the Attican Traverse."

Her brow scrunched in a mixture of confusion and frustration. "They said nothing about the Reapers?"

Shepard shook his head. "They believe the geth are a more immediate threat. Once they are dealt with, we can search for any more information on the Reapers."

"That is foolish. Let someone else rout the geth. We should be concentrating on the bigger threat."

"I tried telling them that, but they said that we are best suited for the job. Said something about our team having the most experience battling geth."

Liara sighed and rubbed her forehead in exasperation. Shepard's smile widened at the very cute scrunching thing her noise did when she was in this mood. Since their night before Virmire, he noticed that she had become much more expressive when he was around.

"Well, did anything beneficial arise from the meeting?" she asked.

"They didn't mark me a traitor," he tried. "I count that as a win."

That cute scrunch intensified. "Anything besides that?"

Shepard thought for a moment. "I got promoted to Staff Commander. That's pretty exciting. Oh! They asked who I think should be the human councilor. I thought Captain Anderson would be perfect for the job. They have enough politicians on it already. They need someone with a more practical mindset."

She looked up at him and smiled. "There is the man I knew was behind the jester. What happened to the hard commander that I met on Therum?"

He wrapped his arms around her and kissed her lightly. "I'm comfortable enough around you to let my guard down. Most get Commander Shepard. You are stuck with Troy."

"Mmmm. What if I liked the Commander Shepard better?"

"Then you are outta luck. We both know you may have respected my command face, but you fell for the man you saw in here." He pointed to his head.

Liara scoffed playfully. "You think too highly of yourself."

"I blame you," he said. He kissed her again. "You gave me the big ego." He stepped away and intertwined his fingers with hers. "Come on, Cielo. Let's get back to our ship."

Author's Note:

Well, almost a year after I started this little adventure, it is finally over. It grew into a much larger project than I initially planned, but the story and characters demanded that I go further. I had to oblige them.

I want to thank everyone who read this story and a big thanks to those that followed and/or reviewed it. You have no idea how much it helped to see my inbox littered with notices of favorite, follows, and reviews. They definitely gave me a much needed boost when I lost inspiration.

This is not the end of Troy Shepard's story. I will be continuing into Mass Effect 2 and, hopefully, Mass Effect 3. So stay tuned.

Anyways, I hoped you liked what I have written. If you have any gripes, praises, or just want to give me a warm, fuzzy feeling, please review.