Whole, Part 2 (a Mass Effect fanfiction)

With and For One Another

Shepard was the first out the door, with Garrus close on her heels, then Liara and Kaidan. Even as they were drawing their weapons and aiming at the Reaper troops, Kaidan was looking around them in shock. "This can't be Earth. It—it can't be."

Liara and Garrus both shot him sympathetic glances. They knew what it was like.

Shepard had less of an emotional tie to her homeworld than the rest of them, and even she was bothered by the rubble and the devastation all around her. "It won't stay that way," she assured Kaidan. "Let's sweep these bastards off this planet once and for all."

He shook himself and nodded crisply at her. "Yeah. Let's do that."

The shuttle flew off. There was a starburst of fire above their heads, and Shepard hit her comm link. "Steve!"

Over the static, his voice came through dimly. "Damn it, I'm hit!"

"You okay?"

"Yeah. Landing for repairs. I can't come get you, Shepard!"

"No problem. You take care of yourself," she told him.

"Anything for you."

Liara and Garrus and Kaidan had gone on ahead and caught up with Tali and Javik and James. Shepard hurried toward them, picking off husks as she went.

Regrouping with her team felt pretty good. All that was missing were Grunt and Wrex. And Jack. And Zaeed, and Kasumi.

And Mordin, and Ashley.

And Thane.

But she couldn't dwell on the missing. Not right now. There was work to do.

"Alliance installation ahead," she told the others. "Double-time it. Let's get there and figure out where they need us."

Together they swept through the remaining Reaper forces in the sector and came up to a checkpoint.

"Commander Shepard, reporting for duty."

The young—very young—grunt manning the checkpoint gulped audibly before performing a hasty salute. "Commander Shepard, sir! I mean, ma'am. Uh ..."

"At ease, soldier. Can you point me to Admiral Anderson?"

Before the grunt could reply, a familiar voice spoke from the shadows behind him. "Present and accounted for. Get your butt in here, Shepard. And the rest of you, too."

They moved through the checkpoint. Her team went on a bit, inspecting the Alliance station, leaving Shepard a moment alone with Anderson. "You're looking good, sir."

"Shovel the shit elsewhere, Shepard. I look like ten miles of bad road. But you—you're a sight for sore eyes." He pulled her in for a hug. Shepard stood awkwardly for a moment, then returned the embrace. This man was as much like family to her as any of her team. "I knew you wouldn't let me down, Shepard."

Stepping back from the hug. Shepard looked over the interior of the installation. "How are we looking?"

"Hammer is set to land soon, and then we can begin the ground assault. The Reapers are here in force, all of them centered in one area. Almost begging us to attack."

"They want us all in one place? I don't like that." She remembered the humanoid Reaper at the Collector base, and shivered.

"No. I don't, either. But they're too tempting a target to ignore entirely." He gestured around them. "You're looking at what's left of the Resistance."

"It must have been brutal here, cut off from the rest of the Alliance."

"It's been touch and go from day one," Anderson agreed. "But once we figured out that the Reapers were focusing on the major centers, it became easier to avoid direct contact."

"Until London." Another man had come up next to them. He was younger than Anderson, but looked just as worn.

"Major Coats, Commander Shepard."

They sized each other up, nodding at one another.

"Coats is right. Once the Reapers focused on London the whole war changed," Anderson continued. "We held back as long as we could, sent in recon teams, lost a lot of good men planning this attack. But with soldiers like Coats, and knowing you were out there collecting help and would get here as soon as you could ... we held on."

"I wish it had been sooner," Shepard said. "It was so much harder to get people to see what was going on outside their own priorities than I'd thought it would be."

Anderson nodded. "That's the way it goes."

"I'm grateful you were able to hold out this long. Without you and the resistance, we'd all be dead in the water."

"The Admiral's being modest," Coats said. "He's the reason any of us are still alive."

Shaking his head, Anderson grimaced at the praise. "Let's not start handing out medals just yet. This fight is just getting started."

"I think the galaxy is ready—finally—to do whatever they need to do to win this."

"Good. That's what it's going to take."

"We'll get it done, Anderson," Shepard hoped she wasn't making promises she'd be unable to keep. But what were they all doing here, if not promising to fight with and for one another as long as they had to?

"The entire galaxy united ... too bad it took the Reapers to bring us together."

"With all due respect, sir, Shepard's the one who brought them together." She hadn't even heard Garrus come up beside her, but suddenly he was there.

"That's exactly what I meant. I know you didn't like leaving, Shepard ... but nobody else could have accomplished what you've done."

She wished she didn't believe him. She wished she thought that someone out there could have brought the galaxy together sooner, been able to talk more people out of their ridiculous side trips ... but she had barely managed it. Anyone without her track record, without her connections, would still be out there, arguing with whoever decided to dig their heels in and put their own people's needs first this time.

Anderson looked over Shepard's shoulder, past the checkpoint, to the ruin of what had once been a city. "I was born in London."

Coats shook his head, following the line of Anderson's gaze. "The fighting here has been some of the worst on the planet."

"I wish I'd seen it before ... all this happened."

"It looks bad, but there's still hope. You're here. It'll do the troops good to see you. Bolster their resolve."

"I'm just a soldier, just like them."

Coats shook his head. "Like it or not, you're a hero to these people. Don't discount the effect that can have on them." He nodded. "When this is over, we'll rebuild, Shepard. Bigger and better than ever."

Garrus nodded. "We'll all rebuild. Every species, every homeworld, every colony. This isn't the end for any of us."