Whole, Part 2 (a Mass Effect fanfiction)

The Aftermath

Shepard was aware of pain first. Then sound. Then light against her closed eyelids.

Slowly as her senses came awake, she began to try to understand what was happening around and within her. The pain seemed to come from—everywhere. As though her nerve endings were on fire. There was also a curious numbness throughout her body. Strange, to be in pain and be numb at the same time, but that seemed to be the case.

The sounds were feet moving on a hard floor, voices, faint beepings. Clinical voices, business-like. Machinery. At best guess, she was in a hospital.

Squinting against the light, she opened her eyes. She was lying flat on her back in a hospital bed, looking up at a cracked ceiling that looked like it had been through the same war that she had.

"There you are." A flood of relief washed over her at the familiar voice. Garrus's dear face leaned into view. "We had a bet going, to see how long it would take."

"Who won?" Her voice was rusty. How long had it been?

"Liara. She always wins. I think she cheats."

"Probably." Okay, so she remembered her friends. She remembered who she was. She remembered where she was. She tried to reach out to clutch Garrus's arm, but her hand wouldn't move. "The Reapers?" she asked urgently.

"Gone. Disintegrated."

Shepard breathed a sigh of relief. It was over. "It is over, isn't it?"

"The battle is over," Garrus said cautiously.

"What isn't over?"

"The aftermath. The beam ... once the Crucible was attached, it took out all the Reapers, and their creatures died within moments of their signal being lost. But ... so much tech went with them. The mass relays are all down. And—pretty much every type of sentient machine that had ties to Reaper tech."

Shepard felt the stab of that. "EDI."

Garrus nodded. "EDI. Joker is ... devastated is too kind a word for it. To her credit, she had anticipated it, she had warned him, but—who is going to believe that kind of thing until they have to? About half the geth survived, the ones that were just quarian design and hadn't been touched by the old machines. Or so we understand. Communication outside the Sol system has been difficulr, to say the least. Liara and Kasumi and Tali are out by the relay now, trying to help get it back in working order so the rest of the troops can go home."

"They're—they're stranded?"

"Yes. EDI was ahead of things, so she sent a warning as soon as the Crucible connected and she realized what was going to happen. A few ships made it through before the beam hit the relay. But everyone on the ground, most of the remaining ships ... They're anxious to get back."

"Kaidan?"

"He's fine. As the only Spectre on Earth in good working order, he's been run ragged trying to help put things back together. He and Hackett and Anderson and Coats are very busy men." His voice dropped. "Shepard."

"What?"

"Cerberus had access to a lot of Reaper tech."

"Okay." She didn't see where he was going with this.

"They used it to rebuild you."

"They—" Oh. So that would explain the pain and the numbness. "How much of me doesn't work?"

"About 37%. Arms and legs, spine ... Your organs seem fine, and there's nothing wrong with your head that wasn't wrong before." He chuckled dryly, but his heart wasn't in it. "It'll be a while before you get out of this bed."

"Will I?"

She saw rather than felt Garrus clasping her hand. "You will. Dr. Chakwas is on it."

"The others? How are the others?"

"Mostly everyone's fine. I hear Zaeed went out charging a whole nest of brutes. I think he'd have liked it that way. And Javik—"

"He saved me."

"Yes. He pulled you to safety, but the damage was too much. He was satisfied, though. I was with him, and he tried to say a whole lot of pompous things about his cycle and the last of the Protheans. I think it's what he wanted, anyway."

"I think so, too." Still, she could feel tears rolling down her cheeks. "Jack? Grunt? Wrex? Vega? Cortez?"

"All fine. All busy rebuilding." Garrus nodded at a sling he wore. "I took a bullet in the shoulder, shattered the bones. They'll heal, but for the moment, I'm best used cheering up the sick."

"Scaring the sick, you mean," she grumbled, but she was glad he was here.

He chuckled again, this time more genuinely. "You'll be glad to hear the Normandy made it through without a scratch. We didn't want to move you until you woke up, but now that you are, I think we can go home."

Home. "Yes, please."

Garrus got to his feet. "I'll make the arrangements."

Suddenly exhausted, Shepard closed her eyes. When she woke again, an even more familiar face was leaning over her. Kaidan smiled. "Hey, there. I heard a rumor you were awake."

"What's left of me."

"You'll be back better than ever in no time."

"I wish I had your faith."

She could see he was holding her hand, even if she couldn't feel it. "I have enough for both of us." Kaidan leaned over and kissed her softly, and to her relief, she felt that just fine. "I love you, Juniper. I love you so much."

"I love you, too, Kaidan." Tears were rolling down her face. "It's over."

"Yes." It wasn't, but he knew what she meant.

"I'm free." She had never considered her career confining before, but all those months shuttling back and forth, at everyone's beck and call ...

"We're free," he corrected her. "Wherever you want to go, whatever you want to do, I'm with you. Always."

Watching him hold her hand, feeling his gentle touch on her face, Shepard slipped into a deep, dreamless sleep.