Quintessential Hero

Disclaimer: I own nothing except this author's twisted imagination!

Summary: Post-ME3. Thanks to a certain omnipotent being with a penchant for mind games, Samantha Shepard finds herself in a strange new world.

Author's Note: Apparently even Q is disappointed in the latest endeavor from... a certain Canadian game developer. This is my first fic and I hope you enjoy it. Constructive criticism is welcomed, as I'm trying to improve my writing skills. Total flamers need not apply.

Chapter 1

As he watched the final moments of one of the more interesting humans he had discovered in the multi-verse, the being know simply as 'Q' was deeply disappointed at the outcome.

'How dull', he thought.

Yet another interesting mortal had caught his attention, only to end up going out with a metaphorical whimper instead of a bang.

He had, surprisingly even to himself, been rooting for her the whole time since he had discovered this fascinating universe.

Leaning over her, he gently brushed her auburn hair away from her emerald eyes, a look of steely determination forever burned into her features.

Frowning, he realized how empty he felt at the ending to this tragic little tale.

"This wont do at all.", He muttered to himself.

Looking down at her ruined armor and scorched remains he quietly said, "If anyone truly deserved a third chance at life it's you, Mon Capitaine de frégate."

Suddenly, a wicked little idea entered into his mind, one in a long, long, line of wicked little ideas, and a devilish grin replaced his grim frown.

With just a simple snap of his fingers he healed the woman's most severe injuries, restoring life to her broken form.

'No point in healing all of her wounds', he mused.

That would take away some of the challenge for her and hence lessen his delight at watching her overcome situations where she should have died dozens, if not hundreds, of times.

Admiring his work, Q gazed at the, now very much alive, woman and said, "Welcome back to the land of the living Shepard."

Ah yes, "Page breaks", a literary device used to show the passage of time. We have dismissed that claim.

As Samantha Shepard slowly regained consciousness her first thought was, 'So this is what heaven is like? Huh... kinda boring.'

She now appeared to be surrounded by an area of endless bright white in every possible direction.

The second thing she noticed, aside from the pain emanating from her whole body, was a tall man standing over her, in a Fleet Admiral's uniform no less.

After a short pause he barked, "On your feet Commander!"

Then he proceeded to lean over and, impatiently, offered her a hand.

She took it and shakily got to her feet snapping off as good a salute as she could muster, as well as a, "Yes sir!", once she was fairly sure that she wasn't going to tumble back to the ground.

As he snapped off a salute in return, Shepard realized that she had never met this man before.

She carefully took in her new surroundings as she said, "Ah, sir, mind telling me who you are, how you know me, and for the matter, where the hell we are right now?"

He grinned at her and replied, "Blunt and straight to the point, I always liked that about you! Lets just say, I'm someone whose very interested in giving you another chance Commander, your third by my count."

"What do you mean by giving me a third chance?" Suddenly her eyes widened, as she continued, "Wait... are you telling me that... I'm dead?"

He grinned and said, "Well walking directly into a fiery explosion does tend to have that effect on most people. Just out of curiosity, any particular reason why you used that... profound... strategy?"

She looked down at her feet and Q could clearly hear the guilt in her words, "I did what needed to be done. To be honest sir... I had had enough of seeing my friends and countless innocents slaughtered... and I thought I was a dead woman anyway, so I figured what the hell."

At this Q boomed, "That is NOT acceptable Shepard! The first time you shuffled off this mortal coil at least it was for a reason, namely, that idiotic pilot, Joker, you like so much. But to just give up and die... that's not the woman I've watched... well I mean... that's just not like you at all."

Shepard took a step back at the man's tirade and with a suspicious tone replied, "Alright just who the hell are you really, and why the hell do you know so much about me?"

After a few moments he seemed to calm down and answered, "As for who... or rather what I am, you probably wouldn't believe me if I told you anyway. All you need to know is that I've been observing your exploits, well... most of your life. Everything from Mindoir, to Akuze, to your battles against Saren, Sovereign, Harbinger, the Collector base, everything."

Shepard was beginning to feel the need to get away from this man, how could he possible know every major event in her entire life? What was he? She was still unsteady on her feet, but she'd be damned if this crazy imposter was going to get any closer to her.

"Just stay right there... come any closer and I will hurt you, no matter what uniform your wearing." As if to emphasize her point, a biotic blue aura blazed into existence around her body.

A look of sadness appeared on Q's face but just as quickly as it appeared it was gone, replaced with a wry grin and a look of pride instead.

"That's the Shepard I know! You know, the one with fire in her eyes, full of, how do you humans put it? Ah yes, piss and vinegar. Good! I'm glad to see that everything you've lived through hasn't broken you down! That's always going to be why you are who you are Shepard. Why people are always going to trust you, follow you, depend on you, believe in you. Remember that Shepard, your going to need it."

He glanced at, the still glowing, Shepard, who was obviously ready for a fight, even in her less than stellar condition and tried to assure her, "Listen I'm not going to harm you Shepard, actually, I'm going to give you a gift."

"Why do I think this gift of yours is going to be something horrible?", Shepard snapped back at him.

Q smirked and replied, "Well to be fair, I suppose it will be your opinion alone on whether or not or it's horrible, but not everyone gets to see an entirely different universe every day do they?"

A confused Shepard said, "What the hell what are you talking about, what different universe?"

"You'll see soon enough Shepard.", Q responded with a gleam in his eye. "Oh, the name's Q, by the way, and if your very lucky I might drop by from time to time... Now... you better lay down before you fall down Samantha."

Suddenly, Shepard was severely dizzy and, somehow, even more confused, "What the hell... are you talking about? And who the hell has a name like...". A sudden, blindingly bright, flash of light stunned her as she, once again, found herself in strange new surroundings.

A/N: Just in case you didn't notice, Q was probably a bit smitten with Shepard after watching her all those years. In my mind this is why he'd decided to play dice with the multi-verse by giving her one more chance at life. Her Stark situation will be continued in chapter 2!

Capitaine de frégate = French for the rank of Frigate Captain / Commander