Endgame (noun): Chess: the final stage of the game, usually following the exchange of queens and the serious reduction of forces.

The 'bridge' of the Reaper was unlike any other ship. A wide, windowless wall curved gently around a massive…conduit that seemed to barely contain the raw power surging vertically from floor to ceiling. Though Kaidan supposed that a fully sentient machine didn't really need a pilot, much less a windshield. Or consoles. It might even have been advanced enough to not need mechanics for repairs.

Shepard scanned the room through the scope of her rifle, puzzled at the lack of any discernable targets but alert nonetheless. Kaidan approached the conduit, his pistol lowering as he began to examine the strange tech, searching for a weakness as Shepard circled around to the right, doing the same. She disappeared from view behind the beam, and the power surged to near blinding brilliance. He shielded his eyes with his forearm, his call for Shepard drowned in the crackle of static. He scrambled blindly towards her, nearly knocking her over when they suddenly collided, but they managed to recover by wrapping their arms around each other's waists.

"Shepard," a metallic voice grated from the beam beside them. She turned to confront the form that had appeared in the energy—brighter streaks giving the suggestion of a few sets of eyes and a broad mouth. "I have heard so much about you. And the stories did not disappoint." The Reaper paused. "You may call me…Arbiter."

"Let me guess," Shepard started, her voice thick with disdain as her arm tightened around Kaidan's waist. "'The cycle can't be stopped. I cannot even comprehend what is coming.' I think I've heard it all from Sovereign or Harbinger. I doubt you have anything new to add."

The Reaper chuckled, startling them both. "Your ignorance is amusing. Before you destroyed the one you knew as Sovereign, we believed the asari were the pinnacle of this galaxy's current cycle. But you have proven more adept than any other being of your time, even if your species is rather…primitive, in comparison."

"Amusing?" Kaidan whispered, feeling the shiver that ran down Shepard's spine. "Since when is a Reaper amused?"

"Some believed," Arbiter continued, ignoring Kaidan completely, "that you were too dangerous for us to allow you to live, but most of us were intrigued. In the end, it was decided that you, the only one who had managed to delay the coming of the end of a cycle, would make a most formidable Reaper."

"What do you mean, me? I've seen what's involved in your version of reproduction," she sneered. "What an offer! But I think I'll pass."

"What you encountered at the Collector Base was incomplete. It was an empty form, devoid of a ruling consciousness, a singular being to give all others meaning." The eyes closed for a moment in a long blink, as if savoring a memory before reopening. "It is an existence you cannot yet comprehend," Arbiter said. "It is something close to what your ancestors would have called Enlightenment. Or perhaps Transcendence."

Shepard scowled. "If you wanted me specifically, then why did the Collectors kill me in the first place?"

"Having you alive was preferable, but dead would have sufficed as well. So long as your organic matter didn't decay too far. But the Protheans failed to retrieve your body, so we had to find other means of recovering you from the asari before you were beyond recovery."

"No…"

"Do you really think that humans could have unlocked the technology to resurrect you by themselves? The Illusive Man revived you with our help. Though we underestimated his fanaticism, his dedication to bettering your pathetic species. Instead of giving you to us, he enabled you to be a continuing annoyance."

Shepard shook her head in denial, her hands suddenly scrabbling at the seals on her helmet. Kaidan's arms tightened around her as she bared herself to the Reaper. "I don't care what your plans were. I don't care what you wanted me for. I will end you, not become one of you. I like my life—the lives of all humans—just the way it is."

Arbiter considered the two humans for a moment, and almost smirked at them. "You would not be in need of a mate. Though we understand the attachment. He could always be with you. A part of you."

"You mean you would liquefy him and feed him through tubes with MILLIONS of other humans," Shepard roared, her helmet shaking and her free fist clenching and unclenching in her uncontrollable rage. "YOU CAN GO TO HELL!" She threw her helmet through the beam, causing the face to flicker as she pulled out her rifle and unloaded a clip into the deck around the conduit.

Arbiter started laughing, his face reappearing in the unscathed beam. "You certainly have a fighting spirit. You will make a great general, once you accept the reality of the universe."

Shepard growled low in her throat as she tried to come up with a retort, but Kaidan realized something was emitting a low whine. He looked around, noticing one of the panels at the base of the conduit had come lose, revealing complex circuitry. He crouched and rended the panel from its welds with the help of his biotics. Shepard kneeled down next to him as he ran some diagnostics with his omni-tool. After a moment, she grinned up at the disembodied face and pulled out her omni-blade. "This kind of looks important."

She was about to plunge the blade into the panel, but Kaidan grabbed her arm, his eyes wide. 'Does she ever think before acting?' he wondered, relieved that he had prevented her from being electrocuted without any real protection. "Shepard," he warned, "you don't know what kind of power is running through this thing. You could electrocute yourself." She twisted her lips at him and nodded her thanks before turning back to face Arbiter.

Shepard pulled her arm back again, but froze mid-descent as the Reaper started shrieking, streaks of black tearing into the brilliant light of the beam. "What have you done?"

"Shepard-Commander," Legion crackled over their com. "The virus is fully uploaded and transmitting."

She grinned. "Great timing, Legion. Everyone fall back to the Normandy. Immediately."

"Understood, Commander," Miranda said.

"You got it, Shepard," Garrus echoed.

Shepard hit a few commands on her omni-tool, switching to a private channel. "Jack? Zaeed?"

"We're here, Commander," the mercenary replied gruffly, Kaidan's eyes narrowing. 'So much for them watching the Normandy,' he thought.

"Time to pack up and go home," Shepard told them. "Are you in position?"

"We're all set down here," Zaeed grated.

She nodded. "Okay, you two." She checked her omni-tool. "Four minutes. Time to haul ass."

"On it," Jack replied the moment before the channel went dead.

Kaidan frowned at Shepard. "They're not on the Normandy. Are they."

She gave Kaidan an apologetic look. "They are not." She rested a hand on his shoulder. "I couldn't be sure who would be able to resist the indoctrination, if it would be a problem…"

Kaidan removed his glove and cupped her cheek, trying to will the shame out of her eyes with his touch. "I understand," he told her. Shepard smiled at him and removed own glove so she could twist her fingers in his. "C'mon," Kaidan said as he started to stand. "Let's get out of here." He was pulled short, so he looked down at her, realizing she had made no move to stand.

He tried to pull her up, but she just shook her head. "I can't, Kaidan. I have to be sure." Her eyes drifted towards the exposed console. "Arbiter must be destroyed. Beyond a shadow of a doubt."

He knelt down, tearing off his helmet so he could rest his forehead against hers, their eyes locked. If this was the end, he couldn't stand for there to be any barriers between them. He removed his remaining glove and laced both of his hands around her vulnerable one, her omni-blade flashing to life as he spread a barrier over both of them.

The Reaper's screams had quieted to mere static by the time Shepard turned to face it again. "I don't know if you can still hear me, but tell your friends we're coming for them," she snarled. Kaidan's barrier flared the brightest it had ever been the moment before Shepard plunged her blade into the panel and their world went black.

Waking up was difficult. It felt like his entire body had turned into marble, and struggling against the weight of his own limbs was near impossible.

But there was a reason he needed to. He just couldn't quite remember.

A tight ball of sensation started to unfurl in each of his fingertips, sending tendrils of feeling up his arms, making a tiny muscle below his elbow twitch uncomfortably. He groaned internally, fighting against his own unwilling body. A dull echoing started in his ears but finally resolved into the whirring and distant blips of machines. He strained his neck, the muscles protesting as they moved his head no more than a fraction of an inch as he fought against his eyelids.

Somewhere, probably a lot closer than it seemed, an alarm started blaring, followed by the sound of pounding feet. A pair of cool fingers grasped his wrist, and he though he could hear a voice calling his name. When he finally managed to open his eyes, Chakwas was standing over him, her lips moving slightly as she counted out his heart rate.

Everything came flooding back, and Kaidan panicked. He fought with stiff muscles as he frantically searched his surroundings, only relaxing a fraction when he found Shepard lying in her own bed not too far to his left, eyes closed and attached to too many tubes for Kaidan's liking.

"Shepard," he croaked, trying to get up, reaching for her until a gentle hand pressed him back to his own bed far to easily.

"Kaidan," Chakwas said again, and this time he heard her much more clearly. "You need to rest. You've been out for a long time, and you need to take things slowly."

He just grimaced and extended his arm until he could snag Shepard's fingers and lace them with his own before he turned back to the doctor. "What…happened?"

"Both of you got a pretty good shock to your nervous systems."

"I came to because of an explosion," Liara said as she entered the Normandy's med bay, "and somehow managed to use my biotics get the two of you back in time." She smirked slightly as she leaned against the wall on Shepard's other side. "Well, that, and apparently Garrus refused to leave the Reaper until everyone made it back, so he was able to meet me half way back to help me carry you both."

"Thanks," Kaidan croaked, his eyes fixed on Shepard's hand and the way it looked so fragile as it lay limply in his. "The Reapers…are they…?"

"They're vulnerable now," Liara said, beaming with pride. "Most have been destroyed, in fact. The rest are fleeing, but they're too confused to really be able to evade anyone looking for them for much longer."

"Is…when will…Shepard…"

Liara walked towards him and placed a hand on his shoulder for a moment as she looked down at him. "Shepard had some burns on her left arm, but seemed about the same as you apart from." She tried a smile, but her usual warmth wasn't behind it. "Just give it some time. And don't worry about the war. Just focus on recovering."

He nodded and turned back towards Shepard, cold fingers wrapping around his heart as she breathed steadily but remained otherwise motionless. Chakwas spent a few more minutes taking both their vitals before finally patting his shoulder and whispering, "I'll leave you two in peace, but there's a button here that will alert me should you need anything at all." The doctor dimmed the lights, tinted the med bay windows, and made her way towards the crew quarters after one final glance over her shoulder.

Kaidan started, having dozed off at some point, looking around for whatever had woken him up. The infirmary was as silent as before, the distant hum of the engines soothing as they slid through space…

Shepard's fingers twitched against his own, making his heart leap in his chest. Ignoring the doctor's warnings, he sat up carefully and, making sure not to pull on his IV, made his way to sit on the edge of her bed. "Shepard?" he said, stroking the side of her face with the tips of her fingers before leaning down to rest his forehead against hers. "Sarah?" he whispered against her lips, willing her eyelids to open. "Baby, please. Come back to me." He kissed her softly, his own eyes sliding shut as he tried to hold in his desperation. "I can't do this without you."

"I wouldn't dream of asking you to," a soft voice croaked against his lips, making him sit bolt up right, his eyes snapping open and immediately locking on hers. He didn't know whether to laugh or cry as he pulled her close, his arms tightening when he felt hers wrap around his waist. "Besides," she added as she tucked her nose deeper into the crook of his neck, "there's so much time I need to make up for, so many things I want to do…"

Kaidan pulled her head back and kissed her softly as images flashed behind his eyes: a house in Vancouver, their house; a vacation somewhere tropical, Shepard in a bikini for a swim in the cool blue water; a small gathering of their closest friends as he slipps a simple band on her finger; so many images filled with promise and joy.

"I know exactly what you mean," he murmured before dipping his head to kiss her again.

Thank you guys so much for hanging on for this last chapter.

It has been incredibly difficult for me to write in the wake of post-game feelings, but I hope that it was satisfying and worth the wait. I've loved writing this fic, and all the fantastic feedback from you all. Look me up on tumblr (.com) or xbox (screencraZe43) if you want :)