After.

Chapter One: And done

The machine gun barked in his hands, as his heart fluttered nervously in his chest. They had survived the impossible before - why not again? The three non-Collector faces raced toward the Normandy - each with a heated determination that he honestly admired. First Garrus jumped aboard beside him, hitting a bit harder than he meant to. Samara's blue form hurtled toward the Normandy next - her face riddled with pain and exhaustion. Only one more to go. The gun continued to thunder in his hands - his bones beginning to ache from the constant force. His ship was beginning to slide away from the Collector Base. The gap was getting bigger.
"C'mon Commander," Joker whispered, as she sped up and tossed herself at the ship. Her torso hit the side of the ship hard - nearly throwing her out. Garrus quickly pulled her up, causing the pilot to relax slightly. There was no chance in hell he was strong enough to pull her up from what could have easily been her second death.

Joker quickly handed the assault riffle off to the nearest non-bleeding person, and made his way back to his domain. EDI greeted him with the appearance of her holographic form beside his controls, as she began flying the Normandy away from the Collector Base. Joker relaxed into his seat, as he took control back from the AI - flying them to safety as the Collector Base exploded behind them. The shock-wave distorted the path of the Normandy for a moment, before he regained control, and headed back for the Omega-4 Relay. They had done it.

The sound of limping steps caused Joker to wish for a rear-view mirror for the fifth time in recent history. When his chair leaned back slightly from someone leaning atop the headrest, however, he didn't need a mirror to know who it was.
"Commander," he greeted, as he readied the Normandy for the Omega-4 Relay, "Seriously...when are all the bad guys going to realize there's no point in trying?" he asked, a smile brushing his lips, "Hell - death couldn't even stop you from kicking ass today."
A low laugh from his Commander caused his smile to grow slightly.
"We did it Joker," her voice tired and a bit hoarse, "Though I have a feeling our Illusive friend isn't going to be throwing credits at us anymore," she paused, "He was not happy at all about blowing up that base."
"Better to get rid of the big-scary-Universe-ending-weapon, rather than leaving it alive for the bad guys to steal back from us," Joker shrugged, his hands quickly moving across the controls as EDI read out various statistics about their approach of the Relay.
"I'm glad you agree. Honestly I'm just tired of the fucking Collectors and didn't want any of their shit to exist anymore. But yeah - your reason works to," Shepard replied - Joker hearing the smile in her voice.
"Commander - go take a nap or something. You earned it."
"Yes, mommy," she squeezed his shoulder slightly, before limping away to the rest of the crew.

–

Shepard rode the elevator to her over-sized room, after congratulating the rest of her crew. Their mission was done. She was done.

The woman shed her armor - carefully dropping it upon her floor, before she collapsed atop her bed. The brief moment of the cool sheets against her skin, caused the woman to let out a happy sigh. A pulling sensation in her stomach let her know that Joker had just jumped them through the Relay. In a moment, they would be back into normal space. The mission done. Humanity saved. The Collectors dead.

Sitting up from her bed, Shepard stared around her room. Her fish happily floated around the tank - chewing on the food she had released into their aquatic Universe. Various toy ships filled a display case. A picture lay on her desk. The fatigued woman stood from her bed - feeling her legs protest instantly.

Kaidan's face idly smiled at her from the black frame. Her mind wandered back to the message he had sent her last, after he was an asshole on Horizon. Sitting in front of her personal console, she queued up a new message.
"So I saved life as we know it again. Wanna get drinks now?
-Shepard"
She smiled idly - the fatigue of the day starting to take hold of her eyelids.

–

"Commander, your presence is requested on the bridge."
Shepard's eyes snapped open - a moment of confusion flooding the woman and she awoke to the picture of Kaidan's face.
'Shit...I fell asleep on my desk again,' she mentally cursed, sitting up with a pained expression.
"EDI - how urgent?" Shepard asked, rubbing her neck.
"You have time for your normal morning routine, Commander," the artificial female voice reported, causing Shepard to nod.
After a quick shower, Shepard paused before dressing herself. The mission was done. Evil was thwarted. Did she really need to put on something as uncomfortable as the Cerberus attire she was required to wear? Was she even Cerberus anymore? Finding some civilian attire from a visit to the Citadel, she carefully slid on the comfortable clothing, and stared at herself in the mirror for a moment.

Her currently wet auburn hair framed her face - resting just bellow her chin. Dark rings gave away her fatigue under her light brown eyes - even with her naturally olive skin. After a moment, she stuck her tongue out at herself, before heading for the elevator to see what the bridge needed of her.

–

Joker ran through the various checks with EDI to double-check that their flight through the Omega-4 Relay hadn't damaged any systems upon the ship.
"How's the ship doing, Joker?"
The pilot jumped slightly - unaware that anyone else was in the cockpit with him.
"Really Commander? Sneaking up on the pilot again? Can we seriously get some mirrors to avoid sneak attacks? And how did you get up here so quietly anyway?"
"Good morning to you too, Joker."
"Kasumi give you a pair of ninja socks or something? Anyway - so where are we headed?" Joker spun his chair to face the recently washed woman behind him. His expression instantly betrayed him at the surprise of her attire.
"I figured today could be casual Friday," she shrugged, tugging at the slightly over-sized sleeves of her black hooded sweatshirt.
Joker laughed under his breath and shook his head, "Considering you just saved the galaxy yet again, I think only Miranda is going to bitch at you for being out of uniform."
Shepard frowned, scratching the back of her neck, "She's not happy with me, is she?"
"Considering you just screwed over Cerberus and gave the Illusive Prick the finger...I don't think so, Commander. Oh by the way - Miranda wants to see you in her lair."
"Her lair?"
"She works out of her bedroom. Seems appropriate."
"True."
"So - where shall I point this bird, Commander?"
Shepard glanced down, as her omni-tool brightened the folds of her dark sweatshirt - her brown eyes studying her messages. A small smile crept across her features, before she nodded, "Citadel," and disappeared down the hall.
"See ya Commander."

Joker sighed, swiveling his chair back toward the controls of the ship, "Any idea why she chose the Citadel, EDI?"
"Three minutes and twenty-seven seconds ago, she received a message from Kaidan Alenko, requesting her presence in a specific place upon the Citadel, Jeff."
The pilot paused in his movements, and stared at the hologram to his left, "Okay - since when are you okay with telling me the Commander's private business...and what the hell does Kaidan want with Shepard? Last he saw her, he was an ass."
"Perhaps you should ask the Commander, Jeff."

–

AN: This takes place post ME2 (obviously). I know with the ME3 demo running around, bits of this are going to be untrue quite quickly. I reserve the right to AU! Anyway, hope you're enjoying it so far. I'm planning on keeping chapters a bit shorter than most I've seen in fanfics, simply for ease of reading. Some will be longer, obviously.

Rated M for: Language, future sexual situations, future violence, and so I can have freedom without fear of scarring a teen for life.

Oh – and I don't own anything ever.