TITLE: An Earth Left to Save

CHAPTER: Part 1, If Commander Shepard doesn't get here soon. There won't be an earth left to save.

LOCATION: Earth, 2186 / London, England. Just before dawn

"… By rights, we shouldn't even be here. But we are.

It's like in the great stories, Mr. Frodo. The one's that really mattered. Full of darkness and danger they were and sometimes you didn't want to know the end, because how could the end be happy? How could the world go back the way it was when so much bad had happened?

But in the end, it's only a passing thing, this shadow. Even darkness must pass. A new day will come and when the sun shines, it'll shine out the clearer. Those were the stories that stayed with you. That meant something. Even if you were too small to understand why.

But I think, Mr. Frodo, I do understand. I know now. Folk in those stories had lots of chances for turning back. Only they didn't. They kept going because they were holding on to something."

"What are we holding on to, Sam?"

"That there's some good in this world, Mr Frodo. And it's worth fighting for."

The Sol System existed in an obscure corner of the Milky Way Galaxy. The third planet, a small blue watery thing, spinning innocently around its sun was the subject of much debate by the The Citadel races. Until now, they'd look down on the small planet and viewed the delicate, multi-hued creatures who lived there, as a group of not-quite-bright-enough youngsters.

The Battle for Earth changed everything. As that planet cycled into a new twenty-four day; it is a day without the Reaper threat. Now, those races, plus the other survivors held a new respect for the humans. With great reluctance, the Council and the ambassadors agreed, without the humans the Reapers might have succeeded in their plan to wipe out the developed races. Specifically, it was Commander Shepard and his team.

With no intention of being left out, the turians stood ready to exploit the fact that throughout the conflict, a certain Garrus Vakarian served as Shepard's right hand. The quarians were also thinking of ways to exploit their darling Tali's role in the victory. And, the asari? They were shouting Shepard's praises from the rooftops.

On Earth, the time for rebuilding and taking account would come soon enough. For now, as the sun rose over the Thames, it was time to exhale. The screams of the wounded had finally quieted. The fires were burning themselves out and the air clearing. As far as the eye could see, lay death and destruction. But, the Reaper ships were still, at last

As the day dawned, the remaining soldiers began pulling themselves out of the rubble, from their makeshift foxholes and barriers. The stench of dead humans, asari and turians was thick in the air. Alien blood pooling with the human blood, as the fallen lay crushed and broken like children's toys forgotten out in the weather.

Choked with debris, the Thames meandered sluggishly and the gardens once adorning her banks now toxic smoking fires. Only William the Conqueror and the Romans had ever successfully invaded this land. The Nazi's had done their damage, but they'd never stepped foot on British soil. Now the Reapers had despoiled it, crushed it beneath those giant claws and ripped it to pieces with red lasers. The Clock Tower lay almost unrecognizable on the ground and Big Ben smashed to pieces. It was only if you knew London that you could pick out the identifiable parts of that iconic tower. Westminster Abbey was a smoking ruin. All around, the specter of death held court as centuries of tradition were destroyed in just a few days. But the one thing the Reapers could never understand or destroy was the capacity of the human heart for hope and courage. As they had, many times before, they would survive and rebuild this blessed plot, their realm, this England.

It was Sergeant Bill Wallace of her Majesty's Royal Marines who found him. Sergeant Wallace had hidden up in the clock tower for what seemed like weeks. Then by chance he'd come down shortly before the tower had imploded. He'd seen it coming and dove under some debris. When the quiet finally came he'd crawled out because he his mates were calling to one another. What had really caught his attention was the splash of red and insignia of what was left of a dead soldier lying crumpled at the base of the silver towers. Sergeant Wallace shook his head. The poor bloke's armor shredded and burned. He stepped closer, his curiosity piqued. No one in the British military wore that style of uniform. But as he turned to walk away, from what could only be another dead body, he heard the soldier groan.

"Tali?"

He reached down to look at the dog tags: Shepard, John. Commander N7, Specter. "Blimey, it's him. It's Commander Shepard."

He thumbed his radio and miraculously someone answered.

"Identify yourself."

"Sergeant Bill Wallace, RM located just south of what's left of the clock tower. I think I've got Commander Shepard here. Send help."

Sergeant Wallace sat down next to the soldier and tried to assess his injuries. The man bled from an abdominal wound and his face bruised and swollen. Afraid to move him he just kept his hand on Shepard's forearm and talked to him.

"We made it Commander. We got those bastards. Help is on the way, sir. You just stay with me now."

"I… I'm sorry… took so long to get here."

"Hush, sir. There'll be no more of that kind of talk. Can you take a sip of water?"

Out of the smoke and stench came not the sirens of an ambulance, but the quiet footfalls of people. If he hadn't been looking right at them he would never believe it. First, a turian jogged toward him and the injured Commander. What had once been blue battle armor had cracked down the center. Someone had tied a bandage around the turian's head. Then, out of the dark came an asari. Obviously injured, the sergeant saw her right arm hanging unnaturally. Helping her along was a lame young man with a ball cap and the same logo as Shepard's uniform. Behind them came the lithe form of a quarian female. He'd only seen one in pictures. This one was trembling, her helmet shattered and what remained of the hood hung down her back. He could see her face as she moved closer. She was beautiful and ethereal. Like one of the wee folk his mother had told him stories about when he was a lad. This particular Fairy carried a lethal looking shotgun. Although injured and exhausted she appeared neither fragile or shy. The marine could not take his eyes off the wild mass of her raven black hair, elfin face and shining eyes. Until a lady clad all in silver joined the group.

"The boys at the pub will never believe this."

"You found him," remarked EDI dispassionately.

"Aye, love and I think he's still alive. He called a word. It sounded something like 'tally' do you know what it is? Can we get it for him?"

"I am Tali"

"You found him?" The sergeant took a double take as an old battle scared human and a burly krogan closed the circle around him and the commander.

He heard a shout and then another human joined them. The sergeant started to get to his feet, as a senior officer approached. Instead, the admiral held out his hand to aid the marine to his feet.

"Good work, son."

The turian turned to the krogan, "Grunt, can you find something…?"

"Already got it, Garrus."

And from out of the debris, the krogan produced a piece of something which looked like it had once been a door or a shield. They all helped lift him and gently placed their commander on the makeshift stretcher. Then together the procession began its journey back to where Doctor Chakwas waited. The rising sun silhouetted the group of comrades as they stepped carefully, to avoid jostling their precious cargo, through the rubble.

Word of their arrival preceded them. As they walked down the last block toward HQ, soldiers of every alien race and nationality lined the street. Each held themselves at rigid attention as the small procession passed. In the distance a piper played songs of freedom. Soon a drummer joined in and then another piper. Anderson recognized the tune as "The Gael." A fitting tribute to this brave man.

Tali was holding one of Shepard's hands, so it was she who first saw him open his eyes. "Hey Shepard."

~0~0~0~0~

Day Four of Peace

"Good morning, Ms Lawson. How's our patient?"

"Admiral Anderson, good morning. Miranda Lawson looked up at the sound of his voice, but finished changing the I.V. bag before answering. "Much better. Vital signs are stable and he slept through the night. Dr. Chakwas says he's on the mend."

"No more bad dreams?"

She shrugged her shoulders. "At least he's not thrashing around anymore. The monitors showed he slept regular REM cycles for the last eight hours."

"Good. He's getting real rest. How about you? When was the last time you slept?"

"I don't remember. I don't want him to wake up and hear it from someone else."

He nodded his head in understanding. "You should be the one to tell him, Ms. Lawson."

"Call me Miranda. Please."

She was glad he was here. If anyone understood, it was Admiral Anderson. She watched the Admiral rest his hand on the patient's shoulder and bow his head. Miranda pushed her hair back from her face for the hundredth time. Maybe she could leave for an hour or two. Grab a shower and a change of clothes. The Admiral could stay with him. She turned to tell the Admiral she taking him up on his offer, when she saw movement from the bed.

"Tell me what, sir?"

The older man watched as the soldier lifted his hand to grasp his. "John! Welcome back. You are a sight for sore eyes."

"What happened? I… I saw you die. How long?"

Miranda stepped into his field of view. "A British marine found you four days ago. They brought you here."

"They?" He was not sure he wanted the answer to this question, but he had to know.

"Your crew. All of them that came with you to Earth. They carried you back here. Someday I'll show you the vid. You won't believe…"

"Enough talking now. You've got to let your body recover. That's an order, son." Admiral Anderson straightened the sheet over Commander Shepard. We'll cover everything at the debriefing. First I'm going to shoo Ms. Lawson out of here and you go back to sleep. She hasn't left your side since they brought you here."

Shepard looked around the room, his eyes searching. "Where is...?"

The question went unfinished as Miranda injected the sedative into Shepard's I.V. and he slide back into unconsciousness. The admiral put his arm around her shoulders and led her out of the room.

Once they were outside, he said. "You know him. He won't stop asking questions."

"At least this gives me more time to figure out how to tell him."

"For now, you get out of here and get some rest. I'll stay with him."

Miranda gave him a grateful look and headed out of the destroyed building toward the makeshift camp that had once been Hyde Park. She wondered how she could find the words to tell Shepard the effects of the Reaper's attempt at indoctrinating him, coupled with is injuries, had burned out his biotic abilities. The one person who might offer him solace was gone: Scooped up by the quarians. Tali was swiftly placed in quarantine due to her own injuries and exposure to the toxic air surrounding London. She was on her way now with the Migrant Fleet back to Rannoch.

Twelve hours later, Shepard opened his eyes in a darkened room. He noticed the crumbling walls of his surroundings and wondered where he was. He needed information. He needed to know what had happened to his crew and his ship. Miranda had said his crew brought him here. If that were so then where was Tali? He would not let himself think about the fact that she might not have survived. Why hadn't she been here when he had awakened before? Perhaps she was as badly injured as he was. If that were so, then where is she?

He remembered waking up for a moment and feeling her hand holding his. He was floating. No, they were carrying him. He saw her face silhouetted against the morning sky. She was so beautiful. She'd smiled at him and said, "Hey Shepard."

He'd seen her smile? Outside! What would that exposure do to her?

"Tali!"

Shepard's attempt at getting out of his hospital bed set off the monitor alarms. Doctor Chakwas and Miranda came running.

"Commander Shepard, where are you going? You'll undo all my good work. I must insist you lay still!"

"Where is Tali? I want to see her now, or take me to her now."

The two women exchanged looks. Miranda nodded. There was no way to put this off any longer. She had to tell him.

"Shepard, if you promise to stay still, I will tell you."

"I don't have to promise a damn thing, he snapped.

"I'm sorry Shepard. She's not here. She's with the Fleet. They took her with them. A blast shattered her helmet and she was exposed to the elements for several hours."

Garrus stood in the doorway, his voice cut through the tension. "Hey Shepard, misbehaving so soon?"

"Garrus! Help me get out of here. The quarians took Tali."

"Well, she is a quarian too. They know best how to treat her. I will attempt to contact the Fleet, but Comm is sporadic and official business only. Should be able to pull some strings after all this, he said, spreading his arms wide. In the meantime, some other people out here want to see you. Ready for some visitors?"

"No."

"Shepard! Still kicking ass even from a hospital bed? This was from Grunt as he pushed past the turian and into the room. Hey, I got you something! I found this on a street vendor's cart. You wouldn't believe what's for sale out there: Food, T-Shirts, toy guns, replicas of Reaper ships."

Grunt produced a stuffed replica of the Rachni Queen from his behind his back. At the look on Shepard's face, Grunt laughed aloud. "It'll remind you of all the fun we had on Utukku. Look at this hoodie, he said, turning so Shepard could read the back of the jacket. I can't believe it came in my size!"

Commander Shepard could only roll his eyes at the 'Property of SR-2 Normandy' blazoned in red letters across the back of the jacket.

Ashley Williams came in next. "Hello Commander. Good to see you awake."

"Ash. How're you?"

"Not bad sir. No real injuries. You know me, always the soldier. Sir, my sister called. She wants me to come home and help her and Mom pick up the pieces. I wondered if I could take some shore leave. I guess I could really use the rest and… so, anyway." She stopped talking when she became aware of the silence in the room. All eyes were on her.

Shepard could only nod his consent. As he watched her leave the room he thought, Ancestors! Would that woman ever stop whining?

"Hey Commander, I heard you were awake. EDI and I just wanted to check on you and say hello. Plus, I won the bet."

"The bet?"

"Yes, Commander Shepard. I predicted a 45.5% probability that you would not survive your injuries. Joker disagreed. He speculated your survival rate at 100%."

That innocent remark caused Miranda to wince as she entered the room. She would have to tell him. "You may have won the bet after all EDI. Shepard, there's something else I need to tell you." Miranda took his hand as he looked at her expectantly.

"Spit it out Miranda."

"Through the aborted indoctrination and the injuries you sustained, somehow your biotic abilities burned out. I'm sorry, Shepard. I don't understand how it happened, but I do promise to figure it out. Maybe even restore…"

"Miranda, he sai, interrupting her. It's okay. Sure, they came in handy many times. I never asked for them." Shepard had other things on his mind than biotics. He turned to his ship's pilot, Joker, where's the Normandy?"

"Sitting right out there in space dock. She has a few dings, but the engineers are putting her back to rights. Somehow, she got pushed to the front of the repair line. Must have been my charm and good looks. Commander, there's nowhere to go. The docks are closed. Security banned all interstellar flying. No one in or out of the System. Seems a bit like shutting the barn door… how does that saying go EDI?"

"I assume you are referring to securing the egress portal of the equine storage facility after the Equus Ferus Caballus has absconded."

"It's so cute how you two finish each other's sentences," replied Garrus

Then Doctor Chakwas walked in and shooed everyone out. Fortunately, she didn't notice the long look of understanding between Garrus and Shepard. So she didn't know to be there at midnight when Garrus walked in and tried to help Shepard escape the hospital.

Doctor Liara T'Soni watched and waited for her turn to visit with Shepard. She didn't want to be part of the crowd. Not just yet. She just wanted to look at him for a few minutes to comprehend that he was still alive. So as she stood in the shadows of Shepard's hospital room watching in complete contentment the rise and fall of Shepard's chest as he breathed. Garrus failed to notice her standing there when he walked in at midnight.

"Shepard? You awake?"

"Yeah… I am now."

"Ready to go?"

"Garrus, do you really think that's a good idea?" She said, stepping into the light. She couldn't help but laugh aloud at the startled guilty faces of the two bravest men she knew.

"Shepard. Where do you think you are going?"

"They took Tali back to Rannoch. I need to make sure she's okay."

"Shepard I have a message from Tali. I'm so sorry. I wasn't sure you were ready until now."

Shepard stared at her, his face a mask of control.

"She told me to tell you… She told me to tell you it was better this way. No one thought she would really make it back to the Fleet alive. She was very ill. Shepard, Tali wanted me to tell you goodbye. She asked me to tell you it was okay for you to, how do you humans put it? 'Get on with your life.'"

"She wouldn't have… couldn't … I don't believe you."

"Shepard, I was there with her too. Getting you to safety was the only thing keeping her on her feet."

"But what happened after you brought me here? Where did she go?"

"The Quarian Admiralty was planet side by then. All the senior staff shuttled down after the Reapers died out. They're planning a Peace Summit. Before you ask, Garrus said quietly, only the Quarian Flagship stayed behind. I'm sorry Shepard, it's hard news I know."

"They're waiting for you to recover so you can attend the summit. All the alien races left representatives behind. You're the designated the representative for Earth. It's a great honor."

"I have nothing to say to them. I did my job. I did what they asked me to do." He replied stonily.

"Garrus and I will stay with you. Well be here to offer whatever support you need during the coming months."

"Get out."

"But…"

"Come on Liara. Let's go."

When the room was quiet again and Shepard alone, he noticed the music playing on the hospital speakers. It was an ancient song, but he knew it because it was one of mother's favorites.

Got out of town on a boat goin' to Southern islands
Sailing a reach before a followin' sea
She was makin' for the trades on the outside
And the downhill run to Papeete

Off the wind on this heading lie the Marquesas
We got eighty feet of the waterline nicely making way
In a noisy bar in Avalon I tried to call you
But on a midnight watch I realized why twice you ran away

Think about how many times I have fallen
Spirits are using me larger voices callin'
What Heaven brought you and me cannot be forgotten…

Commander Shepard lay staring at the ceiling feeling the pain of the last years carve a furrow into his heart. Breathing became difficult as emotions rose to the surface.

I have been around the world
Lookin' for that woman girl
(Who knows she knows) Who knows love can endure
And you know it will

When you see the Southern Cross for the first time
You understand now why you came this way
'Cause the truth you might be runnin' from is so small
But it's as big as the promise, the promise of a comin' day

So I'm sailing for tomorrow my dreams are a dyin'
And my love is an anchor tied to you tied with a silver chain
I have my ship and all her flags are a' flyin'
She is all that I have left and music is her name

Think about how many times I have fallen
Spirits are using me larger voices callin'
What Heaven brought you and me cannot be forgotten

I have been around the world
Lookin' for that woman girl
Who knows love can endure
And you know it will, and you know it will yes

Tali, who'd trusted him with nothing less than her body and soul. Her silver-blue eyes full of wonder as she shared herself with him. She'd told him that nothing stood between them anymore. He thought they were talking about forever or maybe he just needed to believe forever might still exist. She'd said, 'I thought we would have more time.' Then time had run out and he'd lost her too.

So we cheated and we lied and we tested
And we never failed to fail it was the easiest thing to do
You will survive being bested
Somebody fine will come along make me forget about loving you
At the Southern Cross

For the first time, as the last notes of the song played out, Shepard allowed himself to grieve. Memories of his fallen comrades and the innocents rushed toward him. He tried to hold them back. He had to be strong. He'd always been the strong one. But so much was lost. Those people looked to him for strength. So many lost because he didn't respond fast enough.

They would use him now, as a symbol of hope and heroism. He would become nothing more than a political tool.

He felt a soothing hand on his brow. "You're not alone Shepard. Not anymore."

Liara sat next to him on the bed and when he rose up, she caught him. Rocking and soothing him and smiling in the darkness.

LofTR: The Two Towers. Samwise Gamgee: youtube watch?v=Soe8ayi3ScE

TheSouthern Cross, Crosby, Stills and Nash: you tube watch?v=iuLBhxZUkmU

AN: Just had to add one more quote to this already over-quoted chapter. Since the ME3 trailers came out, I've been thinking of this speech. It is spoken by John of Gaunt, in Shakespeare's play Richard the Second. (you tube watch?v=MlCAy9FX6D0)

This royal throne of kings, this sceptred isle,

This earth of majesty, this seat of Mars,

This other Eden, demi paradise,

This fortress build by Nature for herself

Against infection and the hand of war,

This happy breed of men, this little world,

This precious stone set in the silver sea,

Which serves in it the office of a wall

Or as a moat defensive to a house,

Against the envy of less happier lands, -

This blessed plot, this earth, this realm, this England

King Richard II, Act 2, Scene 1

AN: As many of you probably know the name Shepard is Scots/Irish. It's also symbolic of the Commander's role in the story. I added the following music as a soundtrack. The piece is called "The Gael." I hope you'll take a moment to listen: youtube: U89Qtbnk-Q4