Shepard could hear the buzzing of the seeker swarms and the chittering of the Collectors behind her. Her legs were already burning, but from somewhere she pulled up some buried reserve of energy for a last sprint and a jump—

—the Normandy was already moving, the gap was too large, she wasn't going to make it; she reached desperately for a little dark energy boost, but her biotics were tapped out, her implant feeling hot and heavy at the base of her skull, so she made it on pure muscle power—

—her chest slammed into the hull of the ship, gauntleted hands scrabbling for purchase against the deck, legs flailing uselessly. Fortunately, Garrus was there, clamping on to her arm with a viselike grip. With the extra pull, she was able to get a leg up, and he hauled her the rest of the way in. The hatch slammed shut behind her. "Joker—" she gasped.

"Believe me, we're going," Joker shouted back. Sure enough, she could feel the mass shift as the ship accelerated away from the base. She became aware that she lay half-tangled with Garrus on the floor of the airlock; there was a lingering battle odor composed of scorched metal, ozone, sweat, and the faint tang of blood, and both of them were breathing hard.

There was something appealing to the notion of simply passing out and lying there until someone saw fit to move her elsewhere. Didn't seem like it was going to happen, though. "EDI," she said faintly, "casualties?"

"All crew are accounted for, Shepard. Dr. Chakwas and Dr. Solus are treating patients in the medbay, but have not yet compiled a full injury report."

She shook her head. "Fatalities?"

"None, Shepard."

"None?" she whispered, not believing it, for all she'd forbidden everyone from using the words "suicide mission" weeks ago. Garrus's arms tightened around her. "The ship isn't about to fall apart or something, right?"

"While the Normandy has sustained significant damage, the current repairs should hold until we return to the other side of the Omega-Four Relay."

She closed her eyes. "We did it."

She felt rather than heard a low rumble, and realized that Garrus was laughing; a light pressure against the top of her head where he leaned against her. "Yeah, we did."

Somehow she mustered the energy to open her eyes and lift her head so she could look at him. "You were sure we'd lose someone," she accused, even though she'd privately agreed with his assessment.

"And I'm very glad to be wrong," he returned. "Up, Shepard. You're heavy."

"Wrong thing to say, my spiky friend," Joker called from the cockpit.

Shepard groaned. "It's fine. It's true, anyway."

She clambered to her feet with a little assistance from Garrus and braced herself so she could haul him to standing, too. They stood for a moment, close, and she felt her face break into a smile as she looked up, and saw the answering softness of his expression. They had both made it—they had all made it—against all the odds—

"You're not going to make out in my airlock, are you?" Joker shouted. "Because I don't need to see that, especially when both of you are bleeding."

Garrus ducked his head, looking positively embarrassed, and Shepard stepped back, laughing. Absent-mindedly, she ran a hand over her hair, and wished she hadn't; it was tangled and matted and sticky with something, and there was probably worse stuck to her gauntlet. "Right. Bleeding. Go check in with medbay, Garrus."

He crossed his arms, giving her a familiar skeptical look. "And you'll be doing what, then?"

"Damage assessment," she said with a vague gesture toward the CIC.

"I think that should wait until you get checked out yourself."

"I feel fine," she said, but she swayed as she turned away, and Garrus once again caught her arm.

"Uh-huh," he said. "Tell you what: I'll go if you will."

#

As it turned out, she felt a lot better after downing the energy drink that Dr. Chakwas put in her hand and scrubbing the worst of the grime from her skin. But she watched across the medbay with a sense of betrayal as Chakwas prepared to remove the round that had gone through a weak point in Garrus's armor. "You said you were all right!"

"Medi-gel, Shepard. No pain, no bleeding. I was fine for combat."

She wanted to argue, but it was definitely not a private space. Sitting opposite Shepard, Jack somehow managed to sneer at her over the juice she was sucking down as eagerly as Shepard had. Thane was breathing in something through a mask, maybe pure oxygen. Mordin was treating Miranda for something—torn muscle, or maybe a stress fracture, Shepard couldn't quite tell. She'd get the medical reports later.

It wasn't Garrus's fault that her heart had nearly stopped when he'd staggered back, and only restarted when he looked up and gave her a firm nod. She might not have taken him with her for the final assault if she'd realized—

—which was probably why he hadn't said anything. And she couldn't kid herself; she would have, anyway. The whole team had been battered by that point. Finishing the mission without Garrus would have been like... trying to do it without her right arm.

She finished the last of her drink and pulled herself out of the chair, nervous energy getting the better of fatigue for the moment. Dr. Chakwas gave her a hard look and a warning, "Commander," as she headed for the door.

"I'll be back," Val promised. "You have your hands full at the moment." She could feel the strain in her shoulder and the sting of various burns and bruises, but the bleeding had stopped, and between medi-gel and the cybernetics, she felt not too badly, all things considered. And getting reports was not enough; she needed to see the extent of the damage to her ship and her people for herself.

She ducked out the door before either doctor could say anything more and surveyed at the mess hall. Overturned chairs, scorch marks, dishes and supplies spilling out of the cupboards, silent testimony to the Collectors' attack and their rough landing on the Collector Base. The sight sparked something tight in her chest. No one boarded her ship and took her crew without consequences. Whatever the Collectors had been planning, they'd learned that, to their cost.

And zero fatalities? She still couldn't quite believe it.

She headed down to deck 4 and swung into engineering, calling, "Tali?"

Gabby Daniels looked up from her station, her face drawn and set. "She has a sterile bubble set up in the science lab for suit repairs, ma'am. She's—" She grimaced. "—sending me messages constantly."

"Ah. Got it." Shepard took a closer look at her. "Gabby, you can take a break, if you need some time..."

The engineer gulped and shook her head. "I'd rather be working."

Shepard accepted that with a nod. "What's the damage, then?"

"Drive core seems to be functioning normally." Gabby's tone suggested she didn't know how that was possible. "Damage to the starboard thrusters, uh... considerable hull damage, ma'am..."

"Anything critical?"

"Everything's holding for now, but... I'd favor docking at Omega for further assessment and repairs, Commander."

"I second that," came Tali's voice over the comm. "I know how you feel about Omega, Shepard, but I don't want to push our luck."

"Okay. I'll tell Joker. Send me the full damage report when you've got it. And get some rest, both of you."

"Will do, Shepard," said Tali, and Gabby gave her a "Yes, ma'am," her attention returning to her console.

There was a hole in the cargo bay, only the shimmering of kinetic barriers obscuring a view of the stars. The space still smelled of smoke and gunfire as soon as she stepped off the elevator. Shepard found Grunt, Zaeed, and Jacob levering metal into place over the hull breach under Ken Donnelly's supervision. "Hard at work, gentlemen," she observed, and winced as Grunt's grip slipped and Zaeed cursed him roundly.

"Kinetic barriers won't hold forever," Jacob grunted, ignoring the byplay.

"That's the truth," Ken agreed. "Don't know about you, Commander, but I like having a nice, solid piece of hull between me and vacuum."

Shepard suppressed a shudder. "Couldn't agree more. Carry on. Get some shut-eye when you can."

She left on a chorus of mumbled acknowledgments and was on her way back to the elevator when Joker's voice cut in. "Hey, Commander, apparently the QEC's still working, because there's a call coming in."

She felt her face stretch out into a grin. "From the Illusive Man? You know what? I'll be right there."

#

It might have been the most satisfying time she'd ever told someone off. Shepard left the briefing room still grinning. She exchanged nods with Samara, who was talking to a tearful Kelly in the CIC. The justicar's serene presence might be exactly what the younger woman needed, she hoped. There were a few crew members hunched over their workstations, looking as haunted as Gabby; she gave them a wave and a smile as she passed on her way to the cockpit.

"Bullshit on the line? Nice, Shepard," Joker greeted her.

"That felt good," she admitted. "Make for Omega, okay? Tali says we need a thorough going-over."

"Already on it. Not pushing the old girl, either."

EDI piped up, "I fail to see the relevance of the age—"

"It's not that, EDI, it's the wear and tear," said Shepard.

"I see. Shepard, Dr. Chakwas requests that you return to sickbay immediately."

"Tell her I'll be there in a minute." She liked watching the stars through the windows of the cockpit. It was reassuring. Familiar. Joker seemed relaxed, which helped her believe the ship really wasn't going to come to pieces at any moment.

"Checked in with the crew?" Joker asked.

"Yeah. Everyone's holding up. Haven't seen..." She ran through the roster in her head. "Kasumi. Or Legion."

"They are both assisting Engineer Daniels with system checks and emergency repairs," EDI informed her. "They are in the access tunnels below engineering."

"Oh. Good, then."

"Shepard," said a familiar voice behind her, and she turned to see Garrus in the corridor, regarding her with an expression... somewhere between concern and amusement, she thought. "Dr. Chakwas sent me up here to remind you that 'in a minute' is not 'immediately.' Also, that it's been at least five minutes."

"I'm fine," she said.

He reached out and poked her right shoulder. She winced. "Uh-huh," he said.

She relented and started toward the elevator. Garrus fell in at her side. "Oh, I get an escort?"

He dipped his head. "Just making sure you get checked out properly."

"You got shot and didn't tell me," she pointed out, as they stepped into the elevator.

"It wasn't much of a wound. Armor absorbed most of the impact. I'm fine."

He certainly seemed well enough, if tired. She was really starting to feel the fatigue herself, dragging at every limb. She rolled her right shoulder experimentally and winced. "Thanks for catching me."

"Any time," he said, with a quiet intensity that made her heart pound.

"We didn't even lose anyone."

"I know. Nice work."

She turned to face him, stepping closer and looking up at him over the broken collar of his armor. "It wasn't just me. I couldn't have done it without you."

"Sure you—"

She laid her fingertips over his mouth, feeling a small, weary surge of triumph that the action stopped him cold. "Don't even say it. I'm serious. For once in your life, take the credit you're due. I really... I really couldn't have done any of this without you."

Garrus blinked at her, and then his mandibles twitched out into a smile. "You would have lost your mind and shot Lawson within the first month."

"Exactly." She stretched up far enough to replace her fingers with her lips, a soft, brief kiss. "Listen, I'm going to go see the doc, then head up my cabin to clean up and rest."

"Good. You need the rest."

"I'm not the only one. So come up and join me?"

He blinked a few more times, mandibles fluttering. "I'm, ah... not sure I'm up for round 2 just yet."

She leaned back against the wall of the elevator, feeling the ache in every joint and muscle. "Me neither. Not what I'm talking about. I'd just... like the company."

His gaze settled, somehow, turned serious. "I can do that."

The doors opened on deck 3, too soon, for once. "Good. You can let yourself in, then. Oh, and feed the fish while you're up there, will you?"

Garrus let out a long sigh. "I should have known."

She grinned as she backed out. "I figure we should have a celebration, the whole crew. Maybe tomorrow. I think Kasumi has enough booze down there. And I should report in to Anderson and try to figure out our next move. Oh, Tali says we need to put in at Omega for repairs. It's not my first choice, either, but—"

"Shepard," he said. "Stop. Today was a win. Give yourself a break."

Her smile tightened. "Reapers are still out there."

"I know. We'll get them. But you still need rest."

"And medical care," said Dr. Chakwas pointedly, behind her. "Need I remind you, Commander, that medi-gel is a temporary solution to a medical problem? It is not intended to replace long-term treatment."

Shepard gave Garrus a wave, and he let the elevator door close. Dutifully, she turned toward sickbay, letting Dr. Chakwas's lecture wash over her. A win. He was right. She still had her life, her crew, and her ship. A good day, then, all things considered. She'd defeated the Collectors, told off the Illusive Man, and lived to tell the tale.

Yeah. A damned good day.

Thank you to everyone who's been reading and reviewing along the way! I am probably going to post a chronological guide as a last chapter, so you can use it as a reference to read the series in order if you choose.

This is probably not the last I'll be writing about Val Shepard, as I have a few other ideas for her knocking around, but it's the end of this particular alphabet series. Thanks again for reading!