Commander Shepard gasped and awoke only to find himself half-buried in dust and rubble, blind in his left eye.

His limbs ached with the dull agony of broken bones. White-hot pain racked his every nerve, as if he was melting in acid. And beneath his armor, blood leaked out of his numerous open wounds and rolled down his skin like crimson tears.

He tried to scream, to move, to do something about his situation. But his body wouldn't cooperate. His scream came out only as a wet gurgle, and the crushing weight atop him felt as heavy as a mountain.

His pulse surged as he started to panic.

But then his N7 training kicked in.

He closed his remaining eye, and took a deep, controlled breath through his nose. Slowly, he counted to ten.

What happened? How did he get here?

Again, he opened his eye, and took in his surroundings. Yes, he was on the Citadel. Miles above him, one of its arms had shattered in two, and the smoldering wreck of one fragment was drifting through the void amidst a debris field of frozen corpses, ruined warships…and dead Reapers.

"Either we destroy them, or they destroy us."

"You did good, son. You did good. I'm…proud of you."

Anderson's words rang through his mind, and for a moment he couldn't breathe. Yes, the Illusive Man had made him shoot his mentor, his father in all but name. And now, he was dead.

Just another of those frozen corpses.

He gritted his teeth.

"The created will always rebel against their Creators."

Yes, on the Crucible, he chose to destroy all synthetic life…to willingly sacrifice the Geth and EDI.

"Does this unit have a soul?"

"But only now do I feel alive. That is your influence."

A cold, emptiness filled his chest, and a tear rolled down his cheek. They were just beginning to become more than just machines. And he had betrayed them. He had murdered them all, so that organics could live and enjoy a hollow victory.

But he had no choice…right?

What was he supposed to do?

That fucking god-child's other options were unthinkable – complete madness! No man had the right to make such decisions!

Both would have spat on everything he and his crew had fought for. Both meant the Reapers got to escape punishment for their crimes.

And both ensured he would never see his saera again.

His pulse surged. Tali!

Briefly, he looked back to their night before the final battle for Earth, remembering the feel of her skin, the sound of her voice, and the taste of her sweet, tangy kisses.

"Don't leave me behind."

"I have a home."

"Come back to me."

His heart sank, and the cold emptiness in his chest expanded, racking his lungs. Oh god, please be safe. Please be okay. If she was alive, then she was suffering through a psychological hell beyond anything he nor any non-quarian could imagine. To quarians, nothing was more agonzing than losing their lifemate, the other half of their soul.

"I want…I want more time."

"If we survive this war, I swear you'll have it, all the time you could ever want. Do you understand me?"

"Come back to me."

Tears ran down his cheek. He closed his eyes and gritted his teeth. Again and again, those four words pounded in his skull. He opened his eye.

NO!

He would not die like this, not when his beloved needed him. If she was still alive, then he would endure anything to come back to her and fulfill his promise. Nothing would stop him!

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Have to get up. I'll die before rescue teams find me here.

Closing his eye, he tapped into his biotics and created a mass-effect field around the rubble atop him, lowering its mass. He took a deep breath through his nose.

3…2…1…

He sat up as explosively as possible. Star-hot bolts of agony tore through his insides, and he nearly passed out. Once he was sitting, he hacked up blood as though his throat and lungs were full of broken glass. His vision went blurry, and he wheezed and panted, just barely managing to remain conscious. His mind screamed for him to lay down, to give up and just accept that he was going to die.

But he squashed any such urges with every ounce of discipline within him.

When his vision cleared, he checked his body. His left hand was a blackened, mangled ruin, and many sections of his armor had melted and fused with his skin. But thankfully, his omni-tool was still working, along with many of his armor's medical programs, fibro-muscles, and servo-joints. One such medical program had secured his shattered left leg in a splint, and would direct the armor's fibro-muscles and servo-joints to ease it of any loads.

Immediately, he applied what medigel he had left to his torso, his legs, and his face. Icy pain racked those areas, and he gritted his teeth and grunted, huffing through his nose. Should stave off the bleeding.

Next, he activated his omni-tool's emergency SOS beacon. If he moved to a more open, exposed area, nearby ships would be far more likely to detect it.

But first, he had to stand up.

Again, he tapped into his biotics and created another mass effect field around the rubble atop his legs, lowering its mass as much as he could. He closed his eye, then took a deep breath. Just get this over with.

3…2…1…

In one explosive movement, he sprang to his feet, and searing pain shot up his legs and throbbed in his knees. Gravity beared down on him with terrible force, and every second he battled to remain standing.

Panting, he looked around. He couldn't tell where he was. Around him lay only dust, rubble, and blackened ruins. Where should he go?

Far in the distance, he spotted a keeper in a wide, open area, performing maintenance on a still-functioning Avina terminal. Yes, in such an area, he'd stick out like a sore thumb. Nearby ships would surely detect his SOS beacon, and any rescue team would have no trouble finding him. Hell, they could land their shuttle right next to him.

He just had to get there.

He took his first few steps, and every one of them ravaged his broken body with firestorms of agony. His mind begged for him to stop, to give up and collapse onto the ground. But he pressed on. Gritting his teeth, he took one step after the other, panting and grunting, squashing any urge to accept defeat.

But gradually, the pain intensified. Every step sapped more and more of his willpower, and his destination felt further and further away. Soon, he began to stumble. Soon, his vision grew blurry, and his consciousness started slipping.

Again, he stumbled, then fell onto his hands and knees. He tried to stand, but limbs felt too heavy. Black spots popped up in his vision, and every rational part of his mind screamed that he should stop fighting the inevitable, that he should just lay down and surrender to death's cold embrace. No…this…this isn't the end.

As his vision darkened, he thought of Tali, of the bliss that coursed through him whenever he saw her beautiful face, or heard her adorable laugh. His mind flashed to when he left her behind.

"I have a home."

"Come back to me."

Once more, those four words echoed and reverberated in his mind. Every second, they got louder and louder, striking hammer blows against the inside of his skull. Digging his remaining fingers into the ground, he clenched his jaw. Tears rolled down his cheeks, then dripped down onto the ash and dust below.

No, he couldn't fail her. He couldn't abandon her when she needed him most.

"If we survive this war, I swear you'll have it, all the time you could ever want. Do you understand me?"

"I have no doubt you will."

Roaring in fury, he got back onto his feet, then soldiered on. As he did so, the pain seared his nerves with such intensity that he yearned for death, for anything that would end this nightmare. But the whole time, he focused on his beloved, on those last four words she had said to him.

And they fueled him with the strength to go on.

His armor's left-knee servo-joint gave out, and he fell onto his chest just a few feet away from an upward slope leading to his destination. Needle sharp pain ravaged his left knee, and he groaned like a dying animal.

But nonetheless, he began to crawl his way up the slope.

As he did so, every minute felt like hours. One after the other, he passed by blackened corpses of turians, humans, and asari still half-buried beneath the rubble, their faces locked in silent screams, their eye sockets empty. And several times, he nearly passed out when the pain became all-consuming.

But eventually, he made it to the top.

Grunting and groaning, he crawled his way to the Avina terminal, then managed to prop his back against its frame. He closed his eyes, and for several minutes he just rested, catching his breath. Now, he just had to wait.

Eventually, something whooshed above. He opened his eyes, and looked to his right, only to spot a shuttle flying off into the distance. He wanted to cry out and wave his arms, to do something to get its attention. But his strength was spent. He couldn't muster the energy to even stand. Soon, the shuttle disappeared from view.

He sighed. Eventually, someone had to find him…right?

Slowly, his vision darkened and blurred, and every second he fought to stay conscious. Damn it. He was still bleeding. The Cerberus nanites in his blood could only clot his wounds so fast. No matter what, he had to stay awake until a rescue team arrived.

But how?

He looked at the utility pouch strapped to his right leg. Was it still there? He opened the pouch, then sifted through its contents, only to pull out what he wanted.

Miraculously, Tali's photo was still in good condition, caked with only a bit of dust and his own blood. Just before the final battle for Earth, he had brought it along with him in case a situation like this ever happened. With it, her beautiful face would be the last thing he ever saw.

But now, it only reminded him of why he had to live.

As the minutes ticked by, he held the photo with both hands and stared into Tali's eyes, holding on to awareness with every ounce of willpower he had left. But soon, he was slipping in and out of consciousness. Later, the hum and whine of shuttle engines filled the air.

"There he is!" a voice called. It had an Australian accent.

Figures were rushing towards him, saying things he couldn't make out. Once more, he looked at the photo. I'm coming, saera. Wherever you are…just…hold on…hold on a little longer.

And then everything went black.