Title: Reunite
Fandom: Mass Effect
Rating: G
Length: 519
Characters, Pairing: John Shepard, Admiral Hackett, OFC, Talitha Draven/Rosamund Draven
Content notes: Spoilers for Mass Effect 2. Canon character deaths.
Author notes: This takes place very early in Mass Effect 2, where Shepard's first mission after taking command of the new Normandy SR-2 was to visit the Normandy SR -1 crash site at the request of Admiral Hackett. The two crew members mentioned in the letter to Shepard were among the crash victims.
Summary: Closure for one mother. A reunion awaits another.

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To: Commander Shepard
From: Admiral Hackett

Commander, I told you how grateful I was that you were able to visit the Normandy crash site on Alchera to place the monument and recover the dog tags from the crash victims. I don't know much about the circumstances of your revival from what had seemed a certain death yourself, and I'll let the politicians handle all that. What matters to me is how highly you prioritized that recovery mission and that it was a success.

I wanted you to know two things. First of all, I've taken the liberty of contacting your mother. She took your death pretty hard. Lately, it's been all over the news that she declined a promotion in favor of continuing to captain a ship as a tribute to your memory. You probably heard it on the broadcasts in the Citadel. Hannah is one hell of a captain and the Alliance is lucky to have people like her serving in any capacity.

I suggested to her that I could act as a go-between for any messages she'd like to send you, just to help minimize any political fallout for either of you. Just between us, I hope all of this Cerberus stuff gets sorted out sooner rather than later – I need you back full-time.

The other thing I wanted to share with you is a letter I received from the family of two of the crash victims. It's addressed to you, but I needed to clear it for security reasons. I made no redactions - this is the original letter. Let me just say this once more. You did a good thing, Shepard.

Hackett out.

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Dear Commander Shepard,

I was so glad to learn that you paid a visit to the site where the Normandy crash-landed two years ago. And I'm even more grateful for the return of the identity tags for my daughter, Talitha Draven and her wife Rosamund.

My last contact with Talitha was after that business on the Citadel. She couldn't talk much about it, but the message I took away from it was that the Normandy had seen some dangerous situations, but she was very confident in your leadership.

I've been thinking about her a lot, and remember her telling me that when you first took command of the ship, she was astonished that you greeted her and Rosa by name in the mess hall. She said some captains she'd served with never made much effort to get to know the below-decks crew.

Talitha and Rosa had been married for just two years before both were selected to serve on the Normandy. Their prior postings had been apart from one another and being reunited meant a lot to them both.

This is hard to say, but I'm glad to know they were together at the end. Rosa had no living relatives, so I received both of their dog tags. I will always keep them together as a memory of their bravery and their love for one another.

Godspeed to you, Commander. It seems you have a good heart.

Laura Draven
Melbourne, Australia

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