The ship got quieter as it left the atmosphere, and in the wreckage of the destroyed colony, Commander Kaidan Alenko was left in silence. His eyes were on the figure stood before him, one of the only humans left in the colony. A human he never expected to see again.

His old commander had died on the Normandy. He’d seen it himself -- seen how the ship exploded. Yet here they were. Alive. Well, even. How? How could they be here? His stunned relief melted into something more bitter. Two years, and nothing. Two years he’d spent with dwindling hope. Then he got news that they were alive, and the hope rekindled, and with it, an anger. Two years and they never tried to contact him.

“Why didn’t you reach out?” he spoke, his voice quieter than it usually was. He was hurt, and it was heard in the anger. “Losing you -- two years, you let me think you were dead. I... It was like losing a damn limb.”