Hey guys sorry for the long update, school can get all hectic. This is a good chapter, at least I'd like to think so. Let me know what you think and remember, You keep reading and I'll keep writing. Don't forget you can message me if you'd like to know more about me. Thanks and that's pretty much all I have to say for this chapter. Enjoy!

Shepard woke up abruptly from a heavy nightmare of the vision she encountered with the Thorian. She was breathing heavily. Just then she heard a knock on her door. Shepard pulled herself out of bed and opened it. She looked up sleepily to find Garrus staring at her. She smiled a bit weakly. "You came."

"Yes…I said I would…how are you feeling?" She moved to a side letting him come in. Then she walked over to her bed, sat on the edge crossing her legs.

"I'm alright…I'm kinda used to getting hurt. All a part of a day's work…" She said quietly still feeling shook up. Garrus sat beside her.

"You sure? You seem to be distracted…"

"I…I don't know…I had this nightmare."

"What was it about?"

"I…just saw the vision the asari transformed to me on Feros. I don't know what it really means but…all I can hear are screams…violent screams…" She said scratching her head and letting her hair fall. Garrus stared at her, analyzing every little thing about her.

"It means something…I'm sure it has to do with whatever Saren is planning along with the Reapers. Don't worry too much about it commander, we'll figure it all out." She moved closer to Garrus crossing her arms because she was freezing.

"I…feel as though it's a message…warning us…maybe about the Reapers." Garrus stayed sitting not sure what he should do. She had really been letting her guard down around him a lot recently. This was a different kind of Shepard he was used to seeing and he loved every bit of it. No one had ever seen her like this except for him. He could only imagine how many men tried to get to this side, yet somehow he was there with her. He didn't force himself to see this side of her, she had let him. Garrus felt his heart flutter.

"Don't worry, Commander, this is all of our mission. We are in this with you." Garrus stood up. He wanted to stay with her longer, but it was never a right moment to tell her how he felt about her. He was beginning to wonder if he'd ever get a chance. But Saren was still wreaking havoc. As soon as he stood up Shepard felt as though something ripped from her chest.

"Leaving?" she asked looking up at him with her big brown eyes.

"I…there's a lot of work to do. Where will we be heading next, Commander?"

"I thought I asked you to call me Shepard…" Garrus turned trying to maintain his composure.

"Sorry Shepard…just a habit I guess…" Liana stood up and walked towards him.

"Don't let it happen again soldier…" she said with a grin. Garrus cleared his throat.

"I…I'll try not to." Shepard turned around and started to pull her hair up again.

"First we need to do a few missions for Admiral Hackett. Then it's off to Virmire to meet up with the Salarian team."

"I see…" Garrus replied admiring her.

"Yes…The sooner we can get to Virmire the better. We can figure out what Saren is up to and more importantly why he's doing it."

"Right. Let me know when you're ready, Commander." Shepard looked back at him, "sorry Shepard." She walked up real close to him making him nervous. "Shepard…"

"Do you believe that someone who …has been broken all their lives…can be unbroken?" He looked into her eyes.

"I'd like to believe so…as soldiers…aren't we all broken?" She smiled.

"Thank you for visiting me…" she said softly.

"You don't have to ask me…I enjoy your company." she smiled again. He grinned then left her room. Shepard took a deep breath. He always made her feel special. As though she was someone important too. She was glad he was always there for her. She felt safe when he was around. She got her gear together and headed towards the bridge.

Kaiden walked around the ship checking up on any work that needed to be done. It had been a week of the crew doing missions for Admiral Hackett. Shepard was on her way back for one final rest then they would be off to Virmire. Kaiden sighed. Shepard… I wonder how you are feeling. It had been some time since they had an actual conversation. Even though she had taken him on some of the missions, the little they talked had been just business. He felt ashamed that he wanted her for long and the last few weeks he had forced her out of his mind and solely focused on Ashley. He had told Ashley he loved her when she told him. It had made her happy and in a way him too. Only now, he couldn't tell if that was how he really felt or if it was what he had always hoped to tell Shepard. Kaiden finished what he was doing and headed towards Ashley's room. Joker came on the intercom. "Commander Shepard's on deck. Everyone meet in the comm room." Kaiden was about the knock on the door when it opened.

"Oh…hi Lt.,"

"Hey…I…wanted to talk for a bit…"

"Well is it super important because we have to talk with the commander?" He gently pushed her back into her room. "Kaiden?"

"Listen…We will be heading to Virmire…"

"Yeah?"

"I…we all are going to be doing a part in this mission so I just want you to know….

"Aww…Lt… are you trying to tell me you love me?"

"Ash…I just want you to be careful, I want us to all stay safe…" She walked up to him and kissed him softly.

"Kaiden, let's just do our job. I care about you too, don't worry, we will make it back together. I love you too…" She smiled at him and grabbed his arm forcing him to follow her to the comm room.

Shepard had some time to wind down and take off her armor. Once in her quarters she sighed and threw herself on the bed for just a moment. She took a deep breath. Her side where she had been stabbed still ached but not as bad. She could muster through it. She forced herself to sit up again and put on her colonist outfit. She walked out of her room and found Garrus outside her room. "Hey stranger…" she said in a cool collective way.

"Just came to see how you were feeling."

"Are you always this caring about your Commanding officers?" she joked.

"No other commanding officer has ever been as much trouble as you….or as beautiful…" she felt herself blushed and grinned.

"You make it a habit of saying that to your commanding officers?"

"No ma'am. I don't." He said seriously. There was more he'd like to tell her, but as usual, it was never the time. He figured that leaving her hints might be the only way he'd get to share his feelings. She smiled then turned around.

"Let's go. The others are probably already waiting for us."

"Lead the way." He said as he followed her to t he comm room

Kaiden and Ashley arrived to find Shepard and Garrus missing. Ashley whispered to Kaiden, " I wonder what they could be up to…" she said with a smile. Kaiden grinned and took his seat next to Ashley. Just then Shepard and Garrus arrived followed by Tali. As soon as everyone was settled, Shepard started the meeting.

"Alright guys we are headed to Virmire. Everyone is going to have to do their part in this mission. We don't know what we will find when it comes to Saren but we all go in together to stop this. I need everyone prepared. Dismissed." Everyone left to prepare, even Garrus. He had wanted to stay to speak with Shepard some more but he needed to be ready for the mission. He wanted to be on his top game for her.

Soon the team arrived on Virmire. In the Mako Shepard glanced around the planet. It was beautiful. She had Garrus and Wrex with her. The others stayed on The Normandy waiting for Shepard to take out the AA Towers. They took out some geth troopers and juggernauts as they approached gatehouse 1. They took out the geth there and proceeded to gatehouse 2 where they killed more geth and disabled the AA towers. "Good job, Commander. We will meet you at the Salarian Camp."

"Roger that, Joker." They continued to gatehouse 3 to find no one there. They went through until they reached the Salarian camp. As Shepard and her team arrived, she found Kaiden and Ashley arguing with a salarian.

"I am Captain Kirrahe, 3rd Infiltration Regiment STG. Are you the reinforcements we asked the council to send?"

"The transmission was unclear, I was sent to investigate…" Shepard replied.

"What? I asked them to send a fleet."

"We are all you get, sorry."

"I see. I lost half my men investigating this place. The base is heavily fortified by the geth. My men were able to find out that Saren is breeding an army of krogan."

"How is that possible?" Wrex intervened quickly

"Saren seems to have found a cure for the genophage and it needs to be destroyed. Who knows what he plans to do with an army of Krogan."

"That can't be right; it's a cure that could save my people!"

"That cure is dangerous, the krogan are a mistake…"

"We are not a mistake!" Wrex walked off angrily. Garrus could see the concern on Shepard's face as one of her best men walked off.

"Is he going to be a problem?" Kirrahe asked Shepard.

"I'll deal with him…he'll be fine.."

"Very well…excuse me, I have to come up with a plan." Shepard nodded and waited for him to leave before she turned to Kaiden and Ashely.

"Looks like things are getting rough…" Kaiden said alas.

"Yeah no kidding…looks like Wrex is about to blow up…" replied Ashley.

"I'll go talk to him." Shepard stated.

"Be my guest…if you need to take care of him, just signal." Ashley said.

"That won't be necessary…" Shepard walked over to Garrus for just a moment before she would go see Wrex.

"Shepard."

"Hey…"

"You really need to go see Wrex"

"What…do you think?" She asked him seriously.

"I think…only you have the charm to calm him down. Should we trust him? That's up to you. I'm always here in whatever you decide." She gave him a quick smile and turned to leave. She really valued his opinion. She calmly walked over to Wrex who had been shooting off his shotgun to blow off steam.

"This is wrong, Shepard…if there's a cure for the Genophage…we can't destroy it."

"Wrex…you have to remember, Saren is the enemy here…"

"Really Shepard? Saren created a cure and you are trying to destroy it. Help me out here Shepard. The line between friend and foe is pretty thin…"

"Saren is involved it's a weapon, Wrex, not a cure. If he's controlling it none of us would be alive to reap the benefits…not even your people…"

"This is the fate of my entire species, Shepard! Ive been loyal to you all this time…Hell…you've done more for me than my own family…if I'm going to continue to follow you, I need to know we are doing for the right reasons…"

"They are not your people…they are Saren's tools…slaves do you want that for them?" Wrex stared at her with his gun pointed at her. Garrus could see them from a distant. He was a bit worried but decided that she knew what she was doing. Wrex finally lowered his weapon.

"No…we were tools for the council once…all that did was neuter us…okay Shepard…I see your point. I'm not happy but…I trust you enough."

"I won't let you down, Wrex…" Wrex nodded and turned around to think a bit more. After calming Wrex down, Shepard met up with Captain Kirrahe where he explained his plan. He talked about dividing his men into three teams and hit the front of the facility while Shepard and her shadow team sneaks around the back.

"By the way…commander…I need a huge favor…I need one of your teammates for the assault."

"I'll do it." Kaiden and Ashley said at the same time. Then they looked at each other. Shepard took a deep breath. Shepard knew she had to think about how the team would balance out. Finally, she decided that Ashley should go. She knew she would need Kaiden to be with her. She relied on him far more than she had anticipated.

"Ash…go with the Captain…Alenko…assemble with the rest of the team." Kaiden didn't say anything until Shepard left to go prepare. Kaiden quickly walked up to Ashley.

"Ash…what are you doing?"

"My job, Lt…" She said with the same smile she always gave him. "Don't worry, I'll find a way to come back to you…"

"Ash…"

"Kaiden. Let's move out…" Shepard said to him as she walked forward with Garrus and the others. Kaiden stared at Ashley for moment then pulled her closed and hugged her tightly.

"Stay safe…" He told her. Ashley smiled and waved as he left.

As Shepard and her team headed towards the back, they begin to take out all the geth that greeted them. As they approach the base, they continued to shoot at the geth and the krogan in their way. They helped Captain Kirrahe all they could all along the way. They made it through Saren's base in the exterior part while helping a trapped salarian get out. They approached the interior part where they ran into an asari scientist who gave up information about the indoctrination and Saren's ship, Sovereign. As they went down the elevator, they find another beacon like the one they had found on Eden Prime. Shepard activated it and had another painful vision. Garrus helped her up and suddenly a red hologram appeared. After speaking to it, Shepard realized that Sovereign was an actual reaper. After talking to it, the team head back towards the roof of the base to plant a bomb to destroy the base. As they arrived, Kaiden quickly ran to the bomb while Ashley radioed saying they were pinned down at the second AA tower. Shepard looked at Kaiden. "Go get Ashley! I still need a few minutes to put in the sequence." Shepard nodded and signaled for Wrex and Garrus to go with her. Tali and Liara stayed behind with Kaiden. Shepard and her team blasted their way towards Ashley, however halfway there Kaiden radioed that the geth had surrounded them. "Kaiden…I'll come back for you…"

"Negative. Go and save Ashley, I'll do everything I can to make sure this bomb will go off."

"Kaiden!"

"Forget it, Shepard! We can hold them off here…save Alenko….Please!" Shepard paced back and forth. She felt so torn she didn't know what she should do. She looked at Wrex who had turned away leaving her to deal with this alone. Garrus stared at her compassionately. He could tell she felt so helpless he wanted to swoop her in her arms and comfort her. She stared back at him with a single tear flowing down her cheek.

"Shepard!" Kaiden and Ashley yelled over the radio. Shepard forced herself to pick up the radio.

"Kaiden…I'll come back for you…Ashley stay put I'll get you too."

"We both know that's not going to happen, Commander. Please…just save him." Ashley said lastly.

"Commander…." Kaiden said softly. Shepard and her team went back to save Kaiden fighting more geth along the way. Once they got there, they found Kaiden lying on the floor and Saren. Shepard tried her best to shoot him down. Saren had told her about his plan to save the galaxy by doing what the Reaper had asked. Shepard took a few hits where she found herself in Garrus's arms and he shielded her the best way he could. Eventually Saren took off. Shepard, with Garrus closely behind her ran to grab Kaiden and pick him up. She and Garrus quickly got on the Normandy as the bomb was about to set off in seconds. She pulled Kaiden onto the ship and the Normandy flew away. Shepard looked out the window to see the place destroyed.

"Ashley…." she said softly.

In the debriefing room, Kaiden angrily shouted to Shepard just as she walked in. "WHY? WHY DIDN'T YOU SAVE HER!"

"I couldn't save you both, Kaiden…" Kaiden paced around the room brokenhearted.

"Why did save me?" he said sadly. Shepard looked at him. It was then she realized he and Ashley had something together.

"Kaiden…I couldn't leave you…"

"NO!" Suddenly Kaiden's powerful biotic power enflamed around him as he drew his weapon towards Shepard. In that same moment, Garrus had quickly pulled Shepard behind him as he drew his pistol aimed at Alenko's forehead. "YOU DON'T LOVE ME, SHEPARD…WHY DID YOU SAVE ME? TO TORMENT ME? I TRULY HAVE NOTHING NOW!" Shepard stared into Kaiden's fiery eyes and couldn't help but to feel choked up.

"Stand down, Kaiden." Garrus said to him firmly. "It wasn't her fault, you're lucky she chose to leave you alive…"

"Garrus…" Shepard said softly. She hadn't expected for him to shield her.

"NO….YOU DON'T TALK TO ME…I don't want to hear YOUR voice, Garrus!"

"Everyone dismissed…we can't do this meeting now…" Shepard said choking up. The others left the three in the room. "Garrus…stand down…"

"I won't until he cools off.." He said not trusting Alenko's actions. Shepard walked right in front of Garrus forcing him to lower his weapon. He did. She turned to Kaiden.

"Kill me…if you think it'll bring Ashley back…" Kaiden was full of rage, but he could see the sadness in her eyes. Shaking, he lowered his weapon and walked out of the room. Shepard was about to turn around to talk to Garrus when she saw him leave.

"Commander? I have the council on the line…"

"Patch them through, Joker…" Shepard replied. She was so full of sadness she used all her strength to not show it as the Council stood before her.