A/N: Right, after the last chapter it's time for a bit more of an upbeat – well, sort of – chapter! Time to go get a certain Prothean expert! And of course, thanks for all the views, reviews, favourites etc!

All stuff relevant stuff owned by Bioware etc.

Edit 24/06/13: Thank-you to Theodur who pointed out some tense errors in this chapter. I have altered some of this chapter, though for the most point I have left it alone - that said, I will keep an eye out for such errors in further chapters!

6 – Are You Real?

Shepard's Cabin – the Normandy

"Wait a second, you two met in the aftermath of…" Ashley started but Chakwas cut her off.

"Yes, I have been with Liz for years. After what she went through, I couldn't help but want to there for her." Shepard sniffed, realising that tears had been flowing whilst she had been talking; her hands went to her face to rub them away as Chakwas kept speaking. "I helped her body recover but I didn't know what to do – if anything could be done – for her mentally. To live through what happened; I wasn't surprised when she tried to kill herself several times… I got her the best help I could and even talked with her about her adopted parents. She was sixteen and had no legal guardians."

Ashley's eyes were brimming with tears as she looked at Shepard. "I didn't know skipper… I-I know it doesn't mean much but I'm sorry. If you need anything, anything at all, then just ask me, please."

"I will be fine Ashley." Her voice was breaking but she looked Ashley in the eye. "It hurts and it will never stop hurting. All I can do keep going; if I stop too long it can come back and overwhelm me." Shepard wiped more tears away. "I have to live with it and part of me is glad of that. It may sound strange but whenever I felt I couldn't go on – like during Elysium – I just thought of how I couldn't let people go through what I have. It pushes me on."

"Sometimes too far Liz, this anger does help you at times; but Torfan…" Chakwas looked upset at mentioning it and Shepard didn't want to get into a fight; in fact she didn't have the energy for it.

Instead she simply replied. "I know Karin, that's why I need people like you around; to stop me doing bad things."

"What happened on Torfan exactly? I have heard things but I don't want to base things on rumours." Ashley asked softly, her voice showing she expected to be told in no equal terms to fuck off.

"I lost it Ashley, really bad." Shepard looked at her pain clear on her face and in her voice. "I don't really want to get into it now. I will say that I found out that the slavers were part of the group that attacked Mindoir. When I read a transmission about it I stormed through the base; killing every Batarian I came across, even those that had surrendered."

"Holy shit… is that why they called you a butcher?"

"Yes, I was so angry that I didn't give orders, lots of people died. Good people." She hung her head in her hands. "It was only because I had the datapad relating to Mindoir that I wasn't executed. The courts realised that though I was a great soldier; I simply had very deep scars from my past, scars that couldn't just be overlooked. The scars of my childhood were still there; and because of this they took pity on me, allowing me to keep my rank and medals – provided that I could be honourable and at that. Which part of me didn't really didn't want anymore. The conditions were simple; if I "volunteered" to take on three years of, well, black-ops missions. Some of which were practically suicide missions." Shepard paused to sniff again, and then regain some of her composure. "I took the risks gladly; I felt that it would give a chance to die with some honour."

"Liz, you never told me that before." Chakwas leaned forward and held Shepard's head, kissing the top of it.

"Because after I met that priest… I put my rage behind me." Shepard allowed Chakwas to hold her.

"You found god?" Ashley was surprised: Shepard didn't seem religious, even more so considering her liking of "dirty" clubs.

"No, I didn't find god. But he did help get rid of at least some of my anger. I don't think that I will ever get rid of it completely." Shepard shifted and Chakwas let her go. "I cannot help but hate Batarians; after what they did to me…" She swallowed. "I don't believe all Batarians are like that, though it is hard not to think it, or even say it, sometimes."

Ashley wiped her own eyes before responding. "I certainly don't blame you. I think I would be the same if… if it had happened to me."

"Come on, we all need cheering up now." Chakwas said spreading her arms. "Let's go to Flux, or somewhere close by, and have a few drinks."

"I cannot drink anymore Karin; thanks to your newer, even stronger, medication." Shepard stood and went to the head, grabbed a handful of tissue and past some to Ashley and Karin before wiping her eyes. "Besides, I have a lot of work to do tonight and tomorrow. I have some leads to follow up as soon as we're ready to go."

"Liz, don't push yourself too hard. Not after how emotional we all just got." Chakwas said after blowing her nose.

"Oh, I won't, I just need to organise some gear from the deliveries and check through some messages. I will be going to be bed soon; I'm exhausted. Don't let it stop you two going out though, go if you want to." Shepard scrunched up the tissue in her after speaking and threw it into the bin at the side of the desk. "I hate talking about these things; it make me feel, well, weak."

"You're far from weak Shepard; to have gone through what you have and still be sane." Ashley couldn't help herself, she hugged Shepard.

"I don't think I'm entirely sane Ash…" Shepard returned the hug but was cut off.

"Enough, enough; come on Ashley lets leave her alone now!" Chakwas laughed lightly, leaning over and grabbing the remains of the food Shepard had left. "I'll deal with this for you Liz; don't be too late getting to bed!"

"Ha! Yes doctor!" Shepard gave Ashley a quick squeeze before they let each other go.

"Alright Ashley, come on, time for a drink or two!" Chakwas smiled and led Ashley out of the cabin, the door slid shut behind them.

"Will she be okay?" Ashley looked to Chakwas, worry etched onto her face.

"She will be. It is always hard for her – even though she often doesn't show it – but she is strong. Liz will get through this; even if she has to hold it in at times." Chakwas rubbed Ashley's arm gently as she continued. "Trust me, if she wasn't fit for duty I would be the first to tell her; she's like a daughter to me." They moved across the still empty mess-hall towards the medi-bay.

"So you have known her since she was sixteen?" Ashley asked. "What was she like?"

"Liz was always a handful. Stubborn as a Krogan; she was up and about a week before she should've been after we picked her up on Mindoir." A chuckle came from her. "It was always that way with her, always pushing her limits. One thing she liked to do – before she joined the Alliance anyway – was steal some hospital gowns and make dresses from them! I think it was a way of dealing with things; quite an odd way admittedly but if it helped her then we weren't going to stop her."

"I cannot really see her doing that!" Ashley chuckled as well, shaking her head. "Did she see many… err, professional during this time?"

They entered the medi-bay before Chakwas replied. "Oh, yes, she spoke to quite a few. Liz is amazing in many ways, her ability to filter things through her mind – almost blocking terrible memories entirely – helped her. It also stunned the people trying to help her. After a while they realised that their constant questions were actually doing more harm than good." Chakwas quickly checked her messages whilst speaking. "It's not that she doesn't feel it – as you have seen, she most certainly does – it's that she simply won't let things beat her. No doubt this will help her with the problems from the beacon."

"Didn't she say she was having nightmares again though?"

"She is strong, but there is only a finite amount of trauma someone can take. Unfortunately she is starting to feel it now. Liz had been through too much: I fear another trauma my push her over the edge." Chakwas looked incredibly saddened.

"We will be there for her, help her through things." Ashley stated firmly. "I'll help even if she doesn't really want us to."

"Well said!" Chakwas smiled again as they moved off. "I'll be certain to check on her later though, to make sure she's as okay as she can be."

Shepard's cabin, several hours later…

Shepard frowned to herself as her hand slapped the alarm off. It appeared it was morning already. To her it barely felt like five minutes had passed since she had climbed into bed and turned off the lights. The Normandy was on the way to Therum to rescue one doctor Liara T'Soni. The meeting yesterday morning in the cargo bay had gone well, only two crew members had left; no one appeared to hold any grudges, well, so far anyway. After the meeting had concluded she had ended up in the medi-bay with Chakwas for her daily brain scan. It was "normal" or at least as normal as they could after her "mind-rape" by the beacon.

Now they were about four hours out from the planet where Tevos had said that they would find the daughter of the Matriarch Benezia. Shepard had grumped to herself about it. Part of her had thought that this could be a wild goose chase. One thing that stood out to her was the lack of information that Tevos had forwarded her; she had some basic information on the doctor and that was it.

She was an Asari maiden and had spent quite a few years on solo or small group archaeological digs; the length of time wasn't mentioned so she didn't know quite what to expect in terms of age. She was stated to be a powerful biotic; had, had minor firearms training and it mentioned that she was known to be proficient in at least three forms of martial art – though to what level wasn't mentioned. Though with asari, proficient should mean that she could hold at least her own. As long as the training had been used - whether for combat or leisure – every so often, though looking at the dossier, it seemed like this Liara was proper academic sort; unlikely to have kept it up. Overall it was a terrible dossier; it could turn out to be difficult to confirm that they had the right Asari.

Even more so as no picture to confirm the asari's identity had been provided; though a DNA confirmation patch had been sent along later, in an extremely encrypted message.

She had then passed out her own briefing – with edited details – to the crew about where they going and why. This had caused a few questions to come from Ashley; why is this Asari important. Ashley had expressed a dislike of aliens; to which Shepard had been surprised at the venom behind her words. She would have to have a private word with her later to try and figure out the reason, if there was one, behind the venom. Pressly had also articulated a similar view point but he admitted that he was just stuck in rut thanks to the First Contact War.

Things had been slow yesterday after the meeting anyway, so hoping this mission might lead to something; hell, anything would be better than running around doing random tasks for random people. The consort had even flirted with her rather shamelessly. Which was an odd turnaround based on their last – very sombre – meeting. Though at least they had dealt with everything that they could; no doubt they would be getting more things lumped on them whenever they returned to the Citadel next.

Swinging her legs out wide she pushed herself upright with a groan. Stretching her arms above her head several joints clicked. Dropping to the floor she proceeded to do forty push-ups, and then decided it was time for a shower. This time she should have plenty of time to have a proper wash!

Fishing her shampoo out of her bags she moves into the head, the cool floor making her step from foot to foot. Dumping the shampoo on a shelf to one side, she thumbs a few controls on the wall. Lights flick on, followed a whirr of an extractor fan and after a few moments the heating in the floor starts to warm. The heating in the floor is an extravagance – the Normandy is currently the only Alliance vessel equipped with it – and it can only be used for a maximum of thirty minutes. Shepard is trying it out of the first time now and decides very quickly that she loves it.

The shower goes by quickly, towelling her scarred body dry she stops and stares at her reflection. Tears come unbidden to her eyes. The scars are a constant reminder of her past. It is possible to get surgery to remove the scars but it is not available under her service; the cost is not something she feels she can justify to herself.

Gripping the edge of the sink hard enough for her knuckles to go white she shakes as she sobs. Talking about her past might not have been a good idea; she thinks, I now cannot stop thinking about it.

Shepard is so distracted by her thoughts she doesn't hear the door chime several times. Let alone hearing the door slide, nearly silently, open. A voice that comes from beside her startles her, causing her slip to the point she slides and falls on the still damp floor of the head. Her head collides with the wall with an audible thump and her breath exits her body in a bark.

"Commander, are you okay?" It is Tali. "Oh Keelah, I didn't mean…"

"Ow, my head. Tali, what are you doing here?" Shepard pushes herself into a sitting position, still completely naked. Her towel discarded somewhere before the fall.

"I was trying to get hold of you commander." Tali clearly shocked turns away. "I rang the door chime multiple times, I though something was wrong, so I hacked the door! Sorry, sorry, sorry…"

"Ah, shit." Shepard stood, feeling blood coming from the back of her head. "It's okay Tali, I'm distracted, and I didn't hear the door. Can you pass me the towel to your left, please?"

Tali's hand snakes out, takes the towel and paws it backwards; she takes it with a small smile. "Sorry commander, I didn't know… you're so scarred… Keelah, I'm sorry!"

Shepard clearly realises that Tali is unnerved by her appearance and not just the fact that she is naked. "It's okay Tali, really. You don't need to feel embarrassed about this." She wraps the towel around her waist, pulling on a black tank-top.

"I'm not really embarrassed commander, more worried."

"Worried, what about?" She grabs her underwear and tugs it into place, acting quickly to try to spare Tali.

"I didn't know you were in a private situation… I don't know how you would react." Tali was wrapping her hands in some pockets in her suit, showing how nervous she was.

Shepard throws the towel past Tali after pulling on some shorts. "Tali, please, its okay. It's not your fault at all." She moves up to Tali and turns her around. "Really, I'm okay, just a bump on the head."

"But you're bleeding…"

"I'm fine Tali; a little bump on the head isn't a problem." She cannot help herself; her arms seize Tali and hug her tightly. "It was an accident, no harm done."

"Okay, thank you commander. It's just that some people treat us unfairly, just for being Quarian…" Shepard tightens her hug for a moment before letting go. This was one thing that really got her riled up. Yes, the Quarian's did create the Geth, and yes, the Geth did attack Eden Prime. However, people seemed to forget that the Quarian's had been driven from their homeworld by the Geth, in a war that killed millions; not a few thousand like Eden Prime. She didn't understand the reason people treated them unfairly when they'd suffered so much. Thanks to the Geth, they're stuck in environmental-suits for – quite possibly – their whole lives for one thing!

Shepard felt a sudden urge of protectiveness towards Tali, she didn't understand it; but liked it. It felt different; warm instead of her normal cold.

"To me Tali that don't matter; to me you're a member of my crew. More importantly, I would like to think that you're a friend!" She smiles widely. "You don't have to worry about anything like that here, if anyone says anything you tell me and I'll deal with it."

"Thank you commander…"

"Crikey Tali, call me Shepard or Liz; everyone else does!" Laughter is added to the smile. "Now, what did you want to talk about?"

"Well, I was wondering if I could come with you; on the mission to Therum." Tali replied, voice full of nervous energy.

"I don't see why not. But you will have to be ready to follow orders right away, no hesitation. That could get you, or someone else, hurt or killed."

"I will com-Shepard. I just don't want people to think I'm not helping." Tali's head hung slightly.

"Tali, you're a great help. Adams tells me you have already proposed ways to improve the engines… I will admit I don't know enough to really comment; but he was practically glowing with praise." Shepard hugged her again. "You don't have to prove anything to anyone!"

"Thank you Shepard… that is so kind of you to say."

"Don't sell yourself short Tali; you're an amazing person, that gives without thinking; I'm glad to call you a friend and I've only known you less than a week!" The smile on her face clearly showing Tali how much the young Quarian meant to her.

"Can I still come?"

"Of course you can Tali. I will be splitting the team in two anyway, so I'll have you with me for anything technical." The smile stayed; dark thoughts gone completely for the moment. "Now, get something to eat! I'm just going to see Chakwas about the back of my head. I think I need to get a mat for the head – nearly fell over last time I used it!"

"Ha! Thanks again Shepard!" It seemed like Tali was smiling, though the faceplate made it hard to tell and she wasn't used to the body language of Quarians' yet.

"Come on, let's go." Shepard put an arm around the young engineer and led her out into the mess area. The floor was cold on her bare feet but it felt quite nice. She caught an odd look from Kaiden as she came around the corner. He then smiled and chuckled to himself, turning back to the food dispensers.

Shepard untangled herself from Tali, gesturing towards the food. She kept going towards the medi-bay, the back of her head was throbbing slightly; it didn't feel too bad but no harm in getting it checked out. As the door opened she saw Karin was eating and organising at the same time, one hand had a fork in, the other a datapad scrolling through lists in the other.

"Morning Karin." Shepard said, not surprised that the doctor only looked around and smiled, mouth full of food. "Sorry to bother you so early but…"

"You don't look injured, so what it is this time?" Karin replied after swallowing, her voice full of mock seriousness.

"Well, I just had a fall in the head. Tali startle me and slipped…"

"Bloody hell Liz, are you alright?" Her voice was full of concern.

"I'm fine, really. I was lost in thought and didn't hear her activate the chime. She thought something was wrong so hacked the door. I didn't know that she was there, it startled me and I slipped on the wet floor – just had a shower – hit the back of my head." Shepard tilted her head slightly, a rush of red coming to her cheeks.

"Come on then, let me see." Karin smiled and waved her over. The doctor gave a 'tut-tut' noise as she looked at the slightly bloody bump. "Liz I need to clean the wound and apply some medi-gel; I might sting a little."

Shepard sat on a chair her back to Karin. "Do you need me to do anything?"

"No, just stay still." As always Karin's voice was calm and even. Shepard winced slightly as the disinfectant cloth wiped over her bump gently. "You need a mat for that shower!" This comment caused Shepard to laugh and disrupt the healing.

The dark thoughts returned slightly. She couldn't help but think that at least she'd been interrupted from her chain of thought this time; that way she didn't end up curled up in a corner crying to herself and wishing she was dead. Or even worse; trying to kill herself again.

Several hours later, Shepard was crouched behind a boulder in the excruciating heat of Therum. She was leading a squad consisting of herself; Tali; Ashley and Garrus. Things had been going well to begin with; they had breezed past several groups of Geth Armatures – as Tali had called them – and they'd squashed a few groups of normal Geth troopers with even more ease. Tali's help was amazing. The young woman was able to hack their foes shields, weapons; that little combat drone that harassed them. She was really glad that she had agreed to bring her along with them now.

Things had gone wrong when they had to leave the armoured safety of the Mako tank. The Geth had ambushed them in a poorly defensible area and they were suddenly on the back foot. It had been a hard fight but they had pushed back and broken out, all without any real injuries. Partly thanks to Shepard herself, her biotic barriers shielding them from incoming fire, and partly due to Tali; whose knowledge of hacking shields; weapons and the Geth themselves – even if was only for a few seconds – had turned the tide.

The Geth had pulled back, regrouping no doubt.

She had taken a couple of minor hits, dealt with by her hard-suits built in medi-gel application system. The same armour had a small climate control unit, but the heat of the volcano they were fighting towards was extreme. The heat was them main problem. It was wearing them all down.

Second squad, led by Kaiden, had encountered the same problem the other side of the combat area; complete with Geth, though most seemed to be heading towards them. This had caused Wrex to gripe quite loudly over the radio, much to her amusement. The rest of the squad was made up of marines from the Normandy. Their task was meant to be a distraction; which the Geth seemed to have seen through.

Not that it mattered too much, as long as they could break through the next group they would be in the mine itself. The dig-site was meant to be within the mine, so that was their target. However an Armature had been dropped off between them and the entrance. Without the firepower of the Mako it was being hard to put down, compounded by the fact some Geth snipers had arrived to support it.

It was going down, its shielding was gone, but it was taking a lot of pounding to finish off. It had also just taken down her own shielding, which she was waiting to recharge. She didn't want to rely on her barriers in case they were needed in the mine itself.

A dull thump, followed by an equally dull boom a second afterwards, sounded out. The shout from Garrus told her that the Armature was down. It was suddenly very quiet, broken by her shield generator beeping to tell her it was ready, a flicker of blue and purple said that it was back in action.

Standing she looked around, weapon levelled and ready, she was keeping an eye on her rifle; after problems it had on Eden Prime even more so. The area was clear; the bodies of the Geth littered the area. The clearing was long and full of metal crates and mining equipment, most of which looked like it had been abandoned; or at least not used for months, coated as it was in a thin layer of volcanic ash. Around them a mining shaft had been sunk into the rock at an angle, the supporting structure rose 30, maybe 40, feet into the air. A ramp rose towards the entrance, gently sloped to be able to take heavy gear up it. Splitting off to the right next to the entrance was a walkway heading overhead to a second – just as large – structure. This looked to be a maintenance area, clogged up with workbenches and tools. It was enclosed, but it looked battle-damaged, some heavy weapon impacts maybe.

The surrounding rock was a muddy-brown colour, parts of it looked unstable. Walls of rock rose around the clearing, shielding it from the elements. But it the volcano erupted anyone here would have nowhere to go. It could be a death trap. And they had to go underground. Into the volcano: fuck.

"Sound off!" She called out, hoping to get full answers. Thankfully all three of her squad mates did sound off. Ashley had been hit, but it wasn't very serious and medi-gel had already taken the edge off.

Hand-signals sent Ashley and Garrus filtering off to towards the ramp. Tali stuck to Shepard's side, as ordered, due to her lack of combat experience. Shouts of clear came from above. She nudged Tali, who was staring at a fallen Geth; almost looking like she was trying to fathom what it had been thinking. Not that she could really tell. She hoped that the combat didn't change the young woman too much; Tali was a bundle of energy most of the time and Shepard was beginning to really liked her. Tali followed her closely as they both ascended the nearby ramp.

Garrus nodded towards the door. "It's unlocked commander; want me to open it?"

She simply nodded and gently pushed Tali out of the way of the door. Then she brought up a barrier over the door; they didn't have much room to shift if fire came from the doorway. Garrus palmed the door release and the opened with a loud creak and hiss, dust floated from the opening.

It was clear, just an empty, long, subtly sloping tunnel.

"Ashley you watch our backs, Tali stick with Garrus, I'm on point with my biotics." Shepard calmly stowed her rifle and drew her heavy pistol whilst speaking.

"Got it skipper." Ashley replied in a harsh whisper.

The tunnel was grey and murky, dull lights spaced evenly didn't help much, giving off just enough light. In a few places water – probably sulphuric thanks to the volcano – dripped from the curved roof, pooling in a couple uneven places.

Upon reaching the end of the monochrome tunnel, she held up her closed fist and gestured for them to crouch. Looking around she pointed to her eyes, held up 3 fingers and pointed down; the message was simple. 'I can see three Geth below us'.

She moved slowly, watching her footing as the exit of the tunnel became a metal walkway again. Fearful of clanking about on the walkway, her steps eased her out ever-so carefully to the right; still watching for more opponents, Geth or otherwise. Thankfully, these three seemed to be the only ones about. The cavern appeared large but she couldn't tell just how big from her position; though she could see two walkways, one to a lift and another leading right up to an engaged energy barrier of some kind.

She signalled to Garrus to take aim at the furthest away Geth - which was clutching a rocket launcher in its three-fingered hand – but not to shoot, to wait for her go. Then she looked at Ashley and pointed to the nearest one, a nod reply was all she needed.

Gathering her biotics in one hand she went for not subtle, standing her pistol opened fire at her target, which was standing beneath an outcrop of rocks. The bullets impacted on the shields of the Geth; but she wasn't trying to kill it with that, simply get attention focused on her.

A single, sharp, retort spoke of Garrus and his beloved sniper rifle. A staccato burst of an assault rifle followed. Then her warp struck the last one, ripping it into chunks of metal and the odd white fluid that Geth had. She would have to ask Tali about that later, if she remembered.

It was over in less than 4 seconds. The Geth hadn't fired a shot.

The cavern was huge; it had taken them about ten minutes in an elevator to reach the "bottom floor" of it. They followed a part-rock, part-metal pathway around a corner to be greeted by an odd sight.

An Asari was suspended in mid-air in some kind-of blue bubble. Before her was an, oddly thick looking, purple barrier; which cut-off access to the Asari herself. What was oddest was the Asari didn't seem to notice them right in front of her. In fact she was shaking her head and muttering about hallucinating.

"Oh, tell me you're real and I'm not going mad!" Came the weak words, she sounded very dehydrated. "You don't look like Geth… Geth, can you believe it! Geth beyond the veil for the first time in centuries! Oh, please be real…"

They stepped forward, entering the purple haze of light. The Asari's eyes widened when she saw them. Shepard saw that the Asari was beautiful, elegant looking even coated in grime and sweat. And going by puddle on the floor – not to mention tell-tale stains on the legs of her uniform – she'd been forced to relieve herself, on herself. Freckle like facial markings made her look young, though that could be deceiving, she even had some rather cute – what an odd thought – looking eyebrow markings. In fact she had to suppress a gasp; she was the most beautiful Asari she had seen. Shepard even felt an unwelcome, during a mission anyway, feeling between her legs; fuck, her body fancied the Asari they had come to rescue. Not good at all.

Must keep my mind on the mission; not that fact I haven't gotten laid in nearly a year.

"Humans working with a Turian? Now I know I'm hallucinating!" Then she noticed Tali. "A Quarian as well? Goddess I have an odd imagination."

"Dr T'Soni I presume?" Shepard couldn't help the smile that came to her face at her choice of words; which, of course, was lost on the young Asari.

"Of course, who else is trapped on this world? Oh, why didn't I leave last week?"

"You have trapped here a week?" Concern coming into her voice as her smile fades.

"No, only a few days… You should know that if my mind created you…" Dr T'Soni's face scrunched up as realisation reached her. "Goddess you're real aren't you! Goddess I must seem so stupid!"

Shepard couldn't help a small laugh before replying. "It's okay doctor, how did you get trapped in there?"

"I ran in here when the Geth appeared. A Krogan was with them to; I don't know where he went." She took a deep breath. "I knew how to activate the barrier curtain in front of you but I must have made a mistake. Triggered some security measure I hadn't discovered yet. It was quite embarrassing at first. Now I just want something to drink. And to be able to sit down."

"Relax doctor…" Shepard was cut off by the indignant Asari.

"Relax? How can I relax?"

"Sorry doctor, I didn't mean to offend." She ran her hand over the barrier. "I just meant to calm down; we will find a way around this and get to you. I'm Commander Shepard by the way. This is Garrus; Chief Williams and Tali. We will find a way to you, don't worry."

"I hope so Commander; I don't really want to die trapped in here…"

"I will get to you; the council didn't make me a Spectre for nothing." Shepard saw a look of surprise crossed Doctor T'Soni's face but she didn't say anything. "Garrus set up here and watch our backs."

"You got it Shepard." The Turian nodded and shifted a crate to brace his rifle on.

"Ash, watch our six. Tali stay close behind me; I'm on point again." Shepard brought her pistol up as her left hand flared with biotics. Partly glad – whilst partly not – that she didn't have to look at Dr T'Soni for the moment; her damn body was "requesting" sex at such a stupid time!

Maybe Karin was right, maybe she did need to find someone?

Though after Raven… she wasn't sure she wanted to try again.

Fuck it! Back to the mission!

The cavern descended again, the heat getting stronger as they went. At the bottom of the slope the area widened again. A large railing blocked off access to the left; several warning signs had been placed advertising dangerous lava below. On the right-hand side the expanse curled around back on itself, going on for a while before reaching an up-slope. Filling this part of the cavern were a series of prefabricated buildings, the sides of which had large climate control units; offices and bunkrooms no doubt. At the top of the nearby slope to the right, she could see some mining equipment, they might have been expanding this part of the mine now dig-site.

With a wave of her hand Shepard sent Ashley along the right wall, the young marine's rifle scanning the area intently. Signalling Tali to watch her back, she moved up the first prefab building, the door was jammed open, she looked in saw that it was empty. A series of belongings had been scattered over the bed and table. It appeared that this was where Dr T'Soni had been staying. Some food had been left on the side or a small kitchen unit, it looked halfway prepared; damn that meant that she really hadn't eaten or drunk anything in days.

Gesturing at Tali to watch the door, she grabbed a bag off of the floor and dumped the belongings into it; being careful with a few more fragile looking items. Shouldering the bag she looked at Tali, whose tilt of the head was clearing showing an unasked question.

"I don't know if we will have time to come back for her things, might as well carry some of it."

Tali nodded and replied. "What about clothing?"

Shepard face palmed lightly. "Why didn't I think of that?"

She un-shouldered the bag and opened some drawers, taking a handful of clothes and putting them in the bag. Her cheeks reddened within her helmet as she stuffed some underwear in as well. The bag was zipped up again and back on her shoulder in moments.

"Why don't I carry it Shepard? You will be more likely to be on the frontline and we don't want to ruin her stuff." Tali offered a hand; Shepard didn't answer, she just handed the bag over.

"Watch yourself; I don't want you to overbalance it combat." She patted Tali's shoulder. "Thanks Tali, come on, lets check the other…"

Her words were interrupted by gunfire from further down the cavern. Whipping out her pistol she didn't hesitate, she just charged out of the prefab without thinking.

Ahead of her, she could see Ashley at the top of the slope, firing down towards something; more Geth most likely. Gunfire from the other side of the cavern told her that Ashley needed help, help like now. Rounding the corner of the next prefab she took in the scene instantly; four Geth – including one of the big destroyers, as Tali called them – and a large Krogan were advancing towards Ashley. They hadn't noticed her yet; which she used to her advantage. She was about ten feet away from the big Geth, with one smaller unit between them, the other two Geth were further over with the Krogan about twenty feet away; plenty of space for what she wanted to do. Briefly she wondered where they'd come from; most likely they'd been hold up in one of the pre-fab' buildings.

Her pistol cracked twice, one shot took out the shields of the nearest Geth – she was so close that her shot didn't really lose any power – and the second took a chunk of the back of its head with it. The destroyer looked around; the large weapon was following the motion. Shepard was quicker. Her warp-push sent it careening backwards, the eight-foot monster toppling with a crash.

The other Geth had turned to face her – the biggest threat – while the Krogan kept moving towards Ashley, its shotgun retorting every few seconds; keeping Ashley's head down. She put up a barrier and advanced, pistol absently putting a burst of rounds into the head of the fallen destroyer in passing. Shots impacted the barrier but she found that it wasn't that hard to ignore the shots.

When she was close enough sent the barrier crashing forward in an oversized biotic push. Its impact was enough to push in one of the Geth's optical units as they flew backwards. Landing so hard they didn't move at all. She saw the Krogan look at her, then towards Ashley and back again; it smiled at her with an evil sounding laugh.

"About damn time I got to fight someone with fighting spirit!" It shifted its weight then charged.

Ashley had seen Shepard round the corner and deal with Geth units single-handed; not even breaking a sweat. It was an amazing sight, displaying why she was the most famed N7 candidate ever. However a Krogan was another matter entirely and this one was thundering towards her commander. Ashley didn't move she wanted to open fire, to help. But fear had plastered her into place.

Shepard didn't seem fazed by the nigh-on one ton behemoth heading her way. She simply aimed her pistol and fired. At first she thought the shots went wide, and then she noticed that the shots were aimed at the legs of the Krogan. The pistol wouldn't be enough to stop him on its own, though it might slow it down a bit.

Which is what happened; the Krogan stumbled and had to slow or fall. Which is when Shepard acted, her pistol was dropped and she glowed with biotics. Then in bright flash, nearly enough to blind her even with the auto-correction in her faceplate, Shepard slammed into the Krogan with a very audible crunch. Blood splayed from the hulking alien as it tumbled backwards. Shepard followed up quickly, her shotgun firing four times.

Yet, it wasn't enough. The Krogan reared up in a rage, hitting Shepard with a backhand that sent her sprawling; which the Krogan followed up by trying to stomp on her. Shepard rolled out the way, using a burst of biotics to get to her feet, taking up an odd side-ways combat pose that she didn't recognise. The Krogan spat blood and laughed, its meaty fists coming up; looking almost like a human boxer.

Shepard taunted it, though what she said she couldn't hear it was enough to cause it to lose its rag. It came at Shepard again; who simply danced sideways and lashed out with her left foot. It collided with the eye of the beast causing it to rear backwards in pain. Not content to let it recover, she followed up with three fast palm strikes to the throat; now the Krogan was gagging for breath.

It was still dangerous, as it proved moments later; one of its clawed hands grabbing Shepard's left hand as it went in for another blow; the boom of biotics of just a flash of light to Ashley's ears. Shepard yelled in pain lashing out with her right leg, hitting the other eye; which caused the Krogan to let go of the fist it had been holding. Following up again, this time with biotics, the distinct ripple of a warp hit the same eye that had just been kicked.

The roar of pain from the Krogan echoed around the cavern. Shepard didn't let up, three more warps followed. The Krogan dropped to one knee. Still not letting up, Shepard unleashed a biotic wave of energy that threw the beast backwards. It was down but not out; it was trying to get up again. Shepard didn't let it. Her shotgun was grabbed and shoved into the mouth of downed foe.

With a sharp, muffled, retort the back of the head of the Krogan exploded outwards. It didn't move expect to fall to the floor. Shepard hauled the gun out of the mouth and fired several more times; leaving the chest of the Krogan a torn up mess.

"Regenerate from that bitch." Shepard snarled as she limped away, her left hand clearly useless.

Ashley ran forward. Tali was closer and reached her first; arm flung under Shepard's own to try to support her.

"Damn it Shepard; that was insane!" The young Quarian exclaimed loudly.

"Jus-just doing my job." Shepard replied with pain in her voice. "Did you find a way to Dr T'Soni chief?" Her good hand unlocked one side of her helmet; its faceplate was cracked. Tali helped her with the other lock and get it off.

"Yes ma'am; there's an access to a mining laser over there which could be directed to cut through some weakened rock." Ashley took over from Tali holding the human up as she spoke. "I couldn't figure it out much but I reckon Tali could."

"Show us chief." Shepard allowed her to be led over to the massive cylindrical device.

Ashley watched Tali move over and fiddle with haptic display for a moment.

"Right, Ashley is correct. The wall there…" She pointed. "…is thinner than the rest and the scans say that the space behind it connects with a lower part of the chamber Dr T'Soni is stuck in."

Shepard nodded. "Fire it up, let's get through there. Just be careful, we don't wanna bring the roof down on us."

The space exposed by the mining laser was indeed connected to the chamber behind Dr T'Soni; they rode an elevator up to the same level as the Asari and it appeared that it went up to the level they had come from by the entrance.

Garrus saw them coming and greeted them, causing the trapped Asari to jump, well, as much as she could anyway.

"Goddess, how did you get back there?" Dr T'Soni's weak voice finding some volume in her surprise.

Shepard smiled, her body reacting again, despite the pain she was now in. "A mining laser, we punched through a weak wall. We may have to hurry though the volcano seems to be waking up." Hopefully we didn't cause it to erupt, that would look bad on my report; she added silently.

"How do we get you out of here?" Tali asked moving to the controls.

"The second console, yes, that's the one. The rectangular button to the top-right should…" Dr. T'Soni was cut off as she dropped to the floor with a thump.

Shepard let go of Ashley and helped the Asari up with her good hand. "Are you alright?"

"I will be I'm just exhausted." The Asari leaned on her, noticing her crushed hand and that her helmet was gone. "Goddess, are you okay Commander?"

"Yes, just had a close encounter with an angry Krogan." Shepard shifted, putting her good arm around Dr T'Soni to support her. "We need to get out of here; luckily the platform behind us is an elevator that I'm hoping will take back to the top level."

"Yes, it should… though I will need to see the controls to be sure." The Asari swayed on her feet even with support. Shepard took more of her weight as Tali disabled the curtain that had blocked access before; Garrus hefted his sniper rifle and joined them.

They moved onto the platform and she manoeuvred the tired Asari over to the console. Once there she tapped a few buttons and, with a creak of metal, the platform started to ascend. A deep, booming, rumble made them all flinch.

"Commander, we have a problem!" Joker's voice rang out from her omni-tool. Thankfully, Joker could hear her reply without her having to try to push a button with her ruined hand.

"What is it Joker?"

"The volcano is going crazy! I've already picked up second squad and I'm on my way to you!" His voice sounded concerned, not his normal flippant nature.

"Roger that Joker, we're on our way up now; ETA ten minutes." Shepard shifted as Dr T'Soni leaned more weight on her. "Get Chakwas ready, we have wounded."

"Aye, aye on it ma'am!" A click told her Joker had cut the line.

The older Prothean lift was quicker than the new one; it only took them only about seven minutes to reach the floor they came from. Dr T'Soni was sagging into to her, so she swept her up into her arms, ignoring the flash of pain this caused. Speed came to them as they ran; well she hobbled, across the walkway towards the exit.

Partway there, a thunderous crack echoed through the cavern. Shepard paused and looked up. A boulder the size of a tank peeled away from the ceiling and started to fall.

"Fucking move it people!" She screamed, hobbling as fast as she could whilst holding Dr T'Soni.

Another boom, equally as thunderous as before, filled the cavern as the boulder impacted with the lift enclosure behind her. The walkway rocked as part of it was ripped away, bolts flying in all directs. Shortly afterwards the room was a deafening cacophony of noise as the place started to fall into itself.

A flare of pain in her right thigh caused her to cry out and stumble; nearly dropping the bundle in her arms. Garrus diverted and hauled her upright; not knowing the reason why she had staggered, left her alone. She was limping badly now but forced herself on.

The tunnel seemed to take an age to finish, bright sunlight made her blink and lurch slightly; the pain in her thigh flared again in response. Drawing on her willpower she urged her body on, knowing she would have to stop soon or face collapsing on the Asari she was holding.

Thankfully, Joker was there with the Normandy, boarding ramp down; she just had to get to it.

Willpower fading, she moved to the edge of the ramp; she threw herself onto her back landing on the incline of the ramp. A large armoured hand grabbed onto her armour and dragged both her and the Asari up and into the ship.

A gasp ripped from her lips as the limp form in her arms was helped from her, a stray limb hitting her wounded thigh. Chakwas leaned over her and she faintly heard a shout of getting her to the medi-bay; before blackness took her.

A/N1: And Liara is on board! A little bit more information on my Shepard contained in a fairly action-filled chapter. The best thing about this chapter – for me anyway – is it the Shepard/Krogan fist-fight; it took me a while to get right. One-on-one a Krogan should be able to crush a human, so I had to make it seem-like a hard fight; but not too hard.

Next chapter might take a while – blame The Last of Us for that; damn Naughty Dog made such a damn good game!

And finally I've also read a rather intriguing story by Spyke1985 entitled "When You're Strange" – it's a quite fascinating plot where Shepard is part-Turian (it makes more sense when you actually read it).

Reading this has inspired me to start a crossover of games (no spoilers yet)! This added to my work-load of End of all Things; the shorts within End of all Things; Re-writing my own Mass Effect story (my own characters and plot, set before the events of ME1-3) and now this crossover! Crikey, I'm making things hard for myself! Depending on how well I think the crossover goes, I put up an opening chapter (or part-of) to see kind of reaction it gets.