Chapter 10

Mordin had finally finished the cure, they were on their way back to Tuchanka to release it. Wrex had told them of some missing scouts that possibly needed help so John teamed up with Grunt again to find out what happened. They saved the rachni queen but lost Grunt's team and almost Grunt. He was badly injured so Wrex had him transported to the citadel for recovery. Joseph was still out of commission from his encounter with Liara and the over use of his biotics, he had finally regained consciousness and was recuperating in the room he shared with Miranda. John's words were still stuck in her head, did she really love Joseph or like John said did it come out of a bottle. She sat at the desk in deep thought oblivious to her husband trying to get her attention.
"Hellloooooo, earth to Miranda, are you in there" he said waving his hand in front of her face.
"I'm sorry Joseph, just thinking" she said finally looking up at him.
"What's wrong" he asked sitting on the desk.
"It's just something that John said during our fight" she said looking away.
"What did Johnny say to you?" He asked staring at her intently.
"He said our love came out of a bottle" she said looking up into her husbands eye's.
Joe just looked down and grabbed her hand, there was nothing he could say because it was most likely true.
"Hey, whether you decide to stick with me or you want to split up, I'll always be there for you no matter what, besides we have a kid together so your kinda stuck with me relationship or not" he said making her laugh a little bit.
"My point is, whether you love me later or are just utterly repulsed by me, just know that right now at this very moment I love you, and this is real it always was to me and I want you to remember that when your mind isn't forcing you to feel this way, ok Angel" he said still holding her hand.
"I know I love you too Joey" she said standing up wrapping her arms around him as he held her in a tight embrace.
"I'll always have your back Miranda, you can count on me" he told her kissing the top of her head.
"Thank you Joseph, same goes for you" she said looking up at him kissing his lips.
"And I'll always be available if you ever want to have mind blowing sex" he said giving her a wink.
"How do I put up with you, ass" she said laughing.
"Alright come on let's go see what the plan is for Tuchanka" he said wrapping his arm around her exiting the room.

Down in the war room John was discussing a way to distribute the cure with Mordin, Wrex, and Victus when Joe and Miranda entered the room.
"Mr. Shepard how are you feeling" Primarch Victus asked.
"Feeling good Primarch, thanks for asking" Joe said stepping next to John at the table.
"So any ideas on how to distribute this cure Mordin" John asked.
Mordin rambled off a few answers until the right one hit him.
"The Shroud Shepard, yes definitely could work" Mordin said.
"Yes I agree, we secretly used the Shroud to spread the genophage" Victus chimed in.
"Good so we know it'll go the distance" Joe said.
"Yes, no other way" Mordin said.
"Then what the hell are we waiting for" Wrex said walking out of the room towards the elevator.
As everyone else exited the room Joker alerted the commander.
"Shepard we got an incoming call from the Dalatrass" he said.
"Patch her through Joker" John said stepping into the QEC.
"Commander" she said looking at John.
"Dalatrass" he said glaring at her.
"By now Mordin Solus would have suggested using the Shroud to distribute the genophage cure" she said right on target.
"We just decided on that not ten minutes ago, if we didn't you just gave us an idea, what do you want Dalatrass" John said shaking his head at her.
"Our operatives sabotaged the Shroud to ensure that something like this couldn't be done, if you ensure that this cure does not work I can promise you Salarian support for the war effort" she said hiding the desperation in her voice.
"Ok you want me to risk losing Krogan support, for Salarians who couldn't even defend one of their main bases against Cerberus, humans, what the hell are you gonna do with reapers" John said folding his arms amazed at the balls on this woman.
"Our people can help with the crucible project all the Krogan are good for is cannon fodder for the reaper machines" Linron argued.
"Once the reapers land on your world you'll be helping anyway, but thanks for the heads up on the shroud I'll be sure to let the others know that you redeemed yourself for the Cerberus set up on Sur'kesh" John said before terminating the call heading for the shuttle bay.

"Joseph no, you're not ready" Miranda said following her husband around the shuttle bay as he began grabbing his weapons.
"Miranda I'll be fine, relax ok, I won't use my biotics" he said loading up his SMG.
"Joseph, whether you use your biotics or not, your not medically clear for combat" she said taking the gun from his hand.
John stepped into the shuttle bay armored and ready to go.
"Commander, he's not ready" Miranda said looking at John.
"Joseph" John said looking his brother in the eye's.
"I can do this John" he said looking him back in the eye's.
"Alright, let's go" he said jumping on the shuttle.
Joe took his gun from Miranda's hand looking in her eyes, moving her hair behind her ear leaning down to kiss her lips.
"I can do this, I'll be fine, I promise" he said grabbing her hands as she laid her head on his chest.
"You damn well better be" she said releasing his hands walking away from him back to the elevator.

John took Joe, James, and Garrus with him as they rode the tanks through Tuchanka to get to the Shroud, John was quietly thinking of the Dalatrass' offer.
"Commander you seem troubled"the female shaman Eve said noticing John's troubled face.
Before he could tell them about the Dalatrass the tanks stopped rolling. They got out to investigate, the road had been destroyed, upon spotting the reaper John tried to call off the Turian air strike but they were already in motion.
"They can't take that thing alone" James yelled as John went over to see what was taking so long.
"I don't care if you have to build a new road, we're going" he snapped at the Krogan before one of the Turian fighters was taken out.
"Wrex get the female out of here now" John yelled getting up from having to dodge the downed fighter.
They ran through the ruins of Tuchanka trying to find their way back to Wrex and the others. While navigating the ruins the entire area began to shake.
"What the hell is that" Joe said steadying himself.
"What is this place" John asked.
"That is the home of Kalros the mother of all thresher maws" Eve informed over the radio.
"Do I even wanna know who Kalros, the mother of all thresher maws is"
James said clearly disturbed.
"Well if Kalros doesn't get me Miranda definitely will" Joe said as they continued moving through the ruins.
Working their way to Wrex they fought off rachni, brutes, and cannibals. Eve had an idea to use Kalros to remove the reaper from in front of the shroud. All they had to do was activate the hammers to summon her. Back in the truck the Eve decided to return to her question she asked earlier.
"Commander, before you were saying something" she asked looking at John.
"Yeah, the Dalatrass tried to cut a side deal with me, she says that they sabotaged the shroud and the cure won't work unless we fix it" he told them.
"That dirty bitch" Joe and James said in unison looking at each other.
"See I told you we could trust him" Wrex said to the shaman of John.
"Thank you Commander, you just saved my people from another genocide" she said.
They exited the tank as John made his way with his team to the hammers and Mordin finished synthesizing the cure. They made a push towards the reaper and the hammers dodging It's powerful blasts. As they hit the middle of the grounds the reaper began slamming its claws down at them as several brutes emerged.
"HOLY FUCKING SHIT, WHAT THE FUCK, WHAT THE FUCK" Joe yelled before dodging out of the way of a brutes swing.
"Go, we'll hold them off" Garrus yelled as he and James dodged claw strikes and held off brutes as Joe and John split up and made a run for the two hammers. They activated the hammers and watched as Kalros emerged and began attacking the reaper.
"You ready" John asked.
"Ready for what" Joe asked nervously.
"RUN" John yelled as he and Joe made a break for the shroud running under the reaper thresher maw battle.
"Yeah Miranda is definitely gonna kill me" Joe yelled out to his brother mid sprint.
"Don't worry I'll protect you" John replied playfully.
They met up with Mordin entering the shroud.
"Is the cure ready" John asked.
"Yes" Mordin said typing at a terminal in the shroud.
"Is Eve ok" he asked.
"Yes, Maelon's research invaluable, wouldn't have survived without it" he said as the facility began letting off a warning.
"Shepard I must go up" Mordin said.
"Mordin are you kidding me, this place is coming apart" John said.
"No, no other way must go" Mordin said walking towards the lift.
"Mordin no" John shouted following him.
"It's ok Shepard, would have liked to see the end of this, had to be me, someone else might have gotten it wrong" Mordin said with a smile.
"I'll miss you Mordin" John said swallowing a lump in his throat.
"Will miss you too commander, oh and Dr. Shepard left something for you and Dr. Lawson, heard about situation, choice is yours but good luck, would advise leaving now" Mordin said as the elevator went up. He stepped off approaching the upper terminal counter acting the STG sabotage and curing the genophage before the shroud exploded taking his life.
John looked up at the burning facility sadly as Joe put his hand on his back.
"Come on John, we gotta go" Joe said wrapping an arm around his brother's shoulder.
They met with Wrex and Eve who thanked them for all they had done. She had also decided John was worthy of knowing her name was Bakara and she considered him a friend before they left boarding the Normandy. Wrex promised the might of the Krogan for the retaking of earth.

Joe was expecting Miranda to tear him a new one over his antics with John on Tuchanka, but instead found her sitting at a table in the crew deck somberly. The victory was bittersweet for everyone who knew Mordin. There were always casualties but it was never easy losing a friend.
"Hey, you ok, I know you and Mordin were kinda tight" Joe said sitting next to her wrapping an arm around her as she leaned into his comforting arms.
"Yeah I'll be ok, it's not easy when you actually learn to care for people" she said looking into his eye's.
"Mordin said he left something for us in the medbay, wanna go check it out" he said looking back at her.
"Sure" she said giving him a light smile as they got up walking into the medbay together. He left a black box with Miranda's name on it. She picked it up looking at it, the box was keyed to both of their DNA's it wouldn't be opened any other way. She opened it revealing two vials and a vid message from Mordin.
"Lawson, Shepard, if seeing this then definitely didn't make it in mission on Tuchanka. While working on genophage cure heard of situation between two, ran tests, developed cure to counter effects of problem or not problem. Just optional, actually think you two are good match for each other, balance the other out. But will miss both of you, hoping you do the right thing, but what is the wrong thing, ahhh sorry rambling again, pleasure working with both of you, test sea shells for me, will miss you goodbye" he said as the message ended and a single tear dripped from Miranda's eye. She turned to her husband and placed her head on his chest holding him close as he did the same to her.
"I won't take that willingly, so if you wanna take it, then slip it in my coffee or something" he said looking down into her eye's. She removed the vials from the box and placed them in the garbage disposal looking up into his eyes answering his question. He leaned down kissing her lips holding her close.
"I love you Miranda" he whispered placing his forehead on the top of her head.
"I love you too Joseph" she said gripping his shirt tight pulling him closer to her.

"I found out something interesting about your earth councillor Udina" Councillor Valern said to John over the QEC.
"Ok, councillor so we'll meet when I arrive on the Citadel" John said to Valern before ending the call.
"Joker, Citadel ASAP, the Salarian councillor wants to see me about Udina" John informed him.
"Well that can't be good, aye aye Commander" Joker said punching in the coordinates.

A/N: Sorry for my absence been a little busy. Personal drama, but I didn't forget about you all and I hope you enjoy these next two chapters