Shepard's Timeline cont'd:

The situation was tense to say the least, she kept Mordin just behind her to be safe. She'd meant to reveal the sabotage, but she didn't get the chance on the shuttle, and it didn't seem wise to do so in present company. They already wanted to rip Mordin to shreds, she didn't need to add any fuel to that fire. Wrex's brother Wreav made that blatantly clear.

There was a lot of growling and showboating, as there always is with Krogan. Wrex silenced him with a heavy headbutt.

"Because I trust him, and so will you." He growled at his younger brother. Guns were drawn.

A battle almost started until Eve broke the silence, instructing the men to fall in line for the good of their children and the future of Tuchanka. Shepard immediately supported her, and as soon as Wrex jumped in, the others fell in line. They loaded up into the Tomkahs and Shepard confirmed with Artimec that they were on their way.

"Commander, back on the shuttle you were about to say something." Eve pressed.

"The Dalatrass tried to cut a secret deal with me." She played the recording.

"And she thought we wouldn't know?" Wrex didn't even sound mad, he just laughed.

Mordin handled the information with Grace, as was to be expected. Eve thanked her for saving her race another Genocide, Wrex threw in his two cents as well. She smiled until the trucks ground to a halt at the dilapidated bridge. They all stepped out to investigate just before half of the convoy was taken out by a member of Artimec wing. The trucks fled, leaving Shepard and her crew behind with the destroyed vehicles and dead Krogan. They lept over a narrow gap and headed deep into the bowels of Krogan ruins. She hated the dark, she hated using her narrow beamed flashlight even more.

"You're a trail blazer Shepard!" She sighed, Wrex was not helping.

They learned about Kalros, the mother of all thresher maws. They were in trouble if she was the one causing all of these tremors. After fighting their way through hordes of reapers, they managed to make it back up to the surface. The ruins were massive, and amazing. Who knew the Krogan could be sculptors? And the green... Tuchanka had a lot of potential to be a beautiful world, given the chance.

They hopped in the trucks and headed to the shroud facility. Shepard loved Eve's idea. It was just crazy enough to work.

"Lets make sure we all get out of here alive. We're going to have one hell of a story to tell." She grinned. "Be careful, Mordin. I have a bad feeling."

"Going head to head with a reaper to summon a giant thresher maw. A bad feeling seems appropriate." Mordin shook his head.

"Surprisingly that's not what's giving me a bad feeling…Call it woman's intuition, just be careful."

"Yes yes." He said dismissively.

"Let's do it, Wrex." She grinned, shaking his hand.

They fought more hordes of reaper forces before making it to a bridge. How in the hell were they supposed to distract that? She stared up at it briefly, then scrambled back as the reaper shot its main cannon directly at her. The bridge crumbled beneath them, sending them all tumbling. She helped Garrus remove a large chunk of rock from his chest, he nodded that he was fine.

"You alright?" She asked James, who was dusting himself off.

"Yeah…Mostly." He stood. "Did we just get shot by a reaper?"

"Consider that practice." She laughed as they pushed forward, rolling cover to cover as the reaper blasted at them. Like a godsend, Artimec wing returned, unloading into the reaper and giving it more complicated targets to focus on.

"I knew they wouldn't give up." Garrus said, pride in his people obvious.

"Alright people, lets move it!" She shouted as they pressed forward.

Brutes began to rain from the sky, charging them as the reaper stomped around to better aim at Artimec wing.

"Shit!" She shouted as she barely managed to side step the reapers massive and very heavy foot. It cracked the ground below, the shockwave pushing her back.

"This is crazy." Garrus exclaimed, not far behind her, trying his damnest to take out the brutes as they charged. She took a second to evaluate the situation. Artimec was fighting their damndest but they werent even putting a dent in the Reaper, just annoying it. The volume of brutes was only getting thicker, and they were running out of ammo. Time to be reckless, she cracked her knuckles.

"Screw it." Shepard charged past the brutes raining from the sky. She rolled as one tried to grab her and flipped the switch to activate the hammer. She turned and one was on her, but not for long. It erupted into flames and she covered her face, when she looked up, James and Garrus were both reloading, keeping them off of her.

She dove into cover as a stray blast from the reaper came her way.

"Get that other hammer now, Shepard!" Wrex came over her comm..

"There's a reaper in my way, Wrex!" She shouted back, unsure if he could even hear her over the cacophony of her surroundings.

"I know, you get all the fun." She rolled her eyes. She ducked and wove between the reapers feet, finally making it to the other side and the second hammer.

It slammed down with monumental force.

"Get back to the truck! I'll take care of the cure!" James was injured, Garrus had to help him back. She was sure it was the only reason he agreed to leave her behind.

A death match between titans raged over her head. She couldn't help but instinctively find cover as they crashed down beside her, destroying a bridge. Her heart was slamming in her chest, adrenaline flooding her veins, an insane grin stuck to her face. She leaped across, scrambling as quickly as she could. She heard an ear shattering impact and turned to watch as Kalros slammed into to the back of the reaper, dragging him into the earth. She wasn't sure if Reapers could feel fear, but if they could, she knew that reaper was feeling it.

She rushed to Mordin as quickly as she could. She was glad they saved the data, it had saved Eve's life.

"What?" She shouted, "You're going up there? Mordin, No!"

"Shepard please, need to do this. My project. My cure. My responsibility." He took a deep breath. "Would have liked to run tests on seashells."

"Mordin…please." She clenched her fists, she knew he had to, for himself and for the Krogan. She sucked in a breath and held her head high, "Thank you, for everything."

"Thank you, Shepard." He smiled, "Do not regret. Had to be me, someone else might have gotten it wrong."

She made it back to the trucks and watched the explosion from a distance, catching a few flurries of the cure in her palm as Mordin's spirit rained down, saving the entire race he'd spent his brief life working on. She smiled up as the cure dispersed.

"Now we'll fight for our children, not against them. It's a pity Mordin had to die." Eves tone was solemn as they reconvened a ways back from the shroud, away from the fighting. The calm was eerie.

"He wouldn't have had it any other way… And I'm sure that wherever he is, he's putting in a good word for us." Her voice was low and she managed to keep a small smile on her face for him.

"We'll name one of the kids after him…maybe a girl." Wrex teased.

She said her goodbyes, wished Urdnot Bakara luck. She smiled as she loaded on the shuttle. Even with the loss of Mordin, it was a win. She was silent the whole ride back, and trudged to the war room without a second thought, her armor still dusty from the scuffle on Tuchanka. She barely heard the primarch as he briefed her on the latest state of Tuchanka, barely acknowledged when he offered his help for earth. She nodded as he mentioned Garrus would be coordinating the allocated fleets.

Garrus laid a hand on her back after the primarch left. "You must be exhausted."

"I'll sleep when I'm dead." She grumbled. He was right, she was exhausted, but Mordin's smile haunted her.

"Shepard…" He chided. "If it helps, I know where you sleep. I promise to wake you if anything happens."

She kicked the console absently, tapping the toe of her filthy boot against it. She huffed out a sigh and nodded.

"Fine." She caved halfheartedly.

He nodded and she turned and set off towards the security checkpoint. He turned to work on the fleets but hesitated, he didn't believe that she was actually going to go to sleep.

He went to the battery to change before heading up to her cabin. When he arrived, he almost had to laugh at the accuracy of his suspicions. She'd donned her notorious shorts and tank, but was sitting at her desk rifling over data pads, she hadn't even heard him enter. He rolled his eyes and walked over to her, taking the one from her hand before lifting her out of the chair, ignoring her protests.

"No wait! I was almost finished with that!" She reached over his shoulder, just barely missing it as she was lifted and carried away, "I just need like…twenty more minutes."

"It'll be there when you wake up." He ignored her struggles and pushed her onto the bed, pulling the sheets up over her head. She kept trying to push them off, trying to sit up, complaining that she only had a few more things she had to finish. "Don't make me pin you down, Shepard."

"Promises promises." She narrowed her eyes at him, challenging. When she saw that he wouldn't back down, she let out a sigh. "Fine."

He brushed her hair out of her eyes and pressed his forehead to hers. "I'll be right here."

"You have work to do, Garrus." She ran a hand down his arm. "I'll be fine…"

"Well, there goes the romance." He shook his head and sat up, "Who knew it could fall out of a relationship so quickly?" He raised a browplate at her.

She laughed, "Sorry. I just meant you have more important things to do than coddle me."

He brushed his lips against her forehead, "No, I really don't."

"Well aren't you Mr. Suave." She laughed and wrapped her arms around him, pulling him down to the bed.

He rolled to the side and she curled up against him as he stared up out of the window.

"Just give me a few minutes, just like this." She said softly, falling asleep only moments after the words passed her lips. He smiled and sat very still. He closed his eyes and decided he may as well catch his own nap in the process.

Not even fifteen minutes had passed before she shot up out of bed, eyes wide and heart beating erratically. He didn't get the chance to ask what was wrong before her omni-tool pinged. The Salarian councilor needed to speak with her. Urgently. Garrus glowered up at her when she stood, throwing on her hoodie and jeans over her tank top and shorts.

"Sorry Garrus, go ahead and sleep for the both of us." She smiled and tossed her hair up into a loose pony tail before hopping in the elevator.

He pushed off the bed and stood to follow. They were a few hours out from the Citadel and if he had to follow that damn woman around until she went back to sleep he would. He set to work organizing the fleets in the war room while he waited, keeping an ear for an end of the conversation. He finished up with the fleets, but she was still talking, apparently Anderson was available and she was joyfully catching up. He hatched an idea. He would do something nice for her, take her out when they got to the Citadel. Just them, no war, no meetings, no urgent calls… a much needed chance to catch her breath.

As soon as she finished the call, Garrus stepped into the room. He crossed his arms and leaned against the doorway.

"Well?" He raised his eyebrow.

"Well what?" She crossed her arms in return, mimicking his pose as she shifted back against the console.

Pushing off the door, he crossed the room. He braced his arms on either side of her, his mouth hovered right beside her ear.

"Go to bed." He murmured, his breath soft against her ear.

"Only if you promise to join me." Her tone was suggestive.

He laughed, "Shepard, you need sleep."

"I need multiple things." She kissed his neck. Spirits did he want to oblige. He pushed off from the console, pushing on her back.

"Go to bed, Shepard."

"Party pooper." She rolled her eyes as he pushed her into the elevator. He planted a kiss on her forehead before, pushing the button to her floor, stepping out before the doors closed. If he went up there with her, neither of them were going to get any sleep and after all that time apart, they would need sleep even more after. He ground his teeth and went to take a cold shower while he tried to repress all the wonderful things he wanted to do to her.