A/N: I have survived Missouri, the land of tornados and the brown recluse spider (yes, Shepard's spider rant came directly from me, and is probably the most of me this Shepard has). I couldn't sleep the first night when I remembered the bit about the recluse, but then it got better as we did our job and no one got bitten even though we were digging around in dark closets and such. Found a few dead mice, but that was the most excitement we had.

Now, presenting everyone's FAVORITE krogan and a surprise guest. No, it isn't the Doctor. Although . . . there is Mordin. He kind of reminds me of Tenth a little. /geek

There's another A/N at the end that you SHOULD SHOULD SHOULD READ.

Anyway, without further ado.

###

Chapter 20: Land of hopes, dreams, and nuclear waste

They stepped off the shuttle, Shepard's eyes flickering around the tumbles of rubble and dust that seemed to coat every inch of surface around them.

She'd kept the party small again – since they were going to be surrounded by krogan, she wanted to seem as non-threatening as possible. Grunt still paced anxiously just outside the group's clump; Garrus and Kaidan still found themselves falling back onto Shepard's six with Mordin nervously wedged in between them. Samara stood calmly in the rear, her eyes drifting over their surroundings.

Squaring her shoulders, Shepard marched deeper into the Urdnot camp. One of the krogan guards stopped her and, after a brief, terse exchange, they passed.

"This is the great krogan homeworld?" Grunt finally said, words falling out before he could stop them.

"This is what happens when you get too playful with nukes," Shepard muttered in answer, seemingly calming the adolescent down. "Something you should probably remember."

The tunnel opened up as Kaidan rubbed his forehead. Everything is a learning experience. Shepard's words on Virmire as they wound their way along the river on the mako still echoed in his head. Right now, it's that there's a goddamn colossus around every turn and they always see us first.

Everything is a learning experience, even if it went unrealized. Like the fact that Shepard was always in his head.

An elevated tumble of rubble seemed to catch her eye, and Shepard stalked towards it. She had hoped that they could locate Wrex before accosting the clan leader since she thought having the krogan's input would be useful, but something seemed to have encouraged her to head for the clan leader directly. Garrus spotted said reason first.

"Alenko," he murmured, visor flickering as it adjusted on something. "Is that Wrex?"

He was about to answer, eyes wide, when one of the krogan guards stopped Shepard firmly. "Halt. You must wait 'till the clan leader summons you. He is . . . in talks."

Shepard scoffed. "Wrex is in talks? I bet he's enjoying that."

"That isn't our point. You must wait until –"

"Turn your ass around then, and tell him that Sh—"

"Shepard!" A loud, familiar bellow echoed off the rubble, accompanied by the sound of heavy steps. Shepard grinned, glancing around the krogan guard.

"Good enough?" She pressed her way through the guards. "Excuse me."

"Shepard!" The heavily-scarred, red-plated krogan who'd made their lives several times more interesting while hunting Saren grabbed her hand, his other clapping on her shoulder. "My friend!"

"I think if he didn't have a reputation to uphold, Wrex'd be hugging her right now," Kaidan muttered. Garrus nodded.

"I've never seen a krogan . . . happy," he answered. "It's disturbing."

"Interesting. Krogan-human interaction shows hallmarks of both cultures. Indicates previous unknown." Mordin started tapping at his omni-tool, taking the data down. "Requires further investigation."

"You look well for dead, Shepard," Wrex continued. "Should have known the void couldn't hold you."

Shepard glanced around. "Looks like helping me destroy Saren and the geth worked out for you. Damn glad we didn't have to kill each other on Virmire."

"Heh. You made the rise of Urdnot possible." He shook his head, moving his hand to motion at their surroundings. "Virmire was a turning point for the krogan . . . though not everyone was happy about it." A dark look was delivered at a nearby krogan. "Destroying Saren's genophage cure freed us from his manipulation. I used that to spur the clans to unify under Urdnot."

The green-plated krogan over Wrex's shoulder and the recipient of his previous dark look erupted. "You abandoned many traditions to get your way. Dangerous."

There was a pause as Wrex seemed to mull over his options, settling on a hard, bone-crunching headbutt that made the other krogan very familiar with the ground. Shepard resisted the urge to laugh as Wrex returned to his chair, beckoning them after him. "Speak when spoken to, Uvenk. I'll drag your clan to glory whether you like it or not. Now, Shepard, what brings you here? How's the Normandy?"

"Got destroyed in a Collector attack. I got spaced."

Wrex shrugged. "You look good. Ah, the benefits of a redundant nervous system."

"Yeah. We don't have that."

"Oh." He shrugged again. "Must have been painful, then."

"Glad to see he hasn't changed," Kaidan said as Shepard and Wrex started discussing the krogan's plans, almost as if she'd been aware of them from the beginning. For all they knew, she had been.

"I hear that."

"Shepard knew krogan from before? Traveled with, perhaps?" Mordin was still tapping on his omni-tool, curiously observing Shepard and Wrex.

"Wrex helped us take down Saren. He and Shepard drew guns on each other a few times, but never quite got around to killing each other."

"Interesting."

Grunt scoffed. "His association with humans shows –"

"Wrex nearly killed possessed-Saren himself until the damn thing started shooting fire at him." Garrus sounded oddly complementary of the krogan, considering that he'd been unconscious during said part of the fight. "And then Shepard dismembered it with a shotgun."

"Good times," Kaidan commented.

Shepard's voice cut back into their discussion. "Wrex, I'm glad everything's going well for you. But I do have –"

Wrex nodded, cutting her off. "We don't often allow aliens to do business here, but you're an exception."

"Thanks. I've got a krogan with me." She jerked her finger back at Grunt. "Something's going on with him. I needed—"

Wrex cut her off with a hand wave, standing and staring at Grunt intensely. "Where are you from, whelp?" he finally asked, still assessing the adolescent. "Was your clan destroyed before you could learn what is expected of you?"

Grunt scoffed. "I have no clan. I was tank-bred by Warlord Okeer, my line distilled from Kredak, Moro, Shiagur—"

Uvenk seemed to have recovered from his headbutting experience. "You recite warlords, but you are the offspring of a syringe!" he snapped.

"You back the hell—" Shepard started, stepping between Grunt and the far larger krogan. Her hand brushed back against her shotgun – unconsciously, the rest of her squad started for weapons as well.

"Uvenk!" Wrex barked, encouraging him to step back. Shepard relaxed. "Okeer is a very old name. A very hated name."

"He's dead."

"Of course. You're with Shepard. How could he be alive?"

"Okay, so you do know what's going on?"

"Of course I do. He's becoming a full adult."

Garrus groaned. "Adolescence? Can't we just take him to Omega and buy a few dances?"

Shepard and Kaidan couldn't resist a small laugh. Wrex chuckled, accompanying the noise with an intense glare at the turian. "Shut it, Vakarian. Doesn't matter what aliens call it. Krogan undergo the Rite of Passage."

Uvenk came back with a vengeance. "Too far, Wrex! Your clan may rule here, but this thing is not krogan!"

Shepard started for her shotgun, but Wrex snapped out and grabbed her forearm before she could reach it. Uvenk stormed off. "Glad to see you have your own personal Udina," Shepard commented, lowering her hand. Wrex half-rolled his eyes.

"That's an insult to Udina," he answered. "Even that human slime knows his place."

"Not if you listen to Anderson," Kaidan said.

"Uvenk's an idiot." Wrex redirected his attention. "So, Grunt, do you wish to stand with Urdnot?"

Grunt paused, eyes flickering around the camp. Wrex looked at Shepard, who shook her head. "It's his choice."

"It's in my blood," he finally answered. "It is what I am for."

Wrex might have grinned. "Good boy. Speak with the shaman – he's over on the second level. Give him a good show, and he'll set you on the path." He returned to his chair, sinking down into it. "You too, Shepard. How many times have you stepped in a mess for your crew, hmm?"

"Too often." She sighed. "Which brings me to reason two –"

Mordin fidgeted slightly as Wrex glanced at him. "Figured as much."

"I'm looking for a salarian. He was captured by the Blood Pack and brought here."

"Go talk to my scout commander. He's probably running target practice near the perimeter." His voice lowered. "Just don't distract him too long. I need a constant watch on the other clans."

"You know me too well, Wrex." Shepard grinned. "See you around."

"Watch yourself," Wrex said with a nod. "Tuchanka isn't as safe and homey as Feros and Ilos."

"Only you would call Feros and Ilos safe and homey."

"Didn't see you skulking back there, Alenko," Wrex commented. Shepard was already halfway across the camp, heading towards the scout commander. "Glad to see Shepard's still got someone around to keep her head on straight. Now go make sure she doesn't harass him too much."

Kaidan walked away from the pile of rubble, not quite able to admit to anyone except for himself that Shepard's head was definitely not straight with him around.

Especially not the krogan who'd gruffly told them to "rut and get it over with."

#

Shepard wasn't sure why the Urz the Varren had started to follow her, but he was.

As she walked towards Wrex's throne rubble with her crew dispersed through the ship or the clanhold the varren happily trotted after her, huge blue eyes trained on her at all times.

Mordin had retreated to the safety of the Normandy with most of the ground team and, according to Chambers, had promptly locked himself in the laboratory and not emerged. Grunt was off wandering the clanhold, watching the other krogan. Wrex was cleaning his shotgun as Shepard approached, and stood once he spotted her. "Shepard. Glad to see you're in one piece."

"It's me, Wrex," she replied. "I like to stay in one piece."

"So I've heard. Heard you cleaned out Weyrloc for me as well."

"They were in my way. Thought I'd do you a favor." Wrex chuckled. "I wanted to talk to you more in-depth."

"Hate hearing that."

"I know. But I needed to make sure you're remembering our deal. It looks like you are, but—"

Wrex scoffed. "Don't worry your squishy head about it, Shepard. I told you I'd have the krogan to stand with you when the Reapers come through, and I'll damn well have them united by then." Shepard punched his shoulder. He chuckled. "So how's everything goin' with your mate?"

"My – shit, Wrex . . ." Shepard looked away uncomfortably. Wrex shook his head.

"It's a wonder humans reproduce as much as they do, with the way you fumble around about it."

"No, it isn't . . . it's been two years, and he doesn't quite accept the whole I-Was-Dead spiel as easily as everyone else."

"What? Alenko? I'm surprised, Shepard." Wrex shook his head again. "If you're worried about that you should just rut again and carry his child. He'd –"

"Whoa!" Shepard held up her hands, an uncomfortable flush coloring her face. "Whoa, Wrex, let's just step back here and compare the fact that human children are dependent on their parents for a hell of a lot longer than krogan children, add in the impending Reaper apocalypse, and divide by the amount of time I have to worry about taking care of a kid, and –"

"Didn't say you had to do it. Said you could." He shrugged. "You humans complicate matters."

"Yeah. I know." She sighed. "Trust me, I know."

Wrex opened his mouth to respond, then glanced around her. "Oh. Looks like the females brought the children over again. Brace yourself."

"What?"

She turned just in time to see Garrus, talking to the scout commander about the guided missile system, get bowled off his feet by headbutt from a tiny krogan that maybe came up to his hip. It promptly rushed towards the rubble where Shepard and Wrex were, and Shepard quickly stepped to the side to avoid it as it launched itself into Wrex's lap. Wrex affectionately rubbed the krogan baby's headplate. "Shepard, this is Wrave, my son."

Shepard stared at him for a second, then slowly covered her mouth with her hand. "Wrex. . . my God, that's adorable."

Wrex glared at her. "Krogan are not adorable."

Shepard found herself needing to press. "So did you have to read manuals? Like, 'How to Be a Good Krogan Daddy'?"

"Shepard. I cannot believe I let the galaxy rest in your hands. I should kill you and steal your ship."

"Yeah, you probably should." She paused, watching as Wrave tried to headbutt his father's chest. Wrex ignored him. "So is he like a prince or something? Since you've kind of taken over Tuchanka?"

"If he kills me later for it, then yes."

Shepard made a face. "Great leadership system."

He chuckled. "Indeed. It at least leads to interesting family gatherings."

"I can imagine." She shook her head. "How old is he?"

"Coupl'a months. Like you said, krogan grow up fast. Started headbutting about a week ago – haven't been able to get him to stop since. Unfortunately for Vakarian, he's used to runnin' into other krogan – not turians."

"Garrus is tough."

Wrex nodded, watching as the turian dusted himself off. "Don't worry, Shepard. We'll be killing Reapers right alongside you when they come through."

"Good." Shepard nodded, glancing back down at Wrave. "I'll let you spend time with your son. Wrex . . . I—" She sighed. "I know how much that has to mean with the genophage."

Wrex waved her off. "Get back to your people, Shepard. Don't want to get us all weepy-eyed."

Shepard nodded. "We'll be back tomorrow, Wrex. So long."

"Shepard."

###

A/N: I could not resist the urge to have Baby Wrex (my one-person review committee and I refuse to address him by his name and instead call him Baby Wrex, or at least I do). It started as a discussion on how cute baby krogan have to be, and then ended up in a discussion about how awesome a Baby Wrex would be.
Oh, Baby Wrex. The universe cannot handle your potential awesomeness.

Also: OMFG. Check gametrailers out for some of the E3 footage for ME3! I WATCHED IN AWE.

I won't do too many spoilers except for these: 1. Anderson as a temporary teammember (EFFING WANT). 2. Kaidan (or Ash if you move that way) back within what looks like MINUTES of gameplay. 3. Mordin, Wrex, Legion, EDI, Joker, Garrus, Liara, and Kaidan confirmed as at least being present.

Also, ME3 release date is March 6, 2011. I'm sad, because I was reallllllly hoping it'd be by December. Ah well. It just means I have more time to save up and preorder since I doubt anyone else will do it for me.

The anticipation will be brutal. However, we always have fanfic.

(But seriously, watch those videos).