When it was time to move they woke Thane up and he helped her pull her armor back on. She went to apologize again for last night, but he kissed her tenderly to stop her. "All if forgiven," he told her and they left the little camp.

"Grunt, you there?" she asked through the com.

"Yep, you just get up?" Grunt let out a laugh. "We've been up for hours."

Kat rolled her eyes. "The great krogan sleep?" she said sarcastically, making Grunt laugh again.

They walked for maybe ten minutes, hard to tell in the dark, before Kat stopped suddenly. "You heard that too, right?" she asked Thane lowly.

He nodded.

Heard what? Kolyat didn't hear anything.

Kat took off her avenger, checked the clip, and looked around. "Thane, get up, take out what you can. Kolyat, get behind that rock." she ordered and pointed where she wanted them. Once they were in place she let out a loud whistle and husks charged them, dozens of them, with cannibals making them up and rachni covering them from the back.

"Shit," she muttered and jumped out of the way of a husk as it reached her, shooting it down. She didn't pull her finger off the trigger as she turned to the next one and shot it down too. A husk tried to grab her from behind as she ducked to give her time to reload and Thane's bullet buried itself in the thing's head.

Kolyat noticed that he wasn't moving, frozen from fear and shock of the sheer numbers of them. He cursed and loaded his assault rifle and pocked his head up beyond the rock to help. One of the two rachni was shooting at Kat now, making her keep moving to avoid the powerful blows, hindering her ability to fire at the husks. Thane was busy trying to take down the husks as they tried to grab at the woman he loved, unaware of the husks climbing up to his ledge. Kolyat shot them down. They fell with a cry and he slammed his boot down on one that was still alive. Then he turned his attention to the rachni, but he didn't have a good view of them.

Kat let out a cry and he turned to see her being knocked off her feet by a charging husk. Thane shot it down. Kolyat moved and pulled her behind a rock away from the rachni and cannibals fire. "You okay?" he asked and shot down a husk that ran around to them.

"Yeah, hit my chest, but I'll be fine." she said and stood up.

"They are thinning." Thane told them into the com.

Thinning? There was still probably over twenty enemies.

"Keep it up, love," she told him and looked over the layout of the enemies. "Alright, Kolyat, time to earn your stripes." she said and he looked at her funny. "Human expression. I need you to work your way around the back of the battle and take out those rachni while I distract them. Thane doesn't have a clear shot."

He nodded and gripped his gun tight.

"Loosen your grip," she told him. "You will drop the gun if you grip it too tightly."

He nodded and tried to relax a bit.

"Get ready." she told him and brought out her plasma shotgun. "One…" she counted the blasts from the rachni "Two…" the second fire shook the rock they were behind. "Three…" after the third shot she left the cover and started shooting at the rachni, drawing their full attention.

Kolyat scurried to his feet and started making his way around the edge of the battle. He kept glancing nervously at Kat, who was dodging out of the way of blasts, shots, and hands. Several clipped her, wearing down her shields. He had to hurry.

It seemed to take forever for him to reach the back of the rachni, but he made it. Kat's shields were down, but her armor was taking away most of the damage from the shots. He shot down the first rachni and it died with a cry of pain. He fumbled with the thermal clip to reload just long enough that the second rachni to turn around to him. He shook and looked at his father, who was busy trying to cover Shepard from the enemies trying to get through her armor, and Shepard was busy too. No one was there to save his this time. He gulped as the clip clicked into place. He turned back to the rachni and unloaded the clip into it. It screeched as its stomach was shot open and acid and swarmers poured out. He shot down at the ground at his feet, killing them before they could reach him, and backed away from the acid puddle forming. He had done it. He killed them. His father and Shepard killed off the remaining monsters and joined him.

"He is defiantly your son, Krios." Shepard said and leaned into her boyfriend.

Thane smiled and wrapped his arm around her waist. "Indeed, you are right, he has potential… but please don't send him out like that again." he agreed and she gave a short laugh.

"Come on, this cave isn't going to explore itself." she said and they started down the path again. She tossed Kolyat the fire gun, a reward for doing so well.

He smiled and held it ready. He wanted to make them proud.

The reaper spawn just kept pouring out of the darkness, not in as much mass as the last time, but it was starting to wear them down. Kat had removed her helmet from the heat and had started vomiting. Thane hovered over her worried as she emptied her stomach of bile and the rations from last night.

"I'm fine…" she tried to tell him, but her skin was clammy and her eyelids heavy. 'Yep… morning sickness sucks.' she thought bitterly and accepted when he offered to carry her.

"Grunt, Shepard is ill, we need to finish this up soon." he said over the com.

"Ha, Shepard would never fall prey to a mere cold, she is a krogan battlemaster." he said back, sounding slightly winded. They were probably in the middle of a fight.

"Thane… I'll be fine, I'm just a little queasy, those rations didn't agree with me is all." she told him and placed a kiss to his neck, causing a rumbling in his chest. "I'm already starting to feel better."

"You still look like shit," Kolyat muttered sourly.

"Not helping," she snapped at him and wormed her way out of Thane's arms. "I think I can walk now." she said and pulled out her avenger, the sniper would be too heavy for her right now.

Finally, after what seemed like hours, they came across the center chamber. After killing off the reaper spawn that guarded it they came upon a rachni queen that was chained up by reaper tech.

She told them her story through the dead krogan scouts strung up in webs all around her. How the reapers altered her and bred her, how her children couldn't hear, couldn't listen. She begged them to let her go, that she could have new children that would listen. Shepard felt bad for her, she really did.

"Shepard, we have to hurry, the rachni are overrunning us, we have to leave now!" Grunt shouted over the com.

Shepard looked up at the queen and then to the exit. "I'm sorry." she said before she turned to the exit. "Move," she ordered and the drell followed her out, leaving the queen to die in the cave. "I'm sorry…" she muttered when she heard the rachni let out a cry of despair. 'I can't risk them… not my family…' she thought as they ran.

They met up with Grunt and his company, but the rachni were right at their heels. "You guys go, I'll hold them off." Grunt said and pulled out his shotgun.

Shepard stopped and turned to look at him. "No, Grunt!" she cried and went to go back for him, but Thane's arm wrapped around her waist and dragged her out. "No, I can't… I won't lose another friend." she cried, Ashley, Mordin, and Thane's deaths replaying in her mind.

Thane managed to get her out of the cave and she turned away, tears in her eyes, but refusing to be shed, and started towards the Kodiak Steve had waiting for them. She was about to step in as she turned to look back at the cave entrance and saw Grunt stumbling out.

"Grunt," she breathed and before Thane could stop her she ran back to him and half supported, half dragged the large krogan onto the ship.

Once the door closed she set him down and looked down at her bloody friend. "You'll be fine, Grunt," she panted. "No one heals like you do, not even me." she smirked and leaned back against Thane.

Grunt let out a chuckle and looked around the very cramped Kodiak. His company alongside some of the best friends anybody could have, Shepard and her crew. He was one lucky son of a tank.

Once on the Normandy the krogan spread out in the cargo bay, not wanting to be so close together. Thane pestered Kat to go to the med-bay until she slammed the elevator door in his face. She knew what was wrong, but she couldn't tell him, not yet.

She entered her cabin and sat down at her terminal and decided to go through the unread messages she had been neglecting.

When the screen turned on it told her she had over fifty new messages. She signed and started sorting through them.

"Spam… spam… spam… thank you… spam… you're amazing… more spam… spam… letter from Thane…" she muttered drly, having gone through over half by this point. "Wait… what?" she muttered and opened the letter.

Siha,

I write this with a heavy hand, knowing you will read this letter when I am no longer able to share my thoughts. I am dying, Siha. Perhaps because of the differences between our species, I can hope that time will treat you with kindness and dim the hurt of my passing to faded recollections that a drell would forever remember with perfect clarity. Selfishly, however, I could not leave this world without leaving a piece of me behind that would never fade.

I once accepted my fate. Nothing remained but a shell destined to die. I only had to choose the when and how of my passing. I had refused to be confined to a bed, gasping horrible as my life beeped away to machinery I had no use for. I thought of my Irikah, broken, bloodied, and betrayed by my absence. Of Kolyat, small and afraid, bravely pushing at his eyes to stem the flow of tears I had entrusted him to cry… for both our sakes.

The expectation to move swiftly to my end vanished upon uniting with your cause. You awake me, Katida. My heart quickened its sluggish beat if only to remain at your side and protect you with everything that I am. I was content to simply watch, take the time left given and praise all I know for allowing me to walk my final days with hope and certainty that I am worthy of more than my cold isolation, solely because you believed.

I love you. If all else whispers back into the tide, know this for fact. By grace given me by the Goddess Arashu, I bid her divine protection to you, my warrior-angel, my Siha, to succeed in your destiny. To light your path through the coming darkness. To give you hope, when all seems lost.

I will await you across the sea.

Thane

She was in tears by the time she finished reading it. It was his final words to her… for when he died… This is why she loved the man. He was corny, sweet, loving, and an ass. How could he think that time would lessen the pain of losing him? He was everything to her. He was her lover, her soul mate, the glimmer of something worth saving in the galaxy. He had given her a family, had made her finally realize that the act she had been putting on for over a decade wasn't an act anymore, she really did care about those around her, about him. It wasn't self-interest, it wasn't survival, it was love and compassion, two things she had feared as an adolescent.

The worst part of it was that he had completely opened out to her, and she couldn't do the same. If she did there would be hell to pay, both from her and Thane. And if he knew… would he still love her? She had told Kolyat enough to gain his forgiven. As a child her father had raped her, what she left out was that was only the beginning, the start of how it all happened. How she—

Her thoughts were cut off as the door to her cabin opened and Thane stepped in. He looked down at her and saw her tears. "Siha," he said worried and wiped the wet streaks from her cheeks. "What's wrong?" he asked and her eyes went to her terminal. He followed her gaze and glanced over the letter. With a sigh he hugged her close, "That wasn't supposed to send." he muttered.

She smiled slightly and hugged him back, happy tears running down her cheeks again, undoing Thane's effort. "You are such a corny bastard… and I love that about you." she told him and they both shared a laugh.

He pulled back and looked at her, taking her face into his hands. She lifted a hand and traced the line going down his lips with her index finger. He wanted her, and she wanted him. The only thing stopping him from stripping her of her armor and taking her was the fact she needed to at least eat something.

He dropped her face and stood back up. "I shall go fetch us dinner and we can eat up here tonight." he told her and kissed her forehead.

"So long as I get desert." she said with a smirk as he left the room. Yep, she loved that man. He was the best guy in the universe.

She went back to going through the messages. "Spam… Spam…" she muttered and deleted the ads asking if she wanted to try a krogan steroid. Near the bottom there was a message from a Cecilia Gray. She stared at it for a long while before she opened it.

Katida,

We got your message. Yes we are fine, those ships don't seem to be landing near us, probably because of our small population.

I'm glad to hear that you are well. How is that boyfriend of yours, Thane? I want to meet him before it gets serious. It would only be fair if I got to meet him before he was my son-in-law. Can you at least send me a picture of him? I'm curious to know what he looks like. What color hair does he have? Eyes? How tall is he? Is he white?

Hope to hear from you soon,

Mom

She sighed. Her mother thought Thane was human. She hadn't told her that, it was just her mother assuming and her avoiding a fight about it. She bit her lip before she started to reply.

Mom,

It's good that you are okay, but they aren't ships, they are called reapers, they are alive.

Thane is good, we managed to rid him of his illness and has joined us back on the Normandy. I can't send you a picture of him, because your terminal is too old of a model to receive one from mine. We've been over this.

He doesn't have hair, his eyes are green, he is about 5'8, and please stop with the racist comments, who cares what his skin color is?

Kat

"EDI, where is Thane?" she asked the AI.

"Thane is currently in the mess retrieving yours and his dinner." she answered.

"Thanks, warn me when he gets in the elevator." she said and hit some buttons on her keyboard. The screen flickered for a moment.

"Of course, Shepard… I think your terminal just cut offline." EDI said, clearly confused that she couldn't fix the problem, or see out of any camera that would show her the terminal in question.

"Sorry, no one is allowed to see this, not even my ship." she said and started typing swiftly. She was being stupid. She shouldn't dig up the past, but she had to know if they were safe. She bit her lip as she searched for them. Back in the gang there had been two people who had been her friend, despite what an ass she was to them.

Name: William Stevens.

Date of birth: June 10th, 2153

Place of birth: Dallas, Texas, United States of America, Earth

Location: New York City, New York, United States of America, Earth

She read the information to make sure it was him before searching his last known whereabouts. She gripped her keyboard as she read it.

Last seen the day of the reaper attack at Mac's General Store on 48 J Street. Whereabouts unknown.

So he was dead then. She knew that New York had been hit, but she had hoped… She didn't know and she was too scared to look up Maggie.

Thankfully Thane entered and gave her reason not to. She shut off the terminal and stared at the black screen.

"Siha, are you okay?" he asked and set the plates down on her desk.

She sighed. "I'm fine… I just… found out that some old friends are missing." she muttered and laid her head down on the desk. "What am I saving, Thane?" she asked quietly.

He rubbed her back, "You are saving the future of millions, but you can't save them all… I know that hurts, but it's true." he said and kissed the side of her head.

She sighed and got up. "Come on, let's eat." she said and they moved to the couch. "By the way EDI, thanks for doing what I asked." Shepard said sarcastically.

"Anytime." EDI replied in a smug voice.

A/N: This chapter was brought to you by NeverEatRoses reminding you that roses have thorns and that would rip up your insides.

Seriously though she is a great author, go read her work and you do have her to thank for this chapter because I nearly scrapped it and started over.