Wrex is my favorite, and I love his friendship with Shepard so that's why I'm writing this. Also I'm mostly on Ao3 now under the username Tigereyes45.

Wrex slowly rises from the spot among building debris that the blast had tossed him into. A wound in his arm aches. He'd clean it later. With one glance around the destroyed city, he could see all of the reaper forces were down. All except those still falling out of space through Earth's atmosphere. Most were reapers. Some were from their side of this war. None of them seemed to be landing anywhere too close so he takes his time collecting his thoughts.

How many of his men were still alive? Krogans are powerful, but there's no way their force is walking away from here without casualties. No one was. The real question is, who are the causalities? His eyes drift towards the wreckage of the citadel.

Shepard.

A part of him still believes that she's alive. That she managed to survive not just the final confrontation but the crash as well. If she was anywhere, she would be there. In the thick of it. Ahead of everyone, yet always thrown under the trampling of others first. At least she hadn't gone alone. Garrus left her in the middle of the battle, but he'd seen at least one other human make it to the portal. Who it was could've been anyone, but Wrex remembers how much Shepard hated being alone. It was one of her few weaknesses. Most of the others having to do with her small human body.

"Wrex!" He looks up to his name being called. There in the middle of the open field were a small group of krogan. About four or five of them. As soon as he looked over at them the group started moving again. Behind them trailed even more krogan. This wasn't even a third of the people from his ship. It could be that the others were still trying to find their way back. Might even be the case that they made their way towards the other krogan ships. Hope that damn thing still getting the better of him here. They're dead, but he hopes for them, for their futures. Just like he has been for all of the krogans since three years ago.

The men were as rowdy as they had been before the fight. As the group gathered around him they were quick to smack each other around. Playfully, after this fight none of the bad blood that existed between some of them mattered anymore. Even Jark and Urkam were getting along like old friends. Wrex starts to look around the battlefield again. Turians, humans, asari, salarians, they were all starting to rise. Realization takes it time to dawn upon all. Most of which were not as loud with their cheering as his men were. They didn't thrive off of victories like these the same way his people do.

Louder then all the cheering was the shouting of a lone krogan. Wrex head shoots up and looks to the west. There standing in front of a half destroyed tower, was Grunt. His silver armor was covered in blood of different shades. Red, blue, and some black. He must've been in trapped inside at some point. Using the stairs to force the indoctrinated to come at him in a line. Smart. Yet he wasn't celebrating. Not like the rest of their people. His shouting was boisterous, and clear. From clear across the field Wrex could hear the youngest krogan among them.

"Wrex it's Shepard! I can't reach her!" Grunt announces as he charges his way across the clearing between the building he'd been fighting in and the field where the krogan were starting to gather. He doesn't slow down so much as comes to a sudden stop. His barreling ends an foot away from Wrex. "She's not responding to anything. Open broadcasts, specific frequencies, not even her private comm."

"The blast probably fried her comms." He had no doubt she was at the source of it. Who else could it have been? Grunt looks away. His eyes hook onto the crashed Citadel in the distance. The same place Wrex wanted to go. Where Shepard was. It would have to wait. "Join the others." Grunt hesitates, still staring out towards where they last saw Shepard running.

Wrex doesn't push him. Pushing himself to focus already took more strength then he expected it too. Wrex climbs up onto the nearest crate. Thankfully it only creaked a little under his weight. Assuming it will hold, Wrex carries on. "Krogan to me!" The men immediately look up and start to form lines around the crate he stood on. All but one.

Grunt was surprisingly quiet. He has a fresh scar under his eye, along his cheek. It almost looks like the one Shepard used to have before her death. Maybe that's why he says nothing while carefully running his fingers across the large gash. There was also a burn on his hand, as if he had blocked an attack with his fist alone. Wrex sighs. A part of him wants to go and talk to the kid, but he knows better. Grunt wouldn't want to talk. Not right now. His thoughts were else were, and Wrex couldn't blame him. As he looks out at the litany of krogan standing before him, the survivors, he's searching for one face. A single human amongst the crowd. He could already see her. Standing near the back, just there to watch, offer him a smile, and congratulations on the war they won.

The war she no doubt delivered the final blow on. None of his men had even been able to get close to where she was heading. That strange beam of light. He heard Hackett calling out on every channel in a desperate attempt to reach her. Shepard's response from short, focused. She got up and continued on with her fight. Wrex knows that. Garrus came through from over the Normandy's communication soon after that. Voice desperate, pained, probably hurt if he was calling from the ship instead of the field.

Shepard hadn't responded then, and she's not now. He blinks and she's gone. Instead there's just him and around forty krogan standing at attention. They were undoubtedly experiencing the same thing as him. A rare feeling of calm after the fiercest fight of their lives. Unlike his speech before the fight this one would be simple. "We won!" Wrex announces lifting his shotgun into the air.

His men cheer. Their laughs erupt alongside the sound of gunshots, and butting heads. A lone tech departs from the crowd to talk to him. His face was grim for a man who just survived the greatest war in history. Grunt doesn't even bother to glare at the krogan as he limps past him towards Wrex. They would need to talk after this whether he wanted too or not.

"Urdnot Wrex!" Another krogan pushes his way out of the crowd. His green plates speckled with black splotches. "The ship is on the long range comm." Wrex recognizes him now. A young engineer. One that had insisted they take a manual long range communication hub with them through the fight. Just in case communications fell through. A smart plan. One Wrex admittedly thought was pointless before. None of them had expected a blast to range across the entire planet from the citadel. Most communication channels were down now.

"They say the ship isn't fully functional anymore."

There was always something. "That's going to be a problem." Earth wasn't the worse place he's ever been, but it wasn't somewhere he wanted to be stranded at either.

"Most of the ships are only operating some functions. Salarians believe it to be because of the blast. It destroyed the reapers, our tech is inspired by theirs, ergo tech built in the same way also doesn't work."

"Our ships aren't like salarians and asari. We don't use mass effect fields in the same way as theirs."

The tech nods in agreement. "Yes. If we start work right away we could work our systems around the problem areas faster then the other ships. The humans also have some older, technologically old ships that seem to be unaffected by the explosion."

"So right now we could be flying before the other species?"

"Yes."

"Hmm," this was a chance for the krogan. The first choice of many that would take place after the war.

"Divide yourselves up. Technicians work on the ship. Everyone else help move the rubble aside and gather survivors. The humans won't be strong enough to do it alone. The asari and salarians won't be much help with lugging this junk around either." He kicks a broken wall. The rest of it comes crashing down beside him. "When the ship and the shuttle are up and running again, start searching for stranded ships around Earth. They're going to have as much trouble getting their ships running again as any of us down here."

"I'm leaving." At least Grunt had the decency to wait for the others to leave before challenging his orders. So hard headed that it's no surprise how he got along so famously with Shepard.

"Where do you think you're going? I told you all non-engineers get to helping survivors." Wrex grabs his arm. Grunt smacks his hand away. Gritting his teeth Wrex holds Grunt's gaze. Barely able to hold back his anger, he narrows his eyes. The damn kid better have a good reason for disobeying his orders. He suspects that he already knows the reason why he's leaving.

"Shepard." The younger krogan was once again staring off at the Citadel's wreckage. Grunt had come a long way from when he first visited Tuchunka and joined clan Urdnot. It was easy to forget how he'd only been living for a few days before then. A month at most according to what Shepard said. The young were always rushing off. Alone. Foolishly. Nothing would stop the kid now. That determination mixing with his blood rage. Shepard still hadn't responded and now he was pissed. Wrex could practically hear his thoughts. 'What if the reapers had taken her?' 'Where is she?' 'My krantt would not die so easily.' His declarations of finding Shepard don't come from a belief that he's certain of her survival. No he practically acting like a pyjack who has seen something shiny and screeches about, having no other way to ask. It was so easy to read him because Wrex knows how it feels. His own emotions were high. It made his whole body ache, not from the fight, but from the way they made his body still feel tense.

"Then let's go."

His head snaps back. That caught Grunt's attention. "What?"

"We're going to go find Shepard. She's probably asleep over there. The human body can sleep anywhere. Hers definitely does." Wrex frowns at the memory of many cat naps had in the mako when she became too tired to really drive. Her skills with steering were bad enough. A tired Shepard was three times as bad. Dropping his shotgun back in his holster, Wrex sighs. He takes this brief moment to prepare his sore body for the run.

"We?"

Rolling his eyes, Wrex stretches his arms. "Yes we." He glances back over just in time to see Grunt's knowing smirk. As if he knew this would happen. Damn he could be a pain in the ass when he wanted to be. Still at least there were going to be two of them searching for Shepard now. Two krogans, yeah they were definitely going to find her.

"She's alive, I know she is. My krantt would not lose her life to the reapers just as she was finishing the fight." Grunt was so sure, and Wrex knew he should admonish such hope, but he felt it too. This kid. The pair start their run. Internally Wrex couldn't help but give a silent command. 'We'll be there soon Shepard. Just hang on."

It was a long run before they finally made it to the ruins of the citadel. When they arrive it was clear that the lower levels of the Citadel were crushed. They pile on top of one another, in large discarded piles of destruction and rubble. "Watch where you step." Wrex warns. Growing up on Tuchunka taught him what stable rubble piles looked like compared to unstable ones. Not a skill most would find useful, but it helped him keep his feet from sinking below the trash.

There's a muted yelp as Grunt tries to fight back against his natural reaction. His leg sinks down into the trash below them. The kid was a strong-willed warrior, but he could do with a bit more carefulness. Wrex grabs the back of his hump. With ease, he pulls Grunt back up and sets him on a large, stable chunk of what was once a shuttle.

"What did I just say?"

"It's taking too long."

"Shepard could be anywhere here. Even under some of this. We have to be thorough." Grunt kicks a broken gun away. It clangs against a metal hood in the distance, before snapping in half.

The next few hours were the two of them combing through the Citadel. Eventually, Wrex found Shepard's old apartment. Only the upper floor remained, partially intact. The bed was broken in half, and the stairs only had the top two steps still loosely attached to the floor. The floor itself was busted inward sinking into the second floor below it. He peers down the crack to see the fractured piano at the bottom. At least they were able to have a few good moments here.

He remembers Shepard standing in the living room, listening to Grunt and him calling her name. She causally lolls her head back and forth, enjoying that small competition of theirs. It was the most he'd ever said her name. It was also the only time he'd ever seen her relax. Looking away, Wrex hops down towards a metal slab below the apartment. Grunt was searching through the lower levels. He could barely get through most of the place. Eventually, kicking at a torn painting, he shouts. Unlike Grunt, Wrex felt surprisingly calm. Either she was here, or she was dead. Two possibilities. Two absolutes. It was refreshing after years of possibilities, most not good. At least now it was a 50/50.

They search for a few more hours, before finally coming across a body that was burnt, half crushed, or torn apart.

Grunt was the one to find it. "We've got a body over here!" He shouted, gesturing towards Anderson absent-mindedly. "Not Shepard." He declared dismissively. Before him was a man he did not know, but one Wrex remembers clearly. Anderson was a man keen to do what he thought was right. In his eyes supporting Shepard was always the correct thing to do. No matter what course of action she decided upon.

Wrex kneels down next to Captain Anderson. His face was older now. Worn, and tired. His head was cold and stiff as it hangs over his lap. An old alliance military hat sits in his lap. At least she hadn't been alone at the end of her journey. The same man who he knew started this journey with her, ended it too. Asari would call that poetic. When it's actually just sad. He had stepped down so Shepard could accomplish her goals. Anderson, he refused to allow his own mistakes to color Shepard's chances in this life. At stopping Saren and the reapers. His own father had never even done as much.

"She's up there." Grunt announces jumping up towards the elevated platform. His small legs struggle to get him high enough. "I," he leaps again this time his fingers catching on the rim. "I can smell her. My krantt is up there!"

If only his nose was as sharp as Grunt's. Then he would've noticed sooner instead of lamenting over a dead human. Anderson's hat had fallen into his lap. Dusting it off, Wrex places it back on his head. Turning away he watches as Grunt jumps up towards the next floor. He climbs up a pile of rubble, from one of the collapsed walls. Taking a deep breath he leaps up towards the elevated platform. His upper body crashes against the side of it as Grunt falls back down. The platform shakes under their weight. Wrex struggles to get a good enough grip over the top of it to pull himself up. As he wills himself not to fall, he notices Shepard's N7 helmet resting in the middle of the platform.

It had to be hers. There was only one Commander Shepard, and her helmet had been customized to her taste. The purple plaint, decorated with blue lining and red splotches, meant to represent spilt blood. Even from two feet away, as he fights back against gravity, he can see the small initials carved into the side. Team Normandy WU, GV, KA, AW, LT, and TZN. Their initials. Their team. Anger fills him.

Shepard was the one who helped him fulfill his promise to his grandfather. She was the one who risked everything just to help her crew. Her ignorance hadn't stopped her. Asking questions, learning history, she saw the injustice the krogan had faced. Saw the joke they had been turned into. A blind rage at everything that should have been. His people were going to survive this. They were going to thrive, and he wanted his sister to be there. Thoughts flash through his head. Images of moments that'll never be if they don't find her here. Everything that could be. Using his newfound surge of strength Wrex pulls himself the rest of the way up. His body falls forward, next to her helmet.

Grunt picks up her helmet. Sniffing it gingerly he frowns. They share a look and Wrex knows they were wondering the same thing. Was that what he was smelling? With some effort he pushes himself back up. Grunt swipes the helmet before Wrex could think to grab it. The pair of krogan look up and stare at the next floor. It was twice their height. A difficult jump, but not impossible.

"Grunt, come here." He waves the younger krogan over.

"What is it?"

"Hold still." Grabbing Grunt's left arm and leg, Wrex heaves the other Urdnot up. Utilizing the momentum built up by Grunt's weight and size, Wrex spins faster, until he knows they couldn't speed up anymore. Letting go, Wrex stumbles back. He brings his legs up to his chest as he watches Grunt go flying. A loud oomph escapes Grunt as he slides across the top of the next floor. There's a screeching sound of metal against armor. He holds his head until finally, it stopped. Moments later Grunt's face appears. His eyes are wide, and there's a new scratch across the front of his armor. Frowning he glares down at Wrex.

"What was that?" His lips peel back revealing his teeth. He'd get over it. Not like that did any worse damage then the fight against the reapers had.

"It got you up there didn't it?"

"You could have-"

"Stop complaining and find a way to get me up there." Grunt's head pulls back. Disappearing beyond the floor he can hear loud steps echoing across the floor above him.

Her body wasn't mangled. That was the first thing he noticed. At least it was a good note. There was plenty of cuts, bruises, and burns, but she was still in one piece. A good sign. Wrex drops down next to her. Carefully he rolls her body over. Next, he checks all of her vital signs. Well the ones he assumed were vital. Chakwas always checked their head for fevers and human's wrists for pulses. He places the palm of his hand against Shepard's head. It didn't feel warm like a krogan's but it also wasn't cold like a turian's. That's probably what it's supposed to be. Placing his two fingers against the underside of her wrist Wrex tries to hone in on a pulse. Any sign of her human heart still at work. However faint it might be.

"She died fighting."

"She's alive you idiot, and she survived saving us all." Wrex moves his fingers off her wrist. There was a heartbeat. She was alive. Grunt was right to insist on them coming here. "Never a dull moment for you, is there Shepard?"

Grunt sniffs at the air. "It smells of death here." Wrex sighs as he moves his arms under Shepard. Grunt watches him pensively. "I'll carry her."

Wrex trusted Grunt with a lot, but he's unsure if the younger krogan had the ability to be careful. Human bodies were delicate in normal circumstances. Shepard's sturdier than most but right now she's critically injured. Even parts of her face looked to be slipping down off her skull. He may not know much about humans, but he knows they aren't supposed to do that. Faint black marks can be seen under the bits of cut flesh. Was that from what Cerberus had done to her? Maybe it was some sort of last-ditch effort to stop her by the reapers.

"I've got her. Keep your gun out. We still don't know who's nearby."

"The dead."

Wrex rolls his eyes as he stands. Never had he seen the citadel so destroyed before. Yeah, it was a little wrecked after Sovereign, but never like this. There was never this much. Even when the Rachni attacked they were beaten back. The citadel saw little of the actual action. This time the attack had been relentless. Yet it was all of them aiming to invade it. When he was a child he imagined storming the Citadel. It was a daydream that many of the krogan entertained. After so much had been done to his people of course they enjoyed the thought of seeing the Citadel burn a little. Just not like this. Never like this.

It takes twice as long for them to leave as it had for them to get there. Wrex had to repeatedly stop and readjust Shepard in his arms so he could jump, climb, and run while keeping her damaged body safe within his hold. More than once Grunt growled about the way he was holding her. He wasn't keeping her head up enough, or was he trying to crush her? It took a lot of self-control to ignore them. It was as if the kid thought he was trying to hurt Shepard. She clearly had taken enough of a beating. She definitely didn't need his help in getting hurt. Was there anything he could do that would hurt her more than she already had been? A grim feeling fills the pit of his stomach. As he looks her over he knows she was just short of death. They needed doctors, and they needed them fast.

It was around an hour before they finally made it out of the wreckage and halfway back to their ship. Wrex sends Grunt out to gather some doctors. Anyone with enough medical knowledge of human bodies that could help her. After giving the order Wrex turned on his heels and continued to carry Shepard towards his ship. Thankfully there were more injured survivors there from other species than krogan at the moment. That would keep his men busy, distracted. Whoever wasn't there was out, doing as he told. As soon as this ship was operational again they would be helping even more people. Just like Shepard would have done. Careful not to draw attention to himself, he uses the crowd of injured to hide Commander Shepard's body in this arms.

Somehow he succeeded. The survivors were too terrified to ask him about the wounded soldier in his arms. They assumed it was just another person the krogans were aiding due to his orders. The krogan who saw him immediately returned to their tasks out of fear that he would be angry. No one made Shepard's presence a big deal. Part of him was thankful for that. It made his job easier. If the krogan saw Shepard in such a weak state they would lose respect for her. It would be difficult for him to deal with both his people and Shepard's health. Yet it would be even more difficult if his people were to find out just how injured she was. A simple look and many of them would call her weak and discard the idea of saving her. Just as Grunt had seen her and assumed she was dead. He couldn't allow that. Even if it met beating back his pride. If she was in better shape he would declare her being found to all of them. It would be yet another victory the krogan had brought about today.

He can't. Now was the time for being smart, even if she deserved all the praise for this victory. The people couldn't see her like this. As he makes his way up to his private room, Wrex ponders his next steps. Once they had doctors they would need space to work in. Places to sleep. He'd also have to make sure that they wouldn't open their damn mouths. Shepard would need the krogan's respects if she was going to be allowed to heal on Tuchunka. The alliance also can't find out. Elevator doors hiss open, interrupting his thoughts.

Wrex adjusts Shepard in his arms. Her body was warm but barely compared to his own. His hopes that that was normal were slowly losing out. The few times he had held her in the past her body was always cooler than his own, but was it ever this cold? Nervously he checks her pulse again. Still there. Fading, but there.

Wrex moves most of Shepard's body into the crook of one of his arms. It takes time to put in the codes to unlock his door with just one, but he manages. Wrex was a soldier. No simple door could stop him for that long. It would have happened faster if he hadn't kept glancing back down at Shepard. For once in her life, she looked at peace. That expressionless look on her face was one he'd often seen on the dead. It had come to be a look of acceptance. When you know you're on death's door and there's no one around that you need to smile for you just let go. He's seen it a hundred times. Never has he hated that look so much.

'You aren't dead yet. Soldiers like us, we can't rest yet." It may be selfish but he doesn't care. Shepard had to live. She needed to keep fighting. Rest is only for the dead and it's not her time. Not yet.

When the door finally opens, Wrex stomps through the room. It was simple. Just enough space for a bed, and a shelf for his armor. He hadn't needed much in the way of comfort. He needed even less on the Normandy but this was his ship. He allowed himself to be a little greedy with the space. Now it was smart. Shepard could stay here. She could heal out of sight of the others, and by the time they made it back to Tuchunka, no one had to know. As long as the alliance doesn't find out, Shepard will be fine. They locked her up like fools before. Now half of their technology wasn't correctly functioning because of her actions. She saved the world, but Wrex holds no doubts that she would be blamed for all the inconveniences that would follow people after. He wasn't going to force her to face that again. No one will stop Shepard from doing whatever it is that she wants to do next. He'd make sure of it. Even if the krogan would have to go to war with everyone else just to protect her. It's not what he wants for them, but he knows the others will follow his lead. Some of them were already itching for the next fight.

Wrex lays her on top of the bed. He grabs an extra blanket Eve had packed for him in case Earth was too cold. Now he unfurls it on top of Shepard. It might help her retain heat. It might keep her alive, it might not. He had no idea what to do. So everything was worth a try. He grabs his helmet off of the shelf. Tenderly as he can, he lifts Shepard's head up with a hand carefully wrapped under it. If he sets the helmet up right under her head it might be uncomfortable. Humans seemed easily agitated when it came to how they sat with those soft fleshy bodies. He rotates the helmet so he could set Shepard's head in the open in. It was some sort of cushioning for her. Even if the helmet was too big for her head. Better than nothing.

Wrex moves away from her head and grabs his other blanket from off the floor. He throws it on her as well. The dried-out pyjack leather blanket wasn't as warm as the thick one eve had gotten him from an off-world merchant but maybe both would be enough to help her. His omnitool still wasn't working. So medi-gel was out of the question. Would it even help beyond her basic cuts and scrapes right now?

He hates this. Wrex has always hated being worried. It felt weak to accept there was a limit to what he can do, but a wise person admits when they're out of their depths. So he sits down on the floor next to the bed. He sits and watches the door. Waiting patiently for the doctors and Grunt to arrive.

Thoughts drifting off he wonders if Hackett was even still alive. Were any of the other leaders alive? He can't outright deny them, Shepard. If they are suspicious but have no proof he can just deny having any knowledge over her. That might be his best choice if he wishes to avoid an intergalactic incident so soon again. He'd take it to a fight if he needed to, but when Shepard wakes up it would be pointless. If her eyes opened up and saw the krogan fighting the humans over her, she'd just turn herself in. She'd let the galaxy blame all of this on her, and wouldn't even frown. Never was that incessant smile of her more annoying than when she was taking the fall for others. No, he needed to figure out how to keep her safe, without causing further problems.

That was the only way to ensure that no one fucks with Commander Shepard.