A/N: Here's the second chapter I had ready. First week of work was stressful as fuck, given the results of the US election and now suddenly being a commuter, so very little writing happened. But I'm hoping as I get used to working full time again and to being in the car 2+ hours a day, it'll come back to me. I did do some this weekend, though, so there's that. The will and inspiration is not gone, it's just taking a temporary break while I learn to manage my energy allotment for the day again.

Anyway, without further ado, here's Sam's next portion of this story.

Samantha

"I'm sorry, Dalatross, but the commander-"

{Why am I speaking to a subordinate? I must speak with Commander Shepard!}

"They are in a meeting that I cannot interrupt."

{This is urgent, human. Get her now.}

Samantha Traynor was tired of this. She'd been going back and forth with this woman for several minutes. The salarian dalatross seemed to think that Sam could simply interrupt a War Room meeting anytime she wanted. And that was most definitely not the case.

But she was very tired of dealing with this woman.

"Right you are, ma'am, my apologies. Just wait a moment while I transfer your communication."

She placed the woman on hold before the salarian could even respond. That felt too bloody good, Sam thought.

"Commander? Are you free in there yet?"

{You have perfect timing, Traynor. We just finished.}

"Oh, good, because I have the salarian dalatross trying to get a hold of you and she won't leave me alone."

{What did she do?}

"Essentially called me the help and demanded I route you to her. I… might have put her on hold before she acknowledged that's what I would be doing…"

Shepard snickered before answering. {All right. Route it in here, and I'll take it. I imagine this will be confidential.}

"I imagine so, ma'am." Sam entered the correct sequence, and then the call was gone. "She's ready for you."

{Thanks. Shepard out.}

Sam took a deep breath and plunged into the maintenance of communications between the krogan, turians, and Alliance forces. This was not going to be easy…

"Dammit I lost them!"

Sam looked up to see Halanz panicking.

"What do you mean?" she asked her subordinate.

"She went underground, and I can't find her again!" Halanz shouted, scrolling swiftly through the code from the last few minutes of communication. "I have everyone else, but not Shepard! We should be able to cut through dirt! I don't understand!"

"Here, take over with this," Sam said, ushering Halanz over to her own terminal. "Keep everyone talking. I'll find Shepard."

Sam ran up to the galaxy map, currently showing the giant Reaper parked at the Shroud facility. Manually manipulating the image, she zoomed in. Then she pulled up the holographic interface Shepard usually used to plot a course.

"Where did she disappear, Halanz?" she called over her shoulder.

"See where the road's fucked up right there?" Halanz said, and Sam looked. Yes. The road was in ruins. Searching, she found the tunnel Shepard would have used to escape the turian gunship that had lost control.

Sam couldn't penetrate (oh, hell, really Sammy?) inside the tunnel, however. Bloody hell. What do I do? She's blind down there. I'm blind up here. We've lost communication with each other. Shit shit shit. What do I…

Sam began typing at a furious pace. "EDI?"

"Yes, Specialist Traynor?"

"What's the ID tag for Shepard's new omnitool?" Sam had it on her own omnitool, but she didn't have the time to open it and find it.

An ID tag popped up on her display. Taking it and inserting it into a line of code, Sam hacked directly into Shepard's omnitool.

"Commander Shepard?" she tried.

{Sam! Thank God. I've got you! Where… where the fuck are you talking to me from, Sam?}

"I hacked your omnitool. We can work later on your security. For now, it's a good thing."

{Agreed. If we can't talk through my helmet's radio, I'm guessing you also can't see, right?}

"Right. I can't penetrate the surface of the planet. We're also having trouble keeping comms between all three forces. This link should be rock-solid, though."

{I hope so.}

"I can't give you directions like normal, however. And I can't see through your helmet camera. But I can tell you if Urdnot Wrex or Primarch Victus says anything important."

{Gotcha.}

"Are… are you alone down there, ma'am?"

{Yup. And it's creepy as fuck. I highly do not recommend it. So far I've got statues of krogan and a shit-ton of rubble. I keep feeling these tremors. Fucking ominous. Lot of cave-ins down here. Fuck. This is gonna take hours to get through without a map…}

"Commander, I have an idea on that, actually," Sam said. Her typing had ceased, and instead she was listening with one ear to the comm line Shepard had dropped from. Mostly, it was a whole lot of swearing on James's part that they'd been separated from Shepard.

{I'm all ears, Traynor.}

"Your new armor is equipped with three drones. I was part of the team that developed it in R&D before I was assigned to the Normandy's retrofits. Have you used them yet?"

{No. I haven't needed to yet. But damn, Traynor, this is some damn impressive tech. It reminds me of something Liara used to use as an archaeologist.}

"I believe it was an asari researcher who was working with my boss, so that makes sense," Sam said. "Anyway, the point is, I believe I can use the drone's camera to see. It connects directly to your omnitool, and I'm connected directly to your omnitool, so…"

{Right. I see. Gimme a sec, and I'll have one of these things deployed.}

A few moments went by, and then a new device connected with Shepard's omnitool. Sam immediately began taking control of it. Another few moments, and she had it.

"All right, Commander," Sam said. "I think I have the hang of the controls now, too. I'll pilot this thing around and do some scans, make a map for you, and maybe we can get you out of there faster."

{Smart as a whip, you are,} Shepard said, causing Samantha to blush. {Hey, do me a favor and let Wrex and the others know I'm okay and that we're working on a way out, all right?}

"Roger, ma'am. Shall they continue on without you?"

{I need someone to pick me up. But Wrex is in charge. If he thinks he has to go on while I work on getting out, then so be it.}

Wrex in charge of everything was more than a bit scary to Sam, but she relayed the message to Halanz, who informed the team still inside Wrex's truck.

"All right. So. If I can just…" The light flicked on, and suddenly everything was bathed in the drone's 360-degree lighting. (Technically it was "square degrees," as degrees were only two-dimensional, but nobody bothered to say that when labeling tech. Everyone knew that, practically speaking, everything was 3D and worked accordingly.)

{Wow. That thing's got some juice,} Shepard said after a whistle.

Sam piloted the drone around to look at Shepard. She seemed so different. So short. Right. Because Shepard is taller than me, but this drone is above her. Sam observed her for another moment or two. Her armor was still painted to match the Tuchankan wasteland. But it was slimmer and lighter than Ashley and James's armor, meant for stealth over brute power. I rather like Ashley's brute power…

Sammy! Really! Not the time!

Sam just grinned at her own internal reproach, turned the drone, and zoomed away.

Lucky I'm so good at 3D Pac-Man, she thought to herself, zooming through the tunnels ahead of her far more quickly than Shepard would be able to safely explore on her feet. She took scans, forming a map for Shepard to use to get herself out.

{How's it coming, Traynor?} Shepard asked after a minute or two of silence.

"Oh. Sorry, Commander. I forgot to keep talking."

{Heh, it's all right. I can hear you murmuring to yourself, though, so I thought I'd get you talking for real.}

Shit. Of course I was bloody talking to myself. "Um… thanks, ma'am. I'm compiling a map for you."

{Shit, another tremor. What the fuck is causing this?}

"I don't know, ma'am, but I'm going as fast as I can to get you out."

{What have we got so far? Any luck?}

"Lots of dead-ends, but it looks like…"

{What?}

Sam stared at the wall in front of the drone, no longer piloting it anywhere. "You… want to see this, Commander. It's… artwork."

{What? Krogan artwork?}

"Cave paintings, only… a bit more sophisticated than the old caves in France. Very precise. I don't think it's as ancient as cavemen. Cave-krogan? Anyway, I'm sending the location to your omnitool. I'll keep going until I find an exit."

{Rog,} Shepard said, and then Sam could hear the gentle sounds of the commander beginning to move again. Several tremors sounded, causing Shepard to stumble and swear, but she made it to the cave paintings after just a few minutes of hoofing it.

{Wow,} she said. {Would you look at this? Liara would have a fucking field day with this.}

"That's right, you said she was an archeaologist. But now she's an information broker. How did that happen?" Sam asked, then immediately wished she hadn't. Why? Why would I ask such a personal question? Tape your mouth shut, Sammy, so you stop shoving your foot in there!

{It's… a long story. Involving the Shadow Broker and my dead body and the Collectors and… yeah.}

"The Collectors? Wow… I feel bad for anyone who had to deal with them. Nasty buggers, those."

{You ran into Collectors?}

Sam frowned. Dammit, Sammy. What did I say about tape and your mouth? "I'll… tell you later. I found a way out. But it's… well, there's something there. I'm not sure what to make of it, other than that it's big, covered in Reaper tech, and quite obviously dead." And disgusting, Sam added silently. She did not linger over the corpse.

{Send me the maps and I'll make my way. In the meantime, I want you to try something. Send the drone out and see if you can use it to boost my comm signal, will you?}

"Yes, ma'am. I won't be able to raise your normal comms, but I can get your omnitool's signal to someone. Who do you want me to connect you with?"

{Wrex,} Shepard said immediately.

"Right you are, Commander. And… connected."

{Shepard! You still underground?}

{Yeah, Wrex. I wanted to know about this painting of a giant thresher maw I found. I have a bad feeling that it and these tremors I've been feeling are linked.}

Sam listened as terror incarnate was described over the comms: Kalros. Never a dull moment on Shepard's crew, she thought as she continued scanning the terrain with the drone.

Sam was still looking at the giant GUI-map of the area around Shepard, directing the commander and Wrex's caravan simultaneously. She now knew Kalros was real, and was privy to the conversation going on as Wrex led the monster on a merry chase to give Shepard time to make it to them.

Meanwhile, Shepard was fighting her way through Reaper ground forces on her own and somehow keeping her cool. I would have pissed myself a long time ago, was Sam's inner refrain.

Out loud, however, she said, "One of those rachni canon-things is around the corner, Commander!"

{Fuck. I'm out of thermal clips, and the only thing I've got left is my sniper. I can't snipe that thing. Unless…} Shepard's camera moved so it showed around the corner. At the same time, the commander's sniper rifle came up, the rachni creature down its sight. Its canon heated up; Sam could see it begin to glow a white-ish blue.

Shepard fired. Almost instantly, one of the canons mounted on the creature ruptured. An explosion ensued, taking out the creature and everything in its immediate vicinity.

Shepard whooped. {Anything left out there, Sam?}

"I… no. That took out the last of it, Commander." Bloody brilliant, that was.

{I wish I could see you gaping like a fish at how badass I am right now,} Shepard said, breathing hard as she began running for the outer wall of the ruins she was currently making her way through.

"That's not far-off from my actual reaction, Commander," Sam confessed. Though, to her credit, she was still working. "Wrex and his caravan are just fifty meters below you. There seems to be a way down, but only you can really know if it's something you can traverse."

{I got it. Don't worry.}

And then Shepard was descending a series of drops that no human should be able to manage, and it took a minute for Sam to attribute it to the fact that Shepard was a cyborg by every definition of the word and it made a bit more sense to her. Shepard wasn't entirely human…

Urdnot Wreav's truck was taken by Kalros just as Shepard made it to Wrex's truck. She ducked in as it began to move, in fact, and Sam nearly had a heart attack watching it happen through Shepard's helmet camera and on the giant map in front of her.

{What about Wreav?} Eve asked as the truck zoomed away.

{No way he survived that!} Wrex replied. {He was a pain in the ass anyway. Let's finish this! That Reaper's blood needs to soak Tuchanka's soil!}

Well, Sam thought. He certainly has a flair for the dramatic.

The thresher maw shot out of the ground, latched on to the Reaper, and – more quickly than should have been possible – wrapped its entire body around the giant machine. Then… it began to constrict.

It looks like Richard's snake he had before Mum made him give it away, Sam thought, watching as metal bent beneath the raw strength of the giant worm. The room erupted in applause, in cries of victory, in shouting and embraces and whoops of joy. To see something so organic, so raw and powerful, so primal and angry, take down a Reaper…

But Sam noticed that Shepard was not looking up at the Reaper. Instead, she was dodging rubble and running as fast as she could for the Shroud facility's entrance. Disappearing inside, many meters ahead of Shepard, was Mordin Solus.

The salarian scientist had been on the Normandy for several weeks now, but Sam hadn't run into him at all. She'd steered clear of the medbay, of Mordin and Eve, visiting with Doctor Chakwas in the crew quarters when she saw her, but otherwise not even seeing the doctor due to her avoidance of the medbay. They were so… big. And Sam was small. She wasn't even a commissioned officer. No reason for her to get involved in anything with any of these… bloody heroes. One hero was enough for her, thanks.

But as Communications Specialist, Sam was privy to everything Shepard did and said.

{Mordin, where are you going?!} Shepard shouted. Mordin was leaving the consoles along the wall and heading for the lift at the back of the room.

{Temperature malfunction, Shepard. Must correct manually. Up there.}

Shepard continued running through the room. {It's too dangerous! Do it remotely! This whole place is gonna blow!}

{Can't. No time. Must go.} He hit the call button.

Shepard came to a halt just a few feet from him. {Mordin… you'll die.}

There was a pause before the salarian responded. {Everybody dies, Shepard. I made a mistake. Only I can correct it.}

{Dalatross Linron wants me to stop you. She wants me to sabotage the cure.}

Holy shit, that's what the dalatross wanted?! Sam stared helplessly, unwilling to halt this conversation, but also having a hard time picturing Shepard even considering betraying Wrex. Not after everything she had seen Shepard do to support the man in his efforts.

Mordin stopped and turned to face Shepard. {Dalatross wants… but not you?}

An endless moment spanned before Sam as she watched Mordin watching Shepard. Finally, the camera shook from side to side. {It's too high a price to pay for Salarian support.}

Mordin nodded, a smile forming on his odd mouth. {You are a true friend of the krogan.}

{How can you say that? I actually considered that snake's offer.}

{But didn't take it. Weighed it. Considered what you would gain. Didn't focus too big. Can't focus too big. Big picture made of small pictures. Too many variables. Why I need to fix this mistake. Personal is important. Personal matters to all the mothers like Eve, forced to bury every child they labor for.} He stepped into the lift and hit the button to take him up. {Goodbye, friend.}

Then… he was gone. Shepard swore, turned, and ran for the door.

Meanwhile… Sam could still hear Mordin. Presumably, so could Shepard. He took a deep breath. And then, quietly… he began to sing.

{I am the very model of a scientist salarian…}

Sam gaped. Is that Gilbert and Sullivan?!

Explosions sounded. He coughed. But he kept going.

{I've studied species: Turian, Asari, and Batarian…}

Another small explosion sounded. Sam cut the line for everyone but her. She wouldn't expose everyone to his last breaths against their wills. But neither could she deny him someone sitting his deathwatch. He was about to die a hero. Someone needed to hear his last words. Even if it was just Petty Officer Samantha Traynor.

{Temperature now within acceptable range. Dispersal commencing.} Sam let her breath out at the robotic announcement. She hadn't even been aware she'd been holding it.

{I am the very model-}

Mordin Solus was cut off in a raucous explosion. On the galaxy map display, the Shroud burst outward in flames. Sam squeaked, wide-eyed and open-mouthed as she stared at the display. Until a sound caught her attention.

It was Shepard. She was… crying.

Sam cut the commander's feed to everyone else, and then she watched as Shepard removed her helmet and set it aside… facing herself. Sam was treated to possibly the worst thing she'd ever seen. Well, the second. The first was Ashley getting her neck broken.

But this… Shepard had crumpled to the ground, and her gloved hands were up, shielding her eyes as she sobbed privately, hidden, huddled down in some fresh rubble made by the Reaper. She was alone. She'd lost a friend. She'd saved the krogan people, but she'd lost another friend.

Sam cut the feed. Shepard's private moment didn't need Sam being a looky-loo.

Instead, she reached for her controls, singling out Liara's comm signal. It wasn't her place… but it was all she could do for Shepard, who needed to be allowed to be human from time to time. And who was swiftly becoming a friend of sorts.

"Doctor T'Soni?"

{Yes, Specialist Traynor?} the asari replied immediately.

"I'm transmitting Shepard's location to you. She… she needs you."

{Of course. I'll take Vega and-}

"I'm sorry, Doctor T'Soni, but she needs you. Dr. Solus… perished in order to ensure the cure was dispersed."

A pause, then, {I see. I shall… I shall spread the news, and go to her. I… thank you, Specialist.}

"Just looking out for a friend, ma'am," Sam said, then took her finger off the button before she could transmit anything more.

Tape over your mouth so you can't get your foot in there. That's the way to do it, Sammy.

Wiping an errant tear from the corner of her eye, Sam went to work writing her report. There would be a lot of cleanup work to do, coordinating everyone and helping the primarch with his communications… but they'd done it.

The genophage was no more.