A/N: Part two has been a little slow until this point, but prepare for a lot of action from hereon in. Thank you again for reading, I hope you enjoy and I'll see you again on Monday!
Earth to Bella - Incubus
"Alright Shepard, you won and I'm buying you your damn gun. Do we really need to do this?"
"Are you a man of your word?"
"Of course."
"Then damn straight you have to do it. That was our bet. Now get out there and wear your loss with pride."
Wrex grumbled, "You're lucky you're curing the genophage for us, Shepard, or I would have killed you a long time ago."
The normally proud krogan stepped out of the elevator, a sign attached to his armour that read in over sized letters: 'I was beaten at arm wrestling by Commander Shepard'. He had expected that he would quickly walk with her to the Spectre office, buy her the Black Widow, and exit with his tail between his legs. Shepard, however, had other plans: she had asked most of the crew to be waiting outside the elevator when Wrex stepped out, and they were currently all laughing at him.
"SHEPARD!" he roared, jogging away to wait by the office while Shepard doubled up in laughter on the elevator. "I'll get you back for this!"
"Wasn't the look on Wrex's face priceless?" Shepard asked as she laid the Black Widow on the table.
"It's permanently ingrained in my memory," Garrus said, running his talons along the beautiful lines of the rifle. "But damn I'm glad you won, just because it means I get to hold one of these. Ever since the Alliance announced them as an alternative to the Widow they've given me wet dreams." He picked it up, analyzing its weight and balance, and gazed down the scope, letting out a longing sigh.
"What if I told you that it was for you?"
The eye not gazing down the scope turned to gaze at her skeptically. "Then I'd tell you to lay off the red sand, no one just gives one of these away."
"I do, to the man I love more than anything."
"Stop messing with me, Shepard."
"I'm serious."
He slowly lowered the rifle to analyze her face, waiting for her to start laughing and tell him to stop being ridiculous because there is no way in hell she'd give away a Black Widow.
But she didn't laugh; she just continued to stare at him with the corners of her lips turned up slightly.
"You're serious?" he asked.
"I swear on my Mantis that I want you to have that Black Widow. We both know that you have a better shot than I do anyways, so you'll do more good with it in the field than I ever would."
His gaze fell to the rifle in his hands, his eyes and mouth wide with disbelief. "Is this an elaborate ruse, or a dream, or-"
She punched him hard in the arm. "Stop it, Garrus, just accept my gift."
"This is unbelievably kind of you."
"Consider it a thanks for your following me around, regardless of the insanity of our missions. And a thanks for being an incredible and supportive boyfriend."
He placed the rifle on the table as tenderly as if it was made of glass and pulled her into a bone-crushing hug. His voice was gruff with emotion when he said, "I'm the luckiest man in the galaxy."
"For the rifle or for me?"
"Both."
Shepard sighed, her eyes darting between James and Garrus. "We know what we have to do. We have to hit those maw hammers, and we're going to have a Reaper in the way."
"Wouldn't it be nice to have a teddy bear or some cookies in the way?" James asked.
"It's never that simple when Shepard is your commander," Garrus commented.
Shepard turned to face the Reaper in question, her expression morose. "I can't make you two do this. I'm going in alone. That bastard can knock me down but he can't keep me there."
"Are you joking, Shepard?" Garrus countered, loading his Black Widow. "We're going to be right down there with you whether you like it or not."
She whipped around to face him. "Why? Why put yourselves in danger?"
James piped in, "Because when the hell else will we see a giant Thresher Maw take out a Reaper?"
"Well, I was going to say because that's what a good boyfriend does, but that's also a perfectly valid reason."
"Ok, fine, go where you want to. But when your ass is part of a thresher maw's lunch, don't say I didn't warn you."
"Aye aye," James responded, jogging with Shepard and Garrus towards the strangest situation he would ever be in.
To say that Shepard was stressed would be an understatement. The salarian dalatrass's offer weighed heavily on her mind; her silence at Eve's inquiries weighed even heavier.
On one hand, could she allow the krogans to run rampant across the galaxy and reignite the rebellions? On the other, could she lie to those who placed the fate of their entire species on her shoulders?
The most important fact remained: she had to do what would be best for humanity, and for the entire galaxy.
She used all of her agility to avoid the arms of the Reaper as she danced closer to the hammers, her eyes constantly darting between her ground crew. The sight of the Reaper directly above her was incredibly daunting, but all three of them saved face. "Brutes incoming!" James shouted.
"Switch to your short range weapons!" she shouted, putting her Mantis in its shoulder holster while equipping her Tempest.
The first pair of brutes rounded the corner, and she immediately used warp and peppered at its shield with her SMG. She directed James to use Carnage and Garrus to use Concussive Shot, and while it was staggered both she and James threw in grenades. Both hit the massive target which keeled over.
It wasn't over yet; the second brute was weakened but still alive and two more were rounding the corner. Garrus used overload on the second brute and Zoey hit him with a series of head shots, the ground rumbling when its hulking mass fell. The three darted across the field to avoid both the other two brutes and the arms of the Reaper, picking away at them until they both fell.
"To the hammers, go, go!" She sprinted with all of her power to the first hammer, spun on her heel, and sprinted again to the second hammer. There was a brief respite of relief at her success.
"James, Garrus, go back to the shuttles, I'm going on to the shroud."
James nodded curtly and obeyed, but Garrus paused. "Sure you don't want me there, Shepard?"
"I have this, Garrus. Take care of James. Now go, I'll get Mordin and meet you on the shuttle." He nodded in affirmation and jogged in the direction of James.
Do what you have to, Shepard. For the galaxy.
"You knew, Shepard. You knew of the sabotage but you did nothing."
Shepard was trembling. Mordin was right, but his words still stung. "Listen to me, Mordin. I'll never be able to gain the salarian support by curing the genophage, and the dalatrass is right! I've fought dozens, maybe hundreds, of krogan in my lifetime and I know just how dangerous they can be. Be reasonable, Mordin."
He whipped around to face her. "You be reasonable, Shepard! Krogan deserve a second chance. Can't take that away from them."
"You re-engineered the genophage knowing that it's necessary!"
He pointed at her with a trembling hand. "I was wrong!"
The human and the salarian stared each other down, neither wanting to back down but both knowing that time was running short.
"I'm doing this, Shepard. With or without you."
Determination and fear were in his eyes as he looked up at the deteriorating Shroud. Seeing his bravery, her resolve weakened.
Stop him.
The voice roared into her head, unbidden and strong-willed. She didn't know whether it was the part of her desperate for galactic peace, or a part of her that knew she had to focus on the needs of the many over the needs of the few; but she knew she had to obey it.
Her arm shaking violently, she raised her pistol and aimed at her friend. "Don't do this, Mordin."
He ignored her protests and walked towards the elevator, determined to do what was right.
"Don't do this!"
STOP HIM.
A familiar crack resonated as Shepard's pistol fired and Mordin crumbled, gripping his stomach. He crawled the last few feet to the elevator and turned to face Shepard before it ascended. His eyes were filled with sadness; not for himself, but for Shepard.
She turned and ran from the Shroud, her body racked with dry sobs.