Shepard and her crew wasted no time in heading for the dig-site once the Alliance compound had been cleared of geth. They found a stockpile of medi-gel in one of the gate houses, along with three dead Alliance soldiers. From the state of their decay, the geth's arrival had been fairly recent. Shepard would have liked to have seen them given a proper burial, but there wasn't time. She radioed to Joker to have him pick up the mako, and asked him to send word to Alliance command to send a recovery ship out as well, which he promised to do.

The dig-site was just up the hill from the compound, so once everyone's wounds had been tended and thermal clips reloaded, the six of them made their way up the steep slope toward the entrance to the Prothean ruins. It was marked by a small cylindrical opening in the side of a cliff, with a metal ramp leading up to it. The opening was only a little more than six feet in diameter, leading to a downward sloping tunnel that had been bored out of the hill with a drill.

Shepard took the first step into the tunnel, pressing her gloved hands against the red earth as she moved. The tunnel wall was sturdy enough and didn't seem at risk of collapsing, at least not at the moment. Thick cables ran along both sides, bolted into the wall, bringing electricity and extranet down to the ruins.

"Damn Alliance doesn't make anything with krogan in mind," Wrex grumbled from the back.

She turned back to look at him and realized he had to duck to fit in the space, adopting an awkward waddling gate as a result. Garrus' head was brushing the top of the tunnel, so he walked with his neck craned, though still with more comfort and ease than Wrex. It was no position for either of them to be stuck in if they found more geth inside. So far, though, Shepard's radar was reading clear.

"It looks like it opens up further down here," Shepard told them. "Just a little further."

"Humans should consider that they share the galaxy with several taller races," Garrus suggested.

"It does seem strange to leave so little room if there was a need for a mass escape," Kaidan said.

"There might be a larger opening somewhere else. This was all the map turned up for us from the drop point."

A few feet further and the tunnel opened into a larger cave, with ramps running in every direction and a long elevator shaft stretching above and below; it stretched up far past visibility. Along the wall opposite them, several hundred yards away, the Prothean ruins lay partially uncovered: white tiled walls with rounded chambers built into them, protected by some sort of mass effect field. The strange chambers could be seen on every level stretching the length of the elevator shaft.

"Sterile and white," Wrex muttered. "Protheans sure now how to make a place homey."

Shepard checked her radar once again. A red dot marked the presence of something moving ahead, directly where the chambers were, but it was impossible to tell on what level, beyond knowing it was close enough to pick up. It could be the geth, but it could also be Dr. T'Soni. Considering it only appeared to be one moving object, she was hoping for the latter.

"I've never seen Prothean ruins before," Garrus remarked, looking on at the structure in awe. "Besides the Citadel, I guess."

"What is it?" Ash asked.

"Probably was some sort of building," Kaidan ventured.

"There are all sorts of Prothean ruins on Therum," Tali said. "The Alliance stripped most of them for mining materials. I'd imagine the only reason they haven't completely destroyed this one is because of the asari's interest."

"How do you know all that?" Ash asked.

Tali shrugged, "I looked it up on the extranet."

Shepard laughed, "Why didn't we think of that? Come on, there's something up ahead. It might be Dr. T'Soni, or it might be the geth. Be prepared either way."

She led them down the path to the elevator shaft and pressed the button to call the elevator. It came sweeping down the shaft at alarming speed and flew open to allow them access. There were no walls, just safety barriers to protect from falling; it was a good thing Shepard wasn't afraid of heights.

It was difficult, especially with a krogan and a turian, but they managed to fit all six of the squad members onto the elevator. It creaked upward far slower than it had descended.

"There," Garrus pointed out the side of the elevator, up two floors.

An asari was suspended in the center of one of the chambers, held up by the mass effect field that protected the chamber. She looked distressed, and Shepard couldn't imagine that the asari was holding up all of those mass effect fields through her own powers, so the best guess was that she was trapped.

They stopped the elevator on the same level as the asari and hurried along the ramp toward the wall.

"Can you help me?" The asari called. Her voice reverberating within the mass effect field made it sound almost as though she had subharmonics.

As they drew closer, Shepard could see that the woman's face matched the pictures of Dr. T'Soni they had seen on the extranet. She had the round face of youth, purple freckles dotting her cheeks, her scalp crests speckled with pink markings. She was beautiful, but most asari were, and most any member of any species would have agreed.

"Are you Liara T'Soni?" Shepard asked.

"Yes," her voice was steady, but her eyes betrayed her anxiety. "Who are you? Can you help me get out of here?"

"Commander Rembley Shepard, Alliance navy. This is my crew. There'll be time for full introductions later. Are you trapped in there?"

"Yes. It's a Prothean barrier. Part of the tower's defenses. I activated them when I saw the geth, but something went wrong and it trapped me inside," Liara replied. "Did you see the geth too? I almost didn't believe my eyes…geth beyond the veil!"

"We took out quite a few coming in. Are there more inside?" Shepard asked.

"There were. They may be the ones you encountered. I don't know. I've been trapped in here for several hours. There was a krogan with them though…" Her eyes flitted to Wrex.

The krogan snorted. "Excuse me?"

"Wrex is with us. It must have been a different krogan, and that means they could still be in here somewhere."

"I can tell asari apart," Wrex snarled.

"I did not mean to offend…" Liara started.

"Shepard," Garrus spoke up. "As long as there isn't any immediate threat on the radar, it strikes me that Dr. T'Soni is in a position where she can't escape questioning. Now would be a good time to find out where her allegiance lies."

It had been Shepard's next plan of action, but she was glad Garrus was on the same page. Her radar was still clear for the moment, so wherever the other geth and the krogan were, they'd have warning before their arrival.

Shepard stepped closer to the barrier. There was no getting through it, to be sure, but there was no getting out of it either.

"My allegiance?" Liara was flabbergasted.

"We're here because your mother is working with a rogue Spectre named Saren. Answer carefully when you consider our questions. We can always just leave you there. Who knows how long the Prothean barrier will last?" Shepard shrugged.

"Probably a long time if it's still working after all these millennia," Garrus crossed his arms.

"I don't know anything about my mother or this Saren!" Liara cried. "I am Benezia's daughter, but I am not my mother. Now please get me out of here. If you do, I'll surrender all my weapons if it makes you happy, though I'd rather have them if the geth return."

"I think she's telling the truth," Garrus said.

Shepard did as well. It was a gut reaction, so she felt compelled to trust it. Liara's look of pure terror and distress was certainly real enough. It was as she'd suspected en route to Therum, apples could in fact often fall far from the tree. Still, if Liara was an expert on Prothean ruins, she could help them.

"All right, how do we get you out of here?" Shepard asked.

"That's the problem," Liara sighed. "The shut-off control is inside, and it can only be activated from the inside. You'll have to find away around the barrier."

"Spirits forbid any of this be easy," Garrus growled.

"What fun is that?" Wrex chuckled.

"I could see if I can deactivate it using my omni-tool," Tali brought up her hacking software, then sighed. "No, its encryption is too complex, and some of the script is in Prothean. It won't work. We'll have to find a way in from the other side maybe," she motioned to the side, where scaffolding led further into the cave. There was no promise that it would wrap around to the other side.

"Or there's that," Garrus said, pointing to a massive Alliance-issue mining laser on the ground level three floors down.

"That might work," Shepard agreed.

"Blast a hole in it, now that's krogan thinking," Wrex commended them.

"We'll be right back, Liara," Shepard assured the asari.

"It's not like I'm going anywhere," she sighed in response.

They headed back to the elevator shaft and down to the ground floor. The mining laser couldn't be activated without a key, which they didn't have, so Tali set to work hacking it while the others waited a safe distance away from the blast zone.

"Ever been with an asari, Garrus?" Wrex asked, leaning against a rock, cradling his gun against his chest.

"No," Garrus replied without flinching. "You?"

"Sure," Wrex shrugged.

"Poor girl."

"Ha ha, what a gas. You couldn't handle a krogan woman, turian."

"Nor would I want to."

Wrex snorted, "What about you Shepard? Ever had an 'interspecies liason' with an asari?"

"Excuse me?" Shepard raised an eyebrow.

"That's a yes," Wrex chuckled.

Shepard rolled her eyes, but her grin gave her away.

"Shepard," Garrus said, his subharmonics almost chirping. "We have so much to learn about you."

"Get a drink in her and she'll open up," Kaidan suggested. "Not saying I know from experience, all I'm saying is that at some point, a certain corporal spent the entire night listening to a certain sergeant talk about half of her relationship history while drunk."

Shepard knew he was going to bring that up. It had been one time and she'd never live it down.

"Good to know," Garrus nodded.

"If we get off this planet alive, maybe I'll buy you that drink I owe you," Shepard told him.

Garrus opened his mouth to respond, but the mining laser fired, and the explosion drowned out whatever he was going to say.

The group turned to find that a chunk of the ground had been blasted away, leading down into one of the wall chambers, no Prothean barrier in place to bar their entry.

"Good work, Tali. Let's go," Shepard jumped down into the pit created by the mining laser and the rest of the group ran to keep up with her.

Garrus was glad for the advantage of having longer legs than the rest of the squad. It allowed him to keep pace without running out of breath. Shepard was always in the lead, but he could manage a brisk walk right behind her and still outpace the rest of them.

He was the first to follow her down into the pit created by the mining laser. Tali was close behind them, then the humans, with Wrex bringing up the rear as usual. His bulky body and heavy armor slowing his pace.

The pit led through one of the wall chambers to the other side, opening into a circular room that shot up to a ceiling too far away for Garrus to see, even with his visor on. A large circular platform took up the middle of the room, surrounding a pillar that reached up along the length of the chamber. It was some sort of massive elevator.

Once the entire squad had made it onto the platform, they took it back up to where Liara was, approaching from behind her where no Prothean barrier was in place. She was still hanging there inside the mass effect field. Garrus imagined her limbs must ache if she had been suspended like that for hours.

"Liara, we're here. How do we turn off the field?" Shepard asked.

"How did you get past the barrier?" Liara tried to crane her neck to see them, but the effort was too much.

"Mining laser. Tali hacked it," Shepard shrugged. "Er, the quarian."

"Well, thank you then, Tali," Liara sounded relieved now. "There's a small button on the side of the wall to your left. Press it and it should deactivate the barrier."

Shepard did as she said and a moment later, the barrier shut off, sending Liara falling toward the ground. Without thought or hesitation, she stopped herself with a small boost of biotic power and stood up, brushing the dust from her suit.

"Thank you for helping me," she said, a hint of shy uncertainness in her voice as she faced the squad.

Garrus could admit she was beautiful. Most species thought asari were, after all. It was said they had aspects that each species could see reflected in their own desires: human breasts, scalp crests that mimicked a turian female's short fringe, skin of a color and texture that appealed to salarians. Of course, some argued that the asari, known for their ability to join minds with another being, were simply using mind control to appear so desirable. Garrus doubted the latter theory, mostly because as beautiful as he thought the asari were, he'd never felt so overcome with desire as to pursue one.

Shepard went about introducing everyone. Liara smiled and held her hands behind her back, spouting quick salutations to each of them. She was almost bookish, a trait Garrus had never seen in the asari he'd met on the Citadel. Species stereotypes, he supposed.

"We should leave before more geth arrive," Liara suggested.

"Agreed. Does this elevator lead out of the dig site?" Shepard asked, pointing back to the circular chamber.

"Yes, all the way at the top, it opens onto the north side of the site."

Shepard spoke into her omni-tool, "Joker, do you read?"

The other end was disrupted somewhat by static interference, but the pilot's voice came through eventually. "Roger that, commander. What's your status?"

"We're heading for the surface now. Can you rendezvous at the north side of the dig-site? Sending coordinates."

They waited a moment for Joker's reply. His voice cut in and out against the static, "I should be able to land her about four hundred yards from the opening. Heading into atmosphere now. Check in when you're at the surface."

Shepard herded the squad onto the elevator in the central chamber. Liara activated the device and set its ascent to the top of the shaft. The elevator's movement was laboriously slow compared to the rickety metal box they'd taken on the other side of the Prothean tower.

"This is quite the crew you have, commander Shepard," Liara noted.

"We just need a salarian now and we'll have a whole council," Shepard laughed.

"You said you were looking for a rogue Spectre. Saren. The name is familiar. What's your next plan of action?"

"There are a few options. Alliance intel says geth have been sighted on Noveria and Feros. Either could lead us to more information on Saren. If you'd be willing to help, we could use your expertise on the Protheans. We encountered one of their beacons on Eden Prime, and Saren said he was searching for something called the conduit."

"You saw a Prothean beacon? Was it functioning?" Liara's eyes lit up.

Garrus watched the conversation with interest. Liara was now looking at Shepard almost as if she were a specimen to study.

"Well, it was working," Shepard explained. "But then I touched it trying to protect the lieutenant and it imprinted some sort of vision in my brain."

"Incredible," Liara said, breathless. "When we return to your ship, we must discuss this more."

"If it will help," Shepard shrugged.

As they continued their ascent, the elevator stuttered and the walls began to shake. A few of the squad members fell down, unable to maintain their balance from the movement of the tower.

"The mining laser may have triggered a seismic event," Liara said. "The ruins haven't been stable from the beginning."

"I can try to speed up the elevator mechanism," Tali offered, opening her omni-tool.

"Good idea. The faster we can get out of here the better," Shepard said.

Tali at least succeeded in preventing the elevator from stuttering any further, but Garrus wasn't convinced it was going any faster. The tower shook a few more times and some loose stone tumbled from the ever-approaching ceiling.

"We better not die in here, Shepard, or I'll kill you," Wrex growled.

Mercifully, the elevator finally came to a halt at the top level, in front of another rounded out chamber in the tower wall. As they gathered themselves up to move out, however, Shepard stopped them.

"We've got incoming from the north exit," she said, staring at her radar.

"How many?" Kaidan asked.

"Five. One of them is big."

"Hopefully it's not another colossus. We can't handle that in here. There's not much cover." Garrus looked around the round central chamber. The pillar was the only source of cover, not much help.

"I don't know if it's that big, but they're coming fast. Be ready."

"I can help fight," Liara said.

"You and Kaidan work together," Shepard said. "Your biotics will be a huge asset."

Garrus moved across the platform, as far against the wall as he could get, and readied his sniper rifle. He would at least be able to make one kill before he had to switch to the assault rifle, so he was going to make it count.

The rest of the squad fanned out across the platform. Wrex and Ash took up position next to Shepard while Liara and Kaidan stood on opposite sides, a blue aura surrounding them, signaling that their biotic powers were ready to use. Tali moved back behind the cover of the pillar, a gun in one hand and her omni-tool ready to sabotage the geth hardware.

A few moments later, a krogan battlemaster came into view, stepping into the chamber flanked by three geth prime and a geth hunter. Garrus lined up his shot; the krogan couldn't be taken down, even with a headshot, their hides were so thick. His best bet was the geth hunter.

"We're here for the asari. Give her to us and we might let you go," the krogan said in a low grumble.

"Fat chance, pyjak," Wrex spat in response.

"Fine, it's more fun if you don't make it easy," the battlemaster cocked his gun.

Garrus didn't leave time for more conversation. He fired a shot into the geth hunter's chest, destroying its wiring and leaving it limp and useless on the ground. He holstered the gun on his back and immediately reached for his assault rifle, firing at the remaing geth that were now suspended in biotic mass effect fields.

Shepard, Wrex, and Ash were handling the krogan. He was strong, but it wasn't a fair fight. They had the geth swept out and the battlemaster on his back within ten minutes: much easier than the fight against the geth in the compound had been.

Liara and Kaidan lifted the krogan into the air using a combined field, and held him there while Shepard approached him.

"Did Saren send you?"

"Why should I tell you?" the battlemaster croaked.

He was on the verge of death, two bullets lodged in his neck and blood trickling and caking around a burn wound on his face: Tali's work with a quick overload of the krogan's gun. Even medi-gel wouldn't have helped the krogan then, and he knew it. Shepard wouldn't be getting any answers from him, he may as well have already died.

"Just leave him to die," Garrus said. "Who else would have sent him with geth? Let's get out of here before this whole cave collapses."

"He's right," Liara let her mass effect field drop and Kaidan followed suit. The krogan dropped to the ground, limp.

As if on cue, the tower shook again; the rocks that fell from the ceiling were larger this time.

"All right, go, all of you," Shepard ushered the squad forward.

For the first time, she didn't take the lead. Garrus realized immediately what she was doing. She was going to see with her own two eyes that every one of her squad members made it out of that cave before it collapsed. If it meant trapping herself inside it, then that was a consequence she was ready to face as a commander.

He ran ahead, trusting Shepard to make it out on her own. At full speed, none of the others could keep pace with him. He would stand at the entrance and make sure they all made it out from that vantage point.

The tower opened back out into the massive cave, a worn path leading to the exit. They wound through the crumbling structure, the walls shaking more violently as they went, rocks flying from every direction. Garrus ran as fast as his long turian legs would carry him, around the winding path until he saw light ahead.

The opening was narrow, as it had been on the other side. He ducked his head and burst through. The ground stretched out flat a few hundred yards from the opening, a perfect spot for the Normandy to land. Garrus brought up his omni-tool quickly. "Joker, we're on the surface. The cave is collapsing. We need you here ASAP."

"Aw, commander, you've got yourself a little pet," Joker replied snarkily, "ETA two minutes."

Tali was the first one out after Garrus. He pointed down to the relative safety of the flat ground ahead and pushed her gently in that direction. She hesitated, worried about the squad behind her.

"Go!" Garrus urged. "I'll make sure they all get out."

She didn't need to be told twice. Kaidan, Ash, and Liara all exited at nearly the same time, rocketing out of the entrance and nearly toppling into Garrus. He led them after Tali and waited impatiently for Wrex and Shepard to appear. The ground was shaking more frequently and he was truly worried they might get caved in. He peered into the cave, but could see no sign of either of them. Damn Wrex and his bulky frame! He'd only know this squad a week and he was already worried about them as if they were his own crew back on Palaven.

The Normandy zoomed overhead, landing smoothly out where the rest of the squad were waiting. Garrus' attention moved back and forth from the cave mouth to the Normandy. The ramp to the cargo bay had been let down, but the crew weren't budging, all of them watching Garrus from far away waiting for Wrex and the commander to surface.

After what felt like an eternity, the human and the krogan came into view around the corner. Wrex was barely conscious, bleeding from a wound on his head. Shepard had the bulk of his weight on her shoulder, dragging him through the cave, her face red and flushed, sweat dripping from her hair.

Garrus rushed to her side and took some of the krogan's weight off of her.

"Garrus, get out of here," Shepard panted. "The opening might cave in."

"No offense, Shepard, but shut up," Garrus replied.

Wrex's weight was immense, even with Shepard holding up his other end. He was amazed she had managed to get him this far. The ground rumbled and more rocks fell, some large ones jamming into place and barring the opening of the cave. One more quake and the entrance would be sealed.

Garrus kicked the rocks out of the way, but found they were heavier than he anticipated. Even with his steel boots, a sharp pain coursed up his foot upon contact. Shepard dropped her half of the krogan, pulled out a blaster, and shot at the rocks impatiently. They smashed into a thousand tiny pieces. Garrus didn't have time to process the act, though, they had to get out of there.

They dragged Wrex out of the cave and down the ramp to safety, then Shepard collapsed in the dirt, falling onto her back, her chest heaving. Garrus applied some medi-gel to Wrex's forehead, and while it sealed his wound, it didn't restore his consciousness. The thought of dragging him all the way to the Normandy was daunting, and he couldn't do it alone.

He moved to where Shepard lay and stood over her. "Are you all right?"

Her face was bright red, sweat pooling all over her. She blinked slowly, still breathing heavily. She beckoned for him to move closer, too weak to sit up and speak.

He kneeled down next to her and drew his face closer to hers to hear what she had to say.

"I'm…going…" she gasped, "...to...kill…Wrex…"

Garrus laughed. "All that effort just to kill him for being so heavy?"

She sighed and closed her eyes. There was no helping it, she wouldn't be able to get up and carry the rest of Wrex's weight. Her arm was bleeding at a gap in her armor, whether from the battle on the elevator or from carrying Wrex, he couldn't be sure.

"Can you stand, Shepard?"

She opened her eyes again and struggled to her feet. He helped her up and then she pushed him away.

"We're getting that fat ass of his back on that ship," she said with sudden vigor, her eyes aflame.

"Are you sure? Shepard, you're hurt and if you can't get him, we can get help."

In fact, Kaidan and Ash had been making an approach. Shepard shook her head obstinately and grabbed one of Wrex's arms, squatting and lifting the weight up to Garrus' surprise. He wasn't going to let her stand there struggling, so he grabbed the krogan's other side and they began the slog toward the Normandy. It was only a few hundred yards but it seemed like a few hundred miles with Wrex's weight between them.

Kaidan and Ash met them halfway and offered to take over, but Shepard stubbornly refused to give up on this task, despite her obvious fatigue, so the two humans hovered behind them, ready to step in if needed.

It seemed to take ages before they finally reached the ramp up to the cargo bay. When they got Wrex up and into the ship, Dr. Chakwas and some of the crew stepped in to get him into his cot and tend to his medical needs.

Her task complete, the adrenaline seemed to leave Shepard's body. She crumpled in a heap on the ground and promptly fainted.

A/N: Wow! Thanks for the reviews and follows! I seemed to get more than usual after the last post and I really genuinely appreciate every one of them. Hope everyone is enjoying it. There's plenty more to come!