Disclaimer: I do not own Mass Effect. This fictional story is not making me any money (unless BioWare takes note and decides to pay me).
A Hundred Memories for the Journey Home
Day Seven
Hannah Shepard found herself standing outside her daughter's locked hospital room, her duffel shoved messily into her arms and looking somewhat bewildered.
After a moment, she found her voice. "You saw that, right?" she asked the guard on the left-hand side of the door.
He straightened in place and appeared to choose his words carefully. "If you mean did I see the leader of Tuchanka forcibly eject you from the room once he'd found out you hadn't left it in six days, then...yes ma'am. I believe I did."
"Uh huh," Hannah said slowly, turning to look at the door. She genuinely wasn't sure what to do; as a planetary leader, she was sure Wrex had so much diplomatic immunity that she couldn't just order him removed without consequences. Not that she had any intention of using her Alliance authority that way...or that in her exhausted presence of mind she could piece enough of an objection together.
"Admiral?" Somewhat blearily, Hannah looked around and saw a face she thought she recognized. Unfortunately, the woman's name didn't come to mind as quickly as she'd hoped.
"I'm Kahlee. Kahlee Sanders. I was..." the woman stopped and swallowed hard.
"Admiral Anderson's friend," Hannah said gently, her memory finally catching up. "I'm...I understand what you're going through." She took Kahlee's outstretched hand and instead of shaking it, squeezed it in empathy. "I apologize if I seem...distracted."
"Who could blame you?" Kahlee asked with a small, mirthless laugh. "I imagine that if the news has nothing positive to say about the galaxy's most heroic commander, then it must be pretty awful." Her chin dropped for a moment and she looked at the floor, perhaps recalling the first report she'd had of Anderson when rescue teams moved in.
"It...it is hard, especially at first," Hannah acknowledged. But then she strove for a bit of levity, lightening her tone. "And to make things worse, the krogan clan leader has evicted me from the immediate premises." She glared somewhat ineffectually over her shoulder at the two guards by the door, who were decidedly not making eye contact.
Kahlee appeared to bolster her emotions; she regarded Hannah at arm's length and looked her up and down. "Well, he was right," she said, straightening and summoning up a small, but genuine smile. "Come on, I know my way around this section of the ship pretty well. A couple of my students from Grissom Academy have been hospitalized here; a brother and sister, and I've been running around for them the last couple of days; growing biotics and all." And with that, she took Hannah by the elbow and started off down the hall.
The rear admiral allowed herself to be towed along, everything moving just a little too fast for her brain to keep up.
"I've been using the crew quarters, so we'll stop there. You can shower as long as you like, change your clothes, and then let's get a hot lunch from the cafeteria. And then we might get crazy and I'll brew us some jasmine tea." And thus Hannah Shepard was politely dragged away.
. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .
Wrex wasn't much for bedside vigils, and he didn't put much stock in them. However, he had some...orders...in the form of a message Bakara had sent him when he'd told her about Shepard's whereabouts and his intention of visiting.
"You generally have all the sensitivity of a rock, Wrex. You are dealing with females, and you will respect them and their pain. The Shepards may be strong females, like krogan, but remember the generations of suffering we ourselves have come through to be in this moment of triumph for krogan everywhere. Do not be blunt, do not be rude. Remember this well: be a gentleman. Give my deepest wishes to the commander, and my hope to her mother."
Wrex had snorted and laughed at the very idea-he was always a gentleman. As long as gentlemen carried guns and never took no for an answer. It had taken him longer than he'd thought to make time in his busy schedule to catch a transport up to the Zuckerkandl. What with trying to evacuate the krogan warriors with the greatest injuries, regrouping the remaining healthy survivors, and ensuring that his people were making a good first impression in the post-war atmosphere, among other things. He'd already consulted with Primarch Victus several times for joint operations in searching large cities for survivors, and the further he buried himself in work, the harder it was to remember other obligations.
It was Bakara's message that had prompted him to finally get his tail in gear; if she found out that he'd made a promise to his bond-sister's mother and hadn't gone through with it...well, Wrex didn't want to know how long he could sit still for one of Bakara's speeches about loyalty.
He'd been relatively unhindered in his attempt to find Shepard's room; even the guards outside looked appropriately intimidated when he walked up, still bristling with armor and weapons. One of them had been very quick to contact Admiral Shepard, who it turned out was already on her way to the door.
"Admiral," Wrex said in greeting.
"Urdnot Wrex, please call me Hannah," the thin human woman said. She motioned for him to follow her inside, and he took in the austere, sterile surroundings at a glance. He hadn't had much reason to spend time in Alliance hospitals, and the entire place smelled far too clean for Wrex's liking. What was the world without burning fires among piles of rubble and the dust of fallen walls choking the air?
"Today's been her best day so far," Hannah said to him, tucking loose strands of hair behind her ears. "The doctors' newest reports say that she'll have full control of her hands. They're not sure about her right arm yet; the worst case scenario is it will take more extensive cybernetic replacement...the best is she'll need physical therapy. Everything else is...touch and go, for the moment."
Wrex cast an appraising eye over Hannah Shepard. She looked worse than Shepard had when he'd seen her on the Citadel during the confrontation with her clone. That had been right before the final move on Earth, when the commander had been under the greatest stress of her entire life. Not that Shepard had ever told Wrex as much; he'd overheard Joker saying something about it to EDI.
From the looks of it, the human woman had been living out of her duffel and had likely never ventured out of this room from the instant she'd arrived. If she'd been a krogan, Wrex would have...huh. What would I do? he asked himself. It was a female's job to reason with other females. He would have sent Bakara to talk with Hannah.
In Bakara's absence, however, he tried to think of what the shaman would say, in all her wisdom. After a few fruitless seconds of that, Wrex fell back on her message. "My mate Bakara sends her deepest wishes for Shepard's recovery, and her hope for you. She worries that I won't be a...gentleman...while I'm here."
Hannah grinned at him rather suddenly, and Wrex was forcibly reminded of how Shepard had looked when he'd presented her with what the humans called a 'Christmas present'. Happy and surprised at his thoughtfulness. "Tell Bakara thank you, from both of us. And if it would help you," and here Hannah's tone turned mischievous, "I could send a good word to your mate about your perfect conduct."
Wrex smiled fiercely. "I may take you up on that, Hannah Shepard. Although...Bakara will want to know that I was...respectful. How many days have you been with Shepard?"
"At least the six days since I've started counting. I leave when she's in surgery, sometimes," Hannah said quietly. "Just to get a drink or grab a shower. I'm the only one here for her, Wrex, and I'm glad I am here." Her eyes turned toward the curtained bed at the far end of the room. "But I'm also happy you came. She'll love to hear from you."
An idea crystallized in Wrex's mind, and it was as if Bakara herself was speaking shamanic wisdom to him. "I'll stay here and talk to Shepard. You will go and take some time away."
At that, Hannah looked as if she didn't know what to say. Wrex forestalled any complaints by hefting her bag, dropping it into her arms, and propelling her out the door, which he then locked behind her. He listened for a moment to see if there would be an outcry, and when there was none, he chuckled. "Bakara'd loved to have seen that," he said aloud. "This gentleman thing is better than I thought."
Wrex walked up to Shepard's bed and just looked at her for a long moment. There wasn't much of her that he could actually see, beyond her closed eyes and bottom of her chin. Every other inch of her face was covered in white bandages. But Wrex knew from long experience that there was more to Shepard than met the eye, no matter what she looked like. The void couldn't hold her before, and she was not giving in this time, either.
So he pulled up a chair and sat. "Shepard. I thought a lot about what I wanted to remember with you. I know we haven't been through as much together as you and Tali or Garrus, but when you're me, you've got to put the krogan people first. And now we have a place in the galaxy again, Shepard. Thanks to you. And me," Wrex added as a humorous afterthought.
"So...about the time you went into my weapons' locker for the very first time. And how you made it up to me afterwards."
. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .
Wrex had gotten up that morning feeling rather stiff; the human bunks made no allowance in their contours for the hard shell of a mature krogan. He didn't know how that turian or even the quarian managed to be comfortable, either. Did humans ever consider investing in the flexi-mesh bunks that conformed to multiple alien species? No, they only thought of themselves.
Breakfast did little to improve his mood; humans seemed to lack a fundamental percentage of meat in their diets. They curiously favored grains and plants, which Wrex didn't object to...as long as it was garnishing meat. He had eyed the gruel-like substance with obvious distaste and hadn't even bothered to take any, settling instead for the one good thing humans had invented: coffee.
Something about his demeanor must have warned the humans to steer clear of him that morning. Even Kaidan, who was in general polite to everyone, was silent in the mess hall. The only thing he asked Wrex was, "Wrex, did you ever hear the phrase 'get up on the wrong side of the bed'?"
Wrex hoped that the instant the biotic human had opened his mouth, he'd known he'd made a mistake. "Bed? You wanna talk about how you could possibly call those things beds?!" Kaidan's eyebrows shot straight up, and the LT practically jumped up, dumped his dishes in the sink, and quick-marched from the room.
The krogan snorted with a small amount of sadistic pleasure before finishing his coffee and making his way down to the cargo bay. Garrus was apparently already up, which wasn't too unusual-turians had odd day/night cycles to begin with, especially coming off of the Citadel timetable. He had his entire avian upper body stuck completely into one of the side panels on the Mako, and all Wrex could hear were some muttered complaints and a few choice phrases that may or may not have included Shepard's name.
"Good morning, Wrex," Ashley greeted him, apparently unaware of his bad mood. She was hard at work already, dismantling what looked like one of the new pistols brought back from the last mission.
Wrex tried to muster up another grumpy outburst, but found he couldn't at Ashley's genuinely cheerful attitude. But then:
"Commander Shepard wanted me to tell you that she went through our lockers last night. She'd been meaning to do it for awhile," Ashley said, sighting through the gun's scope before setting it aside.
Wrex's fixed a dangerous glare on the gunnery chief, who was too busy piecing out the pistol and inspecting each component with an expert eye to notice his look. "What's she done?"
"Just changed some weapons out after modding them. I think she found some new suits of armor, too. I know Kaidan got one. Wish she'd find some heavy human armor in my size," Ashley said. "If I have to buff one more husk bite or claw mark out of my armor...grr. You'd think they liked pink."
Wrex didn't wait to hear any more; he strode to the stand of weapons lockers and jerked the door of his open. What he didn't notice immediately was the way Ashley was watching him out of the corner of her eye. There was indeed a different suit inside; silver with blue markings on it. It was certainly heavier stuff than he'd brought with him, no doubt made with...
He heard snickering; the filtered giggling of a quarian and somebody with her. Wrex glanced around sharply, but saw nothing. Suspicious, he turned the suit around...and saw the stylized paint job on the back of the hard shell. He wasn't all that familiar with human symbols, but he knew flowers when he saw them. What was worse, the flowers weren't a matching blue-they were an eye-shocking purple color.
Wrex let out a warning growl and spun on Ashley, who had the back of her hand pressed against her mouth in order to keep her laughter silent. When she saw him looking, she let out a yelp and dove under her workbench. "I know nothing!" she called from cover. "Abso-lute-ly nothing!"
"Vakarian!" Wrex shouted across the cargo bay. "Did you know about this?!"
Few things could pull Garrus Vakarian out of a calibration project. As it turned out, a mildly furious krogan wasn't one of them. The turian kept working, oblivious.
"Shepard!" he bellowed next. "I know you're down here!"
As if summoned, the elevator doors parted and the commander came out, dragging a large crate behind her. She glanced in his direction, and her eyes widened. "Something wrong, Wrex?" she asked, making her way over and dropping the crate to the floor with a clunk.
"What is this?" he demanded, thrusting the suit at her.
"Well...I'm no expert on art, but I'd say the suit I found on Trebin had a previous owner," Shepard replied with an absolutely straight face. Wrex fixed her with a suspicious stare, which she returned with equanimity. It was then that he noticed a small patch of what appeared to be white paint behind her left ear.
"I'll give you one last chance, Shepard," he said, voice rumbling dangerously. "Did you paint these?" He pointed accusingly at the flowers.
"No," she answered sincerely. Then after a beat, the commander said, "But the rather large butterfly on Kaidan's armor is another story."
With a wordless roar, Wrex threw the armor on the ground and came at her. Shepard remained in place and, to her credit, only flinched when he was within inches. "Oh, relax, Wrex. It's water-soluble. It'll wash right off in the first good rain," she insisted. "It's just a little prank."
"I-you...what were you doing last night?" Wrex asked, reigning in his temper with some effort.
A wicked grin spread across Shepard's face. "That is a secret, Urdnot Wrex. And, I have a little something to buy your silence...at least until Garrus and Kaidan look in their lockers." She kicked the crate at her feet for emphasis. "I put shredder rounds in your new Kovalyov assault rifle. Figured you could use some target practice with it. Just make sure not to damage the ship."
Wrex pried up the lid of the crate and blinked. "Shepard, aren't these...?"
"Ask me no questions, Wrex," the commander said, putting up her hand. "Just find a way to make them disappear." She glanced at the ruined couch cushions in the bottom of the crate, undoubtedly from her quarters. And then her mischievous smile was back. "Totally worth it."
Then she glanced around. "Have you seen Tali or Liara?"
Wrex remembered the snickering from earlier and opened his mouth to reply. Then he thought about it and said, "I don't know what you mean, Shepard. I haven't seen anything this morning, except some new padded targets for practice."
"Good man, Wrex," Shepard replied with a grin.
. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .
"You know, Shepard, I never did tell Vakarian or Kaidan where their armor improvements came from," Wrex said a bit nostalgically. "Not that they'd ever asked me."
He leaned back in his chair and stretched for a moment. "I gotta tell you, Shepard...sometimes I miss the old crew. Not enough to forget my duties to my people; did I tell you we've negotiated for a couple of planets already? When the relays are fixed, the krogan will have a new homeworld waiting for them."
There was a tentative knock on the door.
"Must be your mother," Wrex said. "Just some advice, Shepard. Don't keep her waiting on you. I know they're telling you chances aren't good, but you and I both know you're gonna make liars out of them. Besides, as much as I hate to admit it, I've got an alliance with your 'boyfriend's' people. I'd hate to see it fall apart because you'd do something inconvenient like dying."
He got up then, and unlocked the door. Hannah Shepard looked at him, and there was a little more color in her face than before. Her hair was bound up neatly, and she had on a fresh uniform. Wrex stood aside for her, and she ventured back into the room. "Did you have a good talk?" she asked cheerfully, putting her duffel back.
"Just remembering old times on the Normandy," Wrex replied. "And I've got more where that came from, so I'll be back another time. Just to make sure Bakara doesn't worry."
"Oh, of course," Hannah said with a sage nod. "I'll make sure to mention how respectful you were, throwing me out of the room."
A small tingle of apprehension pulsed at the base of Wrex's spine, but Hannah Shepard raised her hand before he could say anything. "I needed to get out, Urdnot Wrex. You were right."
"Uh huh. Well, good. At least tell Bakara that much; the female thinks I can't do a thing without her leadership." He snorted to show what he thought of that idea.
Hannah smiled. "The next time you come by, you'll have to tell me more about the krogan battle songs you taught to the crew."
The wrinkles around Wrex's eyes deepened as he thought. "Battle songs? I never...oh. Were there batarians involved?"
"I believe so, yes," Hannah said slowly. "It was part of a message from Garrus. He actually, um...performed one of them."
A wide grin split Wrex's face. "Any chance it was a video file?"
"Yes, it is," Hannah answered. "If you want to see it..." She turned on her omnitool and searched through the Normandy messages. "How about if I forward it to you?"
Wrex chuckled; he flicked on his own omnitool and waited a moment for it to accept the syncing request. A few seconds later, the file came through as a compressed packet. "Should be entertaining," he said with no small amount of anticipation. He straightened and held out his hand. "If you need anything, Hannah Shepard, I will do what I can to help."
"Thank you, Wrex," Hannah replied, shaking his hand. "I look forward to your next visit."
Wrex saw himself out. As do I, Hannah Shepard. Maybe I'll tell you about tackling a shuttle full of mercs next time. He sighed. Good times.