A/N Thank you Kanta48 for the favourite. I really appreciate it!

Kacey was nearly ready to head back out to Omega by the time she had got round to checking up on Joker. She already had her blue armour on and was ready to leave as she headed towards the pilot.

"Hey, Commander!" Joker said as he swerved round in his chair, "We got Garrus back! That's great, because he was totally my favourite. With that pole up his ass."

"Well, hello to you too." Kacey laughed, "I assume everything is going well up here?"

"I really want a chance to put the Normandy through her paces. I just have to trim up the drive output and it'll be like we never lost her."

"Safety standards advise against manipulating drive settings while engines are powered and in use, Mr Moreau." EDI chimed in.

"Commander, can we shut this thing off?" Joker complained, "I don't need it in my day-to-day."

"Just turn the sound off."

"That doesn't change anything." Joker continued, "It's still watching. Like some creepy kid staring at the back of your head in comp sci. You just want to…punch him…but he's "special" and sets fires or something. Okay, a little too far there, but you know what I mean."

"I do. But it sounds more like a personal problem." Kacey smirked.

"Thanks. I'll remember this!" Joker smirked back as Kacey turned around and headed towards the airlock, where Jacob and Miranda were waiting.

…

Kacey walked through the back alley that led to the Quarantine Zone. The sooner they got Mordin the better in Kacey's eyes. A batarian was standing on top of a wooden crate, preaching nonsense. Miranda rolled her eyes at the sight of him as they turned away to walk towards the Quarantine Zone. A turian was standing guard by the entrance, blocking a human's path. The woman was pleading with the guard, the pleas becoming more and more desperate.

"Complaining is pointless, human." The guard said exhausted, "There's a plague. Nobody gets in or out."

"You can't keep me out!" The woman shouted, "I live in there!"

"I'm doing you a favour, lady. If you go in there, the guards will cut you down."

"You can't do this! Everything I own is in that apartment!"

"I told you to get lost, lady!" the guard replied frustrated, "The plague has the whole zone quarantined! Nobody gets in!"

"I'm human, you ass!" the woman spat, "Humans can't get the plague! Now let me get my stuff out before looters get it!"

"This thing affects every other race out there! We're not taking chances. Nobody gets in until the plague has run its course."

"So, you're saying the slums are completely sealed off?" Kacey asked the guard.

"Finally, a human that can hear." The guard replied, "Yes, that's exactly what I'm saying."

"You can't keep me out!" the woman screeched, "I'm going to lose all my stuff!"

"Anybody in the quarantine zone will be dead from the plague or the gangs in a few weeks."

"I've got to find Mordin Solus." Kacey said bluntly, "I've got to go find him."

"The doctor?" The guard said, "Crazy bastard opened a clinic in the district a few months ago. The Blue Suns weren't too happy when he moved in. I hear Mordin's trying to deal with the plague. I wish him luck, but the area is still locked down. Our orders are to wait until either the plague or the Blue Suns kill everyone, the go in and clean up."

"Listen," Kacey said calmly, "you're stuck here until quarantine is over. That could take weeks. What you really need is to get this problem solved right now. That's what I do – solve problems. Let me in, and I'll get this district straightened out."

"You think you can fix this, why not?" The guard relented, "The quarantine is more to keep infected people in, anyway. I'll radio ahead, tell them you're coming in."

"Wait, you're stopping me but not them?" the woman complained, "You son of a bitch!"

"You don't have a grenade launcher, lady." The guard said, looking towards Kacey's grenade launcher, "Get lost!"

The woman scoffed at the guard as the door opened, allowing Kacey, Miranda and Jacob to enter.

"Fortunately, humans are immune to the plague," Miranda said as they walked, "So we should have no worries about getting sick."

"Well, we still have to worry about getting shot so…" Kacey replied, "it's not perfect."

…

A red hue was layered over the buildings as the trio entered the district, where a bleak sight awaited them. Empty streets, devoid of life, generating an eerie silence that put Kacey on guard. A dead body of turian laid on top of a pool of dried blood, already decaying. They turned right, walking towards a barricade, lit up by small floodlights, the sounds of their steps and gear bouncing across the walls. As they approached, two turians popped out from behind the barricade.

"Don't shoot." One of them said, "They're clear to come in."

The trio walked around the barricade via a different room. Kacey saw the neon sign branded "Gozu District" on the wall, flickering on occasion. Kacey finally approached another guard standing by a door, that was the official entrance to the district.

"Good luck in there." the guard said, "The Blue Suns and vorcha are shooting anything that moves."

Kacey simpley nodded in response and led Jacob and Miranda down the stairs, where the suffocating smell of fire hung in the air. Before Kacey could even reach the bottom, a bullet had already whizzed right past her feet. She instinctly drew her assault rifle and opened fire on the two mercenaries on the far end of the room, killing both instantly.

"Guess they just left the dead in the streets." Jacob said, looking at one of the fire pits.

"Burning corpses." Miranda stated, "Must be trying to keep the plague from spreading."

"Was it really that bad?" Kaidan asked.

"Yeah, it was." Kacey responded, "Mordin was the district's last hope, well, for the survivors stuck there anyway."

As Jacob and Miranda continued their discussion, Kacey heard heavy breathing. Locating the noise, she found a batarian hunched over near the wall.

"Human. Should have guessed." The batarian spat before coughing, "Bad enough you infect us with this plague. Now you lack the decency to even wait until I die before you come to steal my possessions."

'Bold assumption there.' The commander thought to herself. Instead, she kneeled down towards the dying batarian as they coughed again.

"Is there anything I could do for you?" She asked politely. She briefly caught Miranda staring out of the corner of her eye.

"Get away from me, human!" the batarian shouted, waving his pistol, "Your kind has done too much already! Your plague did this to me. Your feigned pity is the final insult."

"Come on, Commander." Miranda said sternly, "We need to go and find Mordin."

"Humans looking for the human sympathiser." The batarian scoffed, "I hope the vorcha burn Mordin and his clinic to the ground. I hope you…I hope…damn it. Damn you. Can't…"

"He was dying, I know. But he wasn't dead yet. I had to try and give him more time, a chance to survive."

"Hey, stay with me!" Kacey said as she applied Medi-Gel to the batarian, "This won't cure the plague, but it might help a bit."

The batarian struggled as he stood up, but eventually found his balance.

"You…You helped me. Why?"

"It's what I do. I don't know if I can find a cure for this plague, but I'm going to try."

"Your words sound…sincere. Maybe it's the fever, but as you said – what have I to lose?"

"Why are you blaming us for the outbreak?" Miranda asked.

"The plague is too potent to be a naturally occurring virus. Airborne transmission across numerous species? Near-perfect mortality rate? Had to be made in a lab. And since humans are the only species not affected, there is only one logical conclusion."

"But the vorcha aren't affected either." Kacey said, "Couldn't it be them?"

"The vorcha are scavengers, they're not smart enough to make a virus like this."

"Why aren't you at Mordin's clinic anyway?" Jacob asked.

"I was…afraid to go to him before. He dangerous."

"How so?" Kacey raised an eyebrow.

"The Blue Suns tried to press him for protection money. He killed them. Stunned them with some kind of toxin, then gunned them down. He not just a doctor. Doctors don't execute people and display the bodies as a warning."

"When I find Mordin, I'll tell him about you. If he has a cure, I'll make sure someone gets it to you." Kacey said.

"Thank you. My time is running short, but at least you have giving me a flicker of hope to brighten the darkness in my final hours. I don't want to die. Whatever Mordin is, I will risk it, if he can reach me."

The trio said their goodbyes to the batarian, walking towards the clinic. Whatever Mordin Solus was, Kacey knew she needed him on her side.