10 years ago today, my great-grandfather died. He raised me. He was my storyteller, and taught me so much. Many of my hobbies and interests were cultivated by his influence.

As he got older, we traded duties. Some things he had done for me I began to do for him, until at the very in I had to take care of him as fully as he once did for me.

I was 16, and one of the only two people who bothered to be there by his side when he died.

It can be tough, that switching of duties, but nothing was ever as tough as those final moments. Putting aside all my wants in order to comfort him and tell him it's okay if he has to go, we all understand, was so damn hard. Shamefully so, but I'm glad I did it. I hope it helped him rest peacefully.

I started this series to work through my grief of losing him and my great-grandmother. They were best parents I ever got to have in my life.

"Hello, uh, repeat that." Grunt orders as he rubs at his eyes. Shepard leans against the machines, watching him. He tries not to grow frustrated by the bright red light flashing on the machine, or its annoying static cutting in and out. Dreams of cotton candy trophies and the dinosaur wrestling championships were now left behind.

"Hello! It's so nice to hear from another person!" Grunt removes his hand from the responding button, and looks back at the other two. He'd been looking worse for wear lately. Krogans don't get eye bags. When exhausted their skin grows saggier and less colorful. Grunt has been moving slower these last few days.

Shepard raises an eyebrow. Silently she mouths, 'How many?'

Grunt presses the button again. "How many of you, are there?"

"Only a handful of survivors here. We were part of a research and agricultural colony." There's a beat of silence. Then the communications go to static before tuning in mere seconds later. "How many of you are there?"

"Three." Grunt answers, removing his hand. Orrin gestures between the three of them. Her mouth making an S and C shape. Grunt stares at the salarian before she rolls her and points at him. She mouths krogan. Gestures to Shepard and mouths human. When she gets to herself she uses both hands and mouths 'salarian' in a very extra way, where he could barely make out the word still. "We're a salarian, krogan, and a human."

Orrin lifts Grunt's hand off the button with both of hers. "Tell them that we can work for food and fuel. Doctor. Engineer." She drops Grunt's hand and points at herself then Shepard. Finally, her finger hovers over him. "And, uh," her voice drifts off as she tries to think of a useful skill Grunt possesses.

"Don't hurt your brain, salarian. I'm the muscle." Grunt jerks his hand away from her other hand and smashes it against the button. "We're looking to work for food and fuel. We've got a doctor, an engineer, and plenty of muscle if you need any heavy lifting done."

"If you can work then we've got food aplenty. What sort of fuel do you need? We only really have the standard kind for the newer ships." Grunt flashes Shepard a questioning look. He takes his hand off the button.

"This ship takes the universal standard for fuel. It's older, but it's still inspired by the technology the salarians had given them. So their fuel should be fine." Shepard flexes her hand gingerly. "Hopefully."

"That sounds like a shitty lie."

Shepard makes a sharp ehhhh sound before shrugging. "More like an educated best guess. The other kinds of fuel were ones human machines used before we met the turians. There were several different kinds back then." She shrugs again. "Supposedly."

Aren't engineers supposed to know that kind of thing? His frown deepens. "So are we landing or not?" Shepard gives him a curt nod. Grunt presses back down on the button. "We're landing."

Shepard immediately dons extra clothing, as Orrin lands the ship. Her legs are armored in her N7 gear. She pulls a pair of pants up over those. The chest and arm pieces of her old armor were still partially destroyed, so instead, she wears a greying, black tank top, with a plain red shirt and a black jacket over it, with the hood up. Then she grabs an extra black tank top. She tears it easily, wrapping it over her face before tying it behind the back of her head.

Grunt focuses primarily on cleaning his weapons. His favorite gun may not work, but Wrex had given him an older krogan gun to use. When they were both spick and span, he moved onto the old krogan blades he had been gifted as well. They were some sort of weird culmination of a sword and a dagger. They were jagged in an almost serpentine fashion, like a smaller, decorative knife might be. However, the length of the blade was about the size of his forearm. Clearly, it was made to hit as many vital organs as possible as it went in, then repeated use.

"We aren't going down there to battle."

"With a krogan around there's always a chance of a fight breaking out." Grunt laughs slowly as he looks over his one human knife. Shepard still has no idea where he found a chef knife at.

"Try and play nice." She asks with a soft pat on his shoulder.

"I won't make any promises."

Shepard laughs even as she shakes her head. Slipping a knife into her boot, and packs one of the old krogan guns against her side, tied around her waist with a strap. It's inaccessible unless she lifts up her shirt and pull the weapon out. She's not planning for a fight. Grunt raises his head, and loudly cocks his own, standard-issued shotgun. He had painted it red and black back during the beginning of his missions with Aralakh company. Shepard narrows her eyes on the gun. It may not work anymore, but he wasn't going in without having some sort of weapon he could quickly access. Being a krogan made him a living weapon, but having the shotgun made him feel more prepared. As if he could become any more prepared. He plants his favorite gun firmly in his hands.

"Alright we go down there, do the work they need done, and then leave with the gas and food." Shepard lifts a finger for each objective she lists off.

"Thankfully we don't have any dextro-based lifeforms on board." Orrin chimes in from the pilot's chair.

"We should try and work as close together as possible." Orrin frowns, as she looks back from over her shoulder. Grunt smiles. That's Shepard. No fool could get past her defenses. "We don't know this colony, so let's remain on the wary side of things."

"Don't pout, salarian. Doing that benefits you the most."

"How so?"

Shepard throws Grunt a smile, with soft eyes that say, go easy on her, kiddo. He won't. "Shepard is a battlemaster, n7 trained, spectre. I'm a krogan. What are you?"

Orrin rolls her eyes. She looks away to hide her disappointment. Shoulder sagging down after she looked away. Good. It's important for the weak links of any team to be aware of it, before they get in trouble way over their head.

When they land and the door opens they are met with the sight of a village on the edge of a desert. Their homes are spread throughout the trees, but the landing sight is in the desert itself. "Why would they have us land here?"

"It's probably so they can keep an eye on strangers." Shepard points out as she gestures to the trees off in the distance. "You never know who might mean harm."

"Smart." As soon as he stated the compliment a duo begins to leave the village.

There was an asari who's blueish-purple skin was obvious even from a kilometer away. Whoever walks beside them is on the shorter and thinner side of things. Chances were they're human or salarian. Here he thought this had been a human colony. Maybe it once was. Grunt snorts, and pulls out his krogan korzad blade. The tool of ancient krogans to judge victory.

While they were still at a distance, Shepard reassuringly pats his back. Her whispers carry easily, even on this vast open planet. "Remember, you do the talking for me." She rubs one last circle into the back of his armor. "I trust you."

Grunt stands taller at her words. Orrin may have wanted to lead point, but Shepard gave it to him. She trusts him more. Finally.

The asari strides ahead of what he could now see is a human. She walks with grace, even as the human behind her kicks up sand in a hurry to catch up. She stops with a good amount of space between herself and the three of them. Probably planning to use a biotic shield to knock them all back in the case of a fight breaking out. Smart. That doesn't keep her from holding out a hand, beckoning the three of them to come closer, closing that space she had so purposely set up. Foolish. "Grunt of clan Urdnot, former resident of the great Commander Shepard's ship, the Normandy SR II."

"You talk a lot, but you haven't said anything that isn't common knowledge."

"I suppose I wanted to repeat your accolades."

"Then you should throw in the Aralakh company, and how we defeated the reaper-infused rachni."

"How remiss of me. Please accept my sincerest of apologies. If you're willing, I would love to be introduced to your companions."

"That's the salarian doctor, Orrin, and this is She-t." The pinch hurt. "She's a human engineer."

"A pleasure to meet you. My name is Lyisnal." She offers out a hand, with a small, pencil-thin smile. "I'm an asari commando who was on a mission here when my ship was destroyed by that red beam of light. Leaving me stranded but well cared for thanks to the humans' help." That smile of hers was too polite. Shepard always warned him to watch out for people who never stop smiling. Either they're young and foolish, or they have a lot more to say than they are letting on.

"I'm Kano. I was in charge of the ecologists on the planet." The human pipes in with. He adjusts a band on his wrist. A nervous tick. Grunt fights back a grin. "We were studying ways to increase crop output in the greenhouses, but things changed when the war happened. Ah, and well -"

"He and I have been able to lead this colony together to survive the reapers' onslaught." Cutting Kano off, Lyisnal goes so far as to even step in front of the man. Partially blocking him from Grunt's view would do nothing to save the human if Grunt actually did want to attack.

"There's about two dozen of us in total. Used to be a couple hundred, but" he looks up at the sky nervously, as if saying their names would summon the monsters back. Superstitious fool, Shepard destroyed the reapers. None of them could have survived that blast.

"A few of us are injured. We handled minor wounds pretty well, but for more serious injuries there hasn't been a lot we could do. The handful of doctors and medics we had on the planet died throughout the attacks." So there were several attacks.

"Why would the reapers repeatedly strike this planet?" Grunt asks, feeling suspicious. "Does this planet have special resources?"

Kano shakes his head. "Many were killed trying to retrieve the bodies of the injured from collapsed buildings. They were the ones with first responder training."

"Meanwhile some of the reapers' soldiers targeted the few remaining doctors after." Lyisnal lets out a long sigh. "At least the first ones knew what they were risking. None of us expected the reapers' foot soldiers to actually possess some intelligence."

"That sounds serious indeed." Orrin cautiously looks up to Grunt, eyes pleading. He could practically hear her whine. 'Don't do anything rash.'

Grunt rolls his eyes. "Lead the way, asari."

Lyisnal does so with a raised eyebrow at Orrin along the way. If she was trying to gauge who was in charge here, then she was looking in the wrong direction. Orrin leans away from the asari when she notices the look. Quickly she begins to rattle off half a dozen questions. All of which were about what supplies the colony had, the number of injured patients, and so on it went. Lyisnal seemed irritated at the lack of an answer, but forces another smile onto her face.

Navigation in the colony appeared simple enough. Lyisnal and Kano were guiding them straight to the largest, visible building within it. The building was smack dab in the middle of the colony. Most of the buildings next to it were completely destroyed, with their materials lying in large, undisturbed piles. In the east, Grunt could see a large glass building, twice the size of the center one.

Orrin's pace picks up as she takes in the state of disarray the outside of the building was in. There's a large hole in the roof, with a tarp tied over it. The side walls were burnt, damaged, and some spots had mortar falling out. Shepard matches her speed, staying close behind as they enter. Grunt hangs back, keeping both the nervous Kano, and dangerous Lyisnal in view.

It isn't long before the asari approaches them again. "Would you two mind following me?"

"What for?" Grunt asks, and he ignores Shepard's frown.

"You came to trade your skills for food and fuel, correct?"

"I thought we would be helping here."

Lyisnal smiles knowingly. That smile fills him with an urge to punch her. "The doctor seems to have this under control. Would you rather stay here?"

Grunt glances back at Shepard, who doesn't react in any specific way. Grunt then looks over at Orrin who was already flitting about. "We don't know you."

"I'm sorry?" The asari looks between the pair, at a loss for words.

Shepard sharply elbows Grunt. He winces and glares at the disguised human. "We don't know you, and the doctor can't really fight."

Confusion morphs into understanding as the asari makes a small o shape with her mouth. Quickly she recollects herself. "I understand your trepidation, to leave one of your few companions behind on a random planet, surrounded by strangers. Still we are people who fought against and survived the Reapers' attacks same as you. We're just trying to survive."

"People can kill others in the name of survival." Grunt retaliates, looking down at her. "The doctor can't fight, I'm not letting her out of my sight."

"Well now, that's a first. I have never known a krogan to be so protective over a salarian."

"You don't look that old."

"Two hundred years isn't much for an asari."

He takes a step forward, pushing his back up to show off his full height. "Sounds like two hundred years I'll be around longer than you."

"Is that a threat?"

Grunt growls, before glancing over his shoulder back at Shepard and Orrin. Clenching his teeth he looks at her again. "No, it's not."

"Then I believe we can continue this process peacefully, don't you?"

As they step out of the threshold of the community center, Grunt leans in closer to Lyisnal. "If you hurt Orrin, I will hurt you." He steps away and glares at her. There were a hundred different ways, the memories had taught him how to kill asari. So far he's only gotten to try a handful of them. Digits twitch in eagerness at the thought of comparing another one to the implanted counterparts. "That is a threat."

"And here I thought the krogan were setting out to prove how they are more than just brutish soldiers." She leans in closer, nearly bumping her forehead against Grunt's. "Thank you for disproving the unfounded rumors. Urdnot Grunt."

His name had never been used like an insult before. Urdnot was his clan! They were the ones to unite the krogan! The ones raising them back up in the galaxy. Blood boiling, Grunt bends his head back, preparing to collide some sense into her. Air rushes by as he throws his head down. He waits for the inevitable hand on his shoulder, or chest from Shepard. The break that always stops him when he goes too far. As Lyisnal's face grows closer, she glows a bit more blue. No hand grabs his shoulder or pushes him back. Nothing was going to stop his attack. To keep him in line. Realization widens his eyes, as his anger dissipates under the surprise. He stops, dead in his tracks, and chooses to roar in Lyisnal's face.

He could have killed her. He should have killed her. No one was going to stop him. Now was the best chance! Instead his chest constricts as his roar ends. Lyisnal continues to smile, unfaltering in her confidence.

Lyisnal guides them towards a building filled with plants. Rows of plants in carefully tended boxes, filled with dirt. Above a floor that was very nearly spotless. Why not grow the plants out of the ground? The land here seems fertile unlike on Tuchanka.

"For some reason we just can't keep the lights from flickering in this building. Since this was the leading lab in botanical research we really need to be able to see what is going on."

Shepard steps past Grunt. The krogan leans forward, preparing to step in front of her, but stops himself. She is the engineer between the two of them. This is what they need to do to get fuel, and food.

It still feels wrong, risking her like this.

Shepard pulls open a wall panel closer to the floor than the lights.

Lyisnal seems to find that strange as well. "Why are you starting down there?"

Shepard raises her head but says nothing. She looks at Grunt and gestures him over with a hand.

"She doesn't talk." Grunt repeats.

"Then perhaps you can answer for her."

Grunt crosses his arms and steps between Shepard and Lyisnal. "If I feel like it."

"How long has She-t been an engineer?"

He shrugs.

Lyisnal's eyes widen a little in surprise. Delight grows across her features. "Does she have much experience with the varying technology of human colonies?"

"How would I know?"

"Maybe you would know what her favorite food is? We could attempt to make it here."

"We aren't staying that long." Grunt announces. He wants to sound certain, but three questions unanswered, and that same creeping sensation is starting up again. Grunt glances over his shoulder at Shepard. Does he know anything about her?

"Has she ever killed someone?"

"Of course." He answers feeling a little happier now. He's seen her kill lots of people. Warriors who arrogantly thought themselves her superior.

"You were so concerned about what we, as strangers, might do to the doctor, but you don't even know much about She-t." Lyisnal smirks. She mirrors Grunt and crosses his arms. "What if she tried hurting Orrin?"

"You don't need to know everything to be able to trust someone you've fought alongside."

"Bloodlust may yet still overcome those who have always moved on from fight to fight." Lyisnal shrugs.

"That's not She-t." Grunt throws down his arms and balls his hands.

"But is it you?"

Damn her. Who does she think she is? Acting as if she knows everything about them.

Shepard's hand taps against the side of his leg armor. The thumps cut right through the tension. A tension that shifts, but doesn't ease. Everything about this asari is putting him on edge.

Shepard motions for Grunt to go through her tool box. She runs two fingers along the wires, before encircling them. Then she slowly draws her fingers back over the wires. Ah she needs a wire stripper.

"Are you also an engineer Urdnot Grunt?"

"I'm learning." He admits looking through the tool box for the wire strippers. Finding them, he offers them up to Shepard who shakes her head. Well if it wasn't those then this was going to take a while. With Shepard unable to speak he goes through the tool. He holds up a wrench. She shakes her head. He pulls out a screw-driver, she shakes. A knife, another shake.

"Looks like you have just begun your lessons."

"Yeah, yeah." Frustrated, he holds up the whole bag towards Shepard. She rummages through the bag, eventually pulling out the trobor.

How was he supposed to know that was what she wanted?

With the trobor in hand, Shepard makes short work of the lights. Lyisnal looks delighted as the flickering stops. "Are you two hungry? It's time for dinner."

Grunt shakes his head, but Shepard nods. Lyisnal offers Shepard a hand up. She takes it.

A short walk outside and they're at yet another building. Why does every building serve a single function? Did humans not understand how to build connecting infrastructure? As they walk inside the cafeteria Grunt relaxes seeing the lone salarian amongst a sea of humans. Orrin's plate is half cleared as the two are handed their own plates. She's clearly in a rush.

Shepard points at Orrin, then at her food. "What?" The salarian looks down confusedly, then at the food in her hand. "Oh, I have to eat quickly. One of the humans needs to be prepped for surgery, and seeing how I'm the only person here who has ever performed surgery of any kind on any human, I need to hurry."

Grunt rolls his eyes, before setting another roll on Orrin's plate.

"What is this for?"

"You're going to be up late."

"How did-"

"When you got like this while taking care of She-t you would stay up all night." He picks up the bread and waves it in front of her mouth. "Take the bread. You're going to need it."

Orrin takes the bread without a fight. She blinks slowly as if trying to memorize his face in this moment. "Thank you Grunt."

"Don't mention it."

Shepard laughs. Orrin smiles. "Yes, I think he really means it as well."

"You two think you're smart."

"We think you're smart too Grunt," Orrin swears, patting Shepard's shoulder as she stands. "Take care you two. I'll be back to the ship late tonight."

With Orrin's departure, Kano and Lyisnal join them. There goes his appetite. The two start to list off what needs fixing. Shepard grabs a pen and a piece of paper from Kano, and starts taking down notes. The list of issues is long, and exhausting. Will they be able to fix everything before they have to go?

If they can't then the colony will just have to do without.

Shepard already looks tired. Her eyes are starting to sag. The skin on her hands is starting to flake. Her shoulders are lower than normal by several centimeters. It's been a long time since Shepard was off the ship. She hasn't even been able to properly work out in months, and Lyisnal has been making her walk back and forth all over the place.

Another affront from the asari.

"We'll get started on those tomorrow." Grunt states as he takes another bite. Lyisnal looks disappointed but quickly hides it behind a polite smile. Kano doesn't even attempt to hide his disappointment.

"I understand that you must be tired, but if you could, would you be willing to teach some of our people how to do some basic fixes? With no access to the extranet we have no immediate ways to learn these skills."

"I think that could pose a problem, Kano, after all She-t does not speak."

"But surely-"

"Kano, don't be rude." Lyisnal taps her fork against her plate. The single ring silences her human companion, but only for a second.

Kano mumbles to himself, "But we'll be screwed once they leave and everything starts to break down again."

Grunt rolls his eyes. He looks back at Shepard. Her plate is empty, and the paper is full. They don't have any more business here. With a sharp look, he announces, "We're leaving."

Shepard nods, agreeing that it's time.

Of course, that couldn't be all. As the pair rise and leave, Lyisnal follows after them. Perdictable, and frustrating. Was she a tick, determined to suck away all of Shepard's life and time?

"Allow me to apologize on Kano's behalf. He means well. These people are his family after all. I'm sure you understand, correct?"

Shepard nods. Grunt braces a hand against her back, and pushes her along. Whatever he means it isn't their problem.

As they step back onto their ship, Shepard lets out a long sigh. She starts to undo her disguise. He quickly slams the ship's door shut.

"It's frustrating, not saying a damn word."

"If you start talking then they'll recognize you."

"How else am I supposed to teach them?" Shepard asks as she heads for the pilot's seat. Grunt runs past her and double-checks the windows. They're still in security mode. Shepard can look out of them, but no one will see her inside. Good.

"They can just watch you." He answers, pushing himself off of the console.

"Then how am I supposed to answer their questions?" She drops herself unceremoniously into the chair.

"You don't."

"Grunt if people try to work on wires incorrectly, they can die. If they don't fasten larger equipment, pipes, or gears properly; they can die."

"If they stay outside too long, they die." He starts heading for the back of the ship. Where did he put his gun? "They're humans, they die easily."

"But we can prevent that."

He spins around slamming a foot down. "At the cost of your safety!"

She's leaning back, one leg crossed over the other. Her eyes are distant as she stares outside. "Grunt my life is not more important than those of the colonists."

"Yes it is!" Of course it is! "Why are you risking yourself!" After everything they went through to get her back. All those nights when he thought she was going to die and she still wants to risk everything for strangers!

"This is hardly a risk. They can't even communicate with the rest of the galaxy."

"And what about when they can?" How long until they tell Hackett that Shepard is alive and not on Earth? What will the surviving batarians do to her?

What will the humans try and do to her?

"I'm a grown woman, Grunt." Shepard finally looks at him. Her eyes are set in stone. "I make my own decisions."

"And your decisions always send you into the line of fire!" He throws a hand out. Why can't she see that?!

She stands glaring him down. "That's my job Grunt!"

"Wrex told you to live!"

Shepard shakes her head. She turns away from him, and sits back down in her chair. Grunt climbs the ladder, and braces himself against the wall on the second floor. Straight across from her, watching her as she refuses to look at him.

He needs to destroy something.

His hands rip a pillow off of one of the beds and throws it across the ship. It soars, smacking against the windows. Shepard still doesn't turn around, and the soft landing was unsatisfying.

Grunt slams his hand against the wall. It dents. In here he's strong. Too strong. The ship can only take so much, but out there he feels so trapped. Restrained. If Shepard wasn't injured or on the run he wouldn't have to watch himself around Lyisnal like that. He could tell her off, and do what he wants.

But Shepard needs him.

And Shepard wants to help.

Grunt lets his head hang and close his eyes. "What if we record the lessons?"

"What?"

"You tell me what needs to be said and we record them. You have a list of what needs to be worked on."

A soft, proud smile spreads across her face. "That could work if I knew what the exact causes of these issues were. However, I won't know until I see them."

"And you need your rest tonight."

"I thought you wouldn't like the idea of us looking at everything tonight and planning lessons after."

"I don't." Shepard nods. Their options are dwindling. There's only one way to solve this. "Then I'll answer their questions."

"What?"

"I won't know what's wrong just by looking at them, but I've been learning too. I'll have questions. Lyisnal knows that too. So it won't be weird for you to write out the answers to me, then I'll read them out to the rest."

"That could work."

Shepard head falls back against the chair as she smiles up at him. Her eyes are half-lidded as she fights off the urge to sleep. Could she even walk like this?

Grunt wraps a hand around her back. "Come on." He moves her forward, practically lifting her. Shepard to her credit, doesn't push back or argue. She walks, and when she wobbles he catches her.

"I'm not a child, Grunt."

"No, but you're still hurt."

"Yeah," Shepard concedes sounding distant. "Yeah, I guess I am."

It takes minutes but she does make it to bed. He picks up the blanket and she lies down. Once she's down he stretches the fabric over her. Shepard's eyes drift shut as he tucks the blanket under her.

Humans are so fragile.

He misses the days when Shepard seemed impossibly strong.

Back then he wouldn't have to worry about some asari hurting her. She could handle anything. Now he's not so sure.

Thank you to everyone who has commented on this story. Each one has helped to keep this story in my mind and bring me back to it. I'm sorry it took so long, and I hope you enjoyed this new chapter.

Chapter 11 is already started.