Second Chances(A Mass Effect Fan fiction)

At Long Last, A Cure

As Shelby and her team stood at the base of the arena surrounding the shroud, they heard the familiar noise of Turian wing Artimec flying overhead. The pilots had come back to distract the Reaper so that Shelby could get into the shroud with Mordin. Once Artimec had flown over their heads, Shelby ordered Garrus and Liara back to the truck to wait for her before running straight for the Shroud.

Shelby wasn't more than a few strides along before the ground began to tremble so much that she had to stop and brace herself against a wall as she watched the dirt stir. Kalros had heard the hammers Shelby and her team had risked their lives to get started, and the huge Threshermaw was coming in hot to protect her grounds.

Kalros shot out of the ground much faster than you'd expect of her due to her massive size, spreading her finger-like mouth tentacles and collided with the Reaper that barely had time to fight back as Kalros latched onto the middle curve of it and tugged the reaper down back into the hole Kalros had come out of. It was certainly a sight to be seen, and for a split second, Shelby wished she could rewind to see a replay. The reaper had been effortlessly threatening the whole planet, offing anything and anyone in its way, but it only took a territorial Threshermaw two seconds to take it down.

'I wonder if we could figure out how to make a threshermaw gun to fire at the reapers on Earth. This war would be done by the end of the week at that rate.' Shelby couldn't help but amuse herself with the thought before she hurried into the shroud with Mordin not far ahead of her.

"Mordin, is the cure ready?"

"Yes. Loaded for dispersal in two minutes. Procedure traumatic for Eve, but not lethal. Maelon's research invaluable." Mordin rushed out as he continued typing away on the terminal he'd stopped at.

"She's okay?" Shelby asked with a pleasant surprise.

"Headed to safety now. Her survival fortunate. Will stabilize new government if Wrex would get any ideas. Good match. Promising future for Krogan." Mordin confirmed as a piece of rubble came flying down from somewhere at the top of the tower.

Shelby threw her arm up and turned her shoulder towards the impact to shield her head. "Damn!"

"Control room at top of shroud tower. Must take elevator up." Mordin stated and started walking to the elevator.

"You're going up there?? Mordin, that's suicide!" Shelby said as she followed him.

Mordin stopped and turned at the top of the stairs. "Have to. Manual access required. Must counteract STG sabotage. Ensure cure dispersed properly."

"This entire tower is falling apart, there's got to be another way!" Shelby exclaimed from the bottom of the short flight of steps.

Mordin shook his head. "Remote bypass impossible. STG countermeasures in place. No time to adjust cure for temperature variance." Mordin lowered his head in thought for just a moment. "No. No other option. Not coming back. Suggest you get clear, Shepard. Explosions likely to be problematic." Mordin said and got into the elevator.

"Mordin, no!" Shelby said as she stepped closer.

"Shelby, please. Need to do this. My project. My work. My cure. My responsibility." Mordin closed his eyes and took a breath before looking back to Shelby. "Would have liked to have run tests on the seashells."

Shelby's heart broke a little as she remembered one of her favorite conversations with the eccentric Salarian, her posture slacking a bit. "I'm sorry, Mordin."

"I'm not. Had to be me. Someone else might have gotten it wrong." Mordin said with a little proud smile creeping into the corners of his mouth before the elevator door closed and proceeded to go up.

Shelby watched until she couldn't see mordin anymore, straightened her posture and saluted as she held back tears before turning and hurrying out of the Shroud before the whole thing exploded.

Mordin reached the top, the machines screaming at him because of the temperature malfunction. He quickly fixed it, dispersing the cure and stepped back with a proud smile. "Genophage cured. Krogan free. New beginning....for all of us."

Back on the ground, Shelby stood at the base of the Shroud, watching as the top of the tower let the cure loose into the air, and exploded right after it finished. The trucks pulled up behind her as she looked at the particles of cure soaking into the palm of her glove, Shelby closing her hand and dropping it back to her side as she looked back up to the top of the Shroud.

Wrex and Eve got out of the truck, Garrus and Liara not far behind them. Shelby wordlessly headed back to the truck, Garrus turning around to follow her, Liara following suit as the three of them got back into the truck. Liara mostly closed the door as Shelby plopped into a seat, Garrus sitting next to her as she bent over to put her forearms on her knees.

"Shel?" Liara asked, trying to break the silence as she took her seat.

Garrus put a hand on Shelby's shoulder. "I hate losing people." Shelby finally stated, Garrus wrapping an arm around her shoulders and rubbing her forearm, as Liara bowed her head a bit, Wrex and Eve finally rejoining them and the truck took off.

**

"Come on Shepard." Wrex requested once the truck stopped and led the way into the complex they had started their day in. Everyone got out, Shelby following behind Wrex and Eve. "A long time ago, my father betrayed me in this place. His own son. He tried to kill me. So I had to kill him...Right over there. That's what the genophage reduced us to. Animals. But you changed that today, Shepard." Wrex told her and stopped to face Shelby.

"Now we'll fight for all of our children. Not against them. It's just a pity that Mordin had to die." Eve added.

"He wouldn't have had it any other way." Shelby started and walked over to railing that she leaned against. "And I'm sure wherever he is...he's putting in a good word for us."

"Don't beat yourself up, Shelby. It's war, the death of friends is inevitable. And no matter how much you try, you can't control it." Wrex calmly reminded her, Shelby nodding her head before pushing off of the railing to face the group again. "We'll name one of the kids after him. Maybe a girl." Wrex said with a little laugh, making Shelby flash a half-smile before Eve spoke up.

"But you, commander, we can thank you in person."

"Tell the Turians I'll be deploying troops to Palaven immediately. And when you're ready to kick the Reapers off Earth, you let me know. The Krogan are back in business."

"Goodbye, Commander." Eve said and shook Shelby's hand.

"What will you do now?" Shelby asked.

"Spread the hope you gave us. Even now, there are clans gathering in the Kelphic Valley. I'll go speak to them and make sure this gift isn't squandered. Thank you for all that you've done. And know that Urdnot Bakara calls you a friend."

"Thank you." Shelby said with a slight nod before turning and making her way back to the Normandy to update Admiral Hackett.

**

"I'll start managing Turian support right away, Shepard. You must be exhausted. Mordin dying...I know it can't be easy." Garrus said as Shelby leaned over the war table as Primarch Victus was walking away.

"I'll sleep when I'm dead." Shelby said flatly as she looked over their war resources.

"We both know you need a clear head to win a war. There's no room for mistakes here. You should catch some shut-eye." Garrus pointed out, starting a bit firmly. "I'll make sure Joker doesn't launch any suicide missions." He joked a bit, Shelby still looking over the war table.

"Shel, don't think I won't pick you up and carry you to your quarters..." Garrus said, waited for a moment and sighed. "One, two, three...." He warned and started to grab Shelby's waist on three, finally diverting her attention from the table to Garrus with a little chuckle.

"Okay, okay! I'll go!" She said as she dodged him and started to walk towards the war room door.

"Thank you!" Garrus said before she was out of the room.