Curious Jealousy- a F!Shenko Fic

Chapter Fourteen: I'm No Savior

Shepard wished that her life was simpler.

Oh, she didn't say that to anyone or let it show, but it didn't change the fact that it was true. She wasn't quite sure where simple was supposed to start. Maybe Elysium should have been the most complicated thing she should have experienced- no completing her N training, no Normandy...

No, she couldn't wish that experience away- that would mean no Kaidan.

None the less, she couldn't believe she was getting ready to go feet down on Sur'kesh (with Wrex) and saving a fertile Krogan female (and she was pretty- internally- thrilled to see her first female Krogan). She was going to be the one to organize the Genophage cure.

"So what's the count, Shepard?" Wrex asked, pulling her from her thoughts.

"Of what?"

Wrex gave her a wide smile (personally, she thought it was disconcerting and almost frightening to see him grin). "Of what you're the savior of."

As Shepard groaned, Garrus chuckled, "Elysium, the Citadel, the Terminus system, the Normandy, and now she's working on the Krogan and Turians."

"So five," Liara added helpfully.

"I'm not the savior of anything, I-"

"You forgot Feros, Terra Nova, and that one district in Omega, so that's eight," Liara interrupted.

Shepard shook her head. "I was just doing my job- that just makes me an efficient marine, not a hero."

Wrex chuckled and gave her a hearty pat on the back (forcing the air from her lungs). "Now you're uniting the Krogan and Turian's."

Garrus flexed his mandibles in, what Shepard had long ago decided was, a smirk. "What're you going to do next, Shepard, unite the Quarian's and the Geth?"

Shepard threw a dirty look toward Garrus. "I resent that- Legion and Tali worked together reasonably well in the end."

Garrus chuckled and looked over to Liara. "What she hasn't told everyone is that she's trying to figure out how to broker peace with the Reaper's."

Relenting, she, too, chuckled. "That'd be nice, I can hear it now: Commander Shepard, honored war hero and inter-galactic peacekeeper, ends war with the Reapers with words, not bullets."

Joker chuckled over the comm. "Want me to tell Allers so she can begin prepping the story, Commander?"

With a look of horror that had Wrex, Liara, and Garrus laughing, she said, "Absolutely not. If you do that, I'll tell her about the cameras in her cabin that you like to watch."

There was a slight pause. "You wouldn't," he gasped.

"Oh, but I would," she answered gleefully.

"Hardass," he grumbled.

"Smartass," she responded with a smirk.

Shepard looked at the female Krogan behind the glass in contemplation. She found it extremely noble that she had been willing to sacrifice her own life so that, even if she died and never gave birth, the Krogan may eventually have children without the curse of the Genophage. The Krogan- no, the woman- before her was a true hero.

"You don't know me, Commander- why would you want to help me?" she asked, her voice deep, but still a higher pitch than a male Krogan's.

Why?

As she looked at the Krogan, she realized that it went deeper than uniting the Krogan and Turians, it was about her helping her people. "But I'd like to know you," Shepard admitted honestly. "Just let me help you."

As Shepard, Liara, and Garrus made their way through the facility, Garrus stopped them and turned to Shepard with a strange look on his face. "That female is a lot like you," he informed her.

Shepard shoved his against a near wall as a shower of bullets exploded from further down the hall. "Oh?" she asked as she switched to disruptor rounds in her Mattock.

"She's willing to sacrifice herself for her people- only difference is, you're willing to sacrifice yourself for everyone," he explained as he leaned out of cover to shoot a Guardian."

Sighing, she shook her head and worked on taking out an engineer (Why hadn't Cerberus assigned one of the bastards to my team when I went against the Collectors? Those turrets are impressive.). "She's a fighter," she acknowledged with a grunt as the turret caught her by surprise. "She's civilian, which makes her sacrifice and fights better than my own."

Garrus shook his head as they cleared out the Cerberus forces in front of them. "Why do you do that?" he asked in exasperation.

"Do what?" she asked as she went to bypass the controls for the final release of the female.

"Shepard!" Mordin shouted, pounding on the glass. "Behind you. Cerberus forces!"

As she and her squad turned around, a big ass mech (which her HUD named as an Atlas) shook the ground as it landed. They all stared at it for a second before diving into cover.

"Is it just me, or did we get screwed when we worked with them?" Garrus asked as he leaned out from cover with his rifle and began taking out the shields.

"Grenade!" Shepard warned as she chucked a grenade out from her cover. "Sure as hell seems like it," she admitted. The Atlas seemed to stumble and Shepard popped out of cover and began firing at it. It raised its arm and it seemed to begin powering out. Pursing her lips, she mumbled, "Shit," as she rolled from it's firing path as it fired. She felt her right shoulder catch a passing glance of the missile.

"Shepard!" Liara gasped.

"I'm fine," she snapped, slapping some medi-gel on her shoulder. "Focus on that damn mech, we're not losing this Krogan." It was a warning.

Gritting her teeth, she switched to incendiary ammo and began firing as quickly as she could, knowing to duck behind cover when it's arm began powering up. It took a while, but they finally killed the bastard steering the mech and all the other Cerberus minions that accompanied it.

Shepard and her squad went up to meet Wrex, Mordin, and the female. As both Mordin and Wrex held out their hands to her, she looked at them with disdain and stepped out of the pod without help.

"Are you okay? Did they hurt you?" Wrex worried, his voice taking on a tone that Shepard had never heard from him before.

"I'm fine, Wrex," she said, in exasperation.

"Are you-"

She grabbed his shotgun and killed to incoming Cerberus soldiers. After they were dead, she shoved the still smoking shotgun into Wrex's chest. "I can take care of myself," she informed him as she made her way to the shuttle.

Wrex watched her her progress to the shuttle and cleared his throat when he realized everyone was staring at him. "Women," he grumbled, following after her.

With a chuckle, she and her squad made their way to the shuttle as well. Shepard had a feeling that she was going to like the female Krogan.