Aftermath

Chapter 6

The pain in Shepard's side was excruciating but it paled in comparison to her impatience. She paced awkwardly, stopping to stare down from the high window of the tower she now found herself in, then paced again. The Commandos had left her in a secure room in one of the towers near the temple. The room was sparse but elegantly decorated. Shepard wanted to rip it apart.

She stopped by the window again, arms at her sides, fists clenched, staring unseeing into the bright sunlight. She replayed the last moments of action again in her mind. The feeling of her fists crushing the Asari Redeemer. Liara looking at her, looking at a Quarian, a stranger. The imperceptible something that triggered her into action, diving at Liara with everything she had only to feel herself being flung against the wall and crashing to the ground.

She had blacked out but only for a moment. She tried to contact Oriana to let her know what had happened but her com link was dead. Everything around you dies, a voice in the back of her mind said. She shut her eyes hard against the thought and wished she could rub her face through the infernal Quarian mask.

She heard the sound of the door open and several sets of footsteps coming in. Commandos she surmised and when they stopped behind her, she turned. There were two Commandos guarding the door but standing a mere few meters in front of her was Liara herself. Shepard's mouth went dry.

Liara remained silent a long moment, arms folded, studying the Quarian in front of her. Finally she said, "You knew of the Redeemer threat when you came here today?"

Shepard nodded, not trusting herself to speak.

"How did you come by this information?"

Shepard remained silent, as much muted by the nearness of Liara as the situation at hand. Receiving no answer, Liara shifted tactics and began to pace contemplatively, her confident, Shadow Broker persona firmly in place. Shepard watched her, a smile tempting her behind her mask.

"Ok," she said smoothly. "Let's start over. What is your name?"

After a moment, Shepard folded her arms, tilted her head to one side and nodded towards the Commando guards. "If we can speak in private I'll tell you everything you want to know," she heard her own altered voice say.

Liara looked thoughtful for a moment. "You've saved my life twice today so I suppose I can trust you not try anything further."

The Quarian chuckled and then grabbed her side in pain. "If I do I have no doubt you can defend yourself."

Liara nodded to the guards to leave. They snapped to attention, "As you command Dr. T'soni," and they departed.

And then they were alone.

"So tell me," Liara began again, "who are you and what are you doing on Thessia?"

Shepard dropped her hand from her side and turned back to the window, looking out over Thessia, a place she thought was lost not so long ago. The nine months in the darkness felt like years. Fighting. Fighting to get to this moment.

"I knew a beautiful Asari once," she began quietly, her back still to Liara "and I made her a promise."

Liara took a few wary steps closer. "What kind of promise?" she asked.

Shepard looked out into the daylight a moment, then taking a breath, she removed her face mask and spoke with her own voice. "I promised to always come back."

Liara didn't move. Didn't breathe. Shepard turned towards her, the hood of her suit still shadowing her face. Her eyes searched Liara's face for a reaction, hoping to discern where she stood. She felt as if her own sanity were teetering in the balance.