Aftermath

Chapter 20

"We're approaching the rendezvous coordinates Captain," Joker's voice said over the com.

Shepard was sitting on the edge of the bed, pulling her boots on. "Roger that Joker, we'll be right there." Shepard glanced over at Liara. She had her back to her, snapping the latches on her jacket. The memories of their recent bonding both metal and physical came flooding back and Shepard smiled.

As tumultuous as the last few weeks had been for them, she felt as if some real healing was beginning. She'd known Liara was holding back. Had been holding back since her first escape from death, when they met again on Illium. She'd guessed at what was haunting her long ago. But pushing issues with Liara had never been a successful tact. The Asari was young and still needed to find her way through her emotions on her own. Shepard could only stand through the storms when they arrived, knowing they'd both be stronger once they passed. In truth, Liara had been so focused on being there for Shepard over the last few weeks that she took it as a good sign that the tables had turned slightly. Maybe they were making progress. Maybe they were moving forward. Maybe there was a future beyond the war.

"How did you know?" Liara's voice broke into her musing.

Shepard stood and walked over to her, wrapping her arms around her from behind and resting her chin on the Asari's shoulder. "How did I know what?"

"Earlier, you said you knew what I'd been feeling since Illium." Liara turned so she could see Shepard's profile. "How did you know?"

"You mean how did I know without you sharing it when we were joined?"

Liara looked regretful for having held something so important back when Shepard had laid out all of her pains and misgivings to her. She nodded.

Shepard smiled and placed a soft kiss on Liara's cheek. "You don't get to be the Savior of the Galaxy without knowing a little bit about reading people's emotions."

Liara looked embarrassed. "I suppose not. I'm sorry."

Shepard turned her in her arms so she could look into her eyes. "Liara don't. Nothing about the last four years has been remotely easy. What matters to me now is that we're ok."

Liara smiled softly and nodded. She kissed Shepard fleetingly. "We're ok."

###

Shepard and Liara joined Ashley in the cockpit looking out over Joker's shoulder. Traynor was seated in the co-pilot's seat, monitoring for any communications to intercept.

"Report?" Shepard asked.

"We're just outside the coordinates. No ships on the scanners," Joker answered.

"No traces of Redeemer signature communication," Traynor added.

"Now we wait," Shepard said.

"I prefer 'now we drink'," Joker countered.

"Now we wait... quietly," Shepard amended, giving him a stern look.

"Great. Miranda brought you back this time without a sense of humor. Perfect," he mumbled.

They didn't have to wait long. A ship dropped out of FTL soon after, setting Joker's sensors on alert. Shepard, Ashley and Liara leaned forward to get a closer look.

"Turian Cruiser, M-Class," Joker informed them.

"If you want to blend into the crowd that's the ship you want. It's the most common class of small FTL ships out there," Liara added. She should know. She had her own parked back at the Citadel.

"No distinguishing marks or signatures," Joker informed them.

"A little carbon scoring but that's nothing unusual these days," Ashley added.