Preamble: This short story is a fanfic based around the relationship you have with Liara in Mass Effect 1. It assumes that Liara was rescued first, Feros has been freed from the Thorian followed by Noveria and now Virmire has just been completed. It carries on the story from what happened to this point in game as well as the events detailed in my previous short fanfics, Captivated, Patience and Sorrow, which I recommend you read before reading this. However they're not absolutely required and each short story should be suitable for reading by itself.

From this point there aren't specific romance conversations. It's a rollercoaster of story progression leading from the escape from Virmire right up to heading to Ilos. Everything should fit in comfortably in the considerable amount of free space around the events portrayed.

These fanfics are intended to act as additions to the story as a way of further adding to the romance between Shepard and Liara but not to change its basis in any way. If you spot a major inconsistency with the rest of the story then feel free to point it out and I'll do some revisions. Enjoy!

Decisions

Naomi stood silent on the storage deck, just staring at where she had seen the explosion of the facility being vaporised. Garrus walked up behind her and spoke softly.

"Commander?"

She didn't respond. He raised his voice.

"Commander?"

Naomi turned and barged past him before hesitating in the middle of the storage area and pulling off her helmet. Nobody dared to say anything as she looked at it for a moment as if she'd never seen it before and then hurled it at the Mako, the throw boosted by her biotics to such a force that the helmet cracked against the metal plating. Without glancing at anyone she stalked towards the elevator.

"Shepard!" called out Garrus, moving to go after her but Tali caught his arm and just shook her head as the door closed.

Liara looked around. Wrex was sullenly taking his shotgun apart for cleaning. Ashley was slumped in a corner, not speaking to anyone. Tali and Garrus were in a heated, whispered argument. Kirrahe and his team were debriefing whilst Dr. Chakwas treated some of the injured salarians. The atmosphere was so tense you could have cut it with a knife. Liara calmly placed her weapons into her locker and pulled at the straps and latches to disassemble her armour before storing that as well. Not bothering to change out of the armour underlay into her normal clothes she went over to call the elevator back. When it arrived Naomi's weapons were scattered on the floor, Liara gathered them up and headed for the second deck where she deposited them into the arms of a surprised marine and told him to store them for the Commander.

She was a little apprehensive when she knocked on the door of Naomi's cabin. There was no reply. After a few moments of debating with herself she opened the door anyway and entered, nearly tripping over Naomi's armour which was strewn over the floor. Naomi was sitting at the desk by her bed, also still wearing her one-piece armour bodysuit, staring at a dataslate in one hand and idly pulling at the material where it had bunched slightly around her knees with the other. She gave no indication that she noticed Liara had come in.

"Commander?" she tried, but there was no response. She took a step closer and noticed Naomi was watching a replay of the explosion which took the facility. "Shepard?"

Naomi dropped the slate onto the desk and put her head in her hands. Liara walked over to her and softly rested her hands on Naomi's shoulders.

"Naomi… about Kaidan…"

Naomi didn't turn. "Lieutenant Alenko died heroically in battle against enemies of the Alliance. He died in a way any Alliance marine would be proud of, doing his duty and giving his life to save his comrades," she said, in a low voice void of all emotion. Liara took a few steps back and leaned against the wall waiting for more. When it evidently wasn't coming she spoke again.

"Naomi…talk to me…I can tell you do not really believe that."

At that Naomi stood up and turned with fire in her eyes, her fists bunched.

"Damn right I don't believe that. He shouldn't have died at all, he shouldn't have had to and it was entirely my fault that he did. But what the fuck else am I going to write for his record and the report? What the hell can I say other than that meaningless crap?" She slumped down onto the bed, staring at the ceiling before continuing in a quieter voice. "After the Blitz…I promised to myself that I'd do better. Sometimes people die, that's what happens when you're a soldier. Like Jenkins on Eden Prime, he was a victim of circumstance. Could have been me, could have been Kaidan, it was Jenkins. There was nothing I could do about him. But on Virmire…I chose the sacrificial lamb there. That one I can't blame on the fortunes of war. My crew, damn it, my fucking crew."

Liara made her way around the bed and gently lifted Naomi up before sitting down and lowering Naomi's head back down into her lap. She started to run her fingers through Naomi's short red hair.

"Naomi. You had to make those decisions. The Lieutenant was a good leader and the natural choice to work with the salarians. Then you had to decide whether to try to rescue him or to go back to the bomb and to rescue Chief Williams. Now tell me, did you make the right call?"

"I…I just don't know…if I…"

"Naomi," said Liara sternly, frowning and leaning over slightly to stare directly at her. "Look at me. Was it the right thing to do? Just tell me yes or no."

Naomi shifted uncomfortably for a moment, but couldn't tear her gaze away from Liara's penetrating blue eyes. Her body went limp as the tension instantly drained and she nodded, holding Liara's gaze. "Yes. I had to go back. I had to be certain the bomb would go off or it would have all been for nothing."

Liara smiled sadly and resumed playing with Naomi's hair. "Then that is your answer. It was your decision, yes. But it was the right decision and you had to make it. All of us know the risks we are taking…Kaidan knew those risks. And he accepted them. You have nothing to feel guilty over. It was Saren who killed him, not you."

"But what am I going to say about…"

"Say that he died heroically in battle, giving his life to save us."

Naomi smiled weakly. "Coming from you, somehow I believe it."

"That is because it's the truth," replied Liara simply. Naomi closed her eyes for a few minutes, resting peacefully. Eventually she looked up at Liara again.

"I ought to get to work. I need to write a quick report for the Council and then we have to debrief sometime within the next hour or so." Naomi pulled herself into a sitting position. "Not that I wasn't enjoying that…but there's too much to do."

Liara stood up and made to leave but Naomi quickly stood and caught her arm.

"Liara…I…thanks."

In response Liara wrapped her arms around Naomi. "You promised me that you would be there if I needed you. It is only fair that I'm here for you when you need me." She released Naomi and, hesitating briefly, leaned in and kissed her cheek before turning a deep shade of blue in a sudden blush as she realised what she was doing. "I will speak to you later, Naomi." And with that Liara hurried from the room.

Naomi just stood there, dazed for a moment by Liara's spontaneous gesture, before slowly reaching up a hand to touch where the beautiful asari had kissed.

Liara shook her head as she passed through the medical bay, her cheeks still tinged dark, muttering to herself. "I shouldn't have, I shouldn't."

She sat down heavily when she reached her desk and stared at the door. What was wrong with her? She'd told Naomi that they both had to put their feelings aside for the mission so what on Thessia was she thinking, acting like that?

A mistake, she told herself. One that she really shouldn't repeat. The last thing she wanted was to let her feelings interfere with the important work that she and Naomi had to do, that all of them had to do. She had already made that decision, calmly and objectively. It was the best way, keeping emotions out of it was the right thing to do. It was embarrassing to be caught out like that; waiting until it was all over was right.

So why did it all feel so wrong? It hurt her to keep blocking everything out like she had been. And no matter how hard she tried her heart skipped whenever she felt Naomi looking at her. And seeing her like that...she couldn't help herself. Had she come to the wrong conclusion? Was trying to hide her feelings and encouraging Naomi to do the same just making things worse?

Or perhaps it was the right thing and she just wasn't strong enough to do it. What she was feeling was stronger than anything she'd ever felt before. She wasn't just infatuated, she was almost obsessed. Naomi was constantly in her thoughts, even in her dreams. It was like a physical ache that got worse when she was with Naomi. Could she just not resist?

"You know better than this, T'soni. We simply cannot afford these kind of distractions," she said out loud and shook her head to clear it. "Now behave yourself."

She stood and started to remove her amour's bodysuit to get changed, the debriefing session would be starting as soon as Naomi finished her report.

The melding during the debrief had been exhausting, and the content as disturbing as ever, but Liara was feeling a little better again now that she'd had a chance to lie down for a while. Now they had a strong lead to go on, Ilos…whatever the Conduit was it would be found on Ilos through the Mu relay. So that's where they needed go to next to chase down Saren, ideally with some support from the Council.

Liara had just sat down to work again when Naomi walked in, clearly concerned for her after the shock of the meld. She reassured Naomi and the two of them chatted for a little while about Saren and Virmire but her heart wasn't really in it. "Let's not spend every free minute talking about Saren. It is bad enough we are chasing him across half the galaxy."

Naomi shuffled her feet for a moment, uncertainly; then they both started speaking.

"Naomi, about earlier…"

"Liara, I wanted to say…"

They both stopped and smiled. Naomi gestured to Liara who nodded in thanks before putting on a sombre expression.

"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have done that. Earlier I mean. We agreed to put our personal feelings aside but I just could not help myself and I fear..."

Naomi took Liara's hands in hers. "Liara, please stop. We both already know how important this mission is. And I know we need to focus on it. But don't ever regret a good thing."

"But Naomi, there's so much at stake here."

"I know. But look at it this way. Virmire hurt me, badly. You saw me afterwards, you know that already. I felt as if I'd let everyone down, it felt like echoes of the Blitz again. However you came to me and you brought me out of that. And if you hadn't done that then I might still be there now, just watching that recording. I certainly wouldn't have been able to bring Ashley out of her guilt during that debrief if you hadn't helped me with mine."

Liara bowed her head, embarrassed. "All I did was…"

"It doesn't matter what it was," interrupted Naomi, gently lifting Liara's head back up with one hand. "What matters is that you helped me. I can't do any of this without you, Liara."

They stood, staring at each other for a moment. Then Naomi turned to the door. "I ought to go and get us on course for the Citadel. They should have my expanded report by now. At the very least we'll need to resupply before our next move."

"Yes, Commander. We…we can carry this on later."

Naomi glanced over her shoulder. "We will do, Liara. I promise," and, flashing a quick smile, she left.

The meeting with the Council had most definitely not gone well. The Council had claimed that the Reapers were just part of Saren's deception and were unwilling to go anywhere near the Terminus Systems for the Mu relay in fear of war. Naomi had been furious and intended to go by herself until they'd stopped even that from happening by grounding the Normandy. And then, just a sliver of hope, Captain Anderson had contacted her asking to meet and he had a plan.

Naomi nodded to Anderson as she made her way from his table and headed out of Flux. Although she had tentatively agreed to his plan to break into Udina's office to authorise the release of the Normandy she still wasn't sure. It was risky, mutiny even. If she went along with this she'd be putting everyone on her crew, not to mention Anderson, in danger.

But on the other hand what other choice was there? The bloody Council wouldn't listen and her ship had been locked out. This was the only way she could follow Saren. Or at least the only readily available possibility, and there was hardly time to mess around trying to find another way.

She found that she had walked as far as the med clinic without realising, Garrus and Liara trailing behind. Anderson was under the impression she was simply finishing up business, so she might as well keep that impression up while she thought.

"Ok, let's get things wrapped up as quickly as possible. We can't wait around forever, Anderson is waiting for us to let him know when we're ready," she said, turning to her two companions. "I need to think about how to do this, can you see if Doctor Michel has anything we might find useful?"

Without waiting for a response she turned back and leaned on the rail, staring into space. Behind her Liara touched Garrus on the arm and gestured towards the med clinic. He nodded in Naomi's direction and Liara just smiled and nodded back. At that he turned to the door and went into the med clinic.

Liara looked around; the two of them were alone in this quiet corner of the wards. She came up alongside Naomi and leaned on the rail next to her.

"Is there something wrong?"

"Nothing…"

"Naomi…"

"Can we really risk this?" Naomi burst out. "It's breaking all the rules, I could be court-martialled…everyone could…well probably not everyone but certainly the crew and Anderson. And I doubt the Council is likely to be too impressed if it all turns out to be rubbish. This could get everyone in trouble…this could get you in trouble…being involved in stealing the most advanced Alliance ship isn't going to go down well regardless of who you are."

"I don't care, Naomi. This is important."

In response Naomi snorted with derision. "You wouldn't think that listening to those bastards. I should just leave them to it. See how they like a geth fleet being shoved down their throats with whatever this damn Conduit thing is."

Liara laughed and glanced sidelong at her. "You don't really mean that."

Naomi shook her head with a mirthless grin. "No, I don't. But I just get so angry sometimes. You try to play by the rules and follow the boundaries. Maybe bend them a little, but never break them. And you just get it all thrown back at you by a bunch of politicians who haven't got a clue and won't listen. I don't know if I can bring myself to risk everyone over this."

Liara stood up straight again, turned to face the troubled Spectre and spoke softly. "If it's the right thing to do then you should do it." Naomi looked up at her sharply at that.

"But the Council…"

"…haven't seen what you've seen…what we've seen, Commander," finished Liara plainly. "I trust you. The crew trusts you. If you think the right thing to do is to go after Saren then I will follow, and so will all of the others. Whatever the consequences might be."

"I don't want…"

"…it doesn't matter," she insisted. "It's too important. All of it is too important. We have to do something, if we just let things stand in our way…"

Naomi stood up and stood face to face with Liara, smiling gently. "What's got into you, so fiery all of a sudden?" Liara's eyes were glistening with tears and Naomi's smile disappeared and she drew the asari into a hug. "Hey, hey, what's wrong?"

"It's been so hard," Liara replied, unable to keep it in anymore, tears rolling down her face onto Naomi's shoulder. "I didn't want to be a distraction to you and risk our work. So I tried to keep it all buried, all my feelings, and stay professional. I made all these rules for myself to keep things that way. It hurt but I was trying to do the right thing for you for the good of the galaxy. But now… all that effort is just pointless because of the whims of just a few people. By the Goddess, the stupidity...they don't want to understand or even want to consider the risks; they just want to hide from the real dangers so they don't have to face them. And now…"

"…and now we're going to try to save them from the threat anyway," cut in Naomi, pushing Liara away a little and looking directly into her eyes. "You're right Liara. I can't believe I've even been having second thoughts. They're stupid and ignorant and everything else you want to call them. And sticking with their rules and regulations might well get them all killed. I like to think that I'm a good person and that breaking the rules isn't to be done lightly, but if it's a choice between being trapped within the boundaries or doing the right thing then I'm going to choose the latter every time. Besides…" She grinned. "…I'm a Spectre, right? Aren't we all about working by 'whatever means necessary'? I think I'm due a little rule breaking with what a good girl I've been."

Liara laughed despite herself. Naomi leaned forward, until her forehead was touching Liara's, her eyes closed. Her breath was soft against Liara's skin as she whispered "And speaking of rule breaking…"

Their lips touched. Liara's eyes briefly went wide before they closed as she lost herself in the kiss. Each of them were absorbed in the sensations…the firm caress of Naomi's arms around Liara and the soft touch of their lips and the gentle interplay as their tongues each explored the other. Both drank in the scent and taste of their love.

After what felt like an eternity they broke away from each other holding hands, and just stared into each other's eyes until they were brought out of their reverie by a cough. Naomi instinctively wrapped her arms around Liara protectively until she realised what she was doing and released her quickly. Liara turned almost purple in embarrassment at having been caught out.

"Sorry if I interrupted anything but I've ordered a few things that might be useful, Commander," said Garrus apologetically. "I didn't like to break in but…if you want to get out of here it should probably be sooner rather than later and…" He looked back and forth between the acutely embarrassed asari and the biotic Spectre glaring at him with eyes so narrow they were almost slits. Then he raised his hands into the air. "Look, I surrender. I'm not going to say anything, please don't smear me against the wall or tear me apart with your minds or anything."

At that the tension diffused. Liara broke out into giggles and Naomi relaxed, smiling wanly with a sight sigh. "It's ok, Garrus. Relax. I'm just a bit…"

"…protective, I can see that. And a friendly word of advice, if you don't want it public then standing in the middle of the Wards locked together isn't the best way to go about that. Regardless, I'm your friend you two. I'm not going to be giving your secrets away."

Naomi came over and gave him a quick hug. "Thanks, Garrus."

"So," he continued, his hands lowered once more. "Shall we get going? I believe there's some crazy turian waiting for the business end of my rifle."

Naomi glanced at Liara who nodded once. "Yes, I think we're ready now. Come on you two, time to get out of here, find Saren and give him hell." And with that she strode purposefully back in the direction of Flux.