The shuttle was on its way. Liara was deep in thought; she didn't hear the intercom say one minute to landing. It has been 10 days since she saw Shepard, 10 days since the war with the Reapers ended. 10 days of nothing but death.

It was 10 days ago when she and Garrus were on the ground with Shepard trying to make it to the beam that lead to the Citadel. Liara saw a flash of red light just after that horrible sound the Reapers always made right before firing, a sound she will never forget. She was thrown off of her feet and into a concrete wall. She was lucky enough to have placed a barrier on herself midair, otherwise her injuries may have been worse. It all goes black from there. She woke up to find Garrus leaning over her. And the dreadful sounds of the Reapers and more red beams hitting all around them. Gun fire, flashes of light coming from everywhere. "Shepard! Where is she!" says Liara and she sits up, "Agghh" she screams clutching at her right said as it feels like it has been ripped apart.

"Lie still Liara, or else you are going to bleed out" says Garrus. Liara thinks to herself bleed out what is bleed out. Liara ignores Garrus and asks for Shepard. Garrus makes Liara lie back down. "Liara, you are going to bleed to death if you keep moving around, now lie still!"

Liara has never heard such urgency from Garrus before; she must be in bad shape. She looks up into the sky and sees flashes of light which can only be the ships shooting at each other. "Where is Shepard?"

Garrus answers "I don't know." He is taping something to Liara's side. She winces in pain. "I saw her hit the beam and then the beam disappeared." Liara didn't even see that much. The last thing she remembers is seeing Shepard running toward the beam before she was thrown.

"So she made it. What is happening, did it work?" Just as she finished her question, the red beam that was firing suddenly stopped. The horrible sound the Reapers made also stopped. Gunfire from the soldiers on the ground, seem to slow. A very eerie silence started to develop. Both were afraid to breathe. Garrus stopped taping Liara's side and looked up at the closest Reaper which was about 2 city blocks away from them. The huge machine seemed to stagger a bit, and then slowly, slowly started to fall. It made a huge crashing sound and Garrus and Liara could feel the ground shake. Liara looked around, she could see off in the distance, other Reapers falling as well.

Garrus and Liara looked at each other eyes wide, jaws dropped. They wanted to believe what they were seeing, but could it really be happening? Garrus looked over his shoulder then back to Liara after what seemed a minute and said "She did it. She really did it."

Then they heard it. Cheering. The soldiers that were still alive were cheering and they could hear them. This is when reality hit Liara. "By the Goddess, she did it. It's over Garrus, it's really over."

Garrus had a huge smile on his face; at least it looked like a smile. The Turian had quite a collection of facial scars and sometimes it was hard to tell. He said "Stay here, I am going to get some help. You are in no shape to walk."

Before Liara could protest, Garrus was gone. She just laid there. She touched her hand to her right side and it came away wet with blood. She was feeling light headed suddenly and was starting to get nervous that she was going to pass out. She rested her head against a rock and as she looked up she saw it. A big red orange explosion in the sky. Liara felt panic all of a sudden. She was trying to think what could be so big that would cause an explosion of that size. Perhaps the Destiny Ascension, the asari dreadnaught ship, but she feared it must be something much, much bigger.

She heard footsteps and she turned her head to see Garrus followed by a few soldiers. One had a kit of some sort. Before coming to her aid, they all stopped in their tracks to look up as now they could hear the sound of the explosion. "Holy shit!' said one of the soldiers. That has got to be the Citadel."

Garrus quickly changed the subject when he saw Liara's face. "Come on let's get her some help." A few more soldiers came up with a stretcher. One knelt down to check on Liara's wound. Liara was staring up at the sky. "I'm going to give you something for the pain. You will probably fall asleep." Liara didn't hear a word and slowly it turned black again.

Liara woke up on a cot under a tent. There was a lot of commotion. She tried to sit up and pain shot up her right side taking her breath away. She laid down again trying to catch it. She didn't see him because he approached her from behind, but felt a hand on her right shoulder. "Take it easy Liara" said Garrus. "You need to heal."

"Garrus, how long have I been out? Where am I?"

"A make shift hospital that was set up to help the wounded." We are not far from where we were, about a mile or so back. "You have been out for about 10 hours now."

"10 hours. Has anyone heard from Shepard?"

Garrus just looked at Liara for a minute. He was baffled that Liara even thought she was still alive. "No Liara."

Liara with frustration said "We have to find her". "When can I get out of here?"

Garrus couldn't believe his ears. Liara truly believed that Shepard could still be alive, but he knew better. At least he thought he knew better. She was on the Citadel when it exploded after all, wasn't she? "Liara," Garrus said slowly. "The Citadel exploded. I don't know if there were any survivors."

Liara took a deep breath in and out trying to process what Garrus just said. "She remembers a big red orange explosion. Then some soldier saying it must have been the Citadel. "Do you know that for sure Garrus?"

"Well, no".

"Then don't tell me there are no survivors".

Just then a doctor walked by and Liara stopped him. "Excuse me doctor."

"Yes ma'am?"

"What can I do to get out of here?"

"Well, since you are in this area of the med tent, you are recovering from surgery, so I don't think you should be going anywhere any time soon."

"That is not what I asked. I need to get going and I am sure there are others that need this bed more than I do. What do I need to do to leave?"

Garrus knew better than to say anything. He has seen Liara's determination before and knew to stay out of the way.

The doctor looked perplexed. "Let me check on that and I will let you know." And he walked away.

Liara forced herself to sit up; Garrus did get up to lend a hand. Liara took a few deep breaths. It hurt… a lot and she was not sure if she really should attempt to stand up let alone walk.

As she sat there Garrus felt it was safe to say in his calming voice "Liara, "

"I don't want to hear it Garrus" "I am leaving this place and starting a search party. You can help with that or you can leave." Liara then shot him a look he knew not to argue with.

After looking at Liara and knowing she could not stand up if she wanted to, he said "I will find your doctor and see what medications you may need. You need to be smart Liara. It doesn't make sense to go looking for Shepard only to collapse during the search. Wait here until I come back and I will help you."

Liara could feel the tears coming. She was feeling dizzy from the pain and it hurt to breathe, so she lay back down. As she calmed her breathing the pain subsided a bit. But the tears came. All she could think about was Elly Shepard, trapped on the Citadel somewhere. Was she hurt? Was she in pain? Would Liara find her in time or would it be more of a recovery and not a rescue. All Liara could think about was when she lost Shepard the first time.

The Normandy was destroyed by a Collector ship and Elly was not on an escape pod. Liara could only draw one conclusion that she died when the ship exploded. It was only days later that her work in the information trading business revealed a source stating the Commander's body was found. Liara had found out that Shepard's body was being sold by the Shadowbroker to a Collector. Why the Collectors wanted the commander's body she did not know.

After careful planning and with the help of a Drell named Feron, Liara was able to get Shepard's body away from the Shadowbroker's elite hit man, only to turn her body over to Cerberus. It was one of the hardest things she has ever done in her young asari life. Miranda Lawson, a beautiful female human biotic approached Liara because she knew Liara was also looking for Commander Shepard. She told Liara that she worked for Cerberus and that she was overlooking Project Lazarus, a project specifically created to bring Commander Shepard back from the dead. The dilemma of course was giving the commander's body to a terrorist organization, or letting go of her completely. She did not want to do the latter, so she rationalized her decision as a good one because the world was better with Elly Shepard in it even if the people bringing her back were looked upon as evil.

Now two years later, Liara is once again faced with losing the commander. The night before the mission to get to the beam, Liara and Elly joined for only the third time in their relationship. War tends to get in the way of being able to see each other often. It was on this night that they told each other that they loved each other. So Liara was more determined than ever to find her.

"I've got your meds," said Garrus as he reached out his hand to help her sit up." The pain was not better with her second attempt at sitting. He saw the pain on her face. "Liara," he put his hand up to stop her from interrupting. "Hear me out. You sleep awhile. Let your side heal just a bit more. While you are doing that I will get us some transportation and some men to start with the search." "We are going to need to see what is left of the Citadel if there is anything left that is."

Liara thought about this for a minute and didn't disagree. It would take time to get a ship and some people to help with the search. "Okay Garrus, you are right. I need some more rest." Liara was relieved to be lying down again. She was extremely tired. Garrus gave her some pills to take, which she did. She couldn't help but feel a pang of guilt as she slowly fell asleep.

Garrus was happy to see Liara drift off so quickly. He had a lot of work to do. He was not sure where to start, so he decided to track down James Vega.

It had been almost 4 hours and the sun was going down. Garrus was not having any luck finding James Vega when suddenly he heard his voice from behind him. "Vega!" said Garrus. James was barking orders to some men then turned when he heard his name. He finished his thought, the men dispersed and Vega walked up to Garrus extending a hand, "Garrus, great to see you. Where is the Commander?"

Garrus shook Vega's hand and said "I don't know for sure Vega. She made it to the beam. I believe she was on the Citadel when it exploded, at least I think it exploded. What have you heard?"

James confirmed what Garrus said, "The Citadel did explode. The whole thing isn't gone though, some of the arms are still intact, and they cause quite the crater in the ground when they land though. It's been a bitch for the rescue teams. I heard two have been found so far. Search teams have found survivors on at least one of them right now. I think they just started searching the second one."

"Really?" "Any chance you can help me?"

"What do you need?"

"I need a shuttle and some man power to help search for Commander Shepard. Unless the Alliance has already started a search."

"Not that I know of, things are still pretty hectic. Communications are in and out. We are organizing the best we can. I am supposed to be helping move the less wounded out of this area to more of a staging area, but I can delegate. Let me help you. I can get my hands on a shuttle. Who else did you want for the search party?"

"Well, I am not sure. Liara is resting right now, recovering from surgery. Seeing James's expression Garrus quickly states that she will be fine. "She is very stubborn and wants to start looking for Shepard right away. It has been almost 10 days now, and if there is any chance of the Commander being alive, we need to hurry."

"Don't say another word. I'll get a shuttle, you get the people. I'll contact you when we are ready to go."

"Sounds good James thanks. Have you heard from the Normandy by chance?"

"Last I heard they joined Hackett in the fight on the front lines, but I have not heard from anyone since. Don't read into it though, like I said, our communications are in and out. I will let you know when I have the shuttle and am ready to go."

"Thanks" said Garrus and James walked off. Garrus looked around and could not believe the utter destruction he saw before him. It would take years upon years to rebuild this place, and others. His thoughts turn to his home world Palaven.

At least some of the arms of the Citadel survived, that was good news he did not know 5 minutes ago. Maybe Liara is right to have hope, but Garrus didn't want to think about it. After hearing about Shepard's death two years ago, it hit him harder than he expected. He had never worked with a human before. She was the first human Spectre and a Commander, she was just good people. Snapping himself out of the moment, Garrus noticed one of Liara's doctors walking by.

"Excuse me doctor." Garrus said approaching Dr. Bilus.

"Yes, can I help you?"

"Yes, you may remember me, I am Garrus Vakarian. You helped my friend Dr. Liara T'Soni the asari?"

"Oh yes, I remember. She is healing nicely. I just came from looking at her. She is sleeping. She is healing quickly; she should be ready to leave in a day or two."

"Actually," said Garrus, "I wanted to ask for your help again doctor."

"What is it?"

"I am getting a crew together to search for someone. Someone I believe is probably still alive and if found will need medical attention. Is there any chance you can come with me?"

Dr. Bilus didn't need to think about this request. "Are you blind?" "Can't you see what is going on around here? There are hundreds if not thousands of people needing medical care and you want me to go with you on some wild goose chase?"

"Easy doctor" replied Garrus. "I know how it sounds. But I need a couple of doctors to accompany me. If not you maybe you can …"

"So you are deaf too I take it. Turians he muffles. No one is going to go with you right now. There is too much to do and we don't have enough staff as it is." The doctor was completely flabbergasted.

Taking a deep breath, Garrus continued in his calm voice. "Doctor I know how busy you are and what I am asking must sound very selfish of me." He could see the doctor was about to interrupt him again, this time Garrus cut him off. "Please let me finish. The person we are looking for is responsible for defeating the Reapers. I need to find Commander Shepard and I need your help."

The doctor was a bit stunned when he heard Commander Shepard's name. He didn't follow people in the military, but it was hard not to know that Shepard was the face of the war against the Reapers.

"I am flattered that you want my help, but".

Garrus stepped in "Doctor. That blue asari that you operated on is going to wake up soon to start the search. I have a shuttle being readied as we speak. I will start a search party and I need medical personnel. Please tell me if I can count on you."

The doctor thought for a moment. "We have been working in shifts for the last couple of days to make sure we don't get burned out. My shift is almost over; I can grab a few doctors to come with me. We have to be back on duty in 12 hours though."

"You let me worry about that doctor." "Thank you. Please get your people ready. Is it safe to move Dr. T'Soni?

"She is healing quickly as I said. She will be in pain, but I don't think permanent damage will occur if she starts moving around too soon."

"Good. You have one hour to get your people ready. Meet back here Doctor Bilus. And thank you."