INSANITY
Shepard hates this feeling.
Or, at least, she thinks she hates it.
She couldn't comprehend what exactly happened, or why it did happen, or why it even made an impact on her. She should be used to this, right?
With a heavy sigh, she grabs the Katana Shotgun from the platform in front of her, and turns around. Her mind's messed up, but nothing can stop her from a good fight. Nothing can stop whatever's raging inside of her. She has brokered an alliance between Krogan and Turian, Geth and Quarian, and all she needs now is to stop the Reapers.
Simple enough, she thinks.
She makes her way to Purgatory. She tries to convince herself that she's going there for business reasons but, unfortunately, part of her really wants to get hammered. She's had a rough week and getting drunk sounds very inviting at this moment.
She slips through the crowd of people, and makes her way to a brunette girl with side-shavings, tattoos and piercings all over her body. She's holding turian tequila in one hand and a holofile in the other.
"Hey," Shepard says, as she takes a seat opposite the biotic-crazy girl. "Busy?"
Jack looks up at her, surprise in her eyes, when a smile breaks through. "Nah, just checking up on my kids' schedule. Anyways, what's up? Got a reason to be down here, Miss Commander ma'am?" She teases casually.
Shepard smiles, shrugs and leans back against the metallic black chair. "I was wondering if you guys have any of those LX-14 Biotic Implants."
Jack smirks "Those are some serious Amps, Shepard. What the hell do you want them for? I mean, besides saving the galaxy, of course."
"Oh, I, uh," Shepard laughs awkwardly. "I was hoping to tear some shit up before we head to the Cerberus Headquarters in two days."
"Damn, Shepard, you really that whipped?" Jack places both the holofile and the drink down, before looking up at Shepard with curiosity. "Sides', those Amps can fuck someone's head up. You sure you want that shit?"
Shepard laughs spitefully. "I'm sure I can handle it, Jack."
"Well, it's your funeral." Jack activates her omni-tool, and surfs through it a while, before hitting a few buttons and nodding satisfyingly. "Alright. Sent the coordinates to the Normandy. You can pick it up there."
Shepard nods, and smiles at Jack. "Thanks."
From the corner of her eye, she catches a lone figure sitting by the couch alone and isolated, half-blocked by a tall dark-skinned man armed with several pistols. She knows who she's looking at. Aria T'Loak, Pirate Queen of Omega. Her very face pulls Shepard back into a crazed depression-like haze. Memories play before her eyes. Feelings erupt within her chest. And unforgettable words rush through her head.
It all comes so quickly, so vividly. Shepard has to force her gaze away and catch her breath, before being able to face Jack again.
"Woah, Shepard," Jack says quickly, eyes widening at the Commander's odd state. "You okay? What the hell happened?"
Shepard didn't think Aria would be here. After all, she has Omega again. Doesn't she need to go back? Doesn't she have other priorities than to lounge around in the galaxy's worst club ever?
"What rotten luck," Shepard whispers, glaring at the ground. She stands up quickly, and avoids looking at Jack in the eye. "Thanks for those Amps. I, uh, have to go."
Shepard quickly speed-walks away. She knows that Jack is staring at her with a creeped-off expression. She's probably worried for her. But Shepard just can't stay here. If Aria were to notice her... If Aria were to call upon her... Shit would be bad. Shepard can't face her. Not anymore.
'Pathetic,' Shepard thinks to herself. 'Succumbing to the Pirate Queen. You're even weaker than I thought.'
She ignores the spiteful voice in her head, and continues walking. But too late. The dangerous Asari had already caught her the second she sat down in front of Jack. Aria is informative like that. Aria is dangerous like that.
The man who was half-blocking her before steps in Shepard's way, and blocks her from advancing any further.
Slightly irritated, Shepard looks up at the man and glares. "Move."
"Aria wants to speak with you."
Mumbling some inaudible words, Shepard tries her best to not turn and look behind her, and instead focuses her gaze on the man's nonchalant black eyes. "Tell her I'm busy trying to save the goddamn galaxy."
The man raises his eyebrow. "She insists on talking to you."
Shepard straightens her back and takes a step forward threateningly. "I will kill you, if you don't get out of my way now."
Just when Shepard thinks the man's going to actually step aside, she feels a looming presence behind her, and her heart drops ten feet to the ground.
"Shepard,"
That voice.
Too many emotions. Too many memories.
Shepard grits her teeth together, and turns around.
"Aria."
"We need to talk."
"Why?"
Aria's eyebrows cease forward. She looks impatient, and ticked off. Shepard doesn't want to be the reason for Aria's dismay, but she really can't stand to be around this Asari anymore. Not after all that has happened.
"Because, Commander, I say so."
Aria glares at the man who tried to stop Shepard, before gesturing for him to leave. When he does, she grabs Shepard's wrist and pulls her out of the club, seemingly too annoyed to stay in there any longer. Shepard doesn't resist. She doesn't want to be with Aria right now. Or ever. But she can't pull away. It would only cause the fury in Aria's eyes to multiply.
If a battle were to erupt in Purgatory, both Shepard and Aria were going to be arrested. That can't happen. Plus, Shepard's 98 percent sure that Aria would win the battle. Not because she thinks Aria's stronger, but because she knows she can't gun her down. She just can't.
She's just too weak like that.
Once outside, Aria drags Shepard to the rapid transit, where she keys in some numbers and scrolls through the destinations.
"Where are we going?" Shepard asks, curious and afraid.
"Anywhere but here. I need to speak with you. In private."
"Why?" The tone in Shepard's voice causes Aria to stop.
The Asari turns to Shepard, a cold look in her eyes. "Because you're obviously bothered by what happened in Omega. I heard about the news of you in Thessia. I saw the vids of what you did. I know why it happened. And I can't have you screwing shit like that up again if you're going to destroy the Reapers."
Shepard flinches at each mention of Thessia. She stares down at the silver ground in pure agony. The storm inside her has been expanding everyday since Omega. She didn't want to admit it. But it just won't go away. "I'm not going to fuck things up again."
"Liar."
Shepard glares up, but just as she's about to reply Aria, the Asari places a finger on Shepard's cold peach lips, and the cold, hard look in her eyes soften.
"Don't make this harder for us both, Commander. You and I both know we need to talk about this."
Fear surges within Shepard, and she feels the hair on the back of her neck stand on edge. A guilty feeling hits her chest, when finally she admits defeat. Aria's right. If she keeps ignoring this, she's going to fail. And if she fails, the whole galaxy's doomed.
"Fine."
Shepard sits next to a silent Aria.
They're in a skycar now. Driving to god-knows-where. A Salarian Aria had called 'Jakk' sits at the front seat, driving the manual skycar with a distant look in his eyes.
Jakk isn't listening in. So in hindsight, Aria and Shepard are alone now in a skycar driving to a place only God knows. It brings the feelings in Shepard's heart to surface, and she fears the consequences.
Aria is first to speak. When she does, Shepard can hear the slight anguish hidden in her words.
"Nyreen was a great soldier. A great biotic. A great friend."
Silence.
"It's a shame she had to die like that."
Shepard's features harden as she looks out the window. She feels guilty for hating the turian, but she does. She feels horrible for feeling satisfied at Nyreen's death, but she is. She hated her ever since she found out she and Aria were once an item. And it sickened her to the core.
Hatred shouldn't be driven by the want to be with someone.
"She'll be remembered." Shepard forces out through a twisted tongue.
Aria frowns and shakes her head. "But not missed by you, apparently."
"Apologies, Aria." Shepard bites sarcastically. "I don't know her well enough to miss her."
"Just like how I don't know Ashley well enough to offer my condolences."
It's like a giant Brute just fell from the sky, and crushed Shepard like a tiny ant. The weight of it makes Shepard flinch and physically tense. No one has dared bring Ashley up so openly in front of Shepard before. It's a daring move, but Shepard knows that Aria doesn't care otherwise. When the asari mentioned Ashley's name, it was as if she was pulling the strings in Shepard's heart. Everything around her melts away, leaving Shepard in a giant, empty hole.
Aria stares at Shepard, eyes glued on her face. She had planned this out. She knew how Shepard was going to react. But she didn't think the reaction would be this drastic. It's been four years, you'd think Shepard would have gotten over it.
Aria sighs. An apology was necessary. "Sorry, Commander, I didn't mean to press that button."
Shepard's still in paralysis. She can't stand the suffocating air around her. She has to get out of this skycar. She realizes she's having one of her 'famous' panic attacks.
She's been having them ever since Ashley's death of Virmire four years ago. Sometimes, it would get so bad, that Shepard would just stop right in the middle of battle, and curl up into a ball. Sometimes, she'd break down in screams of terror, as the memory replays vividly in her head. Over the years, she had learned to control it better.
But ever since Omega...
Ever since that horrible day, the panic attacks had sprung up again.
And now, Shepard knows she's having it. Fear wells up within her, her throat clogs up, stopping the air from entering her body, her vision blurs, and her body twitches uncontrollably.
"Fuck," She exclaims, covering her ears with her hands in an attempt to calm down. "Fuck, fuck, fuck," She repeats loudly.
Aria hesitates. What a drastic reaction. Quickly, she regrets her action. Whatever's causing the Commander this panic, is serious. She seriously looks mentally-unstable.
"Shepard, calm down!" Aria exclaims, placing her hands on Shepard's shoulders as to try and soothe the human. But Aria's very touch was like a burn to the skin. Shepard pulls away forcefully and hits the door beside her.
"No!" She screams, facing the Asari with wide, angry eyes. "Don't fucking touch me."
What in the world? Aria has never seen this Shepard before. She's so uncollected, uncontrollable- it's actually staring to scare her.
"Shepard, you need to control yourse—"
"Shut up!" Shepard shouts, glaring Aria down. The Asari actually feels compelled to obey. Shepard's a hardcore fighter. Aria knows that. She's seen the Commander fight firsthand in Omega. Aria truly didn't expect the Commander to be that strong. But damn, Shepard would probably win Aria if they were to ever be engaged in battle.
"Stop, stop, please, stop." Shepard chants to herself. Sometimes her words seem inaudible. Other times her words seem almost satanic.
Fear rises within Aria.
Did she just break the galaxy's hero?
Aria realizes she has no choice. She has to do something. And the only thing that'll get Shepard to calm down, and at the same time not agitate the Commander enough for her to burst, is to connect their minds together. It's the only way Aria can not only erase the memory, but also get to see what's causing the Commander to get so panicked in the first place. Aria wants to know why the Commander's like this. In Omega, when Shepard was taking down those Cerberus troops, she was deadly. Deadly, unstoppable and almost robotic. Her moves, her precision, her timing, they were all so planned out- All so robotical. It's almost as if Shepard blocked herself out from the rest of the world when she engages in battle.
That's the first time Aria has ever seen someone change personality so quickly.
Aria takes a deep breath, and prepares herself for the joining. Since Shepard's in this state, the joining itself is going to be quite painful for both of them. But Aria's willing—Just this once.
There has always been something about the Commander that intrigued her. Maybe now she'll find out what it is.
"You leave me no choice, Shepard." Aria mumbles. She quickly places a hand on Shepard's neck, to stabilize her, and the other reaches out to touch Shepard's cheek. "Embrace eternity."
Shepard's conscience is so messed up.
Aria didn't expect her to be like this. If it was anyone else, Aria would've thought they were mentally insane. But Commander Shepard is not mentally insane.
Aria paws around. She knows that Shepard's probably in pain right now. She can feel the tense twitching in Shepard's mind, as if Aria's very presence causes her to tense up.
But Aria isn't here for fun. She wants to find out the source, the root, of Shepard's problem. She wants to erase those memories that cause her to freeze in battle. Aria feels a warrior like Shepard, so powerful, so strong, should be at her best when taking down the Reapers.
Alright. Enough. Give me Virmire.
The images pass through her. She can feel the emotions in each one of those images as they brush past her, almost as vividly as Shepard can. Finally, the scrolling images stop, until one large image appears before her.
Aria feels her stomach churn slightly. Time to see the root of Shepard's weakness.
She reaches out, and touches the image softly. The very instant her skin touches the surface, the pixels separate, and rearrange themselves all around Aria, causing her to be able to see the memory through her own eyes.
And there she is.
Ashley Williams. Long, dark hair tied up into a bun, with her fair skin bruised and scarred. She stares up at Shepard with large hazel eyes. Her lips are curled into a frown as she shouts out for Shepard to go get Alenko. Shepard doesn't think twice, she races away. She guns down Geth quickly, and makes her way to the elevator.
Once above, she continues on her way, moving so fast she barely feels the ground below her.
But then something happens. Her communicator buzzes through, and Ashley's voice comes in, clear as a bell.
'Commander, a Geth dropship just dropped off a bunch of Geth here! I'm being overwhelmed by swarms.'
Shepard hesitates, when Kaidan's voice comes through as well.
'Go back and get Williams! We have it under control here.'
'Negative. Commander, go and help Alenko. You know it's the right choice.'
Aria can feel Shepard's heart drop. A split path. A horrible feeling creeps up to Shepard's throat. She feels almost suffocated. She can't choose. It was an impossible choice. But she has to make a decision. Or cause them both to die.
'O-Okay,' Shepard said quickly, stabilizing herself. 'I'll go get Alenko, and I promise you Ashley, I'll come back for you.'
Shepard was too busy trying to collect herself to notice the sudden radio silence. Ashley was on the other end, standing before an army of Geth, staring at her gun in silence. She knew how Shepard's plan would go. She had experience. But even so, she took a deep breath, and replied,
'Affirmative, Commander. Go get Alenko.'
Shepard nodded, and raced off.
A sick feeling emerged in Aria's gut. How could Shepard be so stupid? Didn't she know that her plan was doomed to fail? She had to pick one. And saving Kaidan Alenko first would mean she picked him. But even so, Shepard continued on.
By the time she reached Kaidan, the Normandy was already on the way to their location. Aria then watched as Shepard gunned down the Geth, and had a one-on-one battle with the great Saren. Of course, no one actually won. Saren held Shepard by the neck over a cliff, and threatened to drop her if she tried to escape his grip. But then he was distracted, and she managed to pack a good kick to his abdomen. She fell when he released her, but she grabbed hold onto the edge of the platform before she could fall off the cliff.
Aria sucks in a breath when she feels Shepard's very legs dangling from the thin edge. Her mobility was limited. She could try to get back up, and risk slipping and falling to her death. Or she could hold on, until someone comes to help her up. Shepard pulled herself up, and could faintly see Kaidan rush towards her in hurry.
Shepard accepted Kaidan's outstretched hand, and tumbled on the floor once he managed to pull her up.
'Crap.' Kaidan whispered. 'You okay, Commander?'
Shepard nodded quickly and stood up. Through the faint distance, she could hear the Normandy closing in. Surprise hit her. How did the Normandy know she was here?
Relief soon followed that surprise. 'Ashley,' Shepard whispered. 'Ashley must already be on the Normandy.'
Kaidan called the Salarians to gather, as the Normandy appeared through the dense clouds, and set itself to land at the edge of the platform disc. They were set.
Shepard looked up at the sky, and observed her surroundings. Saren was gone. Disappointment welled up inside of her. She had expected to leave Saren here, and kill two birds with one stone. But then again, she supposes nothing will ever be that easy.
Shepard quickly scrambled onto the Normandy, along with Kaidan and the group of Salarians who had survived. When the cargo door closed, Shepard took a deep breath, and headed towards the CIC.
'Joker!' Shepard called out, grabbing onto the railings when a sudden gust of wind shook the Normandy violently. She lost her balance a little, but then managed to stabilize herself as she approached the cockpit. 'Where's Ashley?'
Joker's eyes widened. 'Ashley?' He repeated, his voice slightly shakier than usual. 'Commander, I thought she was with you.'
Aria could feel a sudden fear strike itself in the centre of Shepard's heart. 'What?' She gasped.
Aria felt Shepard's emotions boil over. It was as if the very words Joker had said stung her. She raced away, and headed towards the meeting room. She prayed to God that Ashley was there. She couldn't possibly—Why was the Normandy there in the first place? How did Joker know that Shepard went to get Kaidan?
Confusion mixed with doubt clouded Shepard's vision, along with the warm, stingy tears that threatened to spill from her eyes.
'Joker!' She screamed once she got into the meeting room. 'Show me the bomb site!'
'But Shepard—'
'Do it!'
The sheer intensity and anger in Shepard's voice caused Joker to freeze in silence. The pilot quickly tapped the screen in to a camera near the bomb site.
And then Shepard could see. Aria could see.
Ashley was gunning an army of Geth down, all the while clutching her bleeding abdomen in pain. Her teeth were gritted and her hands were shaky. It was a horrible sight for the woman who was head over heels for the girl. Shepard felt her whole body tense and rock with fear. Ashley was left behind. The Normandy had just left Ashley behind.
Joker said something through the comms, but both Shepard and Aria couldn't hear him. Aria felt herself feeling Shepard's emotions—And they were very strong.
They erupted within her like a volcano. Aria has never felt this kind of intensity before.
All too suddenly, Shepard watched as the bomb went off. It exploded, with Ashley Williams right beside it. The explosion was loud and traumatizing. The camera went off three seconds after the bomb went off. But Shepard could still see Ashley's last expression as death fell upon her. She could still see Ashley's face squeeze with satisfaction. And those three seconds alone was enough to make Shepard fall onto her knees, and break down in heavy sobs.
Aria pulls herself away from the memory.
She feels unbelievably pained. She doesn't know if it's from the aftermath of Shepard's memory, or if it's just her own emotions surfacing from that display. She doesn't know what to do. Her own hands are shaking beside her.
What an intense memory.
Aria now understands why Shepard is this way.
Leaving your own lover behind without even realizing it, and watching their last moments as their life ends.
What more, Shepard felt so strongly towards Ashley.
Damn, Shepard.
Aria lets go of the breath she doesn't know she was holding, and closes her eyes in thought. Okay, she has a few choices here. She has to make them wisely and quickly.
She contemplates deleting this memory. After all, that was her original plan to begin with. Shepard would get better. She'd stop having these panic attacks, and she'd be able to fight like a freakin' war machine.
But then a thought hits her.
If Aria were to erase this memory, she'd practically be taking Shepard's humanity along with it.
The memory is painful, sure. But erasing someone's memory is... It's not recommended, even in the most serious of situations. Aria just can't take this memory away. It'll change the Commander. It wouldn't make Shepard... 'Shepard'.
Cursing, Aria takes another breath.
Okay. I'm done here.
She forces the tendrils of her thoughts away, and disconnects the bond she and the Commander had. She takes one last look at the Commander's complex and messed up mind, and wonders to herself, how someone so damaged can keep on going?
It's silent again in the skycar.
It's been, what, thirty minutes, since Aria disconnected their bond and released Shepard of her hold?
Aria sits by the edge of her seat, staring out the window in thought. While Shepard sits quietly, staring down at her hands with her breathing slow and steady.
The Commander has calmed down.
"You didn't have to do that."
Aria jerks a little. She didn't expect Shepard to be the first to speak. After all, when Aria pulled away from her after the disconnection, Shepard fell unconscious for a few seconds, before awakening in a hazy trance-like state.
"I—um, I thought I needed to do something." Aria says hurriedly. She sounds clumsy with her words, which is a complete rarity when it comes to the Pirate Queen. "You were being crazy. So I had to take matters to my own hands."
Shepard falls silent once again.
"What did you see?"
Aria can feel the nervousness in her throat expand. She gulps it down, and straightens her back quickly. "The root."
Shepard turns to Aria, eyes hard and dry. "It was my fault, you know. I left her there."
Aria hesitates. She can't say 'Yeah it was', and risk Shepard having another panic attack. The first one was drastic enough. "You tried your best, Shepard."
Shepard laughs loudly in pure spite. "No, I didn't. I was stupid and arrogant. I thought I could save them both, because I'm the Commander Shepard—The first human Spectre." She shakes her head roughly and glares down at the ground.
"I'm a fucking joke, that's what I am."
"Shepard you saw Nyreen explode, right?"
The question takes Shepard completely by surprise. The hard look in her eyes softens as she turns her gaze to a nonchalant Aria. She's looking out the window once again, with a cold, dead look in her eyes. Shepard can't quite tell if the asari is angry, or nostalgic.
"Yes..."
"Tell me, Shepard. Do you remember what I said to Nyreen before we parted ways?"
Shepard's eyes widen. "I don't recall—"
"I told her to be brave when facing one of those monsters. I ordered her to stop being pussy-shit so that she can stand up to those Adjutants."
Shepard knows where Aria is going with this. A sickeningly strong wave of guilt engulfs her gut. Aria finally turns to Shepard with a vulnerability the Commander has never seen before. It makes her fearful to see this Asari in such a vulnerable state. Yet at the same time, it pleasures her as well.
"If I hadn't done that, she wouldn't have gone and killed herself. So Nyreen's death is my fault too." Aria glares Shepard down. "But I'm not being a fucking pussy about it."
Shepard sits there in silence, eyes wide with surprise and lips set in a straight line. She has no words. Whatever she was planning to say before – condolences, an apology – they all disappeared in a fit of shock. Aria's words pierce into her core like a streaking, sharp arrow. What more, Aria's right. Shepard has been wallowing in her own self-pity for years. She has been killing herself slowly because of an event that was inevitable in hindsight.
"Aria," Shepard whispers, voice shaky but not unkind. "You know I like you, right?"
Silence falls once again.
"Yes."
Shepard can still feel the sting of Ashley's death in her chest, but the words Aria had muttered shook her to the core. She understands she has to let go. She smiles to herself and shakes her head. "You're not curious on why I don't try to advance on you?"
"I've always assumed Miss Williams was the cockblocker."
Shepard stifles a chuckle, and turns to face Aria. The redness from her panic attack has disappeared. But her eyes are still dry with unshed tears. "Since Ashley, I never could move on. She told me, one night, that I was the first girl she had ever fallen in love with."
Aria can't help but stare into Shepard's pained blue eyes. She truly didn't expect the evening to go like this. But now that it's out in the open, why the hell not? She'll listen to Shepard's story. Hopefully, by the end of it, Shepard will return to normal again.
"Nine hours after Ashley's death... I confronted Joker." Shepard's voice shakes. "I—uh, I planned to chew him out. Fire him and stuff, for leaving Ashley in Virmire like that. But then... He told me that Ashley herself told him to go get us at Kaidan's coordinates. I didn't believe him at first—"
"You don't have to tell me the whole story, Shepard."
"No, I do. I need to let this out. I was so angry at Joker. At everyone. I became such a renegade. I-I lost track of what I was doing. When we arrived in Noveria, I nearly killed Liara because she defended Matriach Benezia. God, I was such a jackass."
Aria smirks. "You still are, Commander."
Shepard shakes her head, though a small smile slips through her barriers. "Even after a whole year went by, I was still a renegade. It wasn't until I died, that I realized I needed to stop taking my anger out on other people."
"Let me guess, after Cerberus propped you back up on a half-synthetic heart, you became a goody-two-shoed Paragon who actually gives a crap about civilizians watching in the sidelines."
Shepard scoffs. "Well if you put it that way..."
She leans back against the skycar chair, eyes closed, almost as if she's reminiscing to the time when she was 'resurrected'. A smile colors her face.
She almost looks... at peace.
"But... it wasn't until I met you that I could finally admit I was wrong."
Aria feels her heartbeat quicken slightly.
As the Pirate Queen, CEO and ruler of Omega, she has had countless admirers come to her to confess their feelings to her—Male and female alike. Whether it be turians or salarians or asari or humans, she paid no mind to them. But she knew when she first met the destroyer of Sovereign, Commander Shepard herself, there was something about the Commander that greatly intrigued her. Maybe it was just because Shepard seemed so dangerous and untamed at the time. So renegade and so rebellious. It brought a fiery lust within Aria to emerge.
Yet Aria knows now that it was something more. Something about the way Shepard hid her true feelings and weaknesses. Something about the way Shepard looked at Aria with such earnest and agony. Something about the way Shepard protected her from those nasty Adjutants back in Omega.
Not as if Aria needed protecting. It was just that moment when Aria had her defences down.
Anyway, Aria feels herself start to thaw towards the Commander.
In a way, Shepard and Nyreen are plenty alike.
They're both virtuous. They're both thoughtful. They're both sickeningly kind.
Aria had told Shepard, 'Opposites attract' back on Omega. Maybe the statement proves to be truer than she'll ever know.
"Aria?"
Shepard's concerned voice snaps the hardcore asari back to reality. She blinks several times, before finally being able to register Shepard's confused face.
Aria hesitates. Quickly, she searches her brain for something witty to say. She's at a disadvantage here. For the first time ever, the Commander has her in a deadlock position. Aria may even be starting to feel for this human as she did for Nyreen. The very possibility makes her... anxious.
"Shepard, do you know who I am?"
Shepard's eyebrows rise. What an odd question. "You're... Aria T'Loak. You're the Pirate Queen of Omega. The creepy ass hardcore lady who scares the shit out of everyone who knows her. And sometimes even people who don't know her."
Aria feels a stiff smirk creep its way up to her face. She forces it away. "In short, I am Omega."
Shepard tilts her head in confusion. "Yeah, I guess so." She doesn't know where this conversation is going. After all, they were talking about Shepard's infatuation on her less than two minutes ago.
"How do you think people will react to me submitting to the great Commander Shepard?"
Relieved shock overtakes confusion. A smile manages to light up her face once more. "I—"
"Before you come to any untrue conclusions, I only mean that question theoretically."
Aria shoots Shepard a somewhat shy (oh?) yet smug look, which only doubles the excitement emerging in the Commander's belly.
"Theoretica—Oh! I, uh, I suppose, um—" Shepard pauses to rephrase her words appropriately, before awkwardly leaning back and scratching the back of her neck. "It would—make sense. In my opinion. Considering, the statuses, and such. Um, the positions, and the offhand conversations..."
Aria buries her disbelieving face in her hand, and shakes her head with dismay.
"Oh, Shepard." Aria sighs. "You're an idiot."
Shepard swallows. "I know."
"But you're also insane." Aria looks up at the Commander through the gap between her fingers. She brings her hand back down to the seat and scoots closer to Shepard, causing the human girl to flinch and tense up in awkwardness. "But that insanity is kind of a turn on."
Shepard's eyes widen in surprise. "You're not... freaked out by it?"
"If I was, would I have kissed you back on Omega?"
"That kiss haunts my nightmares."
"Good." Aria leans in closer. So close that Shepard can feel her breath on her lips, causing her to shiver at the sensual pleasure it brought. "Tell anyone about this, and I will fuck you up."
Shepard ignores the warning, and closes the distance between them with a soft, tender kiss that turns very violent very quickly. Their lips smash together, fuelling both their lustful flames with such satisfaction. The kiss itself is amazing. So much better than their first kiss. Soon Aria is forcing her tongue in Shepard's half-opened mouth, and the Commander can't help but moan into the deep kiss. Suddenly Aria's hand is by Shepard's waist, and Shepard's hand is at Aria's neck.
Shepard doesn't know what's going to happen. Or how it's supposed to happen. After all, Jakk is sitting right there. And though he might not be listening in, he has a clear bloody view of the very sensually heated make-out session between two hot chicks right behind him.
What more, Shepard still has no idea where he was taking her. It's practically been an hour and the skycar still hasn't stopped moving!
With enough self-control to overpower a raging Krogan, Shepard pulls away from the goddamn amazing kiss for just long enough for her to whisper out to Aria.
"Aria, Aria," She mutters through gasps of air. "Aria! Dude, listen to me!"
Aria pulls away, eyes narrow. "You did not just call me 'dude'."
Shepard flinches. "If we're gonna have sex, I'd rather we not do it in front of a willing witness." She then tips her head at Jakk, whose eyes are glued to the road ahead.
Aria scoffs and sits back, allowing Shepard to get back up and dust herself off awkwardly. The situation becomes awkward rather quickly— Even by Shepard's standards.
"So," Shepard murmurs. "Does this mean we're in some kind of relationship now?"
Aria rolls her eyes. "I don't want to be known as the Asari who submits to a moron. So unless you get your act straight again and save the world properly, no we are so not in a 'relationship'."
Shepard gives her a lop-sided grin. "Oh, I'll save the world. You can bet your blue ass on it."
Aria glares her down. "Say that to me again."
"I think I shouldn't."
Shepard reaches out to kiss Aria in the cheek, which causes the Asari to tense up in surprise.
That was weird.
"Sorry," Shepard mumbles, settling back down. "Just wanted to make sure you're gonna be okay with me doing that."
"Shepard, don't fuck this up."
"Don't worry, not only will I remain sober, but I won't blow myself up either."
Aria flinches, and stares at the Commander with what seemed to be surprised disgust. Of course, her look was softer than usual, which made Shepard all the more ecstatic.
"You know, Cerberus may have resurrected my body from the dead, but—"
"You're not going to make this unbelievably gay by saying I was the one who really brought you back to life, are you?"
Shepard purses her lips together. "I never get to impress you with anything."
Aria lets a small, sly smile slip. "Commander, you've already got my approval on that scale. The last loose ends are the Reapers."
"Oh," Shepard mutters, sitting back comfortably. She reaches out and grabs Aria's hand in hers, a knowing smug look on her now-lively face. "I've got that shit under control."
I wonder if Jack can get me LX-15 Implants instead.
-FIN-
Before y'all rack your brains on why you clicked and read this extremely random and slightly offside story, I just want to say that ever since I played the Omega DLC, I've been wanting to write a fic like this.
BUT, granted, I didn't expect the story to go like this xD Halfway through, I was already wondering where the hell this story is going.
But I wanted to finish it :p And post it. Just for future references. And stuff. He. He.
So yeah, OH and I apologize if Aria is somewhat OOC here D: I tried my best, really!
Thanks for reading guys!
AriaxFemshep Forever woots!
-K