A/N - Bioware obviously owns the Mass Effect universe.
This is a one-shot piece that I wrote for fun one day. My version of the intial reunion of Shepard and Liara in Mass Effect 2. I hope you enjoy it.
Geran Shepard drew in a deep breath as the door in front of him whished open. It was a sleek, circular frame which moved into the wall as he approached. It had been far too long. He had apparently been gone a whole two years… which meant she had been mourning him for that time. When he was brought back by Cerberus, he had wanted nothing more than to find her, but the Illusive Man had convinced him otherwise, bullied him into doing what he wanted with the knowledge of her whereabouts. And now he was here on Illium, and she was on the other side of the door, he could hear her voice already as he stepped through.
"Have you ever faced an Asari commando unit before?" It was her voice. He would recognize it anywhere, he knew it so intimately. It was cold though, colder than he had ever heard it. "Few humans have. I'll make this simple, you can pay me what you owe, or I'll flay you alive… with my mind." Shepard couldn't believe what he was hearing, it was a mistake. A memory flashed through his mind, a memory of her mother saying those same words… just before she tried to kill them.
She turned around, drawing in a rushed breath as she noticed him. "Geran…" she breathed. She drank in his face, features that she had missed for so long. That she longed to feel again.
"Liara." Geran didn't think as he strode forward. The love of his life was standing mere metres away. He slowed, standing just inches apart from her and he stared deeply into her beautiful sapphire eyes. Eyes that he had seen turn deepest black on more than one occasion.
Liara's breath caught in her lungs when Geran stopped so close to her, she could feel his breath on her face as he looked down at her. His own blue eyes bored into hers, two matching pairs of liquid crystal. She thought she may have squeaked as his mouth came down on hers, their lips touching for the first time in two years. Two years of mourning, grief, plotting… she shuddered as one of his arms wrapped around her. She was losing herself.
Geran released the kiss after a long moment and heard her gasp for breath as he moved a hand to stroke softly down one of her crests. As his fingers neared the tip, he felt Liara pull away from him.
Liara shuddered involuntarily as his hand stroked one of her crests and turned her face from Shepard. She couldn't… he had been gone two years. Oh but she wanted to. It was all she could do not to throw herself at him right there, if she had let him finish... She knew that if she gave in she would forget about everything she had been working on for the last 2 years. "I… I can't Shepard," she finally managed to get out, taking a step away from him despite her body screaming to step forward into his arms. Her voice was a mere whisper.
Geran stood there, completely bewildered. Liara had turned away from him? He didn't understand, why would Liara pull away? "Liara," he finally asked, "What is it?"
Liara finally gained enough composure to look Shepard in the eye. "It's been two years. Things have changed… we can't just pick up where we left off."
Geran felt his heart drop as Liara looked at him. Her eyes had lost the sparkle they had just moments ago. "Come with me Liara," he pleaded. "I could use you. It would be just like old times."
"The universe doesn't work that way Shepard," Liara replied, trying to convince herself more than him. "I have debts that need repaying…" She forced back her wish to agree and run off with him. "I can't drop everything for you."
Shepard stared at Liara. 'The universe doesn't work that way?' She wasn't the same fumbling asari scientist he knew 2 years ago, two years that felt like 2 months to him. She had become hard. But the old Liara was under this façade, he saw her just moments ago. "What is wrong Liara," he asked, his voice wavering as he fought to hold back his emotions. "Is it something I can help with? Are you in trouble?"
"No Shepard, it's not that." Liara turned her back to Shepard and stared at the holo-terminals behind her. She stared into the terminals, trying to draw the resolve to do what she needed to from them. "Someone hurt me, hurt you, and hurt a… a friend… I need to make him pay. I can't drop this. It's something I have to do." She turned her head to look back at Shepard. "I… I could use your help, if you are willing."
"You know I'd do anything for you," Geran replied, forcing back the 'my love' that so badly wished to come out.
"I'll… I'll talk to you tomorrow Shepard," Liara breathed out. She had to get him out of her office, she was having trouble concentrating. Oh Goddess, she wanted to feel his arms around her, to bond with him again as they made love. To feel his being, to become whole again… to Embrace Eternity… to feel again.
Geran turned slowly to walk out the door; pushing the pain down with his memories of Mindoir. "Then I will see you tomorrow Liara," he said. As he walked out the door, he turned around and drank in her figure one last time, like a man dying of thirst in the desert. He walked out the door to go back to Normandy. He needed to think. About many things.
Liara sat alone in her office, surrounded by information on a galactic scale. She had work to do, but she could not focus. She agonized over sending Shepard away. The very thought made her weak, but she had to be strong. She had to be strong to exact revenge on the Shadow Broker. She owed that much to Shepard, to herself, to Feron… But deep down, she wondered if he would ever come back…
My name is Commander Shepard and this is my favorite review button on the Citadel.