Disclaimer: I do not own / hold the rights to Mass Effect. This is purely for entertainment purposes.
A/N: Special thanks to Suphlatus for helping with it!
SPOILERS for Mass Effect 3 – Especially the Ending! And slight spoiler for Leviathan DLC.
—-
Shepard is dead. Liara has yet to say the words aloud, but they're there, ringing like a bell in her head. Her Shepard is dead.
The battle was over, but the Normandy had been blown so far off course Joker wasn't sure where they had crash landed. Not that it mattered. Not that any of it matters. Shepard is dead.
She sits alone outside the ship on a world covered in a warm tropical jungle, thinking, but not really thinking at all. The stars are out, its so dark, they shine like gems in the dark expanse that is the sky. She can see the galaxy stretching off endless from one edge of the horizon to the other. Worlds, countless worlds, and countless stars. Shepard would love this. Liara can only hate it.
Tears blur her vision, but she does nothing to stop them. They fall, one, by one, by one, with no one there to brush them away. Expect… there is someone else sitting beside her silently. She wants it to be a human. Her human. Her Shepard. But the dented and battered metal body glitters in the light of the far away stars, giving away her companions identity.
"EDI…" she finally says, voice weak. "How long…?"
EDI regards her. "If you are asking how long I have been sitting here, it has been exactly fourteen minutes and fifty-one seconds. That, of course, does not include the time it took to climb up here." They're sitting on top of the ship, well away from where anyone can see, but of course EDI is the one who found her.
Liara looks away. "I'm sorry, I just… I needed to get away for a while." Her hands tighten around her drawn up legs. But in the same way, she found she couldn't leave the ship. Not the place Shepard…
"The others are… concerned," EDI told her, breaking into Liara's slowly spiralling thoughts. "They wish to know how you are.. doing."
Liara doesn't have the energy to lie. "Shepard… she's…" But Liara still can't bring herself to say it.
EDI's regards her unblinkingly, expression impossible to read. "We don't know–"
"Thank you, EDI, but I can't get my hopes up… not for this."
"I fail to see–" Abruptly EDI breaks off, her head snapping upward.
Immediately Liara is on guard. "What is it?"
But EDI doesn't answer, she's on her feet, moving impossibly fast toward the airlock of the Normandy. Liara scrambles up, chasing after, but EDI is easily leaving her behind. Liara watches as she jumps the side, not bothering to climb down, and drawing a deep breath, Liara does the same. Her biotic fields take the brunt of the impact to the ground, but even then she stumbles. Ahead of her, EDI disappears inside the ship, and Liara follows as quickly as she can.
There's a flurry of movement inside, and a distinct air of panic. Liara turns swiftly, heading to the cockpit, where Joker is furiously tapping at the various screens with EDI leaning over his shoulder. Both are wearing identical grim expressions.
"What's wrong?" demands Liara, hurrying to see what they're looking at. Her breath catches as she finally sees the display.
"There's… a Reaper in orbit," Joker answers like he can't quite believe what he's seeing.
It feels worse than being pounded by a singularity. Liara can't breathe. "What? ... That… that can't…" It doesn't make any sense. "The Crucible fired!" she shouts. "Shepard–!" But her voice crumbles on the name. Shepard… What was it all for?
They all stare at the screen, the image of the Reaper high above the planet, and then the Normandy begins to screech alarms in earnest. "We've been detected," EDI declares.
Liara's heart leaps into her throat. That monster could blast them to pieces without ever coming close enough for them to return fire. "Joker, the engines?" Liara asks desperately.
But he's already shaking his head. "No good, the systems are still fried."
Liara's mind whirls. They're sitting ducks here. There's no choice then. "We need to evacuate–"
The alarm dies and suddenly everything goes silent. Liara's eyes snap to the roof above them, but the ship is still standing and nothing changes. Joker lets out an exclamation, drawing her attention back to the screen. "It's… it's moving away."
They stare silently, all three of them, watching as the Reaper does exactly as Joker says. It calmly drifts back out of orbit and away until it's too far out for them to detect anymore. Liara draws a shaky breath, asking the question no one wants to hear. "Is it going for reinforcements?"
Joker makes a rude sound. "Oh yeah, like it needs backup to take us out. We're sitting ducks here." Liara can only grimace at that.
"I will step up the repairs schedule," EDI tells them, and no one argues.
Even double timed it takes another two days before the Normandy is ready for space flight again. The whole time the crew is on edge, but there's absolutely no sign of any Reapers. They're so paranoid by the time the ship is finally up in space that Joker switches over to the stealth systems.
With everyone watching their surroundings with a close eye, Liara finds herself at a loss. Searching for a distraction, she tries reading her Shadow Broker reports, but they all say the same thing over and over again. The Reapers are gone. The blast from the crucible worked.
But it didn't.
Liara bits her lip. The Normandy had crashed and they were found by a living Reaper. They should be dead. This doesn't make sense. She remembers the beam passing through the ship, through her own body. She shudders. But that Reaper is very much alive. Did it escape the blast? Liara freezes. If so, have others escaped as well?
Liara threw her data pad away. She has to know. The Crucible affected everything from the Reapers to the monsters they created. So the answer she's seeking lies three floors above her, in a room she has not dared set foot in since before the final battle.
But with her resolve set, its easy, almost too easy, to climb aboard the elevator and press the button to the top floor. The elevator ascends smoothly without any complaint and dings far too cheerily as the doors slide open onto a small dark hallway that leads to a single cabin. Shepard's cabin. The hallway is silent and empty and...
Her fish might be dead too.
Suddenly Liara stops short of the door, and she just can't. Her hands shake and a sob tries to escape her throat. Shepard is dead because she would never allow the Reapers to live, and Liara knows already what she'll find beyond the door.
"Shepard," she whispers.
But there is no one here to answer.
Tears spill down her face. She doesn't want to face this alone. A galaxy without her lover. The idea burns worse than it had the first time. She isn't sure she can do this again. A shaking breath escapes her. She could just go back to the elevator. She strongly considers it. Her feet are almost turning to leave. But…
The galaxy. Shepard fought to the very end, of that Liara has no doubt. And if the galaxy is still in danger, the answer is behind that door. Shepard would never back down. Her Shepard would never turn away, and neither can she. With a breath deeper than she's drawn yet, Liara reaches out, touching the control for the door.
It acknowledges her with a bing, and opens soundlessly. Liara finds it harder to convince her feet to actually step inside. The room hasn't changed. Everything is still where it was. The sheets on the bed are rumpled and unmade. An article of clothing is tossed carelessly across a chair back. Even the fish are, amazingly, still alive. That brings a watery smile to Liara's face.
She finally moves forward, pressing the control beside the tank, and watching as food cascades down into the water. It slowly drifts down and down as the fish rise to meet it. Shepard had always been able to watch them for hours on end. But Liara still can't quite find the appeal. She reaches out, pressing her hand to the cold glass, staring at them, before turning away, allowing her fingers to drag across the surface as she finally faces her real goal.
Past the computer terminal surrounded by crumbs and a cold mug of coffee sits the Husk head from Dr. Bryson's lab. Its eyes are shut like its asleep, or, as Liara hopes, dead. Carefully she moves toward it, but it doesn't stir. Not a breath. Not a whisper. She stares down at it, not willing to touch it to find out if it really has expired. She stares at it for a good long moment, before her eyes come to rest on the small innocent looking button sitting on the edge of the disk that the head is attached to.
She bites her lip. Just the idea makes her stomach turn. She hates the Reapers and the Husks. But this…
Her hand hesitates, and she glances at the Husk head once more. "Sorry," she apologizes in advance, before very quickly tapping the button.
Electricity blooms from beneath it, and in an instant the head's glowing white eyes snap wide open and it screams. It is by far the worst sound Liara has ever heard. It seems to fill the entire cabin, deafening her ears. She stumbles back, hands to her head, heart pounding, even long after it has fallen silent. She can't look at it. Can't face what this actually means.
Shepard… somehow… her Shepard has failed.
The Reapers still live.
The room is dead silent, until a choked sound escapes the thing, and Liara's eyes snap to it. It's staring at her, its lips twisting as though struggling to preform a task they were not meant for. A half shriek stumbles out of its mouth. "Leeeee–" And something inside of her snaps.
She lashes out, throwing all her power at it, and then she's running. Out of the cabin, down the hall, to where the elevator still waits, and then crashing into the back wall of the lift. She sinks to the floor, great horrible sobs rising up in her throat, and she wonders, what was it all for?
She isn't really aware after that. She doesn't remember getting off. Someone must have found her though, because some amount of time has passed and she's sitting in the… lounge? It's quiet wherever she is. There's a soft blanket wrapped around her shoulders and a cup of warm tea sitting in front of her. Two voices are talking quietly in the background, but she doesn't have the will to decipher the words.
She stares at the tea, watching the liquid swirl around and around in circles. It'll never get anywhere like that, constantly chasing its own tail. "Liara?" a voice asks carefully. She doesn't look up, even as Tali sits in the chair beside her. "We're heading back to Earth," her friend tells her. Tali pauses as though expecting an answer, but Liara has nothing to say. "We've heard some news though." Her pause is shorter this time. "Apparently EDI sent out a distress call without telling anyone. She's still denying it, but it did give us a chance to hear the latest news." She leans in. "We did it, Liara. Shepard did it. The Reapers are gone. No one's seen them since the final battle." Liara raises her eyes, staring Tali down. "Well… yes, we did, but–" Liara looks away once more. "…we won."
Silence hangs heavily over them after those words.
"Liara?" She watches as Tali's hands anxiously twist around each other. "We will find out what happened to her." Tali tries to reach out but her hand stops just short of touching Liara. "Talk to me? Please?"
But there is nothing to say. Shepard is dead.
The tea is going cold before her, but she doesn't touch it. Tali keeps talking, the topic always cheerful, but meandering to whatever the Quarian can think of, and Liara remains silent through out it all. How long they sit like that Liara isn't certain. At some point she finally stands. Tali immediately falls silent.
"I'm going to bed," Liara tells her softly. The lights have dimmed some time ago, announcing that the ship had entered its night cycle.
Tali is immediately on her feet, but the Quarian does nothing to stop her. Liara passes silently out of the lounge, slowly making her way back to her own rooms. She's half way there when she realizes Tali is following her. She glances at her friend, but says nothing as they finally come up to her room. She presses the door, typing in the security code seconds later. She has secrets in here, after all, dangerous ones.
The door slides open and she's surprised when Tali marches right in. It's bolder than how her friend usually acts, but Tali was with them when they took the Shadow Broker base, and so there's nothing currently visible that Liara wouldn't want her friend to see. The door slides shut behind them, and Liara lingers in the doorway like she's the one intruding. Glyph greets them cheerfully as the VI always does, informing her of several more updates, but it's just more of the same: the Reapers are gone.
Tali has wandered closer to her collection of monitors, glowing eyes staring at the display screens. Liara doesn't want to look at them. She spent so much time working there. Too much time. She regrets it now.
Tali abruptly turns toward her, eyes narrowing in what is possibly a scowl. "Don't do that." Liara looks at her blankly, and Tali sighs stepping closer. "I was afraid you were just going to come in here and mope." Liara winces, because even if she wants to deny it, Tali knows her too well by this point. "I don't care if we stay up the entire night, Liara. You're my friend, and I want you to know I'm here, we all are."
Liara swallows hard, forcing her voice to work. "Thank you..."
Tali shrugs. "What are friends for?" She answers and it really is that simple.
They end up staying awake almost the entire night. Liara does end up falling asleep sometime before the morning cycle of the Normandy starts. It's quite some time later that she abruptly comes awake, disoriented and unsure what has disturbed her. Then she realizes the engines are silent.
She's on her feet, half ready for a fight, at least, until Chakwas stops her. Liara comes up short, eyes snapping to her Shadow Broker equipment, but the monitors have all been shut off and Glyph is mysteriously absent.
"It's alright, Liara," the doctor assures her. "Tali asked me to keep an eye on you."
Liara finds it much more difficult to calm down. "What's going on?" she demands instead.
Chakwas sighs, running a hand through her grey hair. "We've hit a slight snag."
Liara's brow furrows with worry. "Was something else damaged in the crash?"
But Chakwas is shaking her head. "No, no, we um… Liara, the relay to Earth isn't responding."
For a moment she thinks she's misheard. "What?" And then she simply wants to deny it.
Chakwas looks at her helplessly. "Tali and Joker are working together right now to see if anything can be done, but as it seems right now… no one is getting to or from Earth."
Liara's eyes fall. "I see." It's not like anything will be different there. But with the Reapers still a threat, Earth is the best place to start looking for a more permanent solution to dealing with them. She will finish what Shepard started.
Chakwas offers to make tea, and Liara agrees, taking up a small data pad to find out everything she can about the situation. But all communications are cut off with the relay down and Earth is a giant black hole of nothing. She sends out word to all her relevant contacts, trying to get information to see if anyone is trying to repair the relay to Earth, but what she receives is disheartening at best.
The relays are old technology, no one is quite sure how to fix them, let alone build one from scratch, and everyone is in agreement that the one to Earth is severely damaged. In all likelihood it's too far gone to fix and Earth is on its own for dealing with the damage anyway. No one can get a message through. There's nothing to be done. It's the end of the human era in the galactic scene.
She wants to throw the data pad, but Chakwas has just set down a cup of tea before her, and she doesn't want to alarm the doctor. "Thank you," she says, picking up the tea cup instead.
She takes a sip and that's when her data pad chimes out she has a new message. She glances down, only to frown. It's from one of the agents she'd presumed dead in the weeks leading up to the final battle. But there it is, a message from him, clear as day. She reads it over, and her frown only deepens.
I will fix the relay.
She bites her lip. She hadn't sent the message about the relay to him. How? She considers not answering, ignoring it. There's a million ways this can go wrong, but… she's desperate. And writing back just one word can't hurt right? It's not like she's meeting him in some shady dark alley. Right?
Carefully she types out: 'How?'
It's a long while before the data pad pings again. This time the message is a lot more vague.
I will have it done in a number of days. But do you truly wish to return to Earth that badly?
She ignores the question, tired of playing games. 'Who is this?' she types out, fiercely jabbing the send button.
As she suspects there's no answer, but it deals with the problem. She delegates the matter to Glyph to investigate. She has more important things to worry about. The Normandy is still just floating in space with no destination and no closer to a solution. It's the third day since they ground to a halt and Liara awakens to a single message flashing on her screen: It's done.
She approaches Joker first, asking him to check the relay to Earth again, and she can tell he's just humouring her because its the first anyone has seen her out of her room since she went to Shepard's cabin. He's therefore floored when the jump actually connects through to the Sol system. He looks up at her in awe. "How did you do that?"
She tries to smile, but she doesn't know how this happened, and that… scares her. But she's desperate to get to Earth.
The Normandy makes the jump perfectly and they're immediately hailed on the other side. Ashley, now the acting captain of the Normandy, takes the call privately. Both sides are eager for news, and not everything discussed is going to be for the common ear.
The talk lasts two hours and afterward Ashley announces that they'll dock the Normandy on the Citadel and help out while the ship is resupplied and the last of the repairs are finished. The space station has done well considering the fight that took place around it close to a full week ago. Far more of it is intact than Liara expected, but, then, none of her expectations are very high right now.
The Normandy hadn't even been docked for a full minute when a man in an Alliance uniform comes aboard. His posture is stiff, his expression grim, and he asks for the head officer of their ship. Ashley steps forward. As the second human spectre, she's officially been given command of the Normandy now.
Liara hovers close by, listening to them speak. He doesn't take long to get to the point. "I regret to inform you that we recovered the body of Admiral Anderson. He was holding this in his hand." He hands Ashley something Liara can't see, but she sees the effect it has on the second human Spectre.
Ashley goes stiff, but whatever she's cradling in her hands she holds like she's afraid she'll break it if she breathes too hard. Her adam's apple bobs visibly on her throat, before she finally manages to ask softly, "Where?"
"We're still searching," he responds like he hasn't just delivered bad news. "As it is, we're not even certain where the Crucible was fired from."
Liara can't keep quiet at that. "What? How can you possibly not know?"
For the first time he looks uncomfortable. "The Admiral's body was… found in C-Sec headquarters. As of right now, we're uncertain how it came to be in that location. Our investigation is still on going."
"Wait, are you saying someone moved him there after he–" Ashley flounders on the last word, not quite able to say it.
"That would appear to be so, ma'am."
"Who?" Liara demands. "Who moved him?" She isn't really certain what is about her tone, but it makes the man in the Alliance uniform clamp up. He glances uneasily at Ashley.
"Liara…" Ashley hesitates, but finally opens her hands to reveal what she's holding.
Liara looks, but some part of her already knows what she'll see. She isn't disappointed. It's a dog tag, so badly mangled and scarred that the first name is completely illegible, but it's the last that confirms what Liara already knows. Shepard the piece of metal reads. Liara's heart hurts seeing how damaged it's become.
She sees once more the final push in her mind, and again she wishes she'd been able to follow Shepard that last horrible distance.
"If you wish, I can ask my superior to keep you updated on the investigation, ma'am," he directs the comment toward Ashley.
"Thank you, I would appreciate that." Sometimes being a Spectre has its perks.
He salutes sharply, before excusing himself. Ashley's still holding out the dog tag and Liara can't quite tear her eyes away from the metal. "You should take it," Ashley tells her quietly.
Liara's throat tightens. It doesn't feel that long ago that she'd given Shepard back her first set, and now…
She reaches out carefully, taking the small, fragile piece of metal. She wasn't going to be able to give it back this time. She holds it tightly in her hand, afraid if she loosens her grip even the slightest bit she'll never find it again. There's sympathy in Ashley's eyes. "Hey, do you want to hit Purgatory? Drinks on me."
"Thank you, but I–"
"The ship still needs those repairs, which means either helping out, or another round of forced shore leave." Ashley grimaces, like she's not quite fond of the idea either.
Against her better judgment, Liara agrees. "Alright."
"Alright, it's a date!" Ashley grins, only to cringe. "I don't mean– that is– shit." She looks at Liara guiltily.
"I'll meet you there around twenty-one hundred," Liara tells her, side stepping the awkward moment entirely.
"Sure, sure, don't be late," Ashley warns her with a shake of her finger, getting back into the swing of the conversation.
"I won't," promises Liara, not realizing at the time it's a promise she'll break entirely.
Not that she means to. It just… happens. She doesn't pay attention to the time, and then she realizes she's running late. One little short cut on the Citadel is all she thinks it'll take to correct it. She's making her way through the crowded Presidium when she accidentally bumps shoulders with a human soldier heading the opposite way, and that's when it happens.
Asari, despite what other species think, are not mind readers… well, not all the time. They are not attuned enough to read the fate of their bonded from half-way across the galaxy, but Liara had found she could almost sense Shepard like a second heart whenever they brushed by each other, and when she bumped into that soldier on the Presidium, the same prickling ran through her.
Her breath caught in her throat, and Liara turns, giving chase. It is like something out of a nightmare. The crowd doesn't move to let her through fast enough and the soldier gets further and further away. Finally she's the one who gives up, and just stands there, at an utter loss. She knows Shepard is dead. But apparently part of her is still holding onto hope.
She feels like a fool.
She escapes from the crowd, going to the railing, to stand and gaze out at the vast curve of the Presidium. There's repairs still underway, both left overs from the Cerberus's attack and so much more, new damage from the latest battle. It'll be a while before all the traces are erased, and in a way, Liara finds she'll be sad to see them go. The last remnants swept away, and who will remember Shepard then?
There's a scuffle behind her and a hissed protest. She turns and finds EDI dragging Joker along toward her, a look of discontent on his face. "Uh… hey, Liara," he tries awkwardly, raising a hand in greeting.
Liara opens her mouth, but finds she can't answer.
He frowns. "I thought you were going drinking with Ashley." EDI is watching her intently, and Liara still can't bring herself to speak. "No? Okay then… um…" Joker scratches his head.
No one speaks and the silence becomes awkward. Joker fidgets uncomfortably.
Finally EDI lets go of him. "Jeff, please inform Commander Williams that Dr. T'Soni won't be joining her today."
"Uhh, okay?" he agrees but his voice rises in question.
EDI smiles. "I will meet up with you later," she promises.
Joker nods his head. "Alright, see you later then." It doesn't take him long to depart, but he does shoot them one last look before disappearing.
"May I join you?" EDI inquires, drawing Liara's attention back to her.
"Of course," she answers politely.
EDI moves to stand beside her, arms on the rail, looking out at the Presidium. She's silent for so long that Liara starts to think EDI is simply there to keep her company, so she is surprised when the artificial intelligence abruptly starts speaking. "Are you aware that I am partially based off Reaper technology?"
Liara blinks, taking a moment to process the question. "No… I wasn't." Shepard had never said anything.
"Shepard knew." EDI confides. "And I was prepared for the possibility that I would be damaged or destroyed when the Crucible fired."
Liara stares at her in horror. "Wait, you thought–"
"The Crucible was intended to destroy all Reapers."
"Goddess," breathes Liara, covering her mouth. The thought had never crossed her mind.
But Shepard…
Shepard had always had too kind a heart, and if there had been another solution… "What did she do?" Liara can only whisper to herself.
"I have a theory, but I must ask you one more question, Dr. T'Soni." EDI eyes are piercing, watching for every one of Liara's minute reactions. "Do you consider me a threat?"
"Of course not!" Liara exclaims. "EDI, we couldn't have done this – any of this – without you."
EDI smiles, apparently pleased with Liara's answer, but still, she presses the point, "And had I looked more like a Reaper?"
Liara is confused. "What? What does that–?"
"This is very important, Dr. T'Soni," EDI informs her solemnly.
Liara bites her lip and thinks. "I would be a fool to blindly trust anything that looks like a Reaper," she answers after a moment. "But Shepard," she swallows hard on the name, "she… used to speak so highly of you, even knowing you were an AI… She was so excited to introduce the two of us." She smiles with fond sadness at the memory.
"Then I believe it's time I returned the favour." EDI straightens, taking her arms off the railing, and offers Liara her hand. "Shall we?"
Liara stares, not understanding. Return what favour? And perhaps because she's too curious for her own good, she takes EDI's offered hand and allows the Artificial Intelligence to lead her along the Presidium. She takes Liara to the elevator for the council chambers, though Liara can't guess what EDI wants to show her at the top. They're not even half way there when EDI taps the emergency stop. The elevator grinds to a halt, and before Liara can even begin to ask what she's doing, EDI has hacked into the panel and popped the doors open. Liara's jaw drops. Instead of an elevator shaft like she expects, there's a dimly lit hallway in front of them, leading off to somewhere. EDI sets off down the empty hallway and Liara can only follow.
"Due to my ..construction I was able to decipher the beam fired by the Crucible," EDI tells her as they continue down the passageway. "There was a set of instructions contained within it."
"What kind of instructions?" Liara asks with a frown.
"The kind that overwrote the Reapers entirely. The Reapers as we knew them, are no more." She pauses, looking up and down the hallway. "But now they plan to simply hide for the rest of eternity." She steps up to the wall, beckoning Liara closer. "This I assure you, cannot be allowed."
"I don't follow." Liara stares at the blank wall, but there's nothing special about it. She glances at the artificial intelligence. "If the Reapers are harmless like you say, why not just let them disappear?"
EDI regards her with that level calm she always seems to maintain. "I didn't send out the distress call."
"What has that–?"
EDI turns away to Liara's annoyance, and doesn't answer. She simply gestures toward the wall, telling Liara, "Knock."
She looks at the Artificial Intelligence like she's crazy, but at the moment Liara doesn't feel like she has anything to lose. She turns to the wall and gently knocks. For a moment nothing happens and Liara doesn't expect anything to, but then the wall, almost like its hesitating, slides silently away, revealing a hallway beyond. Liara's jaw drops. EDI smiles, gently coaxing her forward.
The hallway is dark, but the floor is clear and solid beneath their feet. They walk in silence for several minutes before they find the end of the passageway. It stops in a sheer drop into a bright room that looks like a chasm. It stretches off to either side as far as the eye can see. Electricity arches in the distance between giant shifting panels, reminding Liara of the engine on her Shadow Broker ship. Far below them is a walkway, but the drop down could kill a person. Liara turns to EDI.
"Now what?" she asks. She doesn't particularly feel like jumping down, not that the distance would hurt her with her biotic barriers, but rather she doesn't see an easy way to get back up again. EDI simply steps off the edge, hurtling to the ground below. She lands with a loud thud, before advancing off down the walkway without waiting.
Liara grimaces, and thinks about just turning around and leaving. She doesn't know what this is about. She's not sure if she wants to care. But…
"Goddess," she utters, flaring her biotics as she leaps down. She's always been too curious for her own good.
They don't have much further to walk. EDI leads her across the chasm, up a ramp on the other side, and into a dead-end room. Liara is momentarily stunned by the view of the Earth. It hangs before her, a silent giant, and, reassuringly, even after all that has happened, still spinning. She lets out a breath, finally taking in the rest of the room. There isn't much to take in. On the far side of the room is a computer panel with a darkened display, and then there's the floor.
Her breath catches.
There's blood everywhere, dried to brown, enough that whoever it belongs to couldn't have survived. She scans their surroundings, but there's no body present at all in the room. EDI stands several paces away, simply watching her. Carefully Liara steps forward, but her foot still brushes one of the patches of blood near the door, and that familiar tingling runs through her.
"Shepard," she blurts out, tears springing to her eyes anew. "Oh goddess." This is where her Shepard was. This is her blood. "Oh goddess," she utters again.
There's a beep, and suddenly the panel on the far side of the room glows, coming to life. EDI turns, scanning the display, before she glances at Liara once more. "It's for you," she says simply.
Liara swallows hard and makes her way across the room, ignoring the floor beneath her feet. She stops beside the panel and EDI silently steps away, giving her space. There's two words written on the display and they make Liara's breath hitch all over again.
Don't cry.
"Shepard," she says softly, because who else could have written it? She touches the panel with tender fingers, but there's nothing else written. She looks about desperately, but EDI is the only one standing in the room with her.
"This confirms my theory," EDI suddenly states. Liara looks at her curiously, but EDI is staring up at the room around them. "Will you tell her, or shall I, Shepard?"
Liara's jaw works soundlessly, trying to find her voice. "She's not dead?" she whispers, not even believing her own words.
"No more than I am," EDI replies. She goes to say more, but there's a furious beep from the terminal Liara is still clutching.
The Asari looks at it, but the letters whirl madly across the screen so quickly that its impossible to tell what they say. Finally they slow, and Liara goes cold.
She doesn't need to know.
She repeats them to herself, before looking helplessly up at EDI. "Know what?"
EDI stands impossibly still, gazing at her intently. She isn't going to answer.
Liara's mind whirls furiously. She has the clues, EDI's silence says as much. The clues… Shepard hiding behind the words on a screen… The grim, bloody scene around them… EDI said she was returning the favour in …introducing them? As though she and Shepard had never met… and EDI's questions, about being a threat and… looking like a Reaper… oh.
It's like a light going on, as the pieces suddenly come together into a horrible shape in her mind.
EDI had said she never sent the distress call when the Normandy crash landed. The Reaper that found them had.
"Oh," she breathes again. She stares at the text, at the panel. Her hands are shaking. "Shepard... what did you do?"
The screen flickers, before a simple message appears.
I'm sorry.
She presses both hands to the screen, not caring that her knuckles are almost white. "Shepard–!"
It was the only way to save the galaxy. She loved you very much.
The text stops abruptly and suddenly Liara can't breathe. It continues a moment later, but as far Liara is concerned, it doesn't make anything better.
The woman you knew, gave her life to save this galaxy. The Reapers as you knew them are no more. The future now belongs to the organics and synthetics equally.
There's another pause.
I'm sorry, Liara.
Liara's hands slip, falling away from the panel. There's a lump in her throat, and tears starting to well up in her eyes. "You," her voice shakes. "If you're not her, then who are you?"
The console says nothing.
"Tell me!"
The silence stretches on, and then an almost timed beep escapes the terminal.
Perhaps it would be best to speak face to face.
The floor shifts, and Liara stumbles back. What at first had been seamless floor, has now become a small lift. Liara studies it for a moment, before glancing at EDI. The Artificial Intelligence gestures toward the platform. "I will remain here," she says simply.
Liara nods slowly, before carefully stepping onto the centre of the platform. It rises up, taking her up through a shaft in the ceiling that Liara is certain hadn't been there seconds before. The elevator continues for another minute before finally slowing to a complete stop, merging seamlessly with the floor it has taken her too.
The area around her is dark and deafeningly silent. Earth hangs in the view above her, and the air has a cold edge to it. Carefully, Liara steps forward, taking in the giant machine that stands before her. No light or sound comes from it, but the design is familiar.
"The Crucible?" she whispers.
"Correct." The voice is loud, too loud for such a quiet space, but worse than that, it's wrong. Her voice shouldn't have an artificial edge to it. Liara turns, and she isn't sure what to think. Standing well out of arms reach, is a shining white hologram. The one she's come all this way looking for. "Hello Liara," the projection greets her.
"Shepard…" Liara trails out, suddenly not knowing what to say. Her feet seem rooted to the spot.
Shepard looks past her to the giant machine. "You have nothing to fear," the hologram continues, and even with Shepard's voice, it doesn't sound like her at all. "The Reapers are under my control. I am sending them into farthest reaches of space. They'll never bother anyone again." She sounds... wrong.
Liara stares at her, but it's hard to see in the flickering suggestion of a face the features she's come to know so well. "But… what about you?"
Shepard continues to stare at the machine behind Liara. "Shepard is dead. The woman you knew is gone."
Liara has spent three years of her life fighting Reapers, and now her Shepard is being taken away from her all over again. "Bullshit!" she bellows the word, suddenly beyond livid. "You're standing right there! How can you not be her?"
For a brief moment the hologram almost looks… unsure. "I was created upon her death. Her will uploaded into me so that I may control the Reapers in accordance to her final wishes. The Reapers will never–" But the hologram won't look at her, even as she continues to speak.
So Liara takes a chance. She marches across the room, so that she's standing toe to toe with the hologram. There's nothing to touch, but Liara still reaches out. Shepard reacts immediately. "Don't!" And tries to pull away, but Liara just follows until her hands are resting on either side of Shepard's translucent face. They both go still, staring silently at each other. Liara's hands cradling nothing, even as Shepard's expression crumbles.
"And didn't I tell you?" Liara returns softly, "I knew from the first time I touched you after Cerberus's work that you were still Shepard." She gently brushes her thumbs over the place cheeks should be. "I love you, Shepard."
If she could, Liara is certain Shepard would be crying. "Don't." There's a warning in her voice.
She pulls away, passing right through Liara's fingers, but Liara follows her once more. "I'm not letting you go," she states with quiet conviction, once more touching her lover's holographic face. "And I won't let you hide yourself away."
"I am the Reapers, Liara! The enemy of the entire galaxy!" Her voice booms loud, deep, and terrifying. But Liara doesn't flinch, doesn't even pull away. "There's nothing left." Shepard's voice breaks, the words fizzling and cracking like a bad radio signal. "I'm sorry, but I am not like your Shepard."
Liara has heard those words far too many times today, and far too many times from her Shepard. "You're wrong," she answers. "You are my Shepard. All of you, no matter how big you've gotten."
"I–" Shepard falls silent and Liara can see how lost she looks.
"I thought you were dead," Liara confides and her voice breaks a little. "I thought you were dead and that I would never find you again." Tears run down her cheeks, but there's a real smile on her face, full to the brim with joy. "But you're here. You're right here. You came back."
"Liara…" Shepard hesitates, and it'll take time Liara knows, adjusting to all of this will take time. "I... kept my promise," she whispers.
Liara smiles at her. "Welcome back, Shepard."
It'll take time, as all things do, and this is the start.
END
Hmm, turns out that loosing power for extended periods of time is an excellent way to write longer pieces, which is how this little monster ended up being created. But there you have it. My take on a 'fix it' ending for Mass Effect 3's control ending. Also I think the longest piece I have ever written in present tense, which is now causing havoc for some of my grammar in other pieces. Ah well, need to shake up my vocabulary every once and a while anyway. Thank you fro reading and I hope you enjoyed!