A/N: I'd like to thank everyone who reviewed my first submission, Pillow Talk. Your nice comments have encouraged me to keep writing!

Also, even though I have the main points of this story planned out, I'd love to hear your ideas. Fan fiction is just that- for fans- and if possible, I'd love to include other fan's thoughts in my stories. So if anything comes to mind, PM me and maybe your requests will end up in future chapters. ;) Thanks for reading!

First Impressions

Shepard walked down the stairs from the main deck to the crew quarters and made her way toward the medical bay. Not for herself, but rather to check on the newest addition to the Normady's residents. Only a few hours before, she and her squad had returned from Therum, a volcanic planet in the Artimas Tau cluster, where, through a dangerous chain of events, they had acquired Dr. Liara T'Soni.

Upon their return, Liara discussed with the crew her research into the Protheans, and ancient race that had been, from what she could determine, completely wiped out by a greater force. While explaining her years of study, she became pale and weak, and was sent to Dr. Chakwas for immediate medical attention. Knowing the asari was in good hands, Shepard set off to busy herself with her duties as the commanding officer of the alliance vessel.

Although she had only spoken with the asari briefly, Shepard couldn't help but feel protective of Liara. Perhaps it was their meeting that gave her this attitude; the commander did in fact find the helpless asari trapped in a containment bubble meant for her own protection, and then her near fainting experience in the briefing room caused Shepard to worry for her well being. These were all very logical explanations that she told herself, but still a little voice lingered in the back of her mind, telling her that there was something special about Dr. T'Soni.

As Shepard approached the door to the med bay, it opened automatically, revealing Dr. Chakwas standing before one of the beds. Sitting upright, legs dangling off the side, was Liara, who looked much better than she had only about an hour ago.

"How's our patient, Karin?" Shepard asked as she strolled in. Dr. Chakwas turned around, slightly startled at Shepard's entrance.

"I think Liara will be just fine." She smiled warmly, "She was fairly malnourished, but with food and plenty of rest, she'll be in good shape tomorrow."

"That's great to hear." Shepard replied, finding herself to be a bit more relieved than she thought she should be. Dr. Chakwas walked over to her desk with a pad of notes on Liara's condition and began filing the information. Shepard gave a soft, reassuring smile to Liara, who was keeping her balance on the bed with one arm on either side of her body.

"Are you okay?" Shepard asked, noticing the asari wobble slightly.

"I am doing much better, thank you." Her tone was sincere, but her brow furrowed for a moment in confusion. "You did not need to check on me, Commander."

"I like to know that everyone in my crew is in healthy. I believe we all need to look out for each other out here. Space in a dangerous place."

"I can see why your crew respects you." Liara's eyes glinted in the light, reflecting beautiful shades of blue back at Shepard. The commander looked down at her boots and cleared her throat.

"Dr. Chakwas, I'd like to speak wit Dr. T'Soni in private, if that's alright with you." She looked over her shoulder at the med bay doctor, who sat comfortably at her desk.

"Of course, commander." Chakwas answered respectfully. "Though I have a lot of paperwork to file here. There is a storage room, if you find that suitable." She gestured toward the door at the back of the med bay. Shepard looked at Liara again.

"Do you feel up to relocating?" the commander asked lively. Liara simply nodded, and Shepard offered her arm to her as support, though she hardly seemed to need it at this point.

"You know where to find me." Shepard shouted back toward Chakwas; she was certain that she heard her chuckle before the door closed.

The storage room was reasonably open; there were a few crates in the far left corner next to a desk the lined the left wall. In the back right corner, there was an extra medical bed that was apparently being stored as a spare. As far as storage rooms went, this one was not at all cramped, or even storing much of anything. Shepard pulled out a chair from in front of the desk for Liara to sit in before grabbing one for herself.

"So," Shepard sat down, "you obviously know a lot about the protheans. Are you certain you haven't come across anything in your research that can tell us about the conduit?"

Liara looked down at the floor, her eyes moving back a forth as if searching for her answer, until she shook her head and looked back at Shepard.

"I am sorry, Commander. That does not sound familiar."

Shepard sighed and leaned forward, propping her elbows on her knees and balling her fists in front of her mouth. From everything that she had been told, Liara had been her best bet at learning what Saren was up to, and deciphering the vision she had received from the prothean beacon on Eden Prime. To find that the prothean expert had no idea what they were facing was frustrating, but Shepard wasn't going to take that out on Liara. A moment of unease passed between the two, and then Shepard looked seriously into Liara's eyes. The look made Liara tense; Shepard had not given her any reason to be afraid of her, and although the asari recognized the stress they expressed, her tension was stirred by the intensity that lay naturally in Shepard emerald eyes; an intensity that magnified the very core of every emotion. Their eyes had first met only hours ago, as the commander had offered her hand to Liara after releasing the containment bubble that bound her. And in this moment, the overwhelming force imprinted by the exquisite green irises struck Liara just as much as they had at first.
"I need to ask you," Shepard broke the silence, her voice calm but solemn, "I need to hear you say it."

Liara prepared herself for the most severe of questions that she could be asked, her head spinning and flooded with curiosity. She nodded, motioning Shepard to continue.

"Are you working with your mother and Saren?"

"No Commander!" Liara shook her head fervently. "My mother made her choice, and I am not her."

Shepard intense eyes stared deeply into Liara's for a moment longer before the human straightened up in her chair and relaxed.

"You must believe me, Shepard-" Liara began to beg, but Shepard raised her hand telling her to stop.

"I do." The corner of Shepard's mouth tugged to the side in a cocked smile. "I trust you."

Liara let out a sigh of relief. After everything she had gone through today, to think that the person who saved her from the geth on Therum thought of her as an enemy was nerve-wracking. She trusted the commander, beyond any reason she could yet understand. All her life she had made discoveries, followed promising leads, and studied her passion, but of all the amazing finds she had made in the past 50 years, Commander Shepard was by far the most fascinating.

"Well," Shepard stood up and pushed in her chair, "I'm sure there's a crisis somewhere that I have to go fix." She laughed to herself. Liara followed suit and stood, feeling her strength returning.

"Thank you, Commander. Your trust in me is quite encouraging." Liara tried her best to be honest without being too forthright. She hadn't spent much time around humans, and found speaking with them to be quite challenging.

"You're very trustworthy, Liara." Shepard said playfully, "Which could be your diabolical plan."

Seeing Liara's confusion, Shepard smiled coyly to translate that she was only joking. Realizing, and understanding, Liara repaid the human's smile with her own shy grin.

"Are you inferring that I am an evil mastermind?" Liara played along, though it felt very strange to be speaking to such a high ranking military officer so casually not having known one another very long at all.

"I guess we'll find out." Shepard chuckled, and then added as she turned toward the door "Oh, that's just what I need; some pretty asari to be my downfall."

Feeling herself blush, Liara watched Shepard as she exited the room, suddenly understanding why she was so drawn to commander. Out of everyone she'd ever met, she had never thought of any of them in a romantic way. But the sudden sinking feeling in her chest at the sight of Shepard walking away from her left Liara with a sense of loneliness she didn't like. Despite her usual craving for solitude of a remote dig, far from the company of others, talking to Commander Shepard brought her a comfort she couldn't explain, and an excitement she had never felt. Though to timid to follow through, Liara found herself with the urge to call Shepard back, and an insatiable desire to never be left alone by her again.