A/N: This story came out of nowhere. Just hit me and begged to be written. So I did. Hope you like the result, and please review! I love favourites, but reviews are better :D

Disclaimer: Sadly, not mine. I'm just playing in Bioware's sandpit.

Kindness Repaid

Liara T'Soni was visiting Earth.

Yes, her primary interest was in the Protheans, but that didn't mean she didn't visit other places too. She liked to know about the galaxy around her and the species she came into contact with, and humans were just starting to become important to know. So she made it a point to visit Earth when she found herself nearby.

She had intended to stay close to the civilised areas, but gotten lost and found herself in a dirty, smelly street that made her wrinkle her nose in disgust. The humans here weren't well dressed or polite like the humans she had already spoken with; they were staring at her with unashamed curiosity and hostility, as dirty and smelly as their surroundings.

She stared at the ground, not wanting to appear threatening. Unsure how to treat these humans, she decided to proceed with the caution she'd treat a wild animal. The hard, desperate looks in their eyes made it clear that they were just as dangerous.

Movement. Someone shuffled their feet. Another cracked their knuckles. Nervously she edged along the street and prayed to the Goddess that she would find herself somewhere safe and civilised again.

Swift feet nearby caught her attention and someone fumbled at her belt, an inexpert pickpocket to be sure, a young girl so thin she was little more than skin and bones. Intending to rouse on the thief, she found her blue eyes so startling that she froze. Meanwhile, the impetuous child secured her purse and held it with grubby and bony hands, meeting her eyes boldly.

"Ally, are you crazy?" someone whispered from behind a dumpster. Another child, peeking out nervously and vanishing again the moment she looked at her. The child called Ally didn't move, daring her to take the purse back.

She looked so ragged and desperate that she could not bring herself to take her purse back. She had more money and this child needed it more than her. Besides, anyone bold enough to stare their mark down while holding their purse deserved some kind of reward.

"Keep it," she told her and the girl's eyes widened in shock. Before she could change her mind, she sprinted back behind the dumpster, holding her prize as if it were a precious artefact. Liara smiled at her gall before continuing on, aware that the other humans here would view her as weak now and she had to leave. But she glanced back to see those startling blue eyes watching her from behind the dumpster, and the child smiled after her tentatively.

She returned the smile.

XX

Hanging in a Prothean stasis field she wasn't too keen to start questioning her rescuers. Afterwards, they were running for their lives and she didn't have the time. But after she'd recovered somewhat and Shepard came to check on her, she did start asking questions.

And those startlingly blue eyes bore straight into her as she did so, the human answering with a strange combination of impeccable military manners and honest compassion. She couldn't shake the feeling of familiarity that was filling her as Shepard answered her questions and asked some of her own.

It was only after she left that she remembered the little girl behind the dumpster, the tentative smile, the bold but clumsy pickpocket, and she laughed out loud. Her boldness had not deserted her, and it was good to see that she'd made something of her life.

First human Spectre! Who'd have thought that a clumsy pickpocket living behind a dumpster in a back alley would ascend so far?

Kindness repaid, indeed.