Title: Recovery
Fandom: Mass Effect
Categories: PG, fShepard/Liara…?
Disclaimer: Mass Effect and all characters, locations, ect. remain the property of BioWare. No copyright infringement is intended.
Summary: ME Kinkmeme request. 'I'm not sure if this ever came up but what about literal asari healing sex on the level of nerves and such?'
The Collector base crumbled around them as Shepard's team raced through the passages out to the Normandy landing zone. Behind her, Shepard heard Samara preparing another biotic pulse as a swarm of seeker drones pursued them.
"Shepard!" Tali shouted, barely audible above the chaos around them. "Collector, behind you!"
Too late, Shepard turned to see the creature leap towards her. Her weapon fell to the ground as the Collector's claws grabbed at her arm. For a moment, she was staring into the eyes of the inhuman thing, and then she saw only darkness.
Her body felt like it was being torn apart. There was something in her head, something alien. The pain was unimaginable. All she could think of were nightmares. Her team dying on Akuze. The visions of the Prothean's extinction. Alone, trapped in her spacesuit as she floated dying alongside the Normandy at Alchera.
She tried to open her eyes, but saw only blurry images moving around her. She realised she couldn't feel her limbs, and that she should be worried about that. A voice was saying something to her. She forced herself to concentrate on the voice over the pain. It was familiar, she thought.
Chakwas, she realised. She still couldn't make out the words. Didn't matter. The crew was safe.
Darkness surrounded her again and she accepted it.
Something awoke her. The pain was still overwhelming. Someone was speaking to her; a calming voice. Briefly, she remembered the name of the speaker, but then it was lost again behind the pain. She opened her eyes. A familiar shade of blue floated in front of her.
She tried to speak, but the words wouldn't come out. The blue figure moved towards her, and Shepard felt a hand touch her.
She felt the pain fade slightly as delicate fingers traced patterns over her body. She tried to move her own arms up in an embrace, but the muscles would not respond. A hand ran across her breast, a familiar caress, and some of the darkness in her vision faded. Lips touched hers, and she responded hungrily to the kiss, the pain forgotten for a moment as the blue figure filled her vision.
Then the kiss ended, and she felt hands brushing against her face, and she felt the touch of another mind against hers. A cool soothing feeling washed over her, taking the pain away as it filled each part of her body. The alien presence in her head faded, forgotten, and Shepard felt sensation return to her limbs.
"Sleep now." A voice whispered.
"Doctor, she's waking up!"
Shepard tried to sit up, her movements clumsy, her legs still numb.
"The Collectors-?"
"The base is destroyed." Chakwas helped her sit. "The whole crew made it back – thanks to you. Good to see you awake– you gave us quite a scare. Some sort of… Collector weapon hit you on the way out."
"You've been unconscious almost five days." Another woman spoke up.
Shepard turned to face the other woman, almost not daring to believe her eyes.
"Liara." She breathed. "You were here. I thought… I thought I was dreaming."
Chakwas and Liara exchanged looks.
"She's barely left your side since we reached Illium." Chakwas said finally. "I'm sure you'll want to be alone together for a moment."
Shepard barely heard Chakwas leave the room as she sat, entranced by the sight of Liara beside her.
"Thank you." She said quietly.
"If she remembers anything." Samara spoke, looking through the Medlab windows at the reunited lovers. "She will assume it was Liara. It is better this way."
"I still don't quite understand what happened to her – or how you helped her." Chakwas said.
"I believe Harbinger attempted to take control of her through the Collector that attacked her. A tactic unlikely to work, but Harbinger was no doubt desperate. Shepard resisted Harbinger by, in effect, shutting down part of her own nervous system to prevent it from taking control."
"How could she know how to do that?" Chakwas asked.
"Consciously, she doesn't. But the unconscious mind knows how to repel such an attack, even if it means self-destruction. I have seen… similar cases elsewhere." Samara replied quietly. "It is a testament to Commander Shepard's strength of will that enough of her mind survived the attack that I could guide her back to herself."
"That was why you melded with her." There was a cool edge to Chakwas' voice. "And the rest?"
Samara turned to face the doctor. "You believe I took advantage of her. Know that I did not do this for my own pleasure. She needed to be in the right frame of mind to accept the meld."
"I suppose you took no enjoyment from it." Chakwas said sceptically.
"I risked myself in melding with her. Do not assume you know what I was thinking." Samara shook her head. "There was always the possibility her subconscious would interpret my meld as another attack and shut down altogether. If she had died while I was linked to her-"
"You could have died too?"
"No." Samara shook her head. "Not directly. But to feel a death through a meld… It is not something I ever wish to experience. I would not wish to live having experienced such a thing.
Doctor, you are a woman of compassion, and so I ask you – do not tell Shepard what truly happened. I have already spoken with Liara, and she accepts the necessity of what I had to do. Shepard would not – a part of her would see it as an infidelity. Her bond with Liara is already weakened by their separation, and she will need her lover's touch as she recovers.
In time, perhaps, the time will come and I will confess to her. Until then…"
Inside the medlab, Shepard, her movements still awkward and slow, pulled Liara towards her, uncaring if anyone saw them.
"Until then, what good would the truth do her?"