I don't own Mass Effect at all. Not the first or the second, not the characters or any other ideas Bioware has.
I'm still a little pissed at this whole reunion.
Illium doesn't seem to register peaceful nights all that well. There is a constant hue to the city; a collaboration of the bright building lights and artificial violet glow the trading floor carries. Nos Astra is a true city that never sleeps.
It shouldn't be surprising, the way Liara is still in her office alone. Hunting. With the last lead on the Shadow Broker ending as well as she could have hoped, she was determined to pick up the next piece in the trail. If not for the intense window her office has, there might be a genuine need for a light to be on in a near dark office. Instead she works with that which she is used to. In a pause from typing, she perched her chin in her hands, feeling the annoying pull of sleep deprivation but doing her best to shake it off. There was no time to stop. Stopping now wouldn't get her any closer, instead the target would surely slip further away.
There is a sudden, faint shuffling behind the door. She pulled her attention towards it, staring with an annoyed intensity as she can feel her biotics flare.
"Liara." The voice pulls her forward slightly, and in the next moment, the door is open and Shepard stands as though the lock was nothing the omni-tool couldn't handle.
"Shepard. I thought you had already left Nos Astra."
"I did. I came back."
Liara straitened up in her chair quickly. "Is there something I can help you with?" She asked. Shepard moved through the office as Liara offered the seat across from her desk, but instead the Commander chose to stand, pressing hands down on the desk for support and leaning forward slightly.
"Can you talk to me now?"
Liara gave a frustrated sigh. "I told you, Shepard. It isn't safe-"
"-I know." Shepard said, raising a hand to add to the objection. "But it's just us. I don't care, and I don't see why you should either."
"I wouldn't want to put you in any danger." She said quickly, her gaze turning down towards the desk. Shepard couldn't help but chuckle.
"Danger? Liara, it's a suicide mission. I don't think you could put me in more danger, I'm doing fine on my own."
"But I did put you there, I told you. I let them take you. Anything you have to do now is my fault." She repeated the same things she had already explained to the Commander, moving quickly to stand before the window and face the trading room floor.
"No, I told you. If you hadn't I'd be dead. I think I prefer Cerberus over that." Shepard replied, trying to get some kind of humoured reaction from her. Clearly mentioning death was not the best idea on that front. She gave no response, not a word, sound or movement. Anything would suffice, even simply being able to hear her breathe. But at this distance, everything was out of reach. Then Liara makes a move to touch the window, her hand soft against the solid glass.
"Shepard, I'm so sorry." Her head hung low slightly, forehead on the window for support.
"Liara..." Came the unsure interjection.
"No, Shepard. This is all my fault. I should have stayed with you, I should have been there. They wouldn't let me see you once you were gone. Instead I waited in a distant location for any word on your survival. I-" As she stopped herself, Liara shook her head, as if to mentally shake the story she was building on. She turned, deliberately in an outer motion to avoid facing Shepard, and walked around her desk, starting towards the door. "You should really go, I have to work."
"Liara don't do this. I'm not angry, I'm grateful. Why wouldn't I be?" Shepard tried once again, but it didn't seem to stop her. She stood at the door, working to unlock it from her side in order to practically force Shepard out of the vulnerable situation. But she stopped.
Her head shot up quickly as strong arms circled her form from behind, hands grazing slowly across her stomach to make the most of what little contact they had shared. Liara felt her back press against Shepard and she showed no sign of movement, not approval or dismissal. "Stop."
"Shepard-"
"-Stop." The tip of Shepard's nose trailed along the slender form of her neck. Liara felt her breath catch in her throat at such craved affection. "Listen to me. You saved my life. I owe you everything." Liara could feel herself crumbling beneath the words she so wanted to believe. Finally she could will herself enough to move, hands moving across Shepard's arms, fingers slipping perfectly between those of her companion.
"Two years does not seem like such a long time for my people, but had you never returned, I-Without you, what would I-" Liara began, but stumbled on her words. She felt the soft, subtle touch of lips against her skin, an unmistakable sense of longing and desire behind them. "I would have stopped existing."