I don't own Mass Effect or anything to do with it. K?
She had known Shepard would come. The moment Illium was in the Normandy's sight, the Normandy was in Illium's, and hers.
"When they land," She had said, "Inform them that I'm waiting." It was not with anger, but remorse. Slight relief held down by growing worry. This was it. Shepard would know and hate her. She would have to face it.
They landed. The concierge had been sent to inform them. Liara stood at the window- a perfect vantage point- and waited, expecting not to see Shepard at all. She had seen the body, and after two years there was little left apart from doubt. She doubted Cerberus could do what they said they could. She shouldn't have given it to them. It was the same thought process every day.
Then the call came. The distraction of an unhappy customer refusing to pay. Liara did her best to deal with it quickly, thinking on her feet to embody something terrifying and fearful. "Have you faced an Asari commando unit before?" She asked, feeling confusion against her mother's words, "I'll make it simple. Either you pay me, or I flay you alive- with my mind." Liara cut the connection before the feeling overcame her words. The door had opened, but she initially assumed it would only be her assistant. She turned to see them; Shepard and two strangers. At least she thought they were strangers; their faces became nothing more than blurs along with the rest of the office.
They stared at each other in silence, unable to move or give a response. She turned her head slightly, unable to peel her gaze away. "Nyxeris."
From the word, she seemed to understand the request. The assistant motioned for the other two to follow her and, judging by Shepard's unwillingness to stop them, they complied. The door closed behind them.
"You're real, aren't you." She said finally.
Shepard nodded with the hint of a smile. But it seemed Liara was overcome with the vision before her. Her eyes had stuck wide, shock and misunderstanding within them as she slowly took steps forward until she stood before the Commander. Liara reached forward, raising a hand to the face of her companion. But she wouldn't touch it. "Your face... It..."
The lines by now run deeper, more ragged. The skin of Shepard's face appeared as though it was staggeringly slashed into. The odd healing showed what hid underneath was not natural; the violent red, like artificial blood that refused to pulse through- instead hinging on the surface for all to see. She finally dared to touch the skin, at the tip of the scar that half-circled the eye. Shepard flinched as she ran her finger along the curving line. And, unsure of Liara's judgment, Shepard turned away slightly to show the clearer side of skin. But it wouldn't stop her. Her finger continued to trace, falling down across the cheek. She tilted Shepard's head slightly, forcing the eye contact the simple movement had deprived her of.
"Your eyes." She said, the shock of it all numbing down with slight wonderment. Shepard stood stoic, staring back at her pale blue orbs with the unnatural trisecting iris that had truly caught her attention. The dull glow they carried rang with lifelessness. She had no words for the sight before her. Instead the heavy feeling of guilt hung down on her shoulders like physical weights she couldn't remove.
She tried to speak again, but the words fell at a painful whisper. "I did this to you."