The gentle thrum of the Normandy's engines pulsed through the ship as it continued on its course for Earth. Shepard thumbed the screen in front of him, seeing the reports from Earth but not really processing them.
"I thought you might be awake."
He looked up, one side of his mouth quirking up in a smile at Liara. "And I thought you'd be going over the latest reports in your…office?"
"Office works." She replied, walking over and joining him on the sofa. She waited for him to raise his arm before sliding under it, snuggling against his chest. He dropped the arm back down, placing his hand on her arm.
"It's getting quiet out there, Shepard."
"On the ship?"
"That too," she began, "but I meant out there. The reason I came up here is that there weren't any reports to go over. My sources aren't being killed; they're just going dark. It'd been going on for a while now, but once the Citadel was lost, it…they just stopped calling in."
"It's okay." He replied. "You did great."
"That's not why I'm here." She replied, laughing nervously. "I know I did what I could. And I think at this point there's not much info I could get that would matter. It's going to be on you, Shepard. If there's a victory to be had here, you'll have to find it."
Shepard paused, considering before replying, "And if there's not, I'll try to give everyone one heck of a show."
"Is that what you were doing before?" she teased. "Performing for the cameras?"
"Of course. Why else would the Council choose someone with my rugged good looks?" He stood up, flexing his arms and acting as though he was mugging for an audience.
"Didn't you get kicked off the set of Blasto?"
He let his arms drop, slumping slightly as he walked back to the sofa. "Well, now that you brought that up, I'm sad again."
"Mmm…you'll survive." She replied.
"Is that your professional opinion?"
"No, just my opinion as your girlfriend." She said, following that statement up with a kiss.
"That's probably better anyway." He said, pulling her close again.
They sat nestled for a few minutes, the weight of what lay ahead pressing down on him. He'd faced long odds before, but this was different.
It wasn't long before he realized he would be driven mad thinking about the coming battle. He tapped the comm control.
"Traynor, have Garrus, Tali, Kaiden, Doctor Chakwas, and Engineer Adams join me in the portside lounge."
"Yes, Commander." She replied.
"What are you planning?" Liara asked, sitting up.
"Something to loosen up a little." Shepard replied, standing. He held out his hand, and she took it, letting him pull her to her feet. "You'll see."
They rode the lift down to the crew deck.
"I should probably go check my messages again." Liara said, but Shepard grabbed her hand.
"What you should do is put that out of your mind for an hour." He said. "Captain's orders."
The door to the lounge opened, revealing the doctor and Kaiden.
"What is it, Shepard?" Doctor Chakwas asked, concerned. "What's happened?"
"Nothing we don't already know about." He replied, gesturing across the lounge. "I felt like a game of cards."
"Shepard, I-"
"Admit it, Doctor, you've had Medical ready for days."
She hesitated, then nodded, smiling.
"And you, Kaiden, you're so ready you're about to burst."
Kaiden chuckled, that soft chuckle that Shepard appreciated. "I guess I haven't changed."
The door opened again, revealing Tali and Engineer Adams on the other side, with Garrus following up the rear.
"Something happen, Commander?" Adams asked.
"No, chief, just looking to have a little game. Engineering all squared away?"
"Of course. We'll be ready for the battle."
"Then let's have a game."
"Shepard, I…" Tali began.
"Tali?"
"Yes, Shepard?"
"Trust me."
He let go of Liara's hand, walking over to take a seat at the table next to the shuffler.
Perhaps sensing his intent, Doctor Chakwas was quickest on the uptake, taking a seat opposite him.
"What's the game, Commander?"
"Five card stud." Shepard replied, beginning to slide cards out. "We'll play a couple practice rounds first."
Slowly, the others filed into the card room, the air exchanger opening wider to compensate for the increased heat.
"You might find it hard to believe," the doctor began, watching as the pool of digital chips transferred from the center of the table to her side, "but I paid for most of my schooling by gambling."
Adams laughed. "With the way you've wiped us all out, I don't find it hard to believe at all."
Shepard glanced at Liara, who was staring at the large stacks of chips in front of her. His own chips had been wiped out in a badly calculated bluff, losing to Kaiden, who had promptly lost both Shepard's and his own chips to the doctor.
Adams was also out, as was Garrus, leaving only Tali, Liara, and the doctor still in the game, though Tali's diminutive pile of chips meant she was more of an afterthought.
"Everyone ready?" Shepard asked?
"I'll get some drinks." Garrus said.
"Nothing alcoholic." Shepard warned. "Seltzer water for me." He tapped the shoe, then began sliding cards to the remaining players.
Tali looked at her hidden card, then tapped a few buttons on her side of the table.
"Bet. Two hundred."
"I'll call that." The doctor said.
"As will I." Liara added.
Shepard slid out another card for each of them.
"Tali?" he asked.
"Check." She replied.
"I'll bet." The doctor said. "Five hundred."
Tali gave a small shake of her head, sliding her cards back to Shepard.
"Liara?"
Liara had been staring at the doctor the whole time, as if trying to read her mind.
"Raise." She finally said. "Thirty-five hundred, all in."
The doctor didn't even blink. "Call." She said. "Thirty-three hundred, all in."
There was a subtle shift in tone around the table as Garrus returned with drinks. Shepard took a swig before passing out the fourth and fifth cards.
Incredibly, both women had four identical cards on the face up, all eights. Either they both had bluffed their way to four-of-a-kind, or one of them had a fifth card.
"Ladies, if you'll show your cards?"
The doctor flipped her card, revealing a king of clubs. Liara slowly reached out, emotionless, to turn over her last card, revealing an eight of hearts.
No one spoke for several heartbeats, not until Doctor Chakwas began to laugh, leaning back in her chair.
"Liara, that was the best bluff I've seen in all my years playing cards. I thought you had nothing."
"Yes, well, I've had lots of practice as of late." Liara replied.
Shepard reached out for the cards, his hands deftly stacking them to put in the shuffler.
The telltale click of the comm sounded.
"Commander, it's Joker. We're about fifteen minutes from the Sol Relay."
The weight that had lifted from his shoulders during the game returned, settling back into the grooves that were worn in.
"Acknowledged." He said. "I'll be up shortly."
The good mood that had been in the room didn't leave, to his surprise. He could see the seriousness in their eyes, but it was tempered with hope. That had made the exercise worth it, even if he would have preferred to spend the time alone with Liara. He finished stacking the cards and stuck the pile into the shuffler, which began its work.
"Commander, we-" Doctor Chakwas began, but Shepard raised his hand.
"We'll do this again sometime. After we win this."
She nodded.
Unable to bear their stares any longer, he turned and left the lounge.
"You've gotta get out of here." Shepard said, pushing her up the ramp.
Liara was bleeding badly, and barely lucid. "I'm all right, Shepard."
Her determination made him love her even more. "Don't argue with me, Liara"
"You're not leaving me behind." She managed, reaching out.
"No matter what happens," he said, walking up to her. "You mean everything to me, Liara. You always will." He embraced her gently.
"Shepard, I…I am yours."
Shepard turned around, saw Harbinger approaching, and turned back to Liara. "Go!" he shouted, before turning one last time to run toward the energy beam.
Liara continued to stare as the Normandy's engines cycled up, the ramp beginning to close. Garrus finally cleared his throat and said, "C'mon Liara, lets get you patched up."
She'd only waited long enough for the Doctor to slather her wounds with medigel before rushing to the cockpit, wanting to see the battle. Joker had told her that Shepard had made it to the Citadel and opened the arms for the Crucible to dock, but that they hadn't been able to reach him since.
Come on, Shepard, she thought.
A flicker of light caught her eye, her attention drawn to a glow beginning to emanate from the Crucible. For some reason, the sight filled her with dread.
"All fleets, the Crucible is armed." Hackett's voice said over the comm.. "Disengage and head to the rendezvous point. I repeat, disengage and get the hell out of here."
Garrus, who had come to the bridge with her, put his hand on Joker's shoulder.
"Joker, listen. We have to go."
Joker's shoulders slumped.
"Damn it." He muttered, before returning his hands to the controls and putting the ship into a banked turn.
"What are you doing?" Liara asked, standing up. "Shepard could still be alive!"
"If Admiral Hackett thought there was a chance…he'd have sent us in." EDI said, before bowing her head.
Joker was typing fast now, sending power surging through the engines. She watched as Earth and the Citadel shrunk in the camera's view, the only love of her life being left behind, and understood what poets and artists had meant about having your heart broken.
The Normandy continued to accelerate, until even the inertial dampeners were beginning to have trouble compensating. The entire ship shook, so much so that some of the crew members stopped what they were doing and turned to look at Joker, whose hands were dancing across his controls as he put more and more power to the engines. She turned her attention back to the screen, watching as the pulse wave drew closer and closer despite Joker's attempts to outrun it. Then, the world went black.
Garrus had patted her on the shoulder before turning to leave. Tali had given her a hug. The doctor had told her that her office was always open. The others had muttered condolences before leaving her alone, standing in front of the memorial she had always tried to ignore, though she had never pictured seeing Shepard's name there on its surface.
She brushed her hand once more across the plaque, feeling the rough etching of the letters. There would no doubt be more memorials built to Shepard, but she had a feeling that if he were somewhere watching, this simple plaque would be all he'd want.
Finally, resolve steeled in her, and she straightened up, walking to her cabin to get some sleep. Only half the door slid open – more damage from the crash that would need fixing – but it was enough to let her inside. Much of her equipment was strewn across the floor, and several monitors had broken loose from their brackets, but the remainder were still on.
As much as he had occasionally been an annoyance, she wished Glyph were here. But he'd been lost in the run to the beam, and so he wasn't.
Despite the fatigue threatening to overwhelm her, she moved to her terminal, intent on seeing if any of her contacts were still active. She stopped, however, when she saw her keyboard.
Nestled on one of the arms that held it was a playing card, face down. At first, she thought it was some kind of joke, but she remembered that only she and Shepard had access to the room. Slowly, gingerly, she reached out and grasped it, finding it had been attached with a mild adhesive. She flipped it over, revealing the eight of hearts.
Tears came freely then, but not the tears of bitterness she had shed since leaving Earth. No, these were tears of joy, of knowing that even when he had the weight of the galaxy on his shoulders, he had taken the time to show her he cared, one last time. Had he known, she wondered, that he was going to his death? She'd heard people speak of that, but hadn't believed it. But if he hadn't known, then why leave the card?
She stopped that line of thought – it could come later – and made her way over to the bed, the terminal forgotten. She placed the card on the bedside table, laid down on the bed, and fell fast asleep, a smile on her face for the first time in days.
It was going to be all right.