Mass Effect, copyright BioWare Corp.

Numb

A fanfiction for Mass Effect

This is how it felt. This tightness in her throath, this ache in her chest.. this overall feeling of being numb. This is what it felt like to lose somebody you care for. Only thing really feeling of anything right now, was the slightly warmed glass of blue liquid in her palm. She poured the content of her glass into her mouth in a one, swift moment, gulpin it down quickly. The coldness of the drink spread around in every inch of her body, making her shiver slightly, but she enjoyed it. At least she got to feel something.

The constant movement of bodies and the beat of the rhytmic base behind her seemed like it was a thousand miles away. The only thing snapping her back into reality was the occasional greeting she got from the other patrons, mostly men with cheezy hit-on lines. She brushed them off pretty quickly, only needing to reach at the pistol she had holsetered on her thigh.

"Hey."

A familiar voice echoed behind her. She ignored it and ordered another drink with a wave of her hand. The Turian bartender quickly filled her glass with another dose of the blue liquid and resumed serving the other customers. She drank it and placed the glass on the counter.

"What do you want?"

She asked without looking back. The bartender poured her yet another glass.

"I didn't realize that spectres spent their precious time by drinking themselves into stupor every night." The person behind her said in an irritated tone of voice. "You do realize you've almost emptied my stock for Serrice Ice Brandy?"

"You need to get a better suplier." Shepard scoffed and resumed to tend to the drink before her.

Aria T'loak grinned slightly, stepped beside the woman and leaned on the counter with the elbow of her other hand. She waved the other slightly to order drinks for her and Shepard.

"You still haven't answered my question."

"Answer mine first." the Asari said firmly.

Shepard knew there was no pissing around with the person beside her. Aria was Omega, she had come to realize. The first time she had heard that, from the very same person next to her, she had thought the Asari to be slightly over-confined about herself but now knew that Aria had been right. There was nothing on this piece of rock that she didn't know about or had some awarness of.

"Why I'm here?"

Silence was her answer.

The group had gotten to Omega for the sole reason of recruiting Zaeed Massani for the mission. That hadn't taken very long though, the mercenary had been just outside the airlock between the ship and the station and had reported to the Normandy not half an hour later from their intial meeting. Now that she really thought about it, Shepard couldn't come up with any waterproof excuse she could answer.

"No reason."

"I thought you were on "a very important mission to save the galaxy"." the Asari's tone of voice suggested slight mockery. "One could imagine how busy that must be." Though Aria was very well aware of the Collectors and their shady businesses, she wasn't quite sure were to stand on the subject of the Reapers. "For what it seems to me, it's Humanity under attack, not the entire galaxy."

"You're aware of that, huh?" the blonde woman stated, not really surprised.

"I am aware of everything."

"Even outside of Omega?"

Aria raised an eyebrow. "I am not as self centered as you seem to believe." she stated sternly but not insulted in the least. "Besided, I've crossed paths with the Collectors in the past. Not a pleasant bunch."

This in turn made Shepard rise a quiestioning brow.

"Ask your friend, the prothean expert."

"This wouldn't have anything to do with retrieving my corpse?"

"Indeed."

Shepard sighed. "You do have your hands in every jar of this station."

"I try my best." Aria smirked but the statement was anything but humorous. "Give my friend here as many drinks as she likes, on the house." she said to the bartender and turned to walk away.

"Wait." Shepard said and looked over her shoulder.

As Aria's eyes made contact with the crystal blue eyes of the Spectre before her, she wasn't quite sure what to think. She saw something in those eyes that reminded her of things long gone, of things she wasn't sure she enjoyed recalling. They stared each other down a good while before Shepard finally broke the silence a bit awkwardly.

"Never mind."

"Now you got me curious." Aria said and stepped back beside the counter.

Shepard wasn't sure what she was doing or what she should say. For some reason, probably the alcohol, she felt comfortable around the stern person beside her. For some unknown reason, she felt like she could talk to her and not be judged. So she started talking. About who she was, about what made her into the woman and soldier she was today. How she had overcome the impossible and saved the citadel.. and how she had fallen.

Aria hadn't said a word the whole time she had been talking. The Asari had been staring into the distance, watching the people dancing, her back and elbows leaning on the counter. When a moment of silence had passed between them, Aria finally turned around and ordered drinks for them.

"You're quite beautiful, you know that?" the Spectre suddenly blurted, catching the person beside her off guard. Aria's hesitation wouldn't have shown if the person looking at her wasn't as observant as Shepard was. "Sorry.." she quickly apologized, shaking her head from side to side, trying to clear out her thoughts. She was more drunk than she had realized it seemed.

"I do know that." Aria smirked. "And no, you're not making me uncomfortable in the least." said continued, her tone of voice rather intrigued. "So don't apologize."

"Uhm.." Shepard swallowed, not really sure what to say. Her usual confidence had been broken along side her heart on Ilium, on an office overlooking the markets, after a heartwarming reunion, a longing kiss and the coldness of reality.

"I think now.." Aria started smirking. "..we're friendly enough to talk about my past." The Asari took a few steps away and looked over shoulder at Shepard.

Many thoughts raced through her intoxicated mind as she weighted her options and the possible outcomes of this type of interaction between them. It was obvious that the queen of Omega was interested in more than just talking and wanting to agree with her, Shepard couldn't help but to feel a slight bang of guilt as she watched longingly at the beautiful figure before her. She felt like she was betraying Liara, though the young Asari had made it quite clear that they were nothing more than friends anymore, back on Ilium. She felt like she was betraying Aria, for all that she wanted was something to remind her of Liara.

She didn't care. She gulped down the last shot before her, stood up from the stool and followed the Asari.