Title: do not jeopardize the mission

Author: written and translated by Servala, corrected by Niorah
Game: Mass Effect 3
characters/pairing: Jane Shepard/ Liara T´Soni, James Vega, Dr. Chakwas
Disclaimer: Mass Effect and its assets belong to Electronic Arts and BioWare.
No copyright infringement intended.

*****

After their last stay on the Citadel, the Normandy was on the way to a job on a small Cerberus base, where they experimented with Reapertech. But it did not look good for them. They had to leave Liara behind to hack into the security system and to turn off the big cannon, but now James and Shepard were cut off from her. Shepard saw how Liara tried to keep the attackers at bay with singularities, but there were just too many and she did not take all of them down.

Shepard got her sniper rifle out, and she targeted and killed a few enemies. Then she activated her tactical cloak. Not a moment too soon. As she almost reached the Asari, she saw the red dot of a phantom´s weapon appear on the back of Liara's head. Shepard didn´t think long. She jumped and threw Liara to the ground and not a second too early. The shot grazed Jane's arm, but she barely felt it. She looked anxiously at Liara, her heart raced and the fear of losing the Asari overcame her. Liara was breathing heavily, Jane could feel the movement of her breasts even through the armor she wore and a sudden desire shot through her body, she was befuddled. She leaned forward to kiss Liara, her lips hovered above the Asari's, only millimeters apart. She breathed in the sweet breath, as something exploded behind her.

Shepard turned and watched as James came up through the smoke to them. He carried his katana, a relatively heavy shotgun the recoil of which would be enough to break Jane's arm. He looked at them and shook his head while he was reloading. "Lola, are you loco? This is hardly the time!" He shot over their heads and they heard the groan of a Cerberus agent before he died. James offered the two women a hand at the same time and pulled them to their feet. Then he tapped Shepard on her back and she lurched forward. "You are wounded Commander," he said, pointing to the rivulet which ran down her shoulder. Shepard couldn´t feel anything, but she knew she would have to go to the infirmary.

Back on the Normandy Shepard did this immediately after she gave a report to Hackett. James came out of the infirmary and stared at her, then as she entered the room the stern gaze of the doctor met hers. "Sit down and take your top off." Shepard nodded and sat down on one of the beds. Meanwhile the graze shot burned, but fortunately it was not that bad. She looked up as Liara walked into the infirmary too. "Doctor, I do not think it is necessary", she began, "I have no injuries." Chakwas poked her in the side and Liara winced. "Maybe a bruise from the fall, but nothing serious!"

The doctor treated Shepard's wounds and then she looked at the two, who were sitting in front of her on one of the hospital beds. While the Commander got dressed again, Liara threw little sideways glances at her. Karin turned to them. She picked up a datapad and held it in her crossed arms. "You can´t go on like this," she began. "You two will kill each other." Two afraid pairs of eyes were staring at the doctor. "I asked EDI and since you two are together here on the ship, you were not in bed together!" Shepard wanted to say something, but the doctor brushed the objection aside. "And before we flew against the collectors you two had seen each other only once and the time before that was two years in the past!" She glared angrily and snorted, as Shepard interjected quietly that she was dead most of the time.

"This is not natural and not good!" Karin rumbled on. "And don´t tell me you do not want to jeopardize the mission and therefore hold back your needs! That is complete nonsense. You've seen it today, you are so hot about each other, that you didn´t notice anything, although an Atlas was standing behind you", Jane leaned over to Liara and muttered, "I did not know that James was such a tattletale!" Karin gave her an angry look. Her voice almost crackled, "and then this," she held up the datapad and waving furiously in the air. "I thought it was a joke, then I felt outraged. Because it's not my job to worry about my crew members having sex, but when I think about it, the woman has a stand." She threw the pad to Liara who caught it. She glanced at it and her skin color changed from pink to deep purple.

"A matriarch of Thessia asked me," she emphasized the last word over the top, "to take care that her daughter finally gives the Commander a little relaxation." Karin would have laughed if it hadn't been so serious. "And that I please remind her that she is doing it wrong if it stays too civilized!" Her voice almost broke. Then she crossed her arms again and looked at both with a severe expression. Shepard looked scandalized, but Liara looked as if she was searching for a hole to a deeper level below the ground.

"You'll both go now to the cabin of the Commander and have sex. If I even catch one of you out there, then I'll write Shepard unfit for service" Then she looked at Liara. "And it will be my pleasure to tell your father about it," she added, almost spitefully. "Now get out!" She pointed at the door and watched the two go. They both found the conversation terribly embarrassing.

Karin sighed. She took a bottle of Ice Brandy, opened it and poured herself a glass. She thought she had earned it.

Shepard was standing next to Liara in the elevator and was completely silent. Liara avoided eye contact and tugged nervously at her white and blue jacket. When they entered the cabin, Shepard sealed the door and swallowed. The situation was almost surreal. But then she found her courage and walked to Liara, who still had a purple face. She reached around the Asari's waist and pulled her closer. "Liara," she asked, smiling, "are you okay?" She just nodded, but her eyes wandered nervously around the cabin. Shepard slowly began to open the jacket of the Asari, till Liara looked at her at last.

"You surely do not intend to follow this instruction?" She asked, her voice almost toppled. Shepard smiled, but did not stop. "Yes, I do". She slipped Liara's jacket from her shoulders. Underneath she only wore a very tight-fitting, thin white top and Shepard's stomach clenched painfully. "Jane?", Liara sighed softly, and their eyes met. "But she is right," Shepard muttered, as her own uniform jacket fell to the floor. "So if you want me to fight with a clear head, you should put the doctor's advice into practice," she smiled suggestively, "Doctor!"

Liara gave her an angry look, but then she smiled and put her arms around the Commander's neck. "You might be right... Commander," she murmured, pulling Shepard into a kiss.

One hour and two glasses later Dr. Chakwas contacted EDI. "Your patients did comply with your instructions, Doctor," came the neutral voice of the ship's AI. Karin chuckled to herself and drank another glass.