Ch. 2: A Warm Welcome On A Stormy Planet

Planet Hagalaz, Shadow Broker Command Ship

Massive computer banks flickered to life as Liara T'Soni entered the Shadow Brokers office...her office aboard the weather ship that was the Shadow Brokers headquarters. All sorts of information lit up those displays; statistics on the Turian Hierarchy, fleet movements of the Alliance, current diplomatic missions by the Asari Republics, were all available through the Shadow Broker networks.

Liara looked through her files, trying to decide where to get started for today. It had only been about a month since Shepard and her had deposed the previous Shadow Broker and Liara had assumed his role. During that time, she had been busy making sense of all the vast systems, getting adjusted to the strenuous hours of work and co-opting the network to suit her needs. Another job was searching for clues to how to defeat the Reapers, ancient sentient starships hell bent on destroying all space faring races in their 50,000 year cycles. That was the only important mission at the moment; word had gotten out of Shepards exploits in batarian space in the meantime.

Over three hundred thousand batarian colonists dead, a whole system destroyed. I can only imagine how Shepard is feeling. Liara thought. She felt empathic for Shepard, she understood his compassion for life. Its one of his most attractive attributes.

"Dr, Tsoni, you have an incoming message on the vid-com" the Shadow Brokers spherical VI drone, affectionately named Glyph by the asari, chimed behind her.

"Thank you Glyph" Liara said dismissively. She still was buried in the mornings reports from her agents in field across the galaxy. Reports from the Terminus Systems were up, batarian slaver and pirate raids on Alliance colonies were up.

"Glyph, make a note to advise agents in the Terminus Systems to assist Alliance colonies, if feasible."

"Noted Dr., there still is a transmission waiting on the quantam communicator."

"Yes, Glyph, I'm trying to finish morning reports." she retorted annoyed but started toward her communication hub regardless, the drone could get rather incessant at times, which usually meant something was possibly important enough to garner curiosity.

Liara moved herself to her communication hub, she had set up various quantum entanglement devices so she could talk with some of her top lieutenants in the field. Only her friend and confidant, a drell named Feron, along with a select few operatives knew the true identity of the Shadow Broker and she enjoyed having face-time with those few. Tapping a few keys to set up a secure link, a familiar voice flowed through the comm terminal

"Well, well if it isn't my Blue Goddess." Shepards voice rang through the terminal, sending a shiver up Liara's spine. She enhanced the signal since visuals were distorted due to interference by Hagalaz's stormy atmosphere.

"Hello Damon, I've missed you." Liara chimed, taking in Damon features. It had been about a month since Liara and Shepard had stormed the Shadow Broker's base and deposed the previous Broker. Liara could tell that stress and his guilt over the deaths of the batarian colonists had taken there toll on him. Slight bags hung under Shepards eyes, indicating he hadn't been sleeping too well.

"Damon, you can't let your feelings get the best of you, I can tell by looking that you haven't been sleeping well" Liara noted with concern in her voice,

"I know, I know. It's been rough." Shepard acknowledged, knowing he could never hide anything from his love, "I will try to get more sleep. But the reason why I called..." Shepard trailed off

"What can I do for you? I was just going over morning reports."

"Are you available? The Normandy just established orbit over Hagalaz. I have a mission I need your opinion on."

Liara was taken aback. She hadn't expected Shepard to be dropping by.

Something must be bothering him, I know he wasn't involved in anything too critical in the Terminus Systems at moment. Reports had placed the Normandy in the Minos Wasteland mopping up a pirate gangs. Liara thought to herself

"I'm always free for you Shepard, come on down." Liara stated, playfully giving a come hither motion with her finger.

"Oh, now you are just teasing me" Shepard chuckled, "I will be down in the shuttle in five"

The comm signal was terminated, but by then Liara had already left her comm station. She hurried over to her bathroom to make sure she didn't look like a mess. She sometimes neglected her appearance, since she would work for hours with little to no breaks and very few hours of sleep. This left her looking less than stellar at times. Shepard coming to see her motivated her to freshen up however.


Shepard sat in the shuttle, swaying with the turbulence of Hagalaz's stormy atmosphere.

Loved Liara's surprised look when I ttold her the Normandy was already in orbit, Shepard gathered with a smile. He did love surprising Liara. He had been wanting to stop by for a visit, it had been a long month of no real contact with Liara. Sure they sent messages back and forth, or he would call looking for intel, but he hadn't been physically near her since their night together after deposing the Shadow Broker.

I've missed her. I've needed her. Damon reckoned. With the renewal of their relationship, he had confirmed what he already knew. He was in love...love with the asari Liara T'Soni. Her rejection when the Commander had asked for her to join his suicide squad to assault the Collectors had stung, to say the least. He had hoped she would join without question, as he believed that they had developed a special relationship after growing closer in the months following Sovereign's destruction.

The shuttle shook violently, shuffling Commander around a bit, breaking his thought process.

"Sorry Commander, winds a little rough down here and its my first shuttle flight since coming off sick leave." said Ensign Reed. He was a former Cerberus operative, defected after Shepard cut ties with the organization to stay aboard the Normandy. After the rescue of crew-members that had been abducted by the Collectors, some had needed medical treatment and some time to recuperate from the ordeal

"No worries, Reed. A warning before getting tossed across the shuttle would be appreciated though." Damon called out with a snicker.

No need to worry drill the guy. He is a good pilot after all. Shepard surmised. "ETA to the Shadow Broker base?"

"Docking now sir"

"Good man." Damon called out as he made way to the shuttles main hatch. He breathed deeply, his heart was beating slightly faster than usual and he was perspiring slightly on his brow.

I can fight Krogan hand-to-hand without flinching, but simply seeing the woman I love throws me hard to port. Christ alive. Damon lamented to himself as the door to the shuttle opened.

It took a few minutes but Shepard found the Shadow Broker office where Liara had been waiting to greet him. She wore her blue and white armor with the armored skirt, she really didn't have too many other changes of clothes that she liked to wear while working. The armor was comfortable to say the least. Damon on the other hand was dressed a bit more casually.

"It's odd to see you in your civilian clothes, Shepard" Liara remarked when she turned to greet him as he walked into the room.

"What? I wasn't expecting to run into too much gunfire" Shepard laughed, looking himself up and down in a joking fashion. He was in typical Earth wear, a pair of loose fit jeans, a white T-shirt, with a dark leather jacket that had the N7 logo ornamented on the left side.

Liara liked how relaxed and casual Shepard was being, but she knew that just beneath the surface f his swagger, he was hurting. She looked at him, his dark brown skin seemed slightly paler, than the last time they had been together and once again she saw bags underneath his eyes.

"How are you Shepard, really?" Liara asked with concern in her voice

"Honestly, not well." Damon admitted, strolling over to a computer bank, staring blindly at it."Its my fault three hundred thousand batarian colonists are dead. I had no real choice, it was either blow the relay or let the Reapers waltz through the galaxy's back door."

Liara moved over to Shepard was standing, bringing her arms around him in a loving embrace saying, "I know you did what you could, love. Don't blame yourself so much, you were captured and held for almost two days."

"Doesn't make me feel any less guilty, but thanks Liara. I don't know what I would do without you." Shepard said as he relaxed into the embrace of his lover. He turned around to look at her, look into those beautiful blue eyes he loved.

"See something you like?" Liara jested, matching her Commander's stare without batting an eye.

"Possibly" was all Shepard could reply as he pulled the asari closer, his lips lightly brushing against hers. Her scent was intoxicating, she smelt of fresh wildflowers in spring. Damon tightened his embrace and Liara didn't fight it. She loved nestling close to the human, feeling safe in his strong arms.

"I've missed you" Shepard said, breaking their kiss, his voice barely audible, resting his forehead against hers. It was these moments he cherished, being able to be vulnerable, human, when so much of the time he had to be the confident and inspiring leader.

"I've missed you too, Damon. It seems like we never get time for us, we are always consumed by our duties." Liara answer, in her own quiet whisper, not willing to break the tender moment. " I love you"

Shepard knew his heart probably skipped a beat hearing those words fall from Liara's lips. As long as she loved him, he would make it through whatever the universe threw at him, Reapers or worse. g

"I love you too Liara, and I always will." Shepard replied, kissing her lightly on the lips as he ended their embrace

"I always hate breaking up tender moments, but I did come because I needed some intel." Shepard said, remembering that he hadn't come to Hagalalz just to meet up with T'Soni, no matter how much enjoyed it.

"Always the soldier, huh, no rest for the weary?" Liara teased "You said something about a mission?"

"I received a transmission about a private militia...the Omega Defenders or something like that. I guess their commander was captured by batarian pirates" Shepard explained

"Hmm batarians...You do know that the Hegemony probably wants your head on a platter, especially, after recent developments. I've gotten word that the batarians might be gearing up for war with the Alliance over this incident." Liara cautioned

"Hackett mentioned the same thing. That's not what we need right now, not with the Reapers on their way." Shepard's brow furrowed. He knew what Admiral Hackett said had been correct, war between Earth and Khar'shan, the batarian home world, would weaken the galaxy's chances of surviving the Reaper invasion. The Council races, would be reluctant to aid the humans or batarians, on top of an galactic invasion.

"Do you have anything on them Liara?" Shepard inquired again.

"Hmm, lets see" Liara said hitting a few keys on her console and waiting for the information to load up.

"They seem to be a protection racket protecting colonies, pretty legitimate, no evidence of extortion it seems. That's unusual for a Terminus operation, most deal heavily in extortion, and piracy. Formed in 2180...nothing suspicious it seems from what my sources say. And you know how reliable my sources are" Liara chuckled at the end.

" Oh yes, I know. Those same sources almost killed us getting you set up here, if I recollect." Shepard retorted. He wasn't about to let her win any type f argument, but knew he probably would lose.

"I'm supposed to meet a rep on Omega by 2100 today. What time is it by the way? Been burning it on both ends and honestly I haven't been keeping track of the time." Damon admitted rather bashfully.

"Hmmph why I am not surprised? You know, you are cute when you are worried," Liara said as she affectionately stroked her lovers chin, feeling the bristles of his beard, always fascinated by human hair. "Its currently 0300, sorta early in the standard twenty four hour day.

"Good it shouldn't take terribly too long to get to Omega. Probably like fifteen hours, its only like a few relay jumps. Come with me, babe. It be nice to have a mission, just the two of us." Shepard asked as he tried to give his best puppy dog face but didn't know if it had the desired effect given Liara's reaction of staring at her data feeds. After what seemed like an eternity Liara finally sighed:

"Glyph, encrypt and forward all new messages and reports to my omni-tool while I am off with Shepard"

Shepard couldn't been any happier. He knew that they hadn't been able to spend any real time together since the raid, and the ensuing victory evening together where they reaffirmed their relationship. Liara came around and hugged Damon tightly around his waist. Shepard returned the embrace, lightly showering Liara's forehead with kisses and tickling her head crests.

" Lets get outta here, adventure awaits!" Shepard called out, letting go of Liara and striking a heroic pose, pointing towards the exit. Liara was laughing uncontrollably, clutching her sides.

"Are you only this obnoxious around me or does your crew get to see this side of you?" Liara was able to blurt out between gasps for breath.

"To them I'm Commander Shepard, hero if the Battle of the Citadel, but to you Liara, I'm just Damon Shepard, a man who is in love with a beautiful asari." Damon said, taking Liara's hand leading her out of her office towards the Normandy's shuttle.