Shepard gasped, at the same time grunted in pain. He reflexively moved his arm over his torso to where the most pain had come from. He opened his eyes to a small room. It was dim, the walls were constructed out of cement that seemed to have some wear on them. Scratches along the wall where gurneys apparently rubbed against, and chips in the wall where monitors may have fallen during explosions. There was a wide metal door to his right. The metal ground looked as if it had been swept recently. There were long dark rubber scratches along the floor, leading up to him. Shepard was in a hospital bed near a big window to his left. He looked out to see London.
I must have been brought to a refugee hospital.
It looked much like the sight he saw when he woke up in the rubble, except high above ground.
The room was nearly empty except for a single chair and a couple of monitors that Shepard was hooked up to. In the chair lay Ashley, in front of the big window near his bed. She was laying on Shepard's pillow which looked like an uncomfortable position, yet she was in a deep slumber. She was also cleaned up with clothes that weren't in scraps, but she still looked tired.
She looks like she hasn't been asleep for days. She looks so peaceful.. I can't even believe I'm here, with her, alive. It's almost like a dream. Well, my pain shows that I'm definitely not dreaming.
Shepard snapped out of his gaze, feeling the desire to embrace her. Or if not that, wake her up at least. Before doing that though, Shepard quickly wanted to observe his condition. He looked down to see his whole torso bandaged. There was a little blood seepage, but not much. He had no shirt and his upper chest was showing new scratches, cuts, and more pink scars. Most of them had seemed to be half or nearly healed.
He touched his face. It was sore, as if he'd took a punch the day before. He felt bandages on parts of his face and also stubble as he ran his fingers over his cheek.
Hmm, I've probably been out for a couple of days.
He tried to move his legs but failed to do so at first. He was finally able to move them both from side to side with a wince. Relief overcame him, his legs were fine in that regard. They felt as if they were extremely sore, it would hurt when he tried to bend them. He had hospital pants and socks on.
Shepard looked back over to Ashley. He didn't want to wake her, but knew she'd definitely want to know if he was awake. He bent his right arm toward her, cringing as he stretched sensitive skin. He touched the side of her face.
She waved off his touch, still sleeping,"Mm stoppit Shepard.." A smile tugged at the side of Shepard's mouth. He wanted to kiss and feel her. He leaned down in pain but could manage. He pushed his chapped lips to her soft, luscious lips. Ashley quickly became aware, sitting up abruptly.
"Shepard!"
She quickly leaned back in, reflexively putting her arms around his neck, kissing Shepard more firmly this time. He winced to himself in pain, but smiled at the comfort of her touch.
To him, she was the apple of his eye, the key to his soul. Shepard didn't want anything but her touch. Everything stopped for him as he basked in their embrace of love. All of his worries of losing her, thinking he'd never seen her again were lifted. If he had lost her, he would have gone downhill, been a broken man. Now, he was safe and sound with the love of his life.
She leaned back, releasing his neck after a long kiss. She kept his hand in hers.
"Sorry if that hurt," she remorselessly smiled.
Shepard chuckled, squeezing her hand,"It's alright. That was a very warm welcome." He gleamed at her,"Kinda wish it could have gone a little longer though."
Ashley smiled at her accomplishment,"Please Shepard," she leaned a bit closer and whispered,"I wouldn't want to hurt you."
Shepard scoffed but let it slide. He sighed in defeat and smiled. Ashley's face got serious as she looked into his eyes,"But Shepard, God Shepard... I love you so much."
"I love you too Ash." Shepard lightly squeezed her hand again.
She looked at their intertwined fingers, lightly playing with his fingers,"I kept believing you would pull through. I knew you would, you always do," she looked back down at their hands then back to him,"Shepard, I still had that one thought though, that one thought of you not making it. In the back of my brain, nagging, lurking. That you might not wake up. I-," she started to tear up, wiping the tears away quickly.
Shepard tried to lean closer to her but failed. He beckoned her to come closer to him,"Ash, I told you it would be okay. And it all worked out, we're here together, that's what matters. I mean, it did all work out right? The Reapers..." Shepard suddenly realized. His eyes started to widen, worry arising in his stomach.
Ashley interjected before Shepard could think anymore of it,"They're gone Shepard. All of them seemed to malfunction and cave to the ground. Anderson, he sacrificed himself. He went up in the beam and activated something on the Crucible that disabled the Reapers. We're all still trying to piece together exactly what happened, but Anderson died in the explosion on the Citadel. Shepard I know this is a lot to take in. I'm sorry."
Shepard frowned,"I remember. I saw him go through the beam before I passed out. He went instead of me. He was a good man, and he will be remembered." Shepard looked to Ashley as she firmly nodded in agreement. "I respected him so much. I can't believe he's gone. If anything, he couldn't have gone more honorably. He did it for the better of the galaxy." Shepard sadly smiled.
"The Reapers are gone." Shepard had to say it out loud and paused as he took in what that meant for him and everything else in the world.
"You know Ash, I thought I wasn't coming back," he looked into her eyes intently,"I thought...", she cut him off,"Liam, you're here with me. No need to dwell on it now. We've both had our doubts but we're together, like you said." She tightened her grip on his hand as she gently kissed him. Shepard sighed in dissatisfaction since he couldn't display his affection rightly.
"Alright Ash, how bad are my injuries so I know when I can get out of this bed to... hug you properly?" A mischievous smile spread across Shepard's face.
"Oh Shepard, let's not get ahead of ourselves now." She said in a low purr. She slid her hand over his muscled chest down to his lower torso as she kissed his neck softly.
"Mmm Ash," he said in a weak whisper, pausing at the pleasure coursing through him. He loved and hated this teasing,"Ash, you're evil you know that."
Ashley nipped at Shepard's neck and leaned back, smiling in pride at Shepard's submissiveness,"I'm going to get Dr. Chakwas to let her know you're awake." Her tone was still low and seductive.
She got up and disappeared through the door. Shepard almost didn't hear what Ashley said as he was in a daze from her teasing touches.
That woman's gonna drive me insane. Shepard breathed in, coming back from his daze.
Ashley and Dr. Chakwas appeared through the door. Dr. Chakwas genuinely smiled as she saw Shepard.
He smiled back as she approached his side. Ashley went to his other and took his hand in hers.
"Commander, I'm truly happy that you pulled though." Her voice wavered with emotion and she glanced at Ashley,"I'm not going to lie, there was a time I thought you might not make it. But you did, and that's what matters."
She smiled as tears welled up in her eyes. Shepard took her hand in his and squeezed it.
"I knew we had the best doctor in the Alliance fleet. Thank you, Dr. Chakwas, for helping bringing me back." He sincerely looked into her eyes.
She waved him off,"Oh Commander there were many more medical professionals helping bring you back." Dr. Chakwas wiped off the tears as they fell.
"I'm sure there was doc, regardless, thank you."
"Oh commander, why did you have to go on and make me all emotional." They all made a hearty laugh.
"Well Doc, do you think you're ready to tell me my injuries? If it's too much we don't have to." Shepard watched her in case she might react differently than he expected. Shepard never knew what to expect around emotional women.
"Oh please Commander, I'm a medical professional. I can tell you." She smiled as she reached for Shepard's medical file.
She skillfully looked over his body for improvements and his overall condition.
"Well Commander, you seem to be healing up quite nicely. The burn across your stomach should take about a week to heal completely."
Shepard looked down at his stomach.
"I will give you a gel to rub on it every night before you go to sleep. The scratches on your face should heal in about two days. Now on your left arm, the bicep ruptured under immense pressure, so I'm going to issue you a sling to wear for a week and then it should heal fine. The regenerative antibiotic shot I gave you will gradually restore it back to normal. Daily check ups are mandatory, so no going off to clean up the galaxy yet. Once you heal up with plenty of rest, you'll be back to normal."
She looked at Shepard expectantly for questions.
"That all sounds good, I guess." He looked at Ashley who only slightly nodded in agreement, remembering his condition when she found him.
"Well thank you Dr, I appreciate you filling me in."
"No problem Commander. As I said before, daily check ups and rest are mandatory. Admiral Hackett himself contacted me to make sure you stay resting and healing for at least one week.
She glanced at the medical file,"Ideally, I would like you to stay for two or more weeks. But I think we all know you won't do that voluntarily."
Ashley slowly shook her head, smiling.
Classic Shepard... myShepard.
A rush of love and warmth spread through her body. She gripped Shepard's hand more tightly.
"Well Shepard, I'll leave you two now and if you need anything at all, let me know. I'll come back in about 20 minutes to change your bandages."
She left the room and Shepard took a deep breath.
"That wasn't too bad was it?" He asked Ashley.
"No, not too bad." As Ashley said that, Shepard noticed something in her eyes which were shied away from his body. She was looking down.
He tried to shift his position to face more toward her but didn't quite accomplish much. He gave up on moving,"Hey, Ash what's wrong. I know you have something on your mind. It's obvious." He looked at her concerned.
She looked into his eyes,"I know this isn't quite the time Shepard but, the way you looked when I found you. It, it was heartbreaking. I- ,"
"Hey, Ash, it's okay, I'm okay, we're okay. You heard Dr. Chakwas, I'm healing up really nicely." He hoped that eased her a bit.
Ashley looked at him in frustration.
Crap, what'd I say?
"Shepard you don't understand, you looked like you were already dead. You looked- you were just, almost not," she was losing words."not there. I don't know how to say it." She closed her eyes in frustration.
Shepard took both her hands into his and looked at her,"Ash, nobody should ever have to experience that. But you pulled through, I pulled through, it's okay now. The Reapers are destroyed."
She made a sly smile.
"Com'ere." Shepard hugged her to his chest. He could feel moisture running down it from Ashley's tears.
"Oh Shepard... I missed you."
"Missed you too Ash."
She sat up and wiped the tears from her face. Shepard signaled her to come closer and their lips met in a deep, engrossing kiss. Ashley was lost in it and Shepard didn't care about the stinging pain. They pulled apart for air.
"Man, you don't take long to get back in your groove babe." Ashley smiled satisfactorily.
"Oh, I would show you more but unfortunately I'm stuck in this goddamn bed." Shepard disappointingly looked at the lower half of his bed.
"You'll be up and about in no time Skipper." She put her hand on his face,"I love you Shepard."
"I love you too Ash," he was expecting another kiss.
"Well, you wanna see the crew now or do you think it might be too overwhelming?"
"Oh hell yeah, bring 'em in. I just wish I was able to get up and hug them though."
Ashley smiled,"In due time. Alright, I'll go get them." She quickly pecked Shepard's cheek and left the room.
Shepard couldn't help but gaze over her body as she left.
You are killin' me with that booty.
Shepard shook his head at himself.
About five minutes later, he saw his whole crew file through the door, big smiles and some tears appearing in their faces as they saw him. He could sense the joy that they all felt, as he felt the same. Garrus, Liara, Tali, Javik, Miranda, Grunt, and EDI appeared through the door with Joker at her side. They all approached him with warm greetings and welcomes. Wrex then squeezed through the door before Ashley came in last. She made her way to Shepard's side again and took hold of his hand.
Shepard had a smile on his face, pride radiating from him as he saw most of his honorable crew and friends before him. He knew he'd be happy to see them, but he was overjoyed.
When all the greetings and hugs were done, Joker started out by shouting,"Well, it's a miracle, Shepard has risen again!" He put his arms in the air with a wobble, giving fake praise. Ashley glared at him for a split second and he stopped on the verge of laughter.
"Yes, and he seems to be in good shape too." Liara smiled at Shepard.
Garrus leaned forward to speak,"Well Shepard, now that you're with us, and are alive, we can fulfill our promise of having a drink together. They're on me by the way. I know, I'm too kind."
Shepard chuckled,"For sure Garrus."
"When are you going to be able to get out of here Shepard?" Tali asked.
"Well, Chakwas said a week of rest should be sufficient for my condition."
"Good. Not too bad." Shepard could tell she was smiling behind her purple glinted mask.
"I'm not gong to lie Shepard,"Liara looked at him worriedly,"you had us all so worried you might not come through. We were scared we'd lose you. I'm just, so overjoyed that you're here. We all are." The whole crew nodded their heads in unison.
Shepard looked at all of them,"Guys, I'm not going anywhere anytime soon. And I'm only here because of all of you,"he squeezed his grip on Ashley's hand,"and also Anderson. He sacrificed himself to stop the Reapers and he will be remembered. But you guys keep me going and without you, we wouldn't have been able to complete the mission. Thank you all for sticking with me and being a helping friend, and a badass crew. I appreciate it all."
"No problem Shepard," Wrex boomed with his deep rugged voice. Even that small remark from Wrex left emotion in the air.
"Alright, can we stop with the sappiness and pop some champagne or something?" Joker looked around with a coaxing smile on his face.
"I wonder if there was ever a time you weren't so insensitive." Miranda looked at him with crossed arms and a smirk.
"Oh don't get me started on "insensitiveness" Miranda." He held up one hand motioning an apostrophe.
"Please," she frowned,"I think we all know who the most "insensitive" one here is anyway." She pointed her thumb to Javik, who was standing in the back.
"I have no problem being insensitive and unfeeling. It is the trade of our people and has trained me to be a sufficient soldier. You know the feeling as well as I do Ms. Lawson."
Miranda rolled her eyes as Joker laughed.
Grunt boomed,"I'd rather be cracking skulls than talking about this stuff!" At that Wrex high-fived him shouting back,"Hell yeah!"
Shepard and the crew reminisced about old times. After they were all done with goodbyes and left, Liara stayed after Shepard reassured Ashley he was well in good hands.
Liara was standing on the left side of his bed, her back toward the door.
"Shepard I just want to say again, I'm so glad to have you back. To have you here. You mean a great deal to me as a friend and Commander. We've been through so much, you've been through so many experiences. But Shepard I'm just going to get to the point."
Shepard looked at her with genuine curiosity as to what she was going to say.
"When you were in that rubble by the beam, and I was charging to get you, so many thoughts were going through my head when I saw you laying there. Looking so... still, so lifeless." She paused in discomfort, remembering Shepard's condition.
Shepard looked down at his hands, which were close to Liara's closed ones on the edge of his bed.
"So many thoughts were running through my mind but there was one that stuck out. It was that I loved you Shepard." She watched him intently for his reply.
Shepard furrowed his brow,"Oh, Liara, I- I didn't know you felt that way about me." Shepard was taken aback by what Liara was telling him. He wasn't surprised as much as he should have been though. The way Liara would linger at times, have on the edge of one-sided flirtatious conversations, or the way she'd sometimes talk to Shepard, as if they were together at times.
Liara calmly nodded her head,"Shepard, I've felt this way for a long time. I've loved you for so long, but I've had to hold back. Because, well, I know you are with Ashley. I know you- I know you love her."
Liara paused again and looked at her hands, tempted to take his in hers but Shepard wasn't budging,"I almost don't feel like myself. Me telling you this, it's impulsive. I'm not impetuous, but these feelings are strong. When you're in love you do things you wouldn't normally do. Normally I would hold back, keep my feelings to myself, and I have for these past years. But over those past years, I've changed, and I'm here Shepard. You've had to have had feelings about me. All those times you'd visit me and talk. I just, I fell for you. And I thought you did for me. I'm sorry to dump all of this on you now but I, couldn't take it any longer and I needed you to know at least."
Shepard looked at her,"Liara, you have been such a good friend to me. You've helped me so much and I can never thank you enough for what you've done. Yes, I did visit you a lot back then to talk. I'm surprised you didn't come to me on the SR1 with these thoughts and feelings."
"Well, I was but, you had been talking to Ashley so much as well that I didn't want to make anything out of it."
"I want to thank you for telling me all of this. But Liara, I love Ashley more than anything. I care for her more than I do my own life. She's everything I've ever wanted. After Virmire, I knew I loved her. Before that I just wanted to be around her and talk to her every chance I got. Liara I admire you as my friend. Ashley isn't just some girlfriend I can dump and be with another. She's everything to me and if I lost her, I don't know what I'd do. I know you didn't want to hear this, but it's the truth, and I need you to know it.
"I see Shepard. Please forgive me for intruding your personal feelings. I didn't mean to stir anything."
"You didn't Liara." Shepard said reassuringly and sympathetically. Liara simply nodded and left the room. Shepard felt sorry for Liara, that she had all these feelings about him but couldn't do anything about it. He remembered how he felt on the Normandy SR2. When he couldn't be with Ashley, the feeling of torment he would get when he knew he couldn't see her.
All of that is in the past.
Shepard took a deep breath and messaged Ashley from his omni-tool that Liara was done. He had a lot to tell her.
Lots of banter, just what I love :3 I just want to say that I like Liara's character and had no intention of presenting her in a bad way or anything of the sort. No hate. Just started writing and this is what came out. I also thought it could happen with Shepard. And plus, who doesn't like drama?! Anyways, hope you enjoyed :)
p.s. There is a song called Pieces by Red. This song... it is so good and embodies Shepley to me. It is an amazing song and one of my faves. You guys should give it a listen if you can! Won't regret it :)