Author's Notice- Okay seriously wow, not much Male Shep/Liara fans out there? Been browsing other ficts for this pairing, I'm surprised that some aren't getting the credit they deserve. One or two reviews per couple chapters, I really applaud those for going on, you're all good in my books. To every Male Shep/Liara fict and writer out there, hold the line! Mind you, some things might be AU in because of Jason's existence. Miranda will make her first appearance in this fic!
In other news, my Harry Potter fanficts will be updated after I get over the emotional touching ending of Halo 4. The first game since Assassins Creed: Revelations, and parts of Mass Effect 3 since I have shed tears to. Yeah I CRIED to Halo, me, a college student, so what? I grew up with the series. To all Mass Effect fans, Jennifer Hale, the voice actor for femShep and Keith Szarabajka, the voice actor for Harbinger all have parts in Halo 4 and they did spectacular. I was playing co-op with my cousin then my little brother actually shouted, "Harbinger!" when Mr. Szarabajka's character first spoke.
Chapter 1: Reality
Location: Citadel Presidium, Serpent Nebula
"He's gone son…there were no survivors from the wreckage," Jason's mouth was agape as he struggled to comprehend the truth thrown in front of him. He had just been released by the hospital when he had heard of an unknown attack on the SSV-Normandy SR-1 and currently was standing in Citadel Councilor candidate David Anderson's new office.
"I'm sorry son." Anderson finished in a heavy tone as he placed a comforting hand on the blank staring, emotionless soldier before him.
"No, this can't be…no, it's impossible…this is just a nightmare, it can't be…wake up, wake up. This isn't real." Jason felt the Captain's voice drown out as he fell slowly into the dark, bottomless abyss. There was nothing surrounding him but darkness. Then he heard voices.
"First one back home is a slowpoke." The voice of a boy called out.
"I'm not a slowpoke!" A younger voice echoed.
"The boys at school bullied me again." The younger voice spoke first this time, sniffing.
"Hang tight, I'll take care of them…no one beats up my little brother cept me." The older voice replied angrily at first then humorously.
"What do you think is up there in the stars?" The younger voice asked inquisitively.
"Green mean aliens that like to eat children, giant spiders and evil robots…" The older voice replied in a superbly real frightening tone "Mom says that's not true! Quit trying to scare me Johnny!"
Jason was walked out of the office slowly, not seeing the sad and distressed face on Anderson's face, the famous soldier of Torfan didn't know and didn't care as his name was called out by his brother's team members, all he could hear were the conversations of him and his brother echoing in his mind and the memories that flashed around him.
Going fishing with his older brother and father, building model starships together, cooking for his parents' wedding anniversary despite making a huge mess, John playing the piano while he played the violin to a grand audience for a concert, surviving the most tragic and painful chapter in their lives with each other, joining and passing the insanely rigorous N program as brothers and finally being able to complete an operation together, chasing down the rogue Turian Spectre Saren Arterius only to learn that that a race of ancient sentient machines called Reapers were the masterminds behind the shroud of darkness.
He stared blankly into the beautiful but marred Presidium Grounds as the N7 operative rested his arms on the railing, the sight had awed him when he first came here but was nothing but another monument that reminded him of the terrors he'd been through and what he'd lost.
He then felt a hand on his shoulder and turning his head sideways and looked into the big, forlorn blue eyes of his brother's girlfriend, Liara T'Soni.
The shy, Prothean knowledgeable, socially awkward Asari was faring worse than he was, he had heard from Garrus Vakarian, a former Turian C-Sec officer and teammate that the Asari had never stopped crying since being forced to abandon the heavily damaged SSV-Normandy SR-1.
"I'm so sorry, Jason…the whole thing was my fault! I should have stayed with him!" Liara sobbed, tears running down her eyes.
Unsure of how to comfort the distressed woman next to him, Jason merely placed a hand on her shoulder and said in a rather mechanical voice, "It's not your fault Liara, you would have died if you had stayed. My brother knew what he was doing, he loved you, that's why he did it…"
At this, the Asari researcher finally broke and cried loudly into her friend's chest. There was nothing he could do but to hug the devastated girl, what could he possibly say? As a person who's suffered from the loss of family, he understood the feeling.
He remained emotionless as David Anderson called all of Shepard's team together for a debriefing in a rather gloomy atmosphere filled meeting room adjacent to his office. Along with him were Garrus, Liara, Ashley Williams, a soldier that had survived Eden Prime, a human colony where Jason first saw Sovereign and encountered the Geth, a race of advanced AI machines.
They got along fine together unlike his brother, who'd chosen Liara over the Gunnery Chief and thus a suffocating tension was created whenever the three of them were in the same room. However, Jason could see that Ashley was distraught, "Surivor's Guilt…"
Images of Virmire instantly returned, along with them was Lieutenant Kaidan Alenko, a close friend of his and John's had sacrificed himself to ensure that the Krogan Cloning Facility would be destroyed. It was a victory but a bitter one, there were no cheers aboard the Normandy as they left Virmire.
As much as he'd hated it, John made the right decision, opting to help the Salarian STG team, Captain Kirrahe and Ashley. Kaidan was badly wounded and decided to arm the nuke.
He could still faintly hear the whispers crawling in the back of his brain, "I've armed the nuke, go get Ashley, you know it's the right thing to do Commander!" Kaidan's voice emanated from John's Omni-tool.
"Stay alive, Kaidan, we're going to come back for you." John shouted as they went to help Ashley and the Salarian STG team.
After a lapse of silence, Kaidan said in a resigned tone, "I think we both know that's not going to happen…it's been an honor serving under you…..I'll see you on the other side Commander." Kaidan's voice was replaced with silence shortly.
"We've never had a chance to drink to his memories…" Jason thought bitterly as he vividly remembered the Normandy being grounded by the Council, who'd wish to slide everything under the rug and pretend that nothing was awry.
Sitting next to Ashley was Tali Zorah Vas Neema, a Quarian who'd had helped John and Jason immensely with evidence regarding to Saren's turning rogue in addition to discovering the imminent Reaper threat and the mentioning of the Conduit on Illos. While onboard the Normandy, she'd settled on the Engineering deck where she had impressed everyone with her knowledge.
While John was always chatting up with his crew members, Jason would occasionally spend long hours talking with the young Quarian as they were both mechanical geniuses, though his Quarian friend would modestly say that such knowledge was common amongst her people.
Due to the weak immune system of her people, Tali rarely, if ever removed her environmental suit. She had told him and John that Quarian immune systems have always been relatively weak, as pathogenic microbes were comparatively rare in their homeworld's biosphere. Furthermore, what few viruses and other microbes were native to their homeworld were often at least partly beneficial to them, giving them a symbiotic relationship with their environment.
After living aboard the Migrant Fleet for generations, the Quarians' immune systems have atrophied further still due to the years in the sterile environment of the Migrant Fleet. As such, Quarians are given various vaccinations and immunizations to help ward off disease. However, they prefer the safety of their suits even in clean environments and are reluctant to remove them without a good reason.
Still, the suit has its perks as Jason, Garrus, Ashley and John had found out on the poker table, as it was very difficult to read the Quarian's facial expression. Jason looked around and sadly noted that Wrex, the Krogan wasn't with them, though he said it was tempting to stay aboard the Normandy and continue to kill giant things with big guns, he had to return to Tuchanka, the Krogan homeworld to help with reuniting his clan. As the debriefing ended, Anderson subtly left the team that took down Saren alone after giving Jason a forlorn nod.
"So…" Everyone turned his or her heads to Jason who spoke softly. "What'd you all planning to do now?"
An uncomfortable silence filled the conference room, it was strange how in the beginning, each individual in the room has come together and formed a strong relationship for one another, nobody really wanted to say goodbye after everything they've been through together after forming such close bonds.
"I was thinking about going back to the Migrant Fleet to deliver the data we got from the Geth." Tali said nervously, twirling her hands together.
"I understand Tali and I wish you the best." Jason replied and stuck out a hand, instead he was momentarily surprised when the Quarian flung herself towards him, resulting in a rather awkward hug.
"Keep in touch." The shy engineer said softly into his ear before pulling away.
"Will do." Jason replied then turned towards Garrus, who seemed to be in deep thought.
"Honestly, between you and me, I have no idea…I mean I didn't really thought about nor expected a career change, returning back to C-Sec now might seem like a demotion…" The Turian remarked.
"Well, why not trying out to be a Spectre?" Jason asked.
"Well, why didn't you?" Garrus shot back.
"Because politics isn't my strongest suit. And that Turian councilor really pisses me off." The brown haired man replied with a shrug, causing a few of his squadmates to chuckle.
"How about you Ash? You staying with the Alliance?" Jason turned to the brown haired woman.
The former Gunnery Chief of the SSV Normandy SR-1 took a moment before replying, "I'd like to but I don't know, it'll be surreal to be doing deskwork after the stuff we've been through, what about you?"
Jason raised an eyebrow, noticing that everyone was now looking at him. "What do you mean?" He asked.
"I think what Williams is trying to say for all of us is that we appreciate your concerns but we want to know what you'll be doing." Garrus summarized with a cough.
Jason sighed as he turned away from the faces of sympathy and turned towards the magnificent view of the citadel in front of him bathed in an orange glow signifying the end of a galactic day.
"It seems so peaceful…" He thought to himself as he surveyed the busy traffic, but he knew it was all a façade, it is in nature for people to delude themselves even when a crisis approaches. Millions of people lived on the Citadel, ignorant of the fact that the Citadel itself was an inactive Mass Relay leading to dark space, designed as a trap so the Reapers can wipe out the heart of galactic civilization and leadership in a single, devastating strike.
John and Jason managed to stop Sovereign but knew they had only delayed the Reapers from crossing over.
Closing his eyes, a voice that constantly haunted his nightmares whispered, "We are legion. The time of our return is coming. Our numbers will darken the sky of every world.
You cannot escape your doom…
We have no beginning. We have no end. We are infinite…..
My kind transcends your very understanding…you cannot even grasp the nature of our existence….
You exist because we allow it, and you will end because we demand it."
If Sovereign was correct and there were countless more like him waiting in the dark, then the galaxy is doomed. What was more disturbing was that nobody believed that Reapers existed save Jason and his team.
"Is this the end? For us to live our final days in a delusional peace?" He thought helplessly to himself as he was engulfed by darkness.
"No, no this can't be. They aren't here yet, maybe its not too late." The hero of Torfan assessed.
With renewed faith, he turned to face his team, "I'm going to continue on."
There were no shortages of hugs, goodbyes and other sentimentalities as the team that took down Saren and Sovereign disbanded. Garrus, Ashley, Liara and Jason waved as they watched their friend Tali board an Alliance Frigate that would no doubt send her back to the Migrant Fleet.
"I think its best we get going too." Jason said after Tali's ship disappeared from sight, noting that many people were starting to notice them.
"Good luck, LC." Ashley embraced her friend.
"Same to you Chief, keep in touch?"
"Of course." With that, they broke contact and the brown haired man turned to his Turian friend.
"Sorry but Turians don't hug…" Garrus joked and offered a hand, which Jason shook with amusement. He waited for Liara to finish saying her goodbyes before the both of them boarded the shuttle that would take them to Bekenstein. Garrus and Ashley waved and watched until the ship carrying their friends disappeared in the midst of many other ships.
"Executor Pallin…certainly didn't expect to work under him again." Garrus thought moodily as he made his way to C-Sec Headquarters.
On Route to Bekenstein
"I don't know if this was the best option for me." Liara said in a quiet tone as she twirled her hands nervously.
"Mother wants to meet you, you'll like her a lot. Trust me." Jason replied as he took out a silver framed photo and stared longingly at it. All the people were all formally dressed, his parents were sitting together with his sister while John and himself were standing on both sides of the chair striking imposing poses in their black tuxedos. The picture changed, in its place was now a picture of two young boys and a small girl playing building sand structures on the sand.
"John never told me that he had a sister…" Liara murmured and looked nervous when Jason met her eyes.
"He didn't?" The Asari shook her head.
"I'm not surprised, it's a tabooed subject."
"If it isn't too rude of me to ask, what happened to her?" Liara murmured with her eyes down.
"Batarian slavers attacked Mindoir when we were younger, John and I were separated from our father and Jennifer…they didn't make it," Jason replied in a hard tone, the thought of his sister had always brought a lot of pain to his chest, "John didn't tell you?"
"No…I'd always felt he had withheld something when we melded." The Asari replied. Jason had nothing to comment as he remained silent the entire trip.
When they arrived at Bekenstein, Jason quickly recognized the dark navy blue Alliance CO uniform his mother was wearing and sighed when she embraced him.
"It's good to have you back at home…the place is so quiet with me alone." Hannah whispered and her body started to shake as the tears came.
"I'm sorry Ma…" Jason whispered, not knowing what good it would do but said it anyways.
"Nonsense, you weren't cleared for duty…it didn't have anything to do with you." Hannah said in a strong voice despite her obvious distress as she placed a hand on both his shoulders. Liara was standing awkwardly just a few steps away to give her friend and his mother some personal space as she wringed her hands nervously together.
That was when she noticed Hannah Shepard was walking towards her. Liara noted that Hannah was in her mid forties and there were few grey hairs amidst her closely cropped brown hair. No emotion was displayed on her face as Liara felt herself being scanned by Hannah Shepard's penetrating blue eyes.
"Doctor T'Soni, it's a pleasure to meet you." Hannah stuck out a hand.
"The pleasure is all mine, Captain Shepard." Liara replied quietly as she shook the outstretched arm.
"Call me Hannah, Liara…may I call you Liara?" Hannah asked slowly.
"Of course…Hannah." Liara smiled, a bit awed of how similar her mother and Hannah Shepard were. She was thankful that Hannah seemed to warm up to her instantly like Jason said she would as she noted that humans were generally distrustful towards other species.
Even aboard the Normandy she felt like an outcast when John, Jason, Garrus or Tali weren't able to talk to her. She steered clear of Wrex, as Krogan had very short tempers and Ashley Williams, it was clear the moment they met that they wouldn't be friends. It only worsened as they were both vying for John's affections. The Asari was very irritated when she had found out that Garrus and Jason had gotten a lot of the crew to bet on who would win should it come to blows.
On their way to where the Shepards lived, Liara and Hannah conversed as they sought to understand each other better while Jason remained quiet at the driver's seat in the skycar.
The Shepard Residence was very modern, stylish two story house that laid on the edge of the city. As Liara disembarked from the skycar and entered the house after Jason and Hannah, she noticed the numerous frames of photos on top of the shoe cabinet. The asari smiled as she saw a picture of John as a child being half buried in sand by his younger brother and sister.
"I have things I need to sort out, I'll be in my room if you need me." Jason replied and very slowly hugged his mother back before walking up the stairs in a tired, slouched fashion, the posture of a lost man. That left Liara with Hannah alone as the Asari walked cautiously into the living room after the Alliance Captain.
"So," Hannah broke the silence as they sat on the spacious couches, "How did you meet my son?" Liara's blue eyes sparkled as a memory appeared and blossomed in her mind.
~0~
Meanwhile, Jason entered his room, walked past his model ships and super hero collectibles that were carefully sealed in clear glass displays and plopped onto his bed. Placing a hand over his eyes, in the darkness where only a few rays of sunlight that could penetrate the dark drapes, he wept.
"That sounds like John. Always putting everyone in front of him if possible." Hannah smiled as she listened to Liara retelling the encounter with the Thorian on Feros. The colonists on Feros were infected with the spores of the Thorian. Using the pain to control their behavior, making them literally, mindless husks for the sentient plant.
However, John ordered them to use the modified nerve gas grenades that were given by Julianna Baynham, an ExoGeni Corporation scientist. Therefore no colonist casualty was inflicted.
"You have mail! You have mail!" Jason awoke frantically, only to see that the sun was almost done setting, signaling the start of the night. Unwillingly, he sat up, stared at the terminal on his desk. After changing into his old maroon university hoodie and long black sweat pants, he sat down on his chair at his terminal. His eyes widened as a flash of shock appear on his face but it receded as quickly as it came and his fingers started to dance rapidly on the holographic keyboard.
It wasn't until the skies had darkened completely and was dinnertime did Hannah walked up the stairs and stop in front on her child's door. Hesitating, walked forward and the door slide aside.
As a mother, she smiled when she saw Jason at his terminal, his eyes glued on the screen and typing ridiculously fast, it was all too similar site to when he was in school and would always be up late in the night working hard.
Jason paused and turned to face her and the tiniest of smiles appeared on his face as he stood up and after walking several steps on the carpeted floor, they embraced. As a child, he didn't get to see his mother a lot due to her job, it was only when she was given offshore duty could their family be together and he often worried about his mother, as anything could happen whilst in space.
"Dinner's ready, how's does some good old fashioned pepperoni pizza sound?" Hannah patted her son comfortingly on the back.
"It sounds great." Jason replied.
"What's wrong, sweetie?" Hannah inquired, sensing her son's uneasiness.
Jason broke away from his mother's embrace and walked to the large glass window. "If you could save a person's life, even if the odds of success is low and different morally grey methods have to be taken to do so, would you do it?" He turned around and asked.
~0~
Location: Unknown
A supersized, glowing star casted its light into a darkened office, the star burned with a mesmerizing yet foreshadowing glow of a raging red surrounded by a calming blue, both grappling for dominance.
A lone figure sat inside the office, his chair facing the star. He was dressed in an expensive designer suit, surrounding his chair were holographic monitors with varying charts and reports filled with data on various operations, funds, and information to be stored, analyzed and deployed at the opportune moment.
Scanning the monitors, the Illusive Man smirked at some and scowled at others however always continued to process the information he received with a calm, cold detachment. News vids in addition to the reports he received from his agents recounted the story of the Citadel Invasion, the center and the "heart" of galactic power.
Destruction of the presidium, innumerable damage on the wards, remnants of the once mighty Citadel fleet; everything regarding to the invasion was observed and processed by the Illusive Man. The attack once again proved his point of the vulnerability of aliens, that the Citadel Council was not infallible, untouchable nor invincible.
The Illusive Man paused as he scanned the report of the response of the Alliance to the attack. The Alliance was weak, filled with politicians, fattened officials, and unreliable military branches. The Alliance was a slow, blunt weapon weighed down by laws, conventions and public opinions. Humanity would be without a future if they were entrusted to make the decisions. If the Alliance weren't naively withdrawn from their alien allies, then they were bowing down to the other species in a pathetic attempt to appease them.
The Illusive Man knew all of this, thus only Cerberus could uphold humanity. Only Cerberus could advance humanity above all others. Cerberus IS humanity. The Illusive Man then turned his head towards a picture of Commander John Shepard and Lieutenant Commander Jason Shepard on the monitor.
Both were extraordinary in their unique ways though he found the latter to be a fascinating individual as he read the report, he'd wondered why a graduate from the prestigious Harvard University would end up working for the alliance. The incident on Torfan has obviously elevated the young man to a legendary status though a few in the Alliance were wary about the way he executed the Batarians that had surrendered.
Upon digging more, the Illusive Man could understand why, an attack on the colony world Mindoir in the year 2170 by Batarian slavers was one of the most severe Human-Batarian confrontations. The report stated that only two survivors were known, a 16 year old boy and his 14 year old brother.
What made the younger Shepard all the more interesting for the Illusive Man was that he had rejected Spectre status when it was offered to him, twice, once with his older brother and the second time being after the Geth invasion.
I wonder... thought the Illusive Man as he smoked from the cigarette in his hand while he stared at Jason Shepard's photo on the holographic monitor before turning his attention at the other reports gathered by his agents. Humanity, after so long, has finally been given a spot on the council. For centuries, the council remained a triumvirate. The three "dominant" species in Citadel Space: Asari, Turian and Salarian, held the highest positions of power and had always kept humanity at a distance.
However everything changed with the Geth invasion and the timely rescue from the Alliance, the presence humanity held was undeniable. With the Citadel fleet crippled and the alien races scrambling to protect their individual spaces, the Alliance now held the dominant fleet.
Having said that, nothing lasts forever, the Illusive Man knew that sooner or later, the newfound power of the Alliance will fade as time passes, what political advantage will disappear along with it. Gratitude will eventually turn to distrust. Old paranoia and resentment will resurface and with time, the alien fleets would be rebuild and inevitably, would seek to re-attain their dominance and humanity would once again be shoved into the back seat which is unacceptable.
His eyes narrowed as he read the report on the destruction of the Normandy and the Commander's death. As unfortunate as it was, he was a man of vision and had the countermeasure if such case happened. Project Lazarus was ready to be put in action though one small problem remained, Commander Shepard's body must first be recovered. He then tapped a button on a holo-monitor and the projection disk behind him went online.
"Miranda." The Illusive Man greeted without looking away as he studied Jason Shepard's dossier.
"Sir." She greeted simply, devoid of any emotion.
"Before Project Lazarus can begin, there is another matter I wish to discuss with you." The Illusive Man took a drag from his cigarette, Miranda Lawson remained silent and straight as she waited patiently for her boss to continue.
"I have sent you the dossier and all relative information regarding to Jason Shepard, do whatever it takes to get him on our side." The Illusive Man ordered, not turning back to face the projection disk.
"With all due respect, sir, what makes you so sure that he'll work for us?" Miranda asked slowly, she had briefly skimmed over the report on the potential recruit and thought would never admit it to a soul but she was impressed. But she had her doubts whether he'll willingly quit the Alliance to join Cerberus.
"He'll work with us. I made sure of it. Head to Illium, I already sent you the location of where you will meet him. I want you ready when he arrives." The Illusive Man said in a tone that signaled the end of the debate.
"Yes sir." Miranda responded and the holographic projection disappeared.
~0~
Midnight had engulfed Bekenstein as the city slept peacefully, the same could not be said for Jason Shepard as he stared blankly in front of his terminal at the mail he had received from an anonymous sender and all attempts to trace it came back negative. The message was vague but to him, it was clear as day.
Hope is not yet gone, you can regain what you have lost.
The galaxy is not yet saved. Do you wish to save it? Head to Illium, at the Eternity Bar near the Nos Astra exchange.
Time is short. Decide now.
His mind was a mess as it attempted to process the message, he knew the possibilities of technology were limitless but to bring a person back from the dead. Could it really transform into a reality?
He then stared at the two framed photographs next to his terminal. One was of him and John, who had a hand placed on his shoulder both of them were wearing tuxedos. Jason smiled fondly at the memory, it was taken at his graduation party.
The other was a picture of a young girl with long well kempt red hair and sparkling green eyes with so much hope, optimism and future cased within them.
"Jenny…what should I do?" He asked, his sister merely smiled back at him.
Reluctantly, he rose from his chair and walked out of his room, the doors closing behind him. He was going down to the kitchen for a glass of water when he heard the subtlest sound of someone sobbing in the room next to his. The glass sliding doors weren't set on private mode so he could see who was inside.
It was Liara, lying on John's bed and shoulders shaking as she cried quietly. Jason slowly turned away, giving her the privacy that she needed and silently walked down the hallway, hands clenched in fists, he'd knew the answer to his anonymous acquaintance.
Returning to his room, he turned the monitor of his terminal on, read the mail one last time and clicked reply. After typing and sending his response, Jason began scribbling a letter to his mother and Liara, he knew if this were a movie, people would have talked about how cliché he was being now.
But the mail he received stated that time was running out so why bother waiting around for a reply. He stood up and began changing out of his clothes, changing into a casual outfit that consisted of long black pants, a heat keeping grey long sleeve shirt and a long black coat that went a little below his knees.
He tucked his sidearm, an M-5 Phalanx pistol and tucked it to a holster on his belt. After checking that his omni-tool was in perfect working condition and that his Black Widow sniper rifle was locked safely within its slender case. He took one final glance at his room, and left it one final time.
Before leaving, he carefully walked into his mother's room and approached the lone figure on the large spacious bed. Kneeling down on the ground on his mother's bedside, Jason slowly and tenderly took her hand in his.
"I'm sorry I have to leave in such a fashion Ma, but you told me to follow my heart. My heart tells me to go…" Jason whispered, "I'm going to bring John back home alive, you hang in there." With that, Jason leaned forward and brushed his lips on his mother cheek.
He placed the letter on her bedside table and slowly, with great sadness filling his heart, Jason let her hand go and just as quietly as he came in, he left.
"John!" Liara ran frantically towards the figure in N7 armor, as the Normandy shook and rumbled beneath their feet.
Standing tall and calm despite the mayhem around them, Liara couldn't help but marveled his cool demeanor. His visor was tinted to prevent any exposure to the explosions, protection from the sun's blinding rays or in case of a hull breach.
"Distress beacon is ready for launch." John Shepard said, turning towards her. Liara secured her own helmet.
"Will the Alliance get here in time?" Another explosion quaked the Normandy. Liara stumbled but Shepard caught her arm in time. Liara smiled beneath her helmet. Another fire broke out near a console. None of the fire suppressor systems were activated.
"The Alliance won't abandon us!" Shepard replied as he grabbed a nearby fire extinguisher to combat the flames. "We need to hold on!"
Liara nodded and grabbed another fire extinguisher to fight the fire. "Get everyone onto the escape pods." She heard Shepard shout.
"Joker is still in the cockpit. He won't abandon ship!" Liara yelled, she turned towards Shepard and saw him attempting to get the fire suppression system working. "I'm not leaving either!" She declared.
A nearby console went online, Shepard turned towards Liara and gripped her shoulders. Looking in her eyes, Shepard said, "I need you to get the crew to the evac- shuttles."
Turning away, Shepard moved towards the console. "I'll take care of Joker." Another explosion shocked the deck.
Regaining her balance, Liara pleaded, "Commander…John…"
"Liara, go!" Shepard turned to look at her one last time. "Please…"
Liara stood frozen for a moment, rooted to the ground, only a moment, her heart considering disobeying the order but her legs refused to listen as all she could say was, "Come back to me."
Turning around, she ran to get as many crew as she could. Having gathered as many people as she could find, Liara led the way to the nearest escape pod. The foam from the nozzles above their heads made the way harder to run but the fires were no longer a problem. Turning right at the next junction, she heard the VI telling everyone to abandon ship.
Stopping in front of the hatch to the escape pod, Liara shouted out, "Everyone in! Go! Go! Go!" Dr. Chakwas and other crew members sat in the seats at the rear as their training had instructed them, so as to make room for others as they came in. Liara saw one last crew member trying to reach the entrance of the pod before another explosion rang out and caught her.
Forcing herself to tear away from the dying scream, Liara jumped into the pod and sealed the door. As she felt the pod rumble, preparing to eject them out of the Normandy, tears ran down her face as she prayed to the goddess that John would be safe, that he wouldn't go down with the ship.
Liara's eyes opened frantically as she shot up from the bed, and the slowly like the water leaking from a closed tap, the reality sank in. The man she loved, her bondmate, was gone. He was gone! Slowly, she curled into ball, inhaling his scent from the pillow and her eyes began to water up.
~0~
At the Bekenstein spaceport, Jason waited patiently for the ship to Illium to arrive. The hood of his coat hid his face to world yet revealed all to him, as he saw people walking lackadaisically onto their business, so blissfully ignorant of the bleak dark future ahead.
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