A/N: Sooooo sorry about the wait, y'all. Take recovering from St. Patty's Day, combine it with a long night at work, and I'm left with little time to work on this. That said, I've put extra time and effort today into writing this. I hope everyone enjoys! Standard disclaimer again: Bioware owns Mass Effect
Awakening: Rousing, quickening; The act of waking from sleeping; A recognition, realisation, or coming into awareness of something
After Effect
A Mass Effect fanfic
Chapter II: Awakening
The battered XM3 skycar could not get Liara to her destination fast enough. Of course, it would have been impossible to get her there as fast as she wanted even had the thing been pristine and hot off the showroom floor.
Most of the Presidium wreckage had rained down over the British Isles, with a few bits landing in the Atlantic, and the remains of the Wards were scattered mainly throughout the northeastern hemisphere, but so far teams had kept to London, largely due to the search for Shepard. Crash Five was the fifth piece that had impacted, smashing into the city on the far side of the Thames River, opposite the former British Parliament building. This placed it very far away from the tent city that had sprung up to provide search-and-rescue and relief efforts. Fortunately, no-one had had a giant piece of ancient alien technology come falling down on their heads.
Liara had had to jack the skycar, one of the few working models, from an off-duty SAR team. Either word had gotten out, or her snarl had been fierce enough to scare the guard out of her way, but regardless she was able to get airborne without incident. The beaten vehicle rose listlessly into the air and crawled forward.
The ten minutes were an eternity. She arrived. He brushed her mind again. Liara bounded heedlessly through the wreckage.
Radio chatter became so hectic within five minutes that Ashley ordered all non-essential communications silenced. Garrus had been informed regardless and was there inside of two minutes. Someone woke up James in his hospital bed. EDI had been monitoring radio chatter but was too far away to get there in any reasonable amount of time. Tali was onboard one of the quarian liveships recovering from her wounds, and thus was unavailable. Liara had just landed, the noise of biotics smacking rubble aside growing closer until she was there, eyes darting frantically around the room before settling on Shepard's still body. She inhaled, crying out as she sprinted to close the distance.
He had not been moved, that much was clear, and Liara privately thanked Ash for that kindness. But though it was apparent that he was whole and intact, there was something very clearly 'off', as the humans would have said. His scars were still there, true, but there were no signs of decay, no open surface wounds, none of the burns she had seen him afflicted with. Some bruising was visible on his arms and his left ankle, possibly from closed bone fractures, but that was it as far as injuries. She couldn't tell if his armour had fused to his body anywhere, aside from a quick visible check that told her 'no'. Like the others, he had circuitry running visibly beneath his skin as well as the holographic lines linking into what was left of his armour. Unlike the others, his synthetics were white. Liara was unsure what the significance was. Her radio crackled to life.
'Search Team Vanguard, this is medical transport 'Hope', we're two minutes out.' Ashley tapped her ear stud.
'Spectre Williams here, acknowledged. I hope you boys have a gurney large enough for the big guy,' she replied, turning to once again take in the nearly krogan-sized man. A chuckle answered her.
'We got him covered, LC. Hope out.' A double-tap muted the microphone.
'Alright, people, medivac incoming. Let's make a hole for them to get Shepard out of.' Everyone moved.
Shifting patterns of light assaulted his eyes. The processor, the logic-engine, brain, sorted the data, made sense of it, dismissed it. A voice called out to him, distorted, blurred. Flashes of blue reached blindly for him. The voice threaded through the dark, searching, ever searching.
New sapients detected. Scanning... Human, two. Asari, one. Turian, one.
Light again.
The Catalyst watches him.
'Live.'
Images. Recollection. Kissing on the edges of time. A caress. Love. Liara.
Tingling from a touch. Energy coursing through him, memories of sapphire eyes. Liara T'Soni confirmed. A thrill of joy. Goddess, please!
Another mind touches his. Melding. Synthesis. Completion. Two made whole.
'Jack!' The voice resonates around him, through him, within him. Deep blue eyes find him. He flings his arms around her. Warmth. Life.
Nervous system restarted. Higher brain functions restored. Starting homeostatic functions... All major bodily functions operating nominally. Repair cycle complete, ending stasis.
His heart beat, sending blood through his veins. Lungs inflated to draw in air as he breathed. Inhale, exhale.
Shepard's eyes opened, white synthetics shimmering momentarily. A grey slab of ferrocrete greeted him, blocking out most of the overcast sky. Before any other sensations registered, Shepard knew exactly how far away, how heavy, how many imperfections, and the shade of grey that slab was. The angle of the light streaming through the dust over him denoted the time to be exactly 1851, thirty-one seconds. He told the information to piss off.
He was lying flat on his back at a slight incline, too many pillows propping up his head, warm hands clutching either side of his face. His armour was gone, replaced by a too-small pair of sterile hospital pants and one of those oversized gowns that felt like a parachute. Inhale, exhale.
There were others in the room, their minds swirling around him, separate. One sensed him, intimate, familiar, different, but elementally and irrevocably united with him.
'Jack?' The question was charged with emotion; fear, hope, and uncertainty all rolled together within a single, tremulous word. He had waited an eternity to hear her voice again. It was worth it.
'Liara.' The fingers dug into his skin for a moment, then she was nearly atop him, sobbing with relief and joy as she all but squashed him against her. He slid one arm around her waist, sitting up as he pulled her into his lap, and she relinquished her grip just long enough to let him position her before she crushed her lips against his, hard enough to bruise. Shepard could taste her tears as she snaked one hand behind his head and held him there, kissing him with a fervour she'd never shown before. His mind calculated that they'd both have bruises for two full weeks and deduced a slight sodium imbalance from the pH level of her tears. Even after they broke for air she clung to him as though she were drowning, burying her face in the juncture of neck and shoulder where she trembled for long minutes. Her pulse raced, rate of heartbeat and blood pressure known instantly to him as their circuitry interfaced with one another.
'I thought I'd lost you,' she whispered, over and over again as he stroked her back and tightened his hold on her, gently lest he squeeze too hard. She smelled of the battlefield, sweat and dirt and grime and no time for even a quick wash, but underneath it all was the faintest hint of... her; a combination of brine, soap, and a gentle floral scent. Finally she calmed down enough where she no longer shook, though she did nothing to lessen her death grip on Shepard, her breath tickling his neck. He let the silence stretch a moment longer.
'I promised, didn't I?' His voice was hoarse from lack of use and he coughed once to clear his throat. Liara's fingers clenched the thin cotton of his garment before she sniffled and slowly withdrew her head from its perch and pressed against his mouth again. Their kiss was gentler than before, slower and more languid, very reminiscent of the first time they'd melded and explored each other. He teasingly flicked the tip of his tongue against her upper lip, eliciting a pleased murmur as she pulled away.
Sapphire eyes glimmered back at him, laden with elated, still-spilling tears. Shepard instinctively reached up and brushed them away, grazing a pair of nearly parallel bullet wounds slathered in a protective layer of medi-gel.
A trio of Cannibals. Gunfire. Shots skimming along skin, tearing. Pain, surprise, exhaustion. Corrupt hands reaching, grasping.
They gasped together at the memory transfer, and his hand dropped reflexively, eyes sizzling with data before the shifting patterns stopped. For a moment, neither moved, both too shocked to even think. Thankfully, they were spared further embarrassment by a loud, conspicuously turian cough.
Focussing past the lovely blue woman in his lap, Shepard picked out several figures through the gloom. Ashley stood with arms crossed, one eyebrow arched as she smirked. His glance sized up the cobalt armour, covered in scratches, dents, jagged edges, and pits from gunfire, while splotchy bruises marred most of her face in a disquieting reminder of Mars. A large section of the ablative ceramics had been fused together directly over her heart, and she seemed to be favouring her left leg, but was otherwise fine. The data for her injuries and recovery time winked out with a blistering thought. Garrus was leaning against the wall to their right, his mandibles twitching excitedly. His armour showed much wear and tear as well, gashed in several places, the right spaulder torn away completely. That same arm was in a sling, but he showed no other injuries. Biometric data again streamed into his mind, and again winked out at his mental fuck off. Standing between them all was Dr. Chakwas, her uniform dirtied and torn in some places, but still projecting the same air of confidence and experience.
Most disconcertingly, he did not immediately notice the green wiring beneath their exposed skin, and even when he did he did not question it. Synthesis. The notion that he had accepted it all as natural disturbed him more than a bit.
Garrus spoke first.
'You know, if you two want a room, we can all just leave.' Liara's cheeks darkened considerably, suddenly aware of the fact that she had wound up astride Shepard sometime between kissing him and Garrus' interruption. The Spectre laughed, a deep rumbling sound that vibrated throughout Liara's torso and made her belly tingle. She turned and did her level best to glare threateningly at the turian, instead causing both him and Ashley to join Shepard. Karin snorted unexpectedly.
Her effort in vain, Liara ducked her head back into the crook of Shepard's neck to hide the furious blush that coloured her entire face. This only encouraged their catcalling.
'It is not like-, I mean, I- Oh, Goddess take you all!' she exclaimed. Their laughter increased in volume, the good doctor even joining in. It was a little while before the noise died down and even longer before Liara's blush disappeared. Her belly continued tingling. Chakwas broke the silence, stepping forward.
'Excuse me Liara, but I need to scan the Captain.' The asari made to disentangle herself entirely from Shepard, but was stopped by a hand against her lower back. A spark of need danced in Shepard's steel-grey eyes.
Stay with me? The question rang in her head, unspoken but clearly from her lover. She cupped his cheek with a hand.
I'm not going anywhere, Jack.
His eyes widened, the grip loosening after a long moment, and she gracefully slid off the bed and gave Chakwas enough distance to run her omnitool along Shepard's upper body, though Liara kept one hand possessively on his shoulder. His eyes never left her, unmoving as the doctor finished her pass at his head and took a few steps back to begin analysing the readings. Liara immediately filled the gap, feeling his arm wrap around her waist as he gingerly scooched to the very edge of the bed. Her fingers twined with the hand on her hip as the other two moved in. Skin. Soft, pleasurable. He squeezed.
'So how you feeling, Skipper?' the marine asked. Shepard took a moment to shift his shoulders and feel out his body, wincing slightly in the process.
'Fucking sore as all hell.' He grimaced and coughed again. Hydration necessary. 'Water?' Garrus grabbed up a cylinder from the table behind him and unscrewed it, handing the container to Liara. Turning, she batted away the hand that reached up.
'Let me,' she said, her gaze brooking no argument. Shepard's glower lasted all of a moment before the container pressed against his lips, cool water sliding past and soothing his throat. Swallowing hurt, like a forgotten chore to his muscles, and he stopped drinking when he nearly spluttered. Hydration complete. He made a loud noise of contentment as Liara passed the cylinder back to Garrus, her fingers absently massaging the well-developed muscles along the nape of his neck. Shepard let out a contented breath.
'Much better. Still almost feels like Cerberus rebuilt me a second time, but my throat's not in a damn grater anymore,' he quipped. The group chuckled lightly.
'How long's it been?' Shepard asked. He felt Liara tense slightly beside him.
Emptiness. Despair. Wailing beneath a black sky. Dead dead dead dead dead. Soul rent twice. A meaningless existence, alone. All alone...
The memory transfer did not surprise either of them as much as the first had, though both gripped each other noticeably harder. Ashley answered, oblivious to the glowing throb in his synthetics as his mind processed the new data.
'Nine days since the Reapers were defeated, Skipper.' He relaxed visibly as she continued. 'Two since we pulled you out of the wreckage.' Shepard's face scrunched in confusion.
'What wreckage?' Silence descended, uncomfortable. Liara placed her free hand on the round mass of his shoulder and opened her mouth to speak at the same moment Garrus did.
'I'm afraid any more questions you want to ask the Captain will have to wait until tomorrow. All of you,' Chakwas interrupted. They all turned or looked at her simultaneously. She was still going through the readout on her omnitool, though they could each feel her attention on them.
'Shepard needs to rest, regardless of what he thinks,' she said forcefully as he began to protest. 'There will be time enough for questions after a few days' recuperation. And must we all forget that legendary metabolism of yours, Captain? You haven't eaten in nine days.' As if in response, his stomach growled like a feral beast, causing everyone to howl. His glare was baleful.
'I hate you all.' Moments later he had a shit-eating grin plastered on his face and was laughing with the rest of them.
'Wins against all odds, sends the Reapers packing, saves the galaxy, and then gets taken down by a pint-sized woman three times smaller than him,' Shepard counted, ticking the points off on his fingers.
'Psh, everyone's pint-sized compared to you, Skipper. Even krogan. Except Wrex. And Grunt,' Ashley cracked. They were all laughing again.
'Let's not forget that that 'pint-sized woman' is your medical officer, and one of the few people in this galaxy capable of grounding your ass, Shepard.' The doctor's use of profanity brought everyone up short. They were all quiet a moment.
'You know, I think that's the first time I've heard you swear, Karin,' Shepard said somewhat sobrely.
'Time and place, Jackson. Now the rest of you, out. You can visit again tomorrow.' Shepard flinched at the full use of his first name. They were herded toward the door.
'Wait, your first name is Jackson?' was all Ashley managed before Chakwas had her in the hallway. He cringed inwardly, already imagining the ribbing that was headed his way.
'Doctor Chakwas, I would prefer to-' Liara started.
'Stay? I know, Liara, and personally I approve. He'll heal faster with you around, and you're probably the only other person on the planet he'll listen to. I'll see to it that we get a larger bed in here for the two of you. In the meantime, make sure he stays on that one. I'll have some orderlies bring food, though it's hospital fare, I'm afraid.' Her smile was apologetic, but one look at the asari showed only relief and gratitude.
'Why does she get to stay? I was fighting with him, too,' Garrus complained.
'Bondmate's privilege,' Liara sniffed. Shepard nodded in agreement.
'Lucky bastard,' the turian grumbled even as he stepped into the hallway, followed by Doctor Chakwas. The doors hissed quietly shut after them, leaving Shepard and Liara comfortably alone. She stood still for a moment before reaching down and gently squeezing his hand. He squeezed back.
'You heard me,' he stated. The asari met his eyes.
'I did not expect to. Such a phenomenon is not unheard of among dual-asari bondmates, but never with another species. I guess it all has to do with... this.' She gestured at the glowing circuitry that spiderwebbed through his impressive musculature. Shepard looked at his left hand, twisting the heavy limb to examine the cybernetics before he scrubbed it over his face and groaned.
'I really, really don't want to think about it right now. I'm tired and hungry, and for once the galaxy doesn't need me to save its ass.' Shepard caught her gaze. 'The Reapers are really gone?' She smiled wanly, eyes heating up suddenly as she blinked away the tears.
'Yes, Jack. Though gone is perhaps not the proper term. They are... no longer a threat to us. You can rest knowing that you beat them.'
'I think it's safe to say I've earned a bit of rest.' Liara smirked.
'Doctor Chakwas did put you on bedrest, and I have every intention of making sure you follow that order, Jack.' He groaned again.
'You too?'
'Me too,' she answered, leaning in to kiss him placatingly. Shepard had to admit, it was an insidiously genius way to get him to comply.
Cheater he thought.
I didn't hear you complaining she retorted. He narrowed his eyes as a solution presented itself, smirking back in turn.
'You know, the longer I stay in this bed, the more of those I'm gonna need.' Liara's brow arched, accompanied by a small grin as she leaned in.
'I think that can be arranged,' she whispered as their lips brushed again. His mind calculated the time again when he opened his eyes, 1920 hours exactly, and weariness began tugging at him.
'There's not enough space on this bed for both of us, the way we're used to,' he stated sleepily. She drew upon her biotics to slowly help him back until he was lying flat again, taxing her enough that she was leaning heavily on the bed when she finished. Taking a shaky breath, she pushed off and stood straight, wobbling slightly.
'I had a couch moved in here. I'll be fine, Jack.' Shepard shook his head.
'Fuck that horseshit. Besides, I'm right here and I'm a much better pillow.' Liara began to protest, stopping when he folded his fingers into hers.
'I'll be alright, mo ghrá. All the major damage has been repaired, thanks to... this.' He gestured at the pulsating white lines in a mirror of her earlier movement.
'It's just some soreness. 'Sides, like I said, this bed's too small for both of us and I'm a fucking gorilla to begin with. I'll be fine.' He saw the conflict in her eyes as she bit her lower lip, the need to be close to him warring against her desire for him to heal. The answer revealed itself, coming from both the data running around in his head as well as his soul.
'Liara, you could never hurt me,' he whispered. Her eyes glistened for a few seconds before she smiled slightly and sniffed.
'I believe you, and I trust you,' she said as she began undoing some of the buckles and seals on her armour, setting aside her cuirass, gauntlets, boots, and greaves. Underneath, she wore a sleeveless white body suit that ended at mid-thigh and left nothing to the imagination. Shepard tossed the covers down to make room for her, eyeing her unabashedly the whole time as she crawled up and hovered above him for a few moments to kiss him before laying atop him with exaggerated care. Liara pulled the blanket back up, running her hands gently along the outsides of his massive arms as he slowly lashed them around her hips.
His fatigue slowly cradled them down into sleep's peaceful embrace, far past even the realm of dreams.
They exchanged a single thought before slipping away:
I love you.
A/N: So, focus on this chapter was on capturing the camaraderie of the Normandy squad and expressing the love, as I imagined it, between Liara and Shepard. Also, for those who are wondering, I've included some info for my Shepard.
Vanguard, Colonist, Ruthless (Butcher of Torfan). He's a Paragon, but he's got a sailor's mouth and gets things done like a Renegade. Ultimately, good guy at heart, badass on the outside.
As I stated not-so-subtly, my Shepard's a huge guy. Think 7 ft. tall, 300-ish lbs. When I thought of a Vanguard, the image that entered my mind was something along the lines of a biotic built like a MACK truck, capable of running over or through anything in his path.
I want to thank x Kyuubi z for pointing something out to me: To clarify, I've never used quotation marks to indicate speech in my writing as far back as I can remember. I instead use apostrophes, which most authors use to highlight thoughts. In my case, thoughts are italicised and outside of apostrophes. That's simply how I write. Just wanted to make sure that y'all weren't confused.
Anyways, please R/R. Hope you liked it - Prophet
CHANGELOG
21MAR12 - Tweaked a bit here and there; Added to the author's note.
22MAR12 - Tweaked some more
23MAR12 - And tweaked things further yet again.
25MAR12 - Corrected Shepard's rank, edited a little bit
