A/N: So here's chapter 4! I think I really enjoyed writing this part of it and for me it serves as just a little bit of intrigue for the main problem in the story, like a little slice of pie, sort of. Anyway I hope that you enjoy reading it and as always enjoy! Don't forget to comment please, they are always appreciated and helpful! :) And I've been forgetting to add this...Disclaimer: I do not own Bioware or any of it's characters, I own nothing, they all belong to Bioware.
Four: Unpleasant Tidings
It had been three days since Shepard had awoken from her nine day slumber since the events on the Citadel. She had made excellent progress since that first day. The nurses at the facility had started her up and walking that first day, and while Shepard had had trouble at first, feeling weak and dizzy, she had adjusted quickly. Now she could walk unassisted and with very little dizziness or weakness, although she'd need to do a little bit of muscle toning and strengthening on her own time. Her cast had come off on the second day, which was a relief because she could now itch away at the dead accumulation of skin cells. Her right arm in the sling followed suit shortly later, and on the third day she was liberated from the sling. Thanks to Shepard's superb healing capabilities she was almost ready to be released from the medical facility.
Garrus had been with Shepard nearly every moment, only leaving to get some kind of food or to meet with any remaining turians on Earth to discuss Palaven relief efforts. When Shepard had wanted to get up on move around on her own, aiding in her muscle regeneration, Garrus had been at her side helping her along, and of course chuckling at her when she stumbled.
Most everyone had stopped by a few times in the last few days since she'd been awake. However, she had seen little of Liara. Liara had supposedly visited when Shepard had been consulting with the doctor and then later when she'd been about to go to sleep and as a result had stayed just a minute or two. Shepard was certain that Liara was busy with affairs on Thessia, but she was perplexed by her evasive behavior. She'd apparently been there almost as much as Garrus while Shepard had been unconscious, but now that she was awake she was hardly present. The behavior puzzled Shepard.
Kaiden had been by a few times to chat with Shepard. The conversations had been lighthearted and she didn't feel uncomfortable talking with him even though Garrus was present; Garrus even joined in on the conversations. However, whenever she would be talking with Kaiden she would feel as if she was only seeing the surface, as if there was some feeling that Kaiden was keeping from her. Shepard felt fairly confident that it had to do with their previous relations, although she had thought she'd put that behind her when she visited him at the medical center on the Citadel. But maybe not…
All in all, things seemed to be going well. The doctor planned to discharge her tomorrow and then she could be on her way to helping with the relief on Earth and anywhere else she was needed. Being discharged also meant she could enjoy the freedom of being in Garrus's company, something she very much looked forward to.
As Shepard sat in her bed she thought about leaving the medical facility tomorrow and how excited that made her. She looked down at her hands, her right arm now free of the sling and her left hand just barely showing evidence of a once painful burn. She smiled as she thought about all the things she'd like to do, and what she might want to eat, since the rations she'd received in this facility were disgusting.
"You know if you stare at your hands long enough, maybe they'll turn into three fingered turian hands. Now, that would be something," Garrus teased from the chair at her bedside. Shepard looked up, startled out of her thoughts, and gazed at Garrus.
"Always the smart ass, huh? Well, you might like three fingers but I enjoy my five," Shepard said giving him a teasing smile.
Garrus chuckled and gave her a mockingly serious look. "Humans and asari with their five fingers, makes them less capable in my opinion. Turians, quarians, we've got to work at things with added skill to make up for only having three fingers to work with. If you ask me that proves more finesse."
"Uh huh," Shepard replied simply and laughed at Garrus who still stared at her with a serious expression. His expression changed then and he gave a hardy laugh, his mandibles flaring widely.
After they both had shared a laugh, he rose from his chair and stood at her bedside and gently stroked her cheek before speaking.
"I told the Primarch I'd come by to discuss Palaven's status. I figured I go now when you're about to go to sleep," Garrus explained.
Shepard nodded and cupped the hand that stroked her cheek. "You don't need to feel obligated to stay here with me every waking moment, Garrus. I know that there's a lot to do on Palaven and that you're going to be involved with that, so by all means go and talk with the Primarch! I'm honestly surprised that the Primarch is even still here," Shepard remarked casually.
"I wanted to be here Shepard. When I have to talk to the Primarch or discuss Palaven, I do, but I don't feel obligated to stay with you. I stayed because I wanted to be with you," he replied with an edge of seriousness in his voice.
"Thank you," Shepard whispered looking up at him.
Garrus nodded, looking pleased, and bent down to press his alien mouth against Shepard's cheek as she had once done to him. Shepard smiled at the very human gesture and watched him go. She sighed and leaned back into her bed, ready to fall asleep. It was late and the medical facility had gotten her into regular hours of waking and sleeping.
Just as Shepard was settling into her bed she heard someone walk into her room. She turned her head and was surprised to see Liara standing in the doorway. She looked startled to see Shepard awake, and Shepard absently wondered if Liara had intentionally come at an hour she expected Shepard to be engaged with Garrus or asleep.
"Liara," Shepard exclaimed.
"Shepard," Liara said in a whisper.
Liara hovered in the doorway for a moment, as if torn between two choices, and then she strode forward and into Shepard's room and slide into Garrus's chair. She didn't speak for a moment but simply looked down at her hands, which she had folded in her lap.
"Liara—"
"I'm sorry I haven't been here as often as I should have been," Liara interrupted looking Shepard directly in the eye. Shepard was quiet and waited for Liara to continue.
"It's just…it's been difficult, everything really has been since I, well all of us, thought that you were dead…again. When we lost you the first time I dedicated every resource I had into finding you and restoring you to what you were. That did lead me to Cerberus and the Illusive Man, but it also led to you returning to us," she hesitated and returned her soft gaze back to her hands. "This time, it was harder for me. When we said goodbye, I was certain that it would be for good. I didn't want that to happen, I could—I didn't want to have to experience the loss of you again. You're too good a friend, and too important to the galaxy to be lost, Shepard. I just couldn't fathom what life would be like without you, because this time I wouldn't be able to bring you back and that broke my heart." Liara was quiet again and continued to stare at her hands.
Shepard watched the young asari carefully, not sure how to proceed. She knew Liara cared about her deeply and knew that if she had died it would've affected Liara adversely, but she hadn't thought it would destroy her. Now, however, hearing and seeing Liara confess her feelings of sorrow about Shepard's final battle on the Citadel made her reanalyze what exactly it was Liara was feeling for her.
On the first Normandy, Liara had made it clear that she was interested in Shepard, and while Shepard had refused those advances and pursued Kaiden, she and Liara had still maintained a close bond. Liara had been accepting and encouraging of Shepard's relationship with Garrus from the beginning, but perhaps that was just Liara loving her in silence. Shepard didn't know and wasn't sure she wanted to know the full extent of Liara's feelings for her.
"Liara…I'm sorry. I didn't know that you felt that deeply about my situation or my not returning," Shepard hesitantly put her hand over Liara's hand in a gesture of comfort. "But I'm alive, I'm okay. You, Garrus, and Kaiden found me; you saved me. There's nothing to feel sad about anymore. I'm going to be out of here tomorrow and things can go back to normal, or however they were before the shit hit the fan with the Reapers."
Liara looked up, tears glistening in her eyes, which increased some of the tension Shepard was feeling with this situation. "I know Shepard…it's just, I did something. I made a decision, and I don't…I don't know how—"
"What? You chose to avoid me? Is that what this is about?" Shepard interrupted with an arched eyebrow.
For a moment Liara just stared at Shepard, seemingly confused. However then something seemed to click in her and she nodded vigorously.
"Yes. Yes, I was embarrassed at how emotional I was over your missing on the Citadel and then finding you alive. I was so certain that something would go wrong and I would never see you again that I was shocked to see you alive. I guess that shock made me distant…I didn't want to approach you until I could properly explain myself," Liara blurted out in a rush.
"It's okay Liara. I'm fine, and it's okay that you wanted to take your time to talk to me. I understand," Shepard said with a smile. Although somewhere deep down inside of her she felt certain that this was not what Liara had been trying to confess to her. Whatever confession she was really getting at Shepard didn't want to know about…at least not now.
"Good. I'm sorry it's taken me this long to speak with you at length, I'm glad you are doing well," Liara said smiling. Her previous anxiety seemed to be gone which made Shepard relax.
"I missed talking with you. You're always supportive no matter what. Thank you for that, Liara," Shepard said earnestly. Liara continued to smile and leaned in to hug Shepard. Shepard hugged her back.
"I should really let you sleep though Shepard. I'm sure you've had a long day and the days to come will be difficult," she remarked as she broke from the hug and moved to the foot of the bed, ready to exit.
"Alright, it was great to see you Liara. I know you must be planning on going to Thessia sometime soon, so before you go let me know, okay?"
"Okay," Liara replied with a demure little smile and with one last look at Shepard, she left.
Shepard watched her go and not for the first time wondered if there was something else going on with Liara. Shrugging, Shepard pushed any thoughts of questions from her mind and closed her eyes, waiting for sleep to claim her.
Two hours had passed and Garrus was only just finishing up his meeting with the Primarch. Liara had long since left the medical facility and was wrapping up data gathered on damage to Thessia. Kaiden Alenko was tied up in an important evening conversation with Admiral Hackett via computer about where his future could take him with the Alliance. Joker was playing, and losing, a match of Chess with EDI on the Normandy. James Vega was still recovering in his room in the medical facility he shared with Shepard. A few nebulas away, Tali was just boarding a ship from Rannoch to Earth, eager to get back to Commander Shepard. With all of Shepard's immediate crew was indisposed no one was currently stationed in Shepard's room. Shepard had been sleeping soundly for the last two hours, oblivious to Garrus's absence or to the female intruder that had quietly entered her room.
No one had seen anything out of the ordinary when she came to Earth only a day before. She'd been like anyone else who had perhaps been on one of the ships in orbit around Earth or had just arrived through one of the Mass Relays to help in relief efforts. No one thought twice about her appearance.
She was human and other than her rather tall, lanky appearance she warranted no special looks or treatment. She had short black hair and appeared to be of Asian descent, and while a glance at her would prove nothing special, if one where to really watch her, they would see that she didn't quite move like an ordinary person. Her movements seemed to have an almost snake like quality to them; as if she was expecting to be attacked and constantly prepped to sneak away or to strike.
It was with that snake like grace that had allowed her to skip past any authorities or law figures that were around the designated docking places for incoming space traffic. She'd simply docked, walked off the transport she'd been on, which hadn't previously been in orbit around Earth during the Reaper battle, and slipped out with the other passengers on the ship. No one had even noticed as she broke away from the group and made her way to the first medical aide tent she saw. It was here that she had inquired about medical facilities that were more secure and underground.
Everything had gone smoothly, no one had questioned her, and why would they? After all, the Reapers had been destroyed and the galaxy continued to stand in a state of unity, a united front. The biggest threat that was currently faced was helping the planets majorly hit get back on their feet and dealing with the masses of injured and deceased. No one would expect a tall, skinny, Asian girl to be a threat or that she could possibly have an ulterior motive for wanting to get to the underground medical facility that served as a more secure location for advanced medical treatment.
Now as she stood in the doorway of Commander Alexandria Shepard's room, she let out a tiny sigh. Her target was in sight and the plan was about to go into action. She had travelled quite a ways to get to the woman who lay before her, completely unaware of the dangerous stranger that stood not far away. Her Mistress had sent her specifically, a task that she had taken with pride, and she would not fail, she would carry out the task at hand.
With a quickness that would've startled most individuals, the woman closed the gap between the door and the bed in a flash. She stood over her prey, examining her. Shepard's short dark hair was plastered across the white pillow, her face was peaceful and her eyelids fluttered indicating that she was lost in a dream. The woman looked down at Shepard's body and was displeased that she didn't look more damaged. Her arms and legs were free and her face appeared unmarred, and it was likely that a fair degree of her strength had returned to her. The woman didn't like that, but she did have the element of surprise, in that Shepard would never see the attack coming.
She leaned forward, inhaling the scent of her prey and eyeing up Shepard's exposed neck like a dog drooling at the sight of a bone. Then, with the speed of a snake she struck. Her hands latched onto Shepard's throat like a vice and surprising strength flowed through her hands. Shepard's eyes shot open with alarm, but were heavy with confusion and panic. She made choking sounds and then began thrashing in the bed and hitting at her attacker with her hands. The woman, the snake, smiled; Shepard would die at her hands.
Shepard wanted air, needed it, but the bitch that hovered over her clamped her airway shut, denying Shepard what she desperately needed. Angrily, Shepard swatted at the woman above her, but the woman seemed impervious to Shepard's swats. Shepard briefly thought about using her biotics, but then remembered that the doctor had currently deactivated her L5 implants to ensure she didn't stress herself, and wouldn't reactivate them until she was discharged. With the implants deactivated, any biotic energy Shepard mustered up would be pitiful.
Choking, Shepard continued to thrash about, knocking her legs in the bed and desperately trying to flip her body making her attacker lose her balance. None of this seemed to work since the attacker hadn't budged at all despite Shepard's efforts to flip her own body to throw off the woman above her. Finally she recalled something she had learned years ago when she'd been taught basic self-defense. She took both of her arms and slid them between her assailants strangling arms and with all the strength she could muster pushed outwards. The attacker's arms loosened; Shepard saw her opportunity.
With speed that the attacker never predicted Shepard would be capable of, she shot up like a rod in the bed and knocked the woman's hands completely away from her neck. The woman was slightly stunned and therefore didn't have enough time to react to Shepard's right hook impacting with her chin. The attacker stumbled backwards, dazed by the blow. Shepard meanwhile hungrily gasped for air, and rolled out of the bed and clumsily grabbed an IV pole that was standing at the head of the bed. She swung it like a drunken baseball player and whirled it in her assailant's direction. However, instead of feeling the satisfying thud of the pole slamming into the attacking woman's body she felt it clank against the wall near her bed. Shepard stared in confusion as the woman who she had every intention of clobbering with the pole, now stood a ways away from her. Apparently she'd anticipated the blow and dodged out of the way with lightning speed.
"Someone's going to die, and it isn't going to be me," Shepard gasped, feeling a stabbing headache form in her temples.
The woman before her said nothing but lunged instead for Shepard, tearing the pole out of her hands. It clattered on the floor behind them. Shepard swung at the attacker, but the nimble little woman ducked and barreled into Shepard's stomach, pinning her down onto the bed. With her upper body pinned to the bed and her lower body hanging off the bed, Shepard struggled as the attacker tried to get a grip on her neck again. Shepard continued to knock the woman's hands away, but she always came back with grabbing, skillful hands.
A hard slap across Shepard's face stunned her briefly, but long enough for the woman to land her strike. Just as the attackers hand's slipped around Shepard's neck again she managed to get out a little scream, although it was hardly loud enough to wake the patient in the room next to Shepard's. Shepard felt blood in her mouth and pain on her lip, most likely being cracked open from the slap. I refuse to die this way, Shepard though angrily and continued to struggle against the woman.
Just as Shepard began clawing at the woman's eyes, the woman's hands suddenly loosened up and fell away completely. Shepard took in a deep gasp of air and coughed. She shoved the woman off of her a moment later and then continued gasping for air as the attacker just sat on the floor from where she'd fallen, doing nothing. Shepard turned her head to the side and rubbed at her throat, feeling tears squeeze out of her eyes as her head pounded like she'd just been hit in the head with a club. Out of the corner of her eye she saw the woman stand and back away. She continued standing there, watching Shepard.
Slowly Shepard lifted her head and stared at the woman. The faint glow from the hallway cast just enough light for Shepard to see the woman's eyes. What she saw there frightened her. The woman had absolutely vacant eyes, eerily similar to that of a corpse. There was no feeling in the eyes, there was absolutely nothing.
Shepard pulled the rest of her body onto the bed and backed away from the woman, until she was on the very edge of the bed. She thought about running wildly out of the room, but thought better of it since the woman didn't appear to be a threat anymore. The woman before her continued to stare; with empty, hollow eyes. Shepard felt unnerved looking into those eyes, felt as if there was no soul, but also felt a sense of familiarity to those eyes, as if she'd seen them somewhere before. If she looked hard enough she thought she saw just a speck of a burning blue flame in the back of the woman's eyes…
At that thought Shepard's eyes widened and she backed off the edge of the bed until she fell onto the floor. Her head spun and her breathing picked up, as if she had been freshly deprived of oxygen. Blue flame, Shepard thought in a panic. She continued to back away from the woman until she was against the wall. Her eyes darted nervously toward the door, but the hollow eyed woman was closer to the door than Shepard was; she would be able to intercept Shepard.
Suddenly the woman stepped forward in a direct motion to move closer to Shepard. Shepard felt her heart quicken, wanted to scream but felt her mouth dry and her voice leave her.
"Join us, Shepard; come with us, you belong with us," the woman said in a voice that didn't sound quite human. She continued to move closer to Shepard.
Shepard was certain she saw the blue flame burning in the back of those eyes now. Whatever the thing before her was, it wasn't human, at least not entirely. The god child's monster form had blue flame eyes…is that what this is? The god child reincarnated? Shepard thought in a panic. But no, she was certain she had killed the creator of the Reapers…this, this was something else. Perhaps it had Reaper origins, but she couldn't, wouldn't, believe that it was any semblance of the creator she had destroyed on the Citadel.
"Join us. Be one with us," the woman whispered and edged closer, standing in front of the doorway now.
"No!" Shepard screamed, this time loud enough for anyone in the hall to hear.
Another step closer to her…and then the sound of a gun firing broke the silence that hung between Shepard and the strange woman. Shepard watched as the woman in front of her stumbled to the side and collapsed to her knees. She held her shoulder and looked down at the dark fluid that ran out between her fingers. Shepard realized it was blood that was running down the woman's arm and hand and that someone from in the hall had shot her. She stared at the woman before her and then in horror realized that despite being shot and bleeding, the woman had continued to move forward toward her.
"Do not resist us," the woman murmured through clenched teeth, obviously in pain. Shepard could hear footsteps outside in the hall, quickly approaching her room.
Shepard stared at the bleeding woman in front of her and whispered angrily, "I killed you, you motherfucker."
The woman paused her eyes still hollow and murmured just before someone crashed in through the door, "I am not the Creator."
Garrus came barreling in the doorway then and slammed into the woman. His heavy armor impacted with the woman's upper body, violently forcing her into the foot of Shepard's bed. The woman's neck made contact with the edge of the bed and Shepard heard the sickening crack of bone and knew that the attacker had just broken her neck. Shepard watched as the body limply fell away from Garrus as he stood up, not paying any attention to it at all. He rushed over to Shepard, concern and anger heavy in his eyes.
"Are you okay? Did she hurt you?" He asked in a rush. Others had followed Garrus into the room and were turning on lights, surveying the damage. Most of them were nurses and a few doctors, it looked like even a soldier or two had come into investigate.
Shepard met Garrus's anxious expression and nodded slowly. Finally she found her voice and whispered, "I don't know what happened…she just came out of nowhere and tried to strangle me." Shepard rubbed at her neck on instinct. Garrus looked at Shepard's neck and his forehead creased in a frown. He pulled her hand aside and ran his own hand across Shepard's red and quickly bruising neck. His gloves were on so she didn't feel his characteristically sharp talons run across her delicate skin.
"You're bleeding," Garrus noted as he glanced up from her neck to her mouth. He gently touched a spot on her lip.
"Oh," Shepard whispered and touched her own fingers to where Garrus's hand had been just a moment before. "She hit me."
Letting out a quiet growl, Garrus turned from Shepard and to the nurses, doctors, and few soldiers in the room and snapped, "You wanna get that body out of here sooner rather than later?" The nurses shot embarrassed glances, while the doctors and soldiers gave Garrus a look of irritation. Slowly they began scooping up the body and carrying her out. One of the nurses left and returned a few minutes later with some cleaning solution to clean up the spilled blood.
Once the body was gone and the blood cleaned up and Shepard back in her bed and relatively calm she relayed the events of the attack to both Garrus and a man who identified himself as the medical facilities 'acting security officer'. Shepard chose to omit the part about what the woman said to her for fear that it would confuse the security officer and concern Garrus. After the security guard had asked several questions he told Shepard he would advise Admiral Hackett of the situation and intended to tighten up security around the facility. He left shortly later.
"They'll need to do an autopsy," Shepard murmured to herself absently. Garrus gave her a curious glance.
"Why would they do that?" He asked suspiciously.
Shepard glanced his way and shook her head absently, "I just think they should…something about her, well it made me think of the Reapers; like maybe she was indoctrinated…perhaps there was more to her…" Shepard suggested as she gently rubbed her neck, remembering the woman's vice grip on her throat.
Garrus, noticing Shepard's obvious discomfort, moved in next to her and took her hands in reassurance. "Shepard, the Reapers are dead; all of them. There may be some outliers I guess, like a Brute or Marauder here and there, but there aren't Reapers anymore, which means no more indoctrination." His expression was sincere and provided Shepard with mild comfort.
Sighing, Shepard leaned her aching head onto Garrus's shoulder and replied, "You're probably right. I'm just spooked is all. Fight the Reapers for what seems like an eternity and I guess you start to see them everywhere. Hopefully that will wear off with time."
"It will, and if you have trouble with it, I'm sure we'll be able to find ways to distract you," the last portion of what Garrus said was stated in a very suggestive manner.
Smiling, Shepard responded, "Oh you'll be certain to find ways to distract me!"
Even though a large part of Shepard felt reassured, there was still some part of her that felt like this strange woman was only the tip of an unseen ice burg.
