Mass Effect and characters do not belong to me.

Author's Notes: Some mild sensual stuff towards the end.

Chapter 6 — Tomorrow's Neverending Yesterday

"You are not alone."

The voice filled the auditorium, inhibiting the audience in a trance-like state who only sought to remain still, listening intently to the voice of their past.

"Never alone." The voice continued, hand raising mid way from the chest before being placed firmly over where the heart was. The eyes of the hologram looked squarely into the device, the unknown audience of the hologram wanted to ensure that what she was trying to convey was the truth in her emotions.

"That was what Shepard told his Quarian friend - Tali'Zorah as she looked for him for inspiration. She had just boarded the Normandy along with several Admirals of the Fleet who were seeking some help from Shepard." Liara's unknown audience knew of the details that took place during the Reaper war that concerned the Quarian's.

It was because of her and the Quarian's together that made it possible to keep such a pivotal moment in history alive. Today, the Quarian's thrived on Rannoch with many cities crawling across their world. Their fleets are massive and their politics of sentient AI were used as law against AI.

For now, the audience remained focused on Hologram-Liara who recounted what had happened with Tali'Zorah boarding the Normandy. "Her Migrant Fleet was more fixated than ever to decimate the Geth in an attempt to retake Rannoch. For Shepard and the rest of us who remained silent, we all gave each other knowing looks that expressed how we felt about the whole operation the Quarian's were undertaking."

"Even as Shepard kept his focus on helping Tali, there was something else bothering him intently after we had left the Citadel that was under siege by Cerberus." Leaning back into the seat she sat one, Liara took a moment to remember the scene that played out so vividly. People screaming, blood painting the halls of the Citadel and fallen bodies scattered about the Presidium.

There was an uneasy feeling that crawled beneath Liara's skin. She knew how fragile the military of all the Council races were. Knowing that Cerberus was simply toying with them during the Reaper war just made it all that more frustrating. "I saw him board the Normandy with Ashley, he didn't look as though he took a beating, but I knew exactly what hanged from his soul."

She stopped, her head slowly drifting lower with an accompany sigh soothing the tremendous amounts of thoughts that buckled under her mind.

"I hated seeing him like that. Traynor also saw it when I was talking to her about Shepard. She mentioned that Shepard lost a friend during the Citadel attack, saying that it was possible as to why he may not be far too happy around anyone at the moment." Another pause stemmed from Liara who looked to her unknown audience. Guilt slowly rising from the crevice of her heart. "I have only lost a mother. I rarely made any friends during my travels in searching for Prothean artifacts. Shepard was a soldier who lost more comrades than I had known more people as acquaintances."

She bit her lower lip when the realization struck her. It was as though suddenly, she uncovered the mystery behind the Prothean artifact that sat on her lap. However this time it surrounded Shepard.

"Perhaps we do not have much in common as I thought. We differ far more than I would like." She confessed to her audience.

Shaking her head off of those mental thoughts, she switched back on topic that concerned the Quarian's.

Her fingers swirled in the air, mimicking her thoughts openly to her audience while she talked. The very thoughts that ran through her mind was bleeding through her lips as she talked, hoping to fit this session all at once. Given the time she had, she couldn't be on very long when Shepard was calling for volunteer's to help retake Rannoch.

"There was a look as though I did not know absolutely anything that was going on. Which I did, but apparently not to the extent that she did not believe. I countered her argument in favor that the Reapers were the true threat to their livelihood more so than the Geth at the moment. She didn't take my argument very well to which I left hastily before I made a scene." Lip turning into the straight line that it was, Liara knew her limits.

She was a proficient warrior, skilled in biotics, but Liara was no diplomat. She could easily persuade an agent to do her bidding in gathering information. Slip a lie between her lips to get the trail of her scent off from an assassin, but she could not budge a Quarian into believing that their extinction was here knocking on their hull.

"The Quarian's are fiercely proud people. They could care less if the Reapers were just outside Rannoch. They appeared to be more focused on the Geth who were besieging their fleets in the attempt to take back Rannoch." A small snort wisped from the Asari woman who swiveled lightly in her chair. She knew that talking someone out of what they were doing was a hard task. It was quite evident when she remembered the time when both her and Shepard were tracking down the Shadow Broker through the towers of Illium.

"I guess I could say the same about myself when I was tracking down the Shadow Broker. I would not allow anything to stop me from finding Feron and the Shadow Broker. Revenge was the only thing on my mind." Eyes drawing back to the device, she tilted her head while the focal point of her eyes turned elsewhere.

She could remember it all. The wet rainfall of Illium. The fading twilight of the sun. Explosions, cries for help. All of which were nothing but the background ambiance of her hell-bent efforts to track down the Shadow Broker.

It wasn't enough that she was trying to help Feron, but she had unintentionally created distance between herself and Shepard when he arrived to help. She did not want to admit or even think about it, the fact was there blatantly standing next to her and shooting. Ever since their meeting just a week ago, Liara had forgone in firmly situating Shepard in her mind while her efforts in finding the Shadow Broker came close with incredible results.

She still could not come to terms with herself that day when she left the Normandy. Shepard burned into the planet, and his charred remains were all that was left.

"Shepard was a-" she stopped on the word, her mind debating whether or not to say it openly to her audience in the future. Finally her lip curled and her teeth decidedly bit down with mild force.

"Shepard I could not contend with. When he returned from destroying the Collector Base, I knew he made it which put me at ease. However I never fully allowed myself to grasp that Shepard was alive. That I could physically touch him again and hear his voice once more." She looked back to the device, knowing her faults lied in her duty.

The objective six months ago was vital. Find Feron. It sounded easier when she didn't place Shepard amongst that list of goals.

"After we had tracked down the rogue Spectre - Vasir - and killed her. I was rambling on about Feron and the Shadow Broker with Shepard. As though I had not lost him at all." Liara winced at the scene that played in her mind. At the moment, she did not recall Shepard face. It was mostly a blur, a massive purple blur filled with blood and rage.

"Funny enough, he felt disconnected with me. I did not."

She looked away from the recording device, her head slouching with her arms supporting said head beneath her. She wondered why she did not recognized him immediately upon his return from destroying the Collector Base.

"Spectre's, Shepard I am glad you denounce your status as a Spectre after what Vasir did." Liara exasperatedly announce, moving through the hollow halls of an Illium hotel. Eyes dancing over her omni-tool, she was quick to see the data that Vasir had.

"If I did not?" He asked, curious to hear her response. Truth be told, the only reason he actually refused Spectre Status was simply to be 'off the grid' until his mission was complete with Cerberus. Following Liara, he still did not hear an answer from the woman whose eyes were practically glued to the omni-tool.

"I've located the Shadow Broker's base of operations. I should upload this to the Normandy, you can help me get there. From there we can free Feron." She could hardly take in the breathes as she spoke. Hands swiftly moving about wildly to the chanting of Feron and the Shadow Broker.

"Liara. Wait." Her mind didn't stop when she felt a hand clutch her arm, only to be released a nano-second later. She didn't even look to the man who was seeking her out, instead she was enthralled by the information she had found out about the Shadow Broker's location.

"I know your team can help me over take the Broker's ship. From what I'm reading, the ship is massive. Massive enough to support a small army. It will be a challenge, Shepard."

"Liara, just stop." Her mind didn't blink, didn't stutter at the thoughts that were free falling into the abyss of her cranium. She continued to move along the edge of the hall. Air cars zooming by didn't halter the woman's need to tell Shepard of Feron and the Shadow Broker - at which point her Shepard grew frustrated and took her by the arm.

"Liara!" His voice shattered her thoughts into a million shards, stabbing her mind with a pain that made her cease to even breath. The eyes of the Asari woman widen when she was forced to turn about and see the vocal man in front of her, pleading for her attention for just one minute.

"What is it, Shepard?" Her tone rose in defiance, scratching off the hide that revealed a side of Liara's reflection that Shepard did not like.

Swallowing his parched throat, Shepard shot a hand into the air and twitched it with the account of his thoughts trying to clear up. "Look at you. You are so damn caught up in this business of killing to search for your friend. What happened to you?"

"I should say the same for you." She rebuked, eyes glinting with a sense of anger as she jerked her arm out from his hand.

Frowning, Shepard did not want to throw her aside in favor to clarify what he meant. Instead, the Commander gently reached out again to the distressed Liara and struggled to reel her back into the sanctuary of their world.

"Feron helped me find you Shepard. Without him, you would not be standing there breathing." She continued, arms wrapping in front of her chest as she gazed openly to him. "I am killing all who are standing in my way. Is this what you not do?"

Her head tilted, hoping that he would understand what she was going through. It was not as though Shepard didn't understand, but he did not like seeing a side of Liara who was up in arms and ready to put a bullet between some poor bastard's eyes.

"Yes," he admitted. "But that does not change me of who I am."

"Is that so?" She countered, inching closer this time to the Commander. Her eyes bared down with a sense of scrupulous damnation about his own actions.

"If I remember, you spoke highly about seeking the Collector's because they were taking human colonists. I could also see that you wanted revenge for them in killing your former crew." Shepard didn't flinch when she made her move by jabbing a finger into his armor.

"What makes me so different, Shepard? Is it because I dug in the dirt and was a archeologist. Was I a damsel for you to help?" His teeth gritted, intensely forgoing from simply walking away. What he did next caught Liara off by surprise, never expecting her Shepard would take such a stance as what he did.

Gripping her shoulders she could feel his face hover hers as he looked down upon the pupils that rested inside of her skull. The biotics of her hand flared slightly but there was no threat that she felt when in a flash of a brilliant star exploding, her lips ceased to speak out against Shepard.

The warmth of his lips caught the air that was in the midst of formulating a word, was now mixing in with his own breath. Pulling away, her head lurched forward in an attempt to not break their brief kiss but Shepard wanted to prove her wrong in a more… provocative way.

"I never changed Liara. Cerberus did not change me and the Collector's did not change me." He began saying in the after glow of their kiss. His eyes were cold but warm with the intent of telling her what he wanted to say just minutes prior.

For several moments, Liara wasn't sure how to respond or even follow up on the passionate kiss he had just delivered to her. His words however struck her like a sword. Has she completely pushed him aside in favor in tracking down the Shadow Broker?

With a defeated sigh, a frown unsettled the woman as she looked up to Shepard, knowing she had been somewhat of a wall to him lately.

"I know you have not changed, Shepard." she said, feeling his grip loosen as she stood there watching him through the lenses of her mistakes. "You cannot possibly be still mad at me for going after the Collector's?" He asked, wondering if that issue back at her office still haunted her like a lost soul.

The woman shook her head, denying that was the issue. The real issue was that she owed Feron the freedom he deserved. Much as he offered life back to Shepard. It wasn't much to ask, but she was playing pretty hard to get between Shepard and herself.

"It has been incredibly difficult for me for the past two years to get over you. I was not even sure if Cerberus succeeded in bringing you back. Let alone in such a form as you are now."

"Form?" Shepard wasn't sure what Liara expected upon his return. The Lazarus project was a pretty daring experiment to resurrect a brain-dead person back to life. Did she expect him to be less of a human?

"Your body. You should have seen yourself, Shepard. It was almost impossible to identify you, you were after all just a black charred remain of a somewhat visible human body. It took the DNA samples to know you were the true Commander Shepard." Trailing her gaze over the railings to the cityscape of Illium, she slowly leaned over the railings and looked down below. Thoughts trickling through the mind in retrospect to the past that had played out so perfectly well in her mind.

Shepard on the other hand knew the extent of the injuries. From what Miranda had shared with him, he should not be alive. Knowing he had Liara to count on was a great relief that there was someone out there trying to get him back into the fight.

"I knew you were gone. Even with the project running, there was no real chance that I would ever see you again." Folding her arms against the railings, she turned just enough to where she leaned on one arm, allowing herself a better view of Shepard with her own eyes.

"You know," whispered warmly of the Commander as he grew closer to the Asari woman. A hand was fortunate enough to guide its way around her waist, allowing Shepard to gain entrance to Liara's personal space as he continued speaking. "When I was dying. All I could think of was you and the Normandy crew. All I could see were just flashes of your faces. Joker, Ashley, Garrus, Tali. I saw all of them just as my suit was being burned through the atmosphere. Then a hiss echoed in my helmet before all I could feel was nothing."

What a terrible death it had to be. Being spaced was possibly the worse kind of death for anyone to experience. Perhaps next to having your atoms being ripped apart by biotics. "I did not tell you this," she said quietly, looking into his eyes as he leaned into her. The rain of Illium began to pour around them in slow steady droplets. The musical notes of the rain played to the tune of her guilt, while Liara herself struggled to retain her bearings on Shepard as she told him what had been bothering her lately.

"When I saw the Normandy explode. I knew you were dead. I felt it. I refused to accept your death." She added, hands pointing into her chest. "But my brain told me you were dead." A finger left from her chest to trace up to the temple of her head.

"I carried the guilt with me for two long years. A year for an Asari is not long to experience, but for me it was. Add two of them and it was a daily struggle. I was fighting to find you and when I did, I was fighting to keep myself sane enough to help find Feron."

Shepard could see the exhaustion had whittled away at her composure. She was not the Liara he knew when he had found her all those years ago on that planet, in those Prothean caves. She was young, naïve, she didn't have much experience in combat and she held a fascinating interest for him.

Knowing that she had been dragged through the mud because of his death, Shepard did not know how to handle it. It was a burden he did not wish for anyone to have, most of all, not for Liara.

"One day, I looked outside to Illium and knew I could no longer keep you with me. I had to let go. I had to pursue the Shadow Broker. To find Feron."

Jaw locked, Shepard lowered his eyes to her hands, reaching for them to take them into his own. A straggling smile kept itself at bay upon the Commander's features, leaving Liara to continue speaking.

"It was for the best, Shepard. I hope you understand."

"I do." He quietly whispered. "I do."

Shepard perfectly understood it. She may not be a soldier or some Asari Commando however she proved to be a survivor when the extremes sought her out. Liara in return tilted her head just enough where she caught Shepard looking back to her. There was a glint in his eye that she caught through the slow steady fall of rain, along with the fleeting smile that warmed her heart.

"Sorry for dying on you, Liara." He simply said, knowing he could get away with it with the woman.

"Next time," she began saying with her hand roaming past the guard of his arms and around his waist to which she could firmly get a grasp of his frame. "You start paying me to bring you back." She added, chuckling under her breath before silencing them both with a kiss.

"Deal." A breathless word was barely audible from Shepard who suckled on her lip for another kiss.

The hologram flickered again as it remained clear on showing Liara staring back to the device that was before her. She wanted to share that little story with her audience to get a bigger image as to why she understood the Quarian thought process when it came to re-taking Rannoch.

"Even with a greater threat outside their own world. They still wanted to reclaim their homeworld." Liara knew the risks involved in getting Shepard to help the Quarian's in their feud with the Geth.

"However," she stalled with a hand raising slightly away from her face. "With all the support, there is still a slim chance that the Quarian's will even make it out. They are fighting the entire Geth fleet with their own Migrant Fleet. The odds do not look good. If they only knew that fighting against such mounting odds, they would know when defeat was defeat."

The same hand rested over her brow as she leaned into it. The politics that drove this little skirmish was making her weary. She did not want to see Quarian's losing their life over this but rather should be focusing on the Reapers.

Again, she knew their motivation behind it all. Once they are focused on something that is important to them. They will do it and complete it.

With a sigh and a blink of her eyes. Liara needed to meet the squad down in engineering.

"I will, Goddess willing, return to tell how the battle turned out. Save and store."

And just like those very words, Hologram-Liara flickered from her existence and back to the norm of her statue standing over the foundation of her recordings. The audience below remained quiet with few whispering spirits detailing about what they had just witnessed.

The next session would began shortly after a break ends, for their hopes they sought out other places, exploring further in the chasm of the museum. Secrets were to be revealed by other figures of the museum. One such were that of a Krogan tale on how they defended Palaven with the Turians. Another was rubble that sat upon a circular rotating display for all to see, incased in a clear prism of laser grids that were invisible to the naked eye.

All of which told their own separate stories of the fateful time during the Reaper invasion. Each planet held their own stories, but this specific museum was dedicated to all those who died in preservation of the Galaxy.

Yet for all that was here to tell their stories. Not one came as close to the reality that bore through their minds than Liara's recordings. What questions they had, she had answers too.

The war room was darkened by a hue of red and blue as the figures approached in broad steps. Their faces were soon bathed by the holographic display of the war table, greeting the Quarian's who had arrived to speak with the Captain of the Normandy.

Shepard situated himself opposite of the Admirals of the Migrant Fleet, leaving only Tali'Zorah who Shepard was stunned to find out that she was one of the Admirals. He welcomed her with open arms and even gave her tips to be a leader. Not that she never wanted to become an Admiral in the first place, she did adhere to the advices he shared with her.

Now they were all standing amongst the light that glowed luminously in the center. The plan was clear and they were all briefed on it.

"Shepard," Admiral Shala'Raan's caught the attention of the commanding officer of the very vessel her feet were upon. The beady eyes that glowed through the veil of her mask could be seen as Shepard brought his attention to the female Quarian. "As I have promised, we will offer support in the war with the Reapers. Rannoch however must be our primary objective."

He nodded, understanding the circumstances that Hackett and the Admirals shared amongst each other. The benefit in all of this was that Shepard could have the Quarian's best engineers and minds to help out with the Crucible, but he did not like having to stick his neck out to fight the Geth on this one.

The only reason why he even bothered to help them was he heard from the Quarian's that the Reapers have managed to get their hands on the Geth. Which would have been more easy if this fight was nothing more than a provoked silliness over the fact that they - the Quarian's - wanted to wage a war in the middle of a Reaper Invasion.

Differences aside, Shepard listened to what Shala'Raan wanted to say.

"Our first step in retaking Rannoch is helping with the fleet who are currently being cornered in by the Geth fleet." She maneuvered her hands over the war table which brought up a display of the updated image of the battle raging in space.

"There is a Geth dreadnaught giving Reaper signals out to the rest of the Geth. If we could somehow manage to disable it, the other Geth will in a sense lose their ability that the Reapers have gave them."

"Two birds with one stone." All eyes blinked out to hear a lonely foot soldier blurt out his own opinion on it. James Vega was liking this idea. Take down the Geth, remove an arm from the Reapers. What more could they ask for? He obviously looked more interested in some action than Shepard did.

"Uh-yes, I suppose." The Admiral said silently before switching back to the topic at hand.

"Don't mind him, he's more proficient at killing than he is with words." Shepard quipped, giving a sarcastic wink to the man who only wanted to give the friendly bird to the Commander.

"As I was saying, we have been hammering the dreadnaught for some time. No effect. She sits there amidst the battle without a care that we are even firing upon her."

Shepard tilted his head to what she was saying. If he remembered correctly, to which he did, the Geth vessels were just as frail as their own ships. It seemed the Reaper upgrades made them just as impenetrable as the Reapers themselves.

"They certainly have some good friends." The Commander made the comment in gist as he leaned into the war table. "Indeed they do, Shepard."

Scanning at the battle in holographic form. Shepard calculated that the only way to disable her is to fly the Normandy through the battle, undetected and board it. It wasn't a problem. Considering he did fly to the Galactic center, board a Collector base and blew it up all in one go.

"I suppose this is the reason why Tali specifically asked us to help you." The mentioning of the Quarian engineer - Tali - caught the woman with a small breathed chuckle. She knew that Shepard knew her too well.

"That and your ability to blast a few Geth without breaking a sweat, Shepard." Admiral Tali teased as she made her way around the other Admirals.

"So I've heard."

"We'll get in close, board her, then blow her to hell from within."

The Admirals looked amongst each other, their expressions hidden behind their environmental masks but it was quite evident of what was going on. Specifically to the nature of Shepard's blunt strategy.

"That is the general idea, yes." Shala'Raan confessed.

Pulling away from the table, Shepard gave an acknowledging nod to the Admirals. "All right, I'll let my crew know what is about to happen."

Joke was going to like the sound of this. Infiltrating his way in the middle of a battle. That was what the Normandy was re-built for. With their farewells and blessings, Shepard disappeared to his Cabin where he reviewed his findings on the Geth dreadnaught. It was surprising to know that with the recent Reaper invasion, the Reapers themselves wanted to topple the Galaxy on its head. Specifically by throwing fodder to other parts of the Galaxy.

It was a plan that worked well for most of Humanity's history. Overwhelm your enemies to which they cannot focus on you slitting their necks.

For whatever the case was, he was more than happy to help a friend like Tali. Even if he had some thoughts about fighting their war that he stressed they should not do. The only redeeming factor of him not shouting at them like they were kids who refused to acknowledge the threat was: Respect.

That and Tali. He owed her that much after she helped him with defeating the Collector's.

For now, Shepard maintained his focus on the tablet that he held with one hand and a drink in another. The night would be long and morning would bring full of terrors. He just hoped the Geth do not manage to shoot the Normandy this time after getting this close to heart.

The music inside of his cabin softly switched tune to another piece of music he was fond of. It was atmospheric with a guitar playing a minor riff. It was mellow, enough to relax too without having the need to pay attention to the notes that played.

The humming of the ship could only be felt up through his boots while the low blue hue of the aquarium filtered through the artificial light that was dimmed down considerably low. All that there was that filled the atmosphere of his cabin was the music and the ice cubes that rattled against the glass.

Soon, an electronic beep alerted the Commander to look over his shoulder towards the door behind him.

It was late for someone to be bothering him. Tali already talked to him earlier and he knew others were already well enough busy in trying to get some rest. Then a devious smirk aroused itself to his face when he knew exactly who it could be.

"Come in."

The doors flew open into the hull of the ship, revealing a woman who was about his height, dressed in casual attired that hugged her form comfortably. The eyes of the Commander was glued in on the sights of this siren who managed to swivel his chair around to get a better look at this woman.

"I'll never understand it." He began saying, face corkscrewed with lust.

"Even though your people do not consider yourself female. It is quite damning and obvious that you appear to be." His statement only made the woman chuckle as she leaned by the wall near the bathroom with crossed arms. She looked down to him with a smile and replied to his comment with a shrug.

"We are, but we do not consider ourselves female by any standard that other races perceive."

"Confusing." He added, placing the tablet aside on the table.

"I hope I am not confusing." Shepard merely smiled, only to nod a bit to her statement.

"Only when you speak science-ese." Her mind drifted into confusion, not completely understanding what 'science-ese' was.

"Science…ese," she tried to repeat the word in hopes to better understand what he meant by that.

"Ah see? Already confusing me. Just get your butt over here."

Butt, over here. Liara would never get over his use of human terminology. Even after studying it to be used against her human counterparts in the information game, she can still not understand why the need was used. It made the language he spoke even more - difficult.

In the reality of their world, she didn't care what he spoke. Even if it was sign language!

Accepting his partly cheesy usage of the translated language, Liara made a few steps closer to the Commander before he snatched her by the waist and propped her comfortably on his lap. Swiveling his chair so now that he had some balance between them and the desk, he slapped aside the tablet that he was reviewing; only for her to grab it back.

"Hey!"

Liara laughed, fascinated by what he was planning to do tomorrow. "I am the Shadow Broker, I need to know what my best agent is planning to do." She reminded him with a flickered teasing grin of hers.

Biting lightly on his tongue, Shepard haphazardly surrendered the tablet. The Asari woman then brought the tablet up to eye level where her finger tapped eagerly amongst the words, bringing up other files that allowed Liara to see what exactly he had in mind. After reading only a few sentences, she then placed it on the table gently.

Seeing this, Shepard took the tablet and looked at it himself, wondering what did she see that she didn't like.

"Anything wrong with it?" He asked, voice low and inching with concern.

"Not that I can read. I'm not a military strategist, Shepard. I only speak science-ese, remember?" Both of them laughed to her joke, leaving only Shepard to set aside the tablet as he again swiveled the chair towards the aquarium.

There were several moments of silence to which Shepard surreptitiously allowed a hand to roam around her thigh, wondering if he could get this woman anymore excited. Instead of hearing a soft moan, he heard her voice pondering on his tactics. Not something a man wanted to hear when he was more eager in feeling her flesh.

"What do you plan on doing?"

She leaned into the low sigh from Shepard, knowing full well what he was doing with that one hand of his. "Same thing I've been doing for a while now." He retorted. Not giving her a chance to follow it up with another question, Shepard immediately brought his hand over her stomach where with two fingers, he began 'walking' up between her breast, finding the zipper that hid at the top of her collar.

"You mean, going inside a Geth ship and blowing it up from the inside?" She arched her head just enough where Shepard could see her eyes looking at him from the corner of their sockets.

"It's more exciting than it sounds."

If only she sounded more excited, Shepard thought as he gripped with his fingers at the zipper and slowly pulled it down.

"It doesn't sound like the same thing you have been doing for a while." Her counter argument nearly made him just rip the zipper all the way down, instead he kept his cool and merely smiled at her. Wondering what the deal was with her and his plans.

"Okay, once." Shepard admitted, finally trying to get the zipper past down her chest.

Only she stopped him with a hand. Her face still looking back on Shepard's own as she watched him squirm under her control.

"That nearly got you killed." Nearly would not be the right word. For Shepard, that was a walk in the park. Going inside a Geth ship would be more or less to what he compared it as buying groceries. The Collector's were tough, the Geth are tough. With experience, going inside a Geth dreadnaught shouldn't be much of a hassle.

Finally giving in, Shepard brought his attention to her concerning expression.

"I'm here, I'm breathing." Would that be enough to allow him to go further? He waited with abated breath, hoping she would remove her hand and allow him to continue on with his quest!

"That alone should win us this war." Liara finally said, grinning devilishly as her hand allowed for his hand to move on unmolested.

"Of course," he agreed, not really caring much for the philosophical view point of death and war.

Zipping past her breasts, his fingers made another improvement and the already siege of her chest. Now he had his hand laying around her thigh, sneaking in tickles in her inner thigh. "But," her hand collapsed again on his that was working on removing the zipper.

A warped disappointed caved in on his expression, leaving Shepard to ponder what was her game. Foreplay or angst?

"I want to hear from you that you will get out of this alive." Promises. He didn't like giving them. "I'm guessing my resume of killing Saren, stopping Sovereign, destroying the Collector's and killing numerous of pirates, Geth, mercenaries along the way have not persuaded you that I can do this AND survive?"

He may have cheated death once or twice however that did not mean he could cheat again. After what she say and after what she told her; he could have a little more respect for her own consciousness that felt for him.

"You do remember that you are only Human, Shepard." His eyes were fidgeting with annoyance as he bobbled his head to her statement. "Yea, yea."

"Then you better come back alive." Her argument and her worry didn't sit well with Shepard. The fact was clear, he was human and he could be easily killed if he didn't watch himself. The upside of this debatable coin was that if he did not do this, then the Quarian's would not join them.

Leaning in to silence her with a kiss on the cheek, Shepard moved in for the kill with his hands. "Then you better give me a night that I will never forget." The hoarse whisper of this man's voice caused a stirring from the pit of Liara's stomach.

Kneeling her head into the side of his neck, she stuck out a tongue which she used delicately to taste the flesh of his neck.

He struggled to keep himself composed as he held on tightly to the warm soft tingly flesh that rubbed up from where his jugular vein throbbed, to where he flinched when she got close to his ear.

"Very well," she mused Shepard with a lustfully filled tone, earning her a bite back with a hand that pressed itself firmly between her thighs.

With their hands exploring each other's bodies, their enraptured passion would only cease to exist within the confines of his cabin. Elsewhere in the Normandy, Jeff began making preparations for the flight with EDI helping him to adjust the calculations. Through the halls of CIC, other men and women walked about or tapped idly on their keyboards. Keeping all systems green. The glow from the Normandy systems hologram bathed the inner-sanctum of the CIC.

Traynor - Shepard's Communication Specialist was busy as ever on working at her station. Her mind was racing, questions popping in and out of her head like atoms of the universe. The digits of her hands were moving about the computer before here, bringing up information on the Geth and the tactics they would use before uploading them straight to Jeff's terminal.

Behind the CIC was the War Room where Tali and Admiral Shala'Raan were busy going over the plan. Tali remarked that perhaps it was better to rest than to stay up all night looking at the tactics that they already knew all too well. Shala'Raan agreed and bid Tali good night before moving herself to the guest room located near the War Room.

Below the main deck of the Normandy was the Crew Deck. The halls were empty with only one person finding himself alone at the mess hall. Eating alone was Garrus who could only find the time to eat when he did not find his hands in some machinery or a weapon. He mused himself with the extranet on his omni-tool, searching new weapon modifications and hopefully hearing only the good kind of news from Palaven.

Elsewhere, Pilot Cortez snoozed on a cot inside the shuttle bay, aware of the impending operation of tomorrow, he was undisturbed and fell asleep with ease without a moment's hesitation. In another cot was James Vega, counting sheep in his mind to actually get some rest. Finally turning over on his stomach, he mumbled himself to sleep to which a hand was loosen out from the side of him, slapping against the hull with a thud to which his fingers unraveled, revealing a thermal clip.

The Normandy was ready for her next battle.