Chapter 10: Surviving the Darkness
She was paralyzed to the nightmare in her mind. Echoes of her lover repeatedly calling out to her but she couldn't respond. He was hurt, scared, alone and I couldn't see him in the darkness. (Liara... please don't leave me. I need you. Liara...)
It was dark when she woke in the med bay. "What day is it? What time is it?" She didn't really care. She laid there with her eyes closed. She tried reaching her mind out for him and hoped for an answer, prayed for an answer but knowing she wouldn't receive one. (Jon?)
Silence is all that was there. Liara clutched at her heart as the heartache blankets her in agony. Goddess, it's happening all over again. The empty void-returning, the pain, the sadness. He filled my heart, body, mind, and soul with everything I ever wanted and now it's gone. I will find him but there's no rebuilding him this time. She feels a hand on her arm. She wipes her face and turns to see Dr. Karin Chakwas standing there "I'm sorry dear. I know you loved him deeply and your heart is torn. Stay positive and believe he's alive. We won't know for certain until we're back there."
She shook her head "I know but... I felt our link sever and he was badly injured and barely hanging on."
Rubbing her arm and smiling. "I understand but you don't know. How about you get up, get something to eat, shower and rest in your own bed."
She gave a faint smile "Thank you but I'm not hungry."
—-/
Red walked off his ship "Everyone spread out and look for him. If you find any other survivors help them as well but Shepard is priority. Now go!"
They checked body after body, most of them dead, others injured, some hanging on to dear life, one being Commander Shepard. Villio one of Liara's commandos came upon a severely battered man lying in a pile of rubble. Most of his armor was burned away it almost looked like it was part of his skin, blood coming out all over, his face beaten and swollen, and so many wounds. She pressed her com unit and said "Red, Miranda I've got something."
Red quickly hit his com unit "you found him?!"
"I'm...I'm.. not sure... possibly. I can't tell he's too beat up."
He pinched his brow "Is he alive?"
She shrugged "I... don't know! "
Red runs to her location. When he came upon her he looked down at the solider in the rumble and says "Fuuuckk me there's no way he's alive." He immediately wiped away the dirt, blood, and muck from Shepard's known area of his scar. He knew it was him but didn't want to believe it. There it was his scar at the top of his hairline. "Damn it!" He looks around "Where's Miranda?"
She shook her head "I'm not sure"
"Get her over here now! Then find a functional Mako or something that can transport him." He demanded
Miranda runs over and with widened eyes, she says "Holy shit. Is that him?"
He sighs "Yes!"
She instantly checks for a pulse. She looks up and smiles "He has a pulse it's very weak but he has one." She points to his abdomen then shoulder "Damn it gunshot wound to the stomach and shoulder" She applies medi gel to each wound. "We need to get him to a hospital and get that looked at before he goes into septic shock." She calls over Teyr and Lindanux. "Ok, ladies let's carefully biotically lift him out of there. Easy... Easy..."
"Miranda, there's a shuttle over here. It's in bad shape but it's functional. Well... barely.." says Villio
"It'll have to do. Bring it!"
—
A month passed before the Galaxy communication buoys were operational.
—-
After a month of trying Genrie another of Liara's commandos with Reds crew finally received a response. "Genrie, this is the Normandy!"
Genrie lets out a breath then replies "Thank the goddess. How is everything on your end?"
Joker responds "We're banged up but we're fine. The Geth are still working on the relays, not sure how much longer. Did you find Commander Shepard?"
"We did. He's at London Central Memorial. He's recovering but has yet to awaken. Please let my Mistress know."
—
Ashley and Shandri take the elevator up to Commander Shepard quarters that have been Liara's for the last month. She steps off the elevator to see the red privacy lock in place. She buzzes the door. No answer. Ashley buzzes again with no answer. "Come on Liara. You've been locked away in there for a month with only allowing Shandri in there occasionally. I'm going to continue to buzz this door until you answer it!" Ashley waits five minutes when she received no response. "Edi open this door now!" Ashley walks in to see Liara curled up in a ball on the bed.
Liara hears the door open "I want to be left alone!"
"I get that Liara but the com buoys came back online and we have news from London."
Liara sits up quickly. "What news?! Where's Shepard?"
"Well, that's why I'm here. They found him."
She raises her brow markings "Is he alive? Please tell me he is..."
Ashley smiles. "He is. He's at London Central Memorial recovering."
Liara lights up as the darkness fades. "Thank you... thank you, Goddess!" She jumps out of the bed and hugs Ashley. "When can we get there?"
She grunts when Liara squeezes her tightly "We're not sure. The Geth are still working on the relays. I need you to get better before we get there and Liara..."
"Yes, Ashley?"
"Please ... take shower because you smell and eat something. You look terrible."
Liara blushes. "I'm sorry. I'm going to right now."
—/
Two months have passed before the Geth and Rachi repaired the major Relays and four of the others.
Liara anxiously waits for the shuttle to land. As soon as it lands she hopped off the shuttle and ran at a full sprint to London Memorial. Once she arrives she notices that they have the main area of the hospital blocked off. *Emergency personnel only. No Visitors* Frustrated she walks up to one of the many soldiers guarding the entrance. "Excuse me, I need to get back there."
The soldier shakes his head "I'm sorry ma'am there's no visitors at this time." He points to a location with a line and several terminals. "If you need information on someone or persons you're inquiring about, please go over there. If your person or party were recovered with identification it will be listed there with the current status."
She huffed "But I'm here for Commander Shepard!"
He nods and says "I'm sorry ma'am but no special treatment" Then proceeds to tell her the same thing.
Annoyed she walks over to the line to wait. She looks around for Red, Miranda or her Commandos that were with them and she sees none of them. She finally gets to a terminal and types in his name Jonathan William Shepard. The results come back with *Classified * She angrily says "Of course it IS!" Annoyed she turns from the terminal then notices a familiar woman quickly forcing her way through the crowd and to a soldier. Liara quickly walks up closer to see that it's Shepard's mother who is very angry and in full military mode.
"I don't give a damn about the rules and regulations! I'm not standing in a fucking line for a terminal to tell me about the status of my son, Commander Shepard, Private! You will tell me what I want to know or you will find someone who does and you WILL do it NOW! Do you understand me!" She snarled
"Yes, ma'am but my orders—"
Admiral Shepard cut him off. "I don't give a damn about your orders!"
"Ma'am, yes ma'am!" Said the soldier
She scoffed "Did…did you just fucking ma'am sandwich me?!"
He swallowed hard then said "Yes ma'am. I'm sorry ma'am but I need you to calm down."
Liara watched as Admiral Shepard's face became beet red as she hissed and jammed her finger into his chest "Calm down? Are you giving me orders Private? I'm your god damn superior you fucking shit-turd! I give you orders! NOT the other way around!"
He blinked rapidly "I'm sorry ma'am"
Liara watched in complete horror as Hannah continued to lay into the poor soldier.
"If you don't tell me where my son is, right now, I swear to fucking Christ that when I'm done here I'm going to shove my FOOT so far up your ass, you won't be able to walk for a fucking week!" She growled as she breathed heavily
"Yes ma'am"
"If you ma'am me one more fucking time without complying to what I'm asking. So, help me, God." She clenched her fist then took a deep breath as she released her hands. "The next words out of your mouth are going to be where my son is. Annnnd Go!"
"I'm sorry ma'am..."
Liara watched Hannah's anger bubble over the edge. Liara was scared and she wasn't even yelling at her.
Clenching her fist then shoving her finger in front of the soldier's face as she growled out "Are you… fucking kidding me?! You know what, forget the foot fuck. Better yet, I will have you SHOVELING SHIT out of some constipated yahg's asshole for the rest of your fucking career! You got that?!"
"Admiral Shepard!….MOM!….Over here!"
Hannah was breathing heavily when she heard someone call out for her. She jerked her head in the area of her name being called and quickly scans the room toward the voice to see Alex headed her way. She pushes by the Private and says "Get the fuck out of my way."
As she walks away, Liara quickly walks over to Red as well. When she passes the soldiers, she hears one say "Damn man, that was Admiral Hannah Shepard man…you are so screwed." Another says "Yea you are, I've heard the horror stories about her. She will find a constipated Yahg."
Hannah walks up to Red and hugs him. "It's good to see you made it alive and unharmed. Where's your brother at?"
"Back this way." He looks over at Liara and hugs her. "How are you doing?"
Liara gave a faint smile "I'll be better once I see him."
As he walks them back to Shepard's room he fills them in. "When we found him… he was in pretty bad shape." He looks at Liara, remember when we looked in his stasis pod and he was all fucked up?"
She closed her eyes briefly "Goddess is it that bad?"
"Well… not THAT bad but it's up there. His armor was damn near burned off or burn on to his skin. He had several injuries. Gunshot wound to his side… that was nasty. Damn near killed him. The doctors had to peel his armor from his skin before they could even treat his wounds. During that process, he went into septic shock. They had to resuscitate him a few times during his surgery. He still hasn't woken up. They don't know when he will." He ran his hand over his chin "Liara, Miranda is hoping maybe you'll be able to help him come back to us."
Shedding tears, she says "Goddess Red. I knew it was bad but I didn't want to believe it at the time. I will do everything I can to bring him back."
They walked into his room to see him lying there in a coma. Grown out hair on his head and face. Wires hanging off him that connect to machines.
Hannah walked up to one side of him as Liara walked up to the other. Hannah took his hand, leaned into his ear and whispered "Hey my baby boy this is your mother. I need you to fight this and come back to the light my son. We're all waiting for you and I know you can do this. Stay strong. I love you." As she lifted she kissed his forehead then wiped her tears away. She caressed his hand with her thumb for a minute then let go to walk over to Red. "I need you to do something for me."
He nodded "Ok, and what is that?"
"I need you to go to a particular Alliance Secret Underground Research Facility and get your sister. I told her to grab as many people as she could and to hide out there until this was over. I'm hoping she's ok and still there. I haven't been able to get ahold of her and she hasn't tried to contact me either." She tapped at her Omni tool "I'm Sending you the info."
He looks at his mother and nods. "I'll bring her home. I promise"
"Thank you." She looks at Liara and says "Ok, do what you need to do. Bring him back to us."
She nodded at her then carefully crawled in the bed next to her lover. She ran her hand down his cheek, leaned into his ear and whispered "Hello my love, I'm here now and I need you to come back to me. I miss you and I love you so much. Our link is gone but I know you can hear me. I'm going to softly meld with you now and I will find you, my love." She walked into his mind and was presented with an entrance to a cave. Looking around to see nothing else she walked up to the cave and called out, her voice echoed. (Jon… Jon…. Jon)
She waited for him to answer like he always did when they melded but it was silent. She eased deeper into the cave and announced herself (It's Liara, can you hear me?) She turned the light on, on her Omni tool then continued further down the path. She stopped she came to a large opening. When she looked around there were several paths to take. (Oh goddess…. I'm going to get lost in here… I need to mark the main entrance and take one path at a time.) She searched every day several times a day for months with continuous nothingness.
Miranda walked into the room and said, "How are you doing today Liara?"
She just shrugs her shoulders with a sad look on her face.
Miranda sighs "He'll come to eventually"
Liara shook her slightly "It's been two months Miranda and there's no answer, no memories, no nightmares just a sea of darkness and paths that lead to dead ends. I don't know where he is. I know he's there somewhere but where? There are so many paths."
She patted her leg "Just keep trying. You'll find him."
Another month rolls around and she's back in his mind searching. She's tired and deep down into a path that seems to go on forever. She calls out (Jon?) Liara stops as she swore she heard an answer. She called out to him again (Jon?) She waits and listens carefully and hears him very very faintly. (Liara?)
She instantly darted down the path at a sprint then came to a breakaway with several paths. Marking her entrance as she did in the beginning then called out again. (Jon, where are you?!)
He responds, (I'm down here. I'm stuck.)
She still can't tell where the echo is coming from. (Babe, I'm trying to get to you! I don't know where you are. I need you to help me.) Looking around she sees a tiny blink of light down one of the paths and she takes off down it at a sprint. Reaching the end, she calls out (Jon?) Very softly she hears him. (Yes?)
She turns quickly to his voice that was right there. Shinning the light in the direction she comes upon a man shielding his face and sitting in the corner with his knees to his chest. He looked like a scared frail man that's been locked away in a concentration camp for months. Walking over to him slowly she kneels down. (I'm here my love. I'm going to get you out of here ok?)
He just nods at her then says (I'm stuck.)
She furrowed her brow markings (Stuck on what my love?)
(The black tar that keeps me here.)
Looking around she saw no black tar. Shaking her head. (There's no black tar my love.) She wraps her arms around him and touches her forehead to his. (Come with me and I'll get you out of here.)
He holds on to her and in a nervous voice (Ok.)
As she releases the meld she wipes the tears from her eyes. "Jon?"
He slowly opens his eyes and his voice cracks as he says "Lia?"
Smiling and nodding her head she says "Yes?"
He reaches his hand up to scratch his face and notices a beard. "Holy shit how long have I been like this?"
Laughing slightly. "Five months. Oh, I have to do something really quick and I hope you don't mind." Hitting some buttons on her omni tool.
"Hello Liara, what can I do for you?" Said, Hannah
"Hello, Hannah. I promised you, as soon as he woke that I'd call you. Here he is."
Smiling at his mom on the screen "Hey mom."
Tears were streaming down her face. "I knew you would come back. It's good to see you awake son. I can't stay long but before I go." She steps out of frame
"Jon-Jon!" His sister said excitingly
He smiled broadly "Katie! You ok?"
Wiping her tears away. "Yes, just glad to see you awake. We'll come by as soon as we can. Ok? I love you."
"Ok, Son we have to go. Love you!" Said, Hannah
He nodded then said, "Love you too!" He looked at Liara. "Thank you."
She smiled "You're Welcome."
He looked around "Where's Alex? and everyone else?"
"Alex is fine. He's out and about, probably with Miranda. Most everyone has gone home. They all came by to see you." Taking a deep breath. "Not everyone made it through the war. Zaeed, Anderson, Vega, and Javik all died."
"And your Dad?" He asked
"Oh, she came by and is now back at home, helping with the rebuild. It's amazing how much the Geth have repaired in such a small amount of time."
Dr. Chloe Michel walks in. "Well… it's nice to see you awake Commander Shepard."
"It's good to be awake Doctor."
"Let's take a look at you." She does a scan of his body. "Everything looks, good Commander. We just need to get you on a physical therapy program and you'll be out of here in no time. Just a heads up. I'm supposed to inform the council and Admiral Hackett once you've woken. I would expect them to come by with the next day or so."
"Thanks, Doctor."
—-/
"Welcome to our temporary home. We'll be staying here until your physical therapy is over. I haven't really stayed here because I wanted to be with you." Said Lira
Shepard looked around the apartment "I see a few new faces here."
"Welcome home Commander!" Said several commandos
Liara nodded "Yea Dad brought them when she came down." She looks at him. "Are you ok?"
"Oh, uh yea. I'm just tired..." he said
She rubbed his back "It's has been a long day. Do you want to go lay down?"
"I think I'm going to need your help getting up these steps." He reaches out his hand.
Taking it, she says "I thought you were getting better with these."
He whispers in her ear. "Oh, I am but I want you naked upstairs"
-/