A/N: All credits for the ingenious idea of Elnora go to khawk3! (I still can't believe it wasn't my idea... *sighs* *shakes head* - Don't worry, you know I love you... ;) )

As for the rest of you (now, now, don't be sad, I like y'all too and you know I listen to your ideas as well, so keep 'em coming, I love hearing them... :) ), thank you so much for your continued support and... it still makes my day to see you leaving reviews, adding the story to your favorites or following it even though it hasn't been touched in... months... :)

I hope you're still ready for the ride 'cause this is only the beginning, trust me... ;)

"Excuse me, miss, could I order a drink?"

Liara slowly turned to the voice behind her, her eyes narrowing; that was the fifth one this week...

"I am not a waitress, ma'am, so if you want to order a drink, you'll just... have... to..." The next words died on her lips when one of the dancefloor's spotlights flashed across the woman's face for a second. The color of her hair had changed, but her eyes were still the same piercing blue, and that smile...

Liara's eyes widened. How had she not recognized that voice immediately? Probably the loud music, she mused while she swallowed, needing all her strength to keep her legs from giving way under her.

"You're..."

"...back, yes." Shepard's smile turned mischievous and she crossed her arms in front of her chest. "Told you."

Liara nodded, her brows furrowed in confusion at her unexpected (but not at all unwelcome) guest.

A sudden silence fell between the two of them – if one could call it that in a club filled with loud music and the chatter of at least a couple of patrons – and Liara could feel tiny bits of her cold, collected work demeanor fall off of her with each drumming bass coming from the loudspeakers spread throughout the club until there was nothing left but a confused, nervous asari, reaching out with her shaking right hand to run it through Shepard's now black hair; needing the physical contact as if to confirm the other was actually real and not just an illusion created by her desperate mind...

"Your... hair..." she managed to croak, her mind still unable to adjust to the unexpected visit in this place that suddenly felt so wrong for the reunion she'd hoped for...

"Yeah... thought I'd try something new..." Seemingly unfazed by the tension between them, Shepard simply shrugged her shoulders but kept smiling warmly while she waited for Liara's hand to reluctantly let go of the soft strands.

"But..." Liara shook her head in frustration over her own weak voice and cleared her throat before she continued, with more confidence this time. "Why did you come here? You know where I live, you don't have to visit this place anymore..." And goddess knew Liara would have preferred a visit in a more private environment... "He'll only charge you for it..." She nodded towards the bar where Torek's eyes had already settled on them, watching the conversation closely from a distance.

Shepard waved her hand dismissively. "Eh, he can put it on my tab... Besides," she motioned towards a bearded man whistling at the asari dancer in front of him, "I even brought a friend..."

Turning to the nearby table, one of Liara's eyebrow rose while she studied the man sitting there. "You have... interesting friends," she concluded after a few seconds, her eyes quickly searching Shepard's again as if fearing she might be wasting precious time staring at weird strangers.

Shepard simply shrugged. "Guess so..."

"I-"

"Liara, there's a customer waiting for you at table five."

Liara's jaw immediately tensed at the gruff, unpleasant voice behind her and she turned around slowly, crossing her arms in front of her chest to prevent them from strangling the turian who seemed to have appeared out of nowhere.

She shot a pointed look around the half-empty club. "I do not remember anyone asking for me five minutes ago," she answered, struggling to keep her voice even, "And as I recall, I haven't had my break yet, which I hereby would like to take..."

The turian's posture didn't change a single bit while his small eyes bore into her with relentless hostility. "Well, plans change..." he replied – unimpressed by her attitude – and nodded to a table at the far side of the club, "You know we don't turn down paying customers, so get your ass over there and-"

"Hey Torek, long time no see..."

The turian's cool demeanor finally cracked at the happy voice and his mandibles twitched in what could only be assumed as barely-contained anger when he turned to the smiling woman waving at him from behind Liara's shoulder.

"Miss me?" Shepard grinned, activating her omni-tool in a casual manner. "I couldn't help but overhear you talking about paying customers, so-"

"Get lost, human!"

Shepard's brows furrowed in mock indignation. "Well, certainly that's no way to talk to your paying customers, now is it?"

Torek's talons balled into fists but he caught himself and closed his eyes, taking a deep breath before he turned back to Liara, choosing to ignore Shepard altogether. "If I don't see you on that table within the next few seconds you're fired, you hear me?" And with that, he turned and stormed back to his bar, roughly shoving past a waitress in the process.

Liara bit her lower lip and turned back to Shepard, her expression apologetically. The human smiled and nodded, letting her eyes wander over the variety of empty tables around her. "I'll be here..."

Not trusting her voice at that moment, Liara simply reached out and ran her hand down Shepard's arm, shooting her a thankful smile before she turned and headed for table number five...

"All by yourself?"

Surprised, Shepard blinked a few times before she tore her eyes away from the table in a dark corner at the far side of the club (having made sure to keep an appropriate distance in case Torek was watching) and turned to a smiling asari dressed in one of the club's dancer outfits.

The dancer's smile widened when their eyes met and she placed a challenging hand on her hip, adding, "You must feel lonely..."

Shepard waved her hand dismissively, though returned the asari's smile. "Ah, it's not that bad... Actually, I'm-" Even before she had time to finish her sentence, the asari had settled on her lap and was now straddling the human while she began to slowly run both her hands through Shepard's hair and down her neck.

While her eyes followed the asari's hands on their determined way down her shirt, Shepard nervously cleared her throat, suddenly lost for words. "Erm..."

The asari tilted her head to the side in obvious amusement. "You were saying?"

This was ridiculous! The batarian sitting in front of her barely paid her any mind and judging by his lowered head, he was either very drunk or already passed out in his chair... Luckily the music in the club was loud enough to drown out any snoring sounds coming from her "paying customer" or else Liara would have lost her mind a while ago...

Thank the goddess Shepard had promised to-

Liara froze when her eyes fell on the blue figure comfortably sitting on said human's lap. It was the new girl... Elena? Elnora? Liara didn't remember her name, and quite honestly, she didn't care. She was new here and Liara hadn't taken the time to introduce herself yet, but that wasn't a good enough excuse to break the one rule this club had: you do not steal Liara T'Soni's customers...

A bored Jenna walked past her table right that moment, trying to stifle a yawn because of this night's lack of work, which turned into a choked squeak when Liara's hand shot out and closed around her arm, pulling the human towards her table.

"Ow, what the hell?" Jenna melodramatically rubbed her arm and shot her friend an indignant glare. "You know I bruise easily..."

Liara shook her head at her friend's outburst and – having been confronted with it many times already – she simply chose to ignore it, her eyes dead serious. "I need your help."

A weak smile forming on her lips, Jenna turned to the batarian at the table. "What, he asked for a show?" The human chuckled while she leaned forward to inspect the alien, testingly poking his sleeping form. "Is he even awake? Heh, bet he wouldn't even notice if I-"

"Jenna!"

Her friend's stern tone made Jenna turn back to Liara immediately and she shrugged in defeat, a sigh escaping her. "All right, what do you need?"

"So, what brings you here on this uneventful night?"

Shepard found it hard to tear her eyes away from the asari's slowly moving curves in her lap but she still managed to clear her throat and mutter, "Actually, I was going to meet a... friend..."

"A friend, huh?" Both of the asari's hands had settled back on Shepard's neck, starting to knead the skin there until a soft sigh escaped the human; she hadn't even realized how tense her muscles had been...

Closing her eyes to be able to enjoy the relaxing massage even more, Shepard nodded slowly. "M-hm."

"And you were going to meet them here?" After easing most of the tension in Shepard's neck, the dancer's hands wandered over the human's shoulder blades and down her back which caused the asari's barely covered breasts to now hover only inches from Shepard's face. Opening her eyes and finding herself in this new position, a mischievous smirk started tugging at Shepard's lips but she still tilted her head back to find the asari's eyes once more.

"You're very good at this..." the human drawled and her smile widened when she noticed the pleased gleam in the asari's eyes at the compliment.

"Why, thank you..." The dancer leaned forward until her breath hit the side of Shepard's neck as she added, "It's only one of my talents..."

A short laugh escaped her customer. "I don't doubt it..."

"Erm, Elnora? Could I talk to you for a sec?"

The asari's movement stopped but she remained close to Shepard and simply turned her head towards the human dancer waiting next to their table.

Elnora smiled sweetly. "I'll be with you in a moment..."

"Actually, I'd like to talk to you right now..." Jenna shot Shepard, who had turned her head towards the newcomer as well, an apologizing smile. "It will just take a second, but please, feel free to enjoy the show..." Making sure to emphasize the last word, Jenna nodded towards a table in the shadows where two gleaming eyes were boring into Shepard relentlessly. The human, however, seemed oblivious to the hint (and the eyes) and instead, one of her hands protectively settled on Elnora's thigh.

The following cry of outrage coming from the far side of the club was drowned by the loud, thundering music in the club - a batarian customer, however, gave a surprised, grunting sound before his head sank back onto his table.

"Why don't you wait by the bar and I'll be right with you?" Elnora turned her attention back to her grinning customer, her mischievous smile returning as she leaned closer, "I can still sense some tension in your lower back..."

Jenna felt a sudden panic arise in her as she shot another glance over her shoulder, shrugging helplessly. Even from the distance, she could see Liara slowly, dangerously, shake her head. Not good enough...

"My, what ever did you do to get so tense?"

Shepard's eyes had closed again and so she simply smiled, the talented fingers kneading her flesh drowing out all other thoughts.

Why had she come here again?

"You must have a very stressful-" The rest of Elnora's sentence turned into a surprised yelp and before Shepard even had time to open her eyes and see what was wrong, she could already feel the cold liquid soak the fabric of her pants.

"Oops..." an innocent female voice brought both dancer and customer back to reality, "I'm really sorry... Here, let me help you get that awfully sticky stuff off your outfit before it leaves any stains..."

Elnora's eyes narrowed in suspicion, but, shooting a quick glance down her now ruined outfit, she gave an annoyed sigh and entangled herself from Shepard. As soon as her feet touched the ground, Jenna's hands closed around her arm and the human pulled her away from Shepard just in time before Liara had reached them.

With her eyes narrowed in determination, Liara grabbed Shepard's arm and pulled her up. "Follow me."