Angel and the Demon
Chapter 11
Bioware owns the rights to all characters other than Samantha and Christina.
"Do you have the data yet?" The Illusive man asked.
"Not yet. The scientists can't figure out how to access it." Kai Leng said. He stood several paces from a group of scientists, who were still searching for the prothean data about the catalyst within the Athame temple on Thessia.
"What's the problem?" The Illusive man asked.
"They can't find an access terminal or physical interface." Kai Leng answered.
"Remind them what will happen if they don't get it in time. Shepard is on her way."
"Yes, sir." He said before realizing the Illusive man had already cut the connection. He walked back to where the scientists were. They studied one of the artifacts to the left of the huge Athame statue. They were discussing a possible secret message hidden within the image.
"Figure it out." He said. They jumped, looked at him nervously, then returned to the piece. "If you do not find the data before the Reapers consume this place, we will not only leave you here, but your families will share your fate." He paced behind them, sword in hand.
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"I'm sorry, Liara." Shepard said from behind her. Liara couldn't believe the devastation on Thessia. The beautiful arched passages were rubble. The formerly green parks were burning. The buildings were smashed, and few were accessible. They were having trouble moving across the landscape. There was no telling how many millions of her people were dead already…or captured. Liara was overwhelmed.
"Is this what earth looked like?" She asked.
"Pretty much." Shepard said. "Your architecture is built better, so there's more still standing here."
They were catching their breath on their trek towards the temple of Athame, the location of an important relic from an ancient religion, and suspected location for key information about the Catalyst. The walkways were choked with rubble knocked off nearby buildings, so they were approaching the temple through tiers of ruptured fountains. Puddles of water, decorations, and plumbing were strewn across their path.
"Harvester!" Shepard yelled. Liara looked up to watch it streak overhead. Shepard threw a warp, following it with pistol fire. Liara followed suit. The flying Reaper drifted to a position in front of them, then opened fire. The noise of Tali's shotgun sounded from behind her. The unmistakable sound of ravager fire came from near the harvester. "Get to cover!" Liara ducked behind a nearby chunk of rubble.
"Get them Chitika! Go for the optics!" Tali said, sending her combat drone towards the ravagers. Liara threw a warp at the nearest ravager.
"Come on, die!" Shepard yelled from her right. Liara looked over and noticed she was not shooting the ravagers. She was shooting at the harvester. Usually they concentrated on what the harvester dropped, simply staying under cover until it flew away. Shepard had the huge flying creature wounded and leaking fluids. That didn't stop it from continuing to blast away at the barrier shielding Shepard.
"Keep the drone out, Tali. I'm helping Shepard." Liara started firing on the flying beast.
"You got it." Tali answered.
Taking down a harvester always takes a long time, but it takes even longer when you have a pair of ravagers shooting at you during the fight. Liara and Shepard took turns hopping out of cover to shoot and warp the harvester. Eventually it died in a bright explosion that lit up the sky. Shepard clapped Liara on the back. "Good job, Liara."
"Help? Please?" Tali said from her left. They looked to see a cloud of swarmers bearing down on their suited friend. She was doing her best with her shotgun, but there were too many.
"Sorry, Tali." Liara apologized, shooting at one of the bugs before she realized it wasn't necessary. Shepard threw a shockwave through the entire batch, splattering bug pieces all over the terrace. Tali looked at them thankfully. With the bugs gone, Liara reloaded her pistol.
"Let's see what's in the temple." Shepard said. She holstered her weapon and leapt up on the last terrace.
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"Impressive." Kai Leng said to himself, watching the explosion as the harvester died. His eye protection instantly darkened, protecting him from the extremely bright light, throwing the rest of the landscape into darkness. Eventually the light died, and he watched Shepard throw a wide shockwave attack through a pack of swarmers. Moments later the squad was heading into the temple.
"Bring the gunship. Shepard killed the harvester." He said into his comm link. "Keep it out of sight until I signal." He didn't wait for a response.
Kai Leng stood from his crouch on the roof, then headed to the nearest opening in the structure, secure in the knowledge that his cloak kept him invisible. He swung himself into an opening then sat down, prepared for a long wait. Surely Shepard would need a while to find the data, even with the tentacle head and the suit rat.
"The scientists. Their throats have been cut." He heard the asari say.
"The Reapers don't do that." The quarian said. They know someone is around. So much for the surprise.
Only a minute later Shepard yelled out. "There's a beacon here!" She was standing in front of the huge statue.
"Are you sure?" The asari asked.
"It's not something you forget." Shepard said. She then approached a nearby artifact, possibly being drawn to it. She reached for the stone mural. Kai Leng raised an eyebrow as a stream of energy rose from the artifact. It coursed to the statue, which cracked in several locations. Light shone from each of the cracks. Damn worthless scientists. They had several days to investigate, and Shepard figured it out in less than five minutes. If they weren't already dead, they would die of shame.
"Check the other artifacts for more connections." Shepard said. Within a few minutes they located several other links, and the huge statue shattered, revealing the prothean beacon hidden within.
Kai Leng sprung into action, hopping to his feet. He headed towards the temple entrance. "Come." He called the gunship through his comm link. "Follow me into the temple."
"Affirmative." The gunship operator answered.
"Status." The Illusive man spoke through the link.
"Shepard found a prothean beacon embedded within the statue of Athame." Leng said. He slid off the roof and walked towards the entrance.
"Good. Link me through your mobile projector. I want to talk to her."
"Sir?" Leng asked.
"Don't think. Just do it." The Illusive man said. "If she continues to defy me, you know where the structural weaknesses are."
"Yes Sir."
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"Just tell us what the Catalyst is!" Shepard pleaded.
"If you wish to continue fighting, I will not hinder you, though I deem your odds of success remote." The prothean beacon in the temple had manifested a prothean VI, which was exasperatingly refusing to give them the information they really needed.
"We'll take our chances. Tell us what it is!" Shepard was yelling at this point.
"If you have followed the plans for the Crucible, I will interface with your systems and assist with the catalyst to..." The VI looked back towards the entrance. "Indoctrinated presence detected. Activating security proposal." The VI returned to a glowing pixelated ball, then remerged with the beacon.
Shepard, Liara, and Tali turned towards the temple entrance. A bright light pierced the gloom in the temple, temporarily blinding them. They held their hands in front of their faces. Within a few seconds, the light was lowered enough that they could see a figure approach. They could also tell the light was coming from a gunship.
Even in profile, Shepard recognized the figure. "Leng." She resisted the urge to start shooting. "What do you want?"
"Your attention." He pulled something from his back, letting it rise from his hand. It looked a lot like a combat drone, but it was smaller and didn't glow. It hovered towards them. Kai Leng turned away and started pacing. Shepard caught a quick movement from Tali on her right. Something small whipped at the drone, almost too fast to see. Shepard turned and looked at Tali, who winked at her.
"Shepard." She turned back towards the drone, discovering that it had created an image of the Illusive man. "You've helped uncover the key to subjugating the Reapers." He said. He walked towards the prothean beacon.
"Or destroying them." Shepard said.
"Damn it, Shepard. Destroying the Reapers gains us nothing." He said.
"Well, since continued existence and peace are much more important to me than your selfish goal...i.e. Human subjugation of all other races, I'm still planning on sending the Reapers to hell." Shepard said. She kept track of the Illusive man. Liara and Tali were keeping an eye on Leng.
"They're just trying to control us. Think about it. If they wanted all organic life destroyed, they could do it. There would be nothing left." He told her.
"I assume you remember Saren and Benezia. They had exactly the same ideas. Recall what happened to them?" Shepard said.
"It's not the same, I see things differently." The Illusive man said. It was so reminiscent of Saren that Shepard had to force herself not to laugh.
"Fine, on the off chance you are still in control of your faculties; If you truly care about humanity, you'll stop fighting me. You'll join me." Shepard looked at him skeptically.
"Don't ever question my intentions. I've sacrificed more for humanity than you'll ever know." The glowing rendition of the Illusive man said.
Sacrificing your humanity for human dominance is not a wise choice, Demon. "I'm sure." Shepard glanced back to check on Leng. The Illusive man was indoctrinated, and it looked like she was going to have to fight her way out of the temple. Other than the gunship, Leng had no visible backup.
The Illusive man continued. "And don't assume you know me. My methods for dealing with the Reapers are simply more refined than yours." Shepard stifled another laugh. Exactly like Saren, you arrogant heartless bastard.
"You're risking the fate of the entire universe just to ensure humanity's dominance afterwards? Cerberus was supposed to be humanity's sword, not a dagger in our back." Shepard told him.
"Poetic, but as usual, you miss the point. The universe is more grey than you care to admit." He said.
"With this protean data, I can end this conflict for good. You're either with me or against me. There's nothing grey about that." She told him. Knowing she was taking a hard line, which he would undoubtedly take badly, she moved slowly towards some cover. An artifact stand was to her left.
"No, I suppose there isn't." He said. He walked back towards Kai Leng. "Leng. The Commander has something I need. Please relieve her of it." The image of the Illusive man dissolved, and the drone returned to Leng's hand.
"Understood." Leng took his characteristic sword stance. Liara and Tali dove for cover on either side of the central aisle. Shepard shifted behind one of the artifact displays. She heard Tali overload Leng, and reached out of cover to start her assault.
Leng's fighting style was more erratic than on the Citadel. He would avoid attacks with very quick flips, but then pause in his classic sword pose. Shepard was able to hit him easily when he was paused. He ran towards Tali briefly, but between Shepard's pistol fire and Tali's overload, his shield was rapidly depleted.
"I've been hit. Cover me while I recharge." Leng said into his comm link. He flipped back to a position near the entrance of the temple. Oh no.
"Take cover!" Shepard yelled. The massive midi gun on the gunship spooled up, then a barrage of bullets permeated the temple. Stone benches and displays were shredded. Stone shrapnel was flung throughout the temple. Shepard was forced to move further and further from the center of the temple. She briefly wondered if Leng knew he could destroy the beacon with this bombardment. She heard Liara somewhere in front of her, but she had no idea where Tali was. Shepard assumed she was on the far side of the temple.
The gun spooled down, either reloading or because Leng's shield was recharged. Shepard popped up to see Tali overload Leng right away. Chikita was already up and harassing Leng. Shepard threw a warp before continuing her assault with her pistol. Leng slashed at the drone, taking it out. Tali summoned it again. Shepard could tell Leng was getting irritated. Enough pistol fire, and Leng ran back towards the gunship again.
"You've had your fun now, Shepard." He said. The gunship midi gun spooled up again. Shepard ducked behind a solid looking display.
"Wuss." She said. Liara was behind a display in front of her, but Shepard was worried about Tali. Leng kept going for her, and she was too far away to administer medi gel.
Keeping behind cover as much as possible, Shepard moved towards the other side of the temple. She stopped at the center aisle, where there was no cover at all. When the gunship finally stopped firing, Tali once again opened with an overload. What Shepard feared happened right away. Kai Leng went straight for Tali, ignoring her drone. While running towards them Shepard vainly tried to distract him. She knew her pistol fire and warps were hurting him, but he was ignoring her. Tali tried to leap out of his way, but he was too quick.
Tali went down with a shriek that chilled Shepard's blood. Kai Leng turned to look at Shepard with a smirk, then seemed to notice his shield was gone. He flipped away from Tali. Shepard pounded into him a few more times before reaching Tali. Since his shield was gone he would probably hide behind the gunship fire soon.
Reaching Tali she was pleased to see her sitting up. She was holding her leg. Kai Leng's sword made a deep gash in her thigh. Shepard immediately applied several medi gel packs. In the background she could hear Tali's drone continuing to harass Leng along with Liara's SMG fire.
"You all right?" Shepard asked.
"I'll be alright." Tali told her with a pained voice.
Shepard tried to help her up, but was interrupted.
"There's only one way this ends." Leng said. Assuming the gunship would start firing soon, she had Tali remain seated. "Target the supports." Leng commanded. Oh no.
Fearing they were going to destroy the beacon, Shepard started leaping benches in her rush to reach it. She heard the gunship firing missiles behind her. They streaked overhead, smashing into pillars on either side of the temple. The stone beneath her feet cracked, then swayed sickeningly. Shepard scrambled for purchase, grabbing onto a heavy display.
Another round of missiles and everything let go beneath her. The heavy display dropped heavily through the crumbling floor. Shepard grabbed an edge as the stone floor swung in an arc beneath her. There was a huge chasm beneath the temple that everything fell into. Shepard slid down a loose pile of rubble to land heavily on the ground far below. Dust bellowed around her. She concentrated to see through the cloud.
The center aisle of the temple was intact, and Kai Leng used this path to reach the beacon interface. Shepard scrambled up the pile of stone towards him. A piece of the stone floor was leaning against a support. Shepard gripped the edge, and started pulling herself back up to the main floor.
"Cerberus thanks you for all your hard work." Kai Leng said. Shepard got a glimpse of him as he passed her on the way out of the temple. She climbed as fast as she could, nearing the main floor when he was several meters away. Just when she thought she might be able to catch him before he escaped, the flooring she was climbing gave way. She managed to leap to the main floor, but couldn't pull herself up. Now I wish I joined James on that pull up bar. She held desperately to the stone edge. Dust made it hard to maintain her grip.
"Shepard!" Liara yelled from above her. A hand grabbed her wrist, offering just enough assistance that Shepard could pull herself up.
"Thanks, Liara." She immediately took off after Kai Leng, but she was too late. The gunship took off before she exited the temple. She fired her pistol at it, knowing it was futile. It disappeared into the sky.
"Damnit!" She yelled. "Normandy? Can you track the gunship?" There was no response.
"The Reapers are blocking communication, Shepard." Liara said from her side.
"Cortez? Anyone?" Shepard yelled into the comm link.
"Cortez will find us soon, I am sure." Liara said.
"And Kai Leng gets away again." She said dejectedly.
"I wouldn't say that." Tali said from behind them. Shepard turned to see her limping towards them. She jogged to her side, taking her arm over her shoulders. "I attached a tracking device to that drone of his."
"Really?" Shepard had wondered what Tali threw at the drone.
"Yes. Let's get back to the Normandy. We can follow the signal straight to him." Tali told her.
"Tali, I love you." Shepard said. Tali smiled under her visor. "Let's get you to the doc."
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"Will you live with me on Rannoch?" Tali asked. She held Garrus' hand tightly while he sat next to her bed in the medical center.
"Are you asking me to marry you, Tali?" Garrus asked, in shock about the sudden question. He glanced at Dr. Chakwas, who had a smirk on her face.
"Sure!" Tali said excitedly. "We could have a double ceremony with Shepard and Miranda! It would be great!"
"She has a fever, Garrus." Chakwas told him. "And the drugs she's on are pretty strong. She may not remember anything she's saying tomorrow."
"Thanks Doc." He said. Tali looked between them, not realizing they were talking about her. "I'll ask Shepard about it, Tali."
"But I'm not sure how you would give her away then." Tali looked confused. She was slurring her words slightly.
"She wants me to give her away?" He asked.
"Yep. I guess that makes you a surrogate father figure, or something." Tali looked towards the med bay windows. "Look! There she is!" She waved excitedly with her other hand. Garrus turned to see Shepard give a little wave. She was smiling wide.
"I see." Garrus said, not really sure what to think about it, and not familiar enough with human customs to know if it was an honor. He'd have to look up the details later.
"Kasumi says you're going to the bachelor party too."
"Did she now?"
"Yes...She mentioned something about installing poles on the Normandy...for dancing. But you don't need poles to dance..." She trailed off.
"Pole dancing?" Garrus said.
"That's what she called it!" Tali said. "She also mentioned hiring some people to dance for Shepard. But surely you don't need to hire anyone to dance. There's plenty of people on the Normandy who can dance. Kasumi could take her pick." Chakwas snickered from behind Garrus.
"I don't think dancing is all they'd be doing, Tali. I also doubt Shepard would let Kasumi throw the bachelor party on the Normandy." He shook his head at her. Tali could be oblivious at times, but he hoped this was just the drugs talking. Tali looked confused again.
"So they'll be...serving drinks too?"
"Let's leave the details up to Kasumi." Garrus told her, patting her hand.
"Ok, Garrus." She relaxed for all of three seconds. "So you'll live with me on Rannoch?"
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Shepard looked through the med bay windows, watching Tali's excited gestures as she talked to Garrus. She smiled, not even venturing a guess as to what she was talking about. Dr. Chakwas assured her that Tali would be fine in a few days. They even repaired her suit with little effort.
Arms wrapped around her waist. She twisted in the embrace to find Miranda smiling up at her. She wrapped her arms similarly around her back. "Hi." She said.
"Hi. How is Tali?" Miranda asked.
"She'll be fine. Her leg will be healed in a couple days, about the same time her fever should go down. She's a little loopy from the drugs she's on." Sam said.
"Yes? Is she giving Garrus an earful?"
"Apparently. Karin has been trying not to laugh for twenty minutes now."
"I'll have to ask her about it later." Miranda said. She leaned her head against Sam's chest, then pulled back quickly. She returned to her serious tone. "It's time to contact Hackett. Tali's tracer and Christina's coordinates match up. We know where Cerberus is."
"I'll get on it. Do you want to come?"
"No thanks. I'm still persona non grata to most of the Alliance." Miranda said. "I'll meet you in your cabin afterwards."
"Ok, see you there." They shared a kiss, then separated. Sam headed to the elevator. Miranda headed to Liara's room to say good night to Oriana.
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"Admiral, we have coordinates for the Cerberus home base." Shepard told Hackett.
"You're sure? We can't commit the fleet without proof." The glowing image told her.
"Coordinates from the surrendered Cerberus agent match the tracer on Kai Leng. To be sure we showed exploratory images of the sun in the system to Miranda Lawson. It's a distinctive star, and it matches her memory perfectly." Shepard told him.
"She never knew where the base was?" He asked.
"Apparently even the second in command does not know exactly where they are."
"Alright. Send the coordinates. I'll rally the fleet. It shouldn't be hard to recruit ships to go after Cerberus. Not after all they've done." He said.
"No sir." She said. She transferred the coordinates to the Admiral.
"I hear congratulations are in order...for your engagement." He told her.
"Thank you, Sir. I didn't realize the word made it out already."
"The video went viral. There hasn't been much positive news recently, the savior of the Citadel getting engaged is something to lift people's spirits."
"Well, that wasn't intentional, but I'm glad it helped." She smiled.
"I have the coordinates. The fleet should arrive in...twelve hours."
"We'll meet you there, Sir."
"Good. Hackett out."
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Kaiden once again found Oriana Lawson in the common area. He grabbed something to eat and sat across from her.
She looked up from her data pad and smiled at him. "Hi, Lieutenant. How are you?"
"I'm good, Oriana. I thought they would put you on a transport at the Citadel." He asked before taking a bite from his sandwich.
"Miranda's paranoid. She doesn't trust anyone but herself to take me to Illium. Not that I mind staying." She told him. He finished chewing.
"Well, there are a lot of unscrupulous ship captains out there. As the future sister in law of the savior of the Citadel, you would fetch a very high ransom." He explained. Fame had its down side.
"So she said." She looked down at her data pad.
"So what brings you out here? Are you taking a break from the data?" He asked.
"Liara and Specialist Traynor were giving each other looks all afternoon, so I decided to give them some privacy. And Miranda already said goodnight, so I can just imagine what she and Samantha are doing. I already walked in on them once." Oriana shivered.
"So lacking a room of your own, you came out here." He took a drink.
"Yep." She looked up at him. "Are you nervous about the Cerberus base?"
"No. Cerberus has had this coming since Mars."
"Are you going on the assault?" She asked.
"Shepard hasn't announced the assault team yet." Kaiden told her.
"Do you want to go?"
"Of course. I don't think anyone on the crew feels anything but malice towards Cerberus. Everyone wants the opportunity to put them down." He said.
"EDI requested to accompany the team."
"I heard."
"Are you bothered by her?" She asked. He looked up to the ceiling. "Oh, sorry, she might be listening."
"She probably is listening. It's ok, I don't mind discussing this in her presence. EDI has given me no reason to doubt her loyalty. She performed very well during the mission to rescue you and your sister, even against Cerberus troops." He paused. "That being said, that body put me in the hospital for several weeks, so I find it hard not to be nervous around her." EDI wisely stayed silent.
"So you don't regret being off the Normandy during the Collector missions." She said.
"That's a little more complicated to answer." He thought about how to express his answer. "I regret not trusting the commander. I regret not helping with the Collectors. I do not regret avoiding association with Cerberus."
"Do you hate my sister?" She asked bluntly. Kaiden paused to compose his answer.
"I barely know your sister. I have many reasons to dislike the organization she helped run." And she won Shepard's heart, which I could never do. He decided not to voice his entire thoughts on the subject. Oriana wanted to discuss it further.
"Because she was so high in the organization, she had to know about the bad things they did." Oriana said. He nodded. "Which makes me wonder if she would have left long before, had she not needed their help protecting me." She looked guiltily at the table. Kaiden finished his sandwich.
"Don't beat yourself up about it, Oriana. If Miranda hadn't been in Cerberus, would her replacement have succeeded in bringing Shepard back to life? Or would the Collectors still be around, abducting human colonies? Would the Reapers have arrived six months ago through the batarian mass relay? Would anyone but Shepard have secured a turian/krogan alliance or united the quarians and geth? We don't know for sure, but I don't think anyone could replace Shepard. And part of a terrorist organization or not, your sister brought her back to life. The Alliance sure as hell didn't work very hard to bring her back. They didn't even spend much time searching for her body." Kaiden stopped and took a drink. Oriana did not say anything. "The commander has taught me a lot. One thing for sure is that things are not black and white, just a lot of different shades of grey."
"Thank you, Kaiden. I appreciate it." Oriana said.
"You're welcome, Miss Lawson."
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"So Liara, what do you look for in a woman?" Traynor asked, as she moved a virtual rook over three squares. After she finished her move, she looked directly into Liara's eyes. Liara couldn't keep her eyes from going wide.
"I...umm...look for..." Liara stammered. Traynor was stretched across the opposite side of Liara's bed. She was stretched out languidly, showing her curves to great effect. She was thankfully wearing her Alliance uniform, otherwise Liara wouldn't be able to think at all. "I'm not sure."
"Your move." Traynor said. Liara stared blankly at the pieces on the board. She moved a pawn one space up, just to do something. Traynor looked amused. "Are you trying to lose?"
"What?" Liara asked.
"You just put yourself in check." Traynor said.
"Oh." Liara pushed the pawn back where it was. She moved another pawn at the edge of the board. Traynor took her knight at the other end of the board. Liara frowned.
"What first attracted you to the Commander?" Traynor asked. Liara decided to forget about the game. Liara slumped onto the bed, resulting in a pose that mirrored Traynor.
"First? She rescued me from capture, indoctrination, and possibly death. That's always a good start." She said.
"The 'rescue the damsel in distress' effect, I see." Traynor said. "That might be difficult for a skinny geek to manage, but you let me know if you're ever in trouble, and I'll do my best to rescue you." Liara smiled at her. The undisguised pursuit was flattering.
"That wasn't all it took, Samantha." Liara rolled on her back to look at the ceiling.
"Is it because she's a soldier? A protector?" Traynor asked.
"That might be part of it. But more important was her treatment of everyone." Liara answered, still looking at the ceiling. "She treated everyone with respect. Even obvious criminals were treated kindly until they lost her respect. Quarians, who are openly called 'suit rats' in most systems, she spoke to as equals, with no checking her pockets for thievery afterward. Even batarians, who killed her parents when she was five, were treated with respect until they treated her with anything but the same."
"She is a wonder." Traynor said.
Liara nodded. "On the other hand, if you lost her respect, you were in trouble. I remember a story about her before Akuze. She got put on guard duty for some politician. Because he treated his wife with disdain in public, everyone suspected he abused her, but he never left marks, and there was never any evidence. His mistake was criticizing his wife in Shepard's presence. She told him to cut it out. He scoffed at her, obviously dismissing her as no one. The next day video leaked of him cutting his gagged wife repeatedly with a knife. Then, while she was still bleeding in obvious pain, he would force her to have sex with him."
"That's horrible!" Traynor said with her hand over her mouth.
"He did everything in a shower, so he could wash all the blood away." Liara explained. "When he finished with her, he used medi gel to heal all her wounds. Once the video surfaced he was investigated. Records indicated he used tons of medi gel over his ten years in office. He was thrown into prison soon after. His wife was given therapy, but the years of abuse rendered her almost catatonic. No one found evidence of Shepard's illegal surveillance, but some enterprising reporter conducted a study to figure out how she did it. Apparently she removed a turbofan from the roof, crawled down two stories through a small ventilation shaft, then took the footage through the vent fan in the shower."
"Wow." Traynor said.
"Now, after that incredibly depressing story, I will call it a night." Liara looked over to Traynor. "I apologize for bringing down the mood, Samantha."
"It's ok, Liara. I brought the subject up." Traynor said, rising from her position on the bed.
"Very indirectly." Liara said, rising to see her out.
"Fair enough." Traynor said. She stood directly in front of her. "Liara, would you like some company tonight?"
"Oh no, Samantha. I'm not quite ready for that." Liara looked away from her face as she said it.
"Not that, Liara. Just company. I'll leave my clothes on." Traynor said, taking Liara's hands into hers.
"I see, well, as nice as that sounds, I don't think so." Liara said. "I got attached the last time I slept with someone, and I want to make sure they're really interested in me before I do that again."
"Ok." Traynor looked into her eyes. Liara thought she was looking into her mind. She looked away. "How about a date then...next time we're on the Citadel...or another decent world?"
Liara looked back up hopefully. "Definitely, Samantha."
"It's a date." Traynor smiled, then grew serious. She bent her head down and gave Liara a quick peck on her cheek. "Sleep well, Liara." She released her hand, grabbed her chess board, and left the room. Liara fought the urge to go after her.
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"Leng, once again you fail me." The Illusive man said. What now?
"Is the prothean data incomplete?" He asked.
"No, the data is fine." He took a drag on his cigarette. "I'm referring to the quarian tracer that was attached to the drone I gave you. Am I to assume you didn't know it was there?" Yes, I would definitely fly to your location if I knew I was being traced. Because he knew the Illusive man appreciated sarcasm almost as much as he liked betrayal, Leng didn't voice his thoughts.
"No, I did not see it attach." Leng said.
"I thought so." He punched a few buttons. "I'm going to the Citadel. I'm leaving you to deal with Shepard when she arrives. You have your team of phantoms, several nemesis troops, and the rest of the base security force. Make sure Shepard does not leave here alive." He stood, stubbed out his cigarette, then walked towards the door. Leng watched him go, then turned to look at the bank of monitors. I'm in control of the entire base?
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Sam found herself relishing the taste, the scent of her fiancé. That still sounds weird. Fiancé. Perched between her legs, she lightly licked up Miranda's slit, then slid her tongue back down. Miranda's stomach muscles were taut, and she could tell she was close to orgasm. She made sure not to dwell on her clit for too long, and kept the finger inside her playing, but not too quickly, nor too close to the g-spot. She took another leisurely lick up her moist slit.
"Sam?" Miranda asked, her hands clutching the sheets tightly by her side. Sam looked up from her position between her legs.
"Yes, future wife and love of my life?" Sam asked teasingly. She barely touched Miranda's clit. Miranda vainly lifted her butt from the bed to increase the contact.
"Any thoughts on when you're going to end this torture?" Miranda asked in a husky voice.
"What would you like me to do?" Sam asked. She stroked a pair of fingers between Miranda's outer and inner lips, again failing to contact her clitoris. Miranda arched again.
"You know what I want." Miranda said. She made an attempt to rub her clit, but Sam moved her hand back to the bed.
"I do, but I want you to say it." Sam licked her lightly again. Miranda bucked again, reaching for contact.
"Please, Sam. Give me release." Miranda pleaded.
"Release? Come on, be crude." Sam stroked her hand up her inner thigh, then licked next to her clit, not quite touching it.
Miranda put her arm over her face. "Sam, please let me orgasm."
"That's more like it, beautiful." Sam rose from her position between her legs. She pulled Miranda's arm from her face, then crawled against her side. She wanted to watch her face as she finished. She wrapped her other arm under her back, gripping her hip on the far side. There will be no escaping, love.
She knew Miranda wasn't going to last long at all, so she went ahead and plunged two fingers in. She curled them up to her g-spot, and used her thumb on Miranda's clit. As Miranda started to twitch, she nibbled on her ear. Miranda bucked against her hand, losing control entirely. Sam held her tightly, keeping her from squirming away. When Miranda was going through the most intense part of her orgasm, Sam pulled back to watch her face. The pure bliss shaking through Miranda was reward enough for any pain she ever endured.
Even while twitching Miranda noticed her watching and grabbed the back of her head, pulling her into a fierce kiss. Sam kept stroking Miranda until the bucking stopped. Miranda released her head and collapsed to the bed. Eventually Miranda's breathing returned to normal.
"Your turn." Miranda said, still looking exhausted.
"It's ok if you're not up to it." Sam said, a smile on her face.
"I'm up for it, but I'll need some electronic assistance." Miranda pulled herself out of Sam's arms, and reached into a nearby drawer.
"Electronic assistance?" Sam asked.
"Yes. I picked these up the last time I was at the Citadel." She held out her hands to show a pair of devices, one shaped like an egg, and the other as long as her hand and shaped like a rounded off cylinder. "I figured they would help me bring you to the same heights you take me."
"You do just fine, Angel." She took the egg into her hand, looking it over. There were a couple virtual buttons on one end. "But I'm game."
"I also picked up a..." Miranda looked embarrassed. "A strap-on, for you to use on me...if you're willing. Some other day, of course. I'm worn out."
Sam looked at her with a smile. "Looking for a little more depth than my fingers can manage?"
"Not all the time!" She said a little too loudly. "Just every once in a while...I think it would be a nice change."
"Ok, Angel, for you. Maybe someday I'll get adventurous and let you use it on me." Sam told her, giving her a smirk. "For now, show me how these work."
An hour later they were clutched together tightly, a sheen of sweat coating them both. For the finale they held the egg between them, touching both their clits at the same time. They collapsed together when they were spent, and now they were enjoying the afterglow.
"Be careful tomorrow, Sam." Miranda told her before kissing her neck.
"I promise, Angel." Sam answered, clutching her tightly.
