Disclaimer: I do not own any properties of BioWARE, including any characters from the Mass Effect Franchise. You have been warned.

All Ellanis saw was blackness. She coould neither feel nor see anything. Often, though, she heard small muffled cries from someone who sounded like Liara. She also heard some paramedics, maybe, but she couldn't tell. There was nothing she could do about any of these things, however. She couldn't move to tell the paramedics that she was fine, and she also couldn't see Liara to be able to smile at her. She kept trying to move for an interminable amount of time, she couldn't tell how much time was passing without looking at a chronometer. However, she was still completely unable to move.

Eventually, she stopped hearing things like she was submerged in water, and her eyes began ot adjust and function again. It was all much to bright at first, but she managed to be able to discern colors before she was able to make out individual shapes. The first thing she noticed was a blur of blue just besides her, and she smiled crookedly at the blur, knowing who it was. "Hey, love. I didn't mean to scare you there."

Liara looked down, her eyes red and tired from crying and a lack of sleep. "Ella.." She took her partners hand and kissed it, laying her head on Ellanis' chest. "Ellanis Shepard, don't you ever do that to me again."

Ellanis chuckled softly, gently squeezing the hand she was holding. "Message recieved, darling. But honestly, do you really expect me to be able to predict when some crazed fanatic is gonna come out of the woodwork and take a shot at me?"

Liara laughed, her head still comfortably on Ellanis' chest, listening to her heart beat. "You'll just have to be better than them. You are the best there ever was."

Ellanis picked Liara's head off of her chest and leaned in for a soft kiss, then settled back in. "Well, if you ask me, then your wish is my command." She then glanced up at the chronometer curiously, and hummed to herself. "Liara, how long was I out for? All I did was get shot, which is seriously not a problem."

Liara sniffed in disdain. "No, but that shooter apparently used a strange modification that messed with your implants. It was touch and go for a while, but they seem to all be working again... Although.. I was serisouly wondering if you were going to wake up.."

Ellanis stroked Liara's crest lightly and looked down at her wife. "Liara, we're going to spend the rest of our lives together, and we're going to have a beautiful daughter. I'm not going anywhere." She then began to look around. "However, I would like to get out of here and head home."

Liara sat up and frowned. "Are you sure? You have just been shot, technically. Even if your implants have you feeling better, that doesn't mean you shouldn't stay for a little while."

Ellanis sighed and got off the bed, taking off all of the medical sensors. "I'm fine. Now lets get out of here, shall we?"

Liara rolled her eyes and helped Ellanis find her clothes so she could get dressed. Much to the protest of the doctors, she checked out of the hospital and went home. But it's not like they could tell the war hero when she couldn't leave the hospital, given her particular cirucmstances.

When the pair got home, they both settled down on the couch with a sigh, hands intertwining and smiles on their faces. Liara looked at her partner and cocked her head to the side. "Ellanis.. what honestly would happen if your implants failed, say, fifty years from now?"

Shepard looked thoughtful for a moment and shrugged. "Not sure. Who knows, really? The only one who could have told us is Miranda, and she's dead. Another war casualty." She frowned. "Speaking of war casualties.. I wonder what I did that pissed that guy off so much that he shot me.."

Liara gripped Ellanis' hand tighter. "Does it matter, Ella? You lived. That's what's important."

Ellanis sighed. "I suppose. Anyway, it's been a long day. Lets head to bed."

And with that, the pair went to bed, unaware of the angry eyes watching them both from the darkness.

AN: Welcome to another chapter! So sorry about the cliffhanger, but sometimes it can be fun. So here we are again, and just in time for another round of shoutouts!

KE12: Yeah, I know, those silly batarians get all the fun!

Anon: Glad to see you're enjoying this as much as I am!

So I hope you all stick around for the next installment of this series! Here's to you, so stay blue!

Liara: What in the name of the goddess...

DalekStorm: Figure of speech. Humans aren't blue. Still.

Ellanis: Not as far as I know.

Dalekstorm: Anyway, back in the box. *shoves both*

See you all later!