Note for the week:I've had a few ask about why some characters are not part of my story. Well, for one, I'm not done posting this story, so for all you know, they will show up in the future. Please, have some patience on that.
And two, This is story is really about Shepard and Liara's relationship and their future together. This is not a story about what happens to Shepard's squad mates.s
Thank and enjoy this weeks chapter.
Chapter Fourteen
It's been four months since Commander Shepard and Dr. T'Soni settled down in Nos Astra on Illium. Shepard has been working with Liara when she went back to work as an information broker. It was seamless transition for T'Soni because she had kept as much contact information from the Shadow Broker base as she possibly could keep. Even some information on a few people that Liara wanted to keep at arms length, just in case she needed to use it to keep them off of either Shepard's or her back. One could never be too careful when it came to protecting the woman Liara adored more than anything in this huge galaxy. Liara is walking towards the cafe that Commander Shepard asked her to meet for lunch. Her baby bump is starting to get very noticeable, along with the glow that goes with it.
Shepard was sitting at an outside table reading a data pad looking through the help wanted, trying to find a bigger apartment, but was not finding much that piques her interest She didn't even notice the asari when she approached, Liara leaned down and kissed Shepard's check, "Hi, Leia." Liara pulls up a chair to sit across the table from Shepard.
Commander Shepard gives her a smile, "Hi, Liara. How are things today?"
"Hi, Leia. Things are going well today and I have a job for you actually," answers T'Soni.
An eyebrow shot up along with a little smirk, "Yea? Need me to have a little chat with a client that won't pay?" It wouldn't be the first time Shepard was needed to talk to someone about their lack of payment for the information Liara obtained for them. The asari sent Shepard because not many people is willing to cross her. Even more so after the Reaper defeat.
Liara says, "Yes and no, I need for you to talk to someone, but it isn't about a lack of payment. I haven't had much problem with lack of payments since your talk with Doran O'Callahan "
Shepard chuckled remembering what she did to Doran, Threatening Liara was his first and last mistake. He was left bleeding in his office with a broken nose and his arm broken in three spots. Liara got paid double the next day with an apology on top of it. All of that because he didn't like the information Liara got for him, asshole It got around Illium of what happens when you cross one of the most respected information broker on Illium or make threats which is what Doran did.
Before Liara could finish what she was going to say, a salarian waiter walks up asking the couple if they were ready to order. Liara ordered a tossed chicken salad, while Leia just ordered a hot beef sandwich.
Ten minutes later, the couple was eating. "So what is it you need from me, Liara," asks Shepard.
"I think we should finish talking about it at my office after we finish eating," says Liara smiling as she took another bite of her salad. The waiter came back and asked them if they needed anything and placed the check on the table.
Shepard looked at it, saying, "Why do they always feel the need to give us a discount? I just want to blend in and not be treated special."
"Well, you are special, Shepard. No denying it," says Liara as she bats her eyelashes at her bondmate.
Shaking her head as she took the last bite of her sandwich, Shepard got up from the table and went to pay the bill. By the time she got back to the table, Liara was done eating and wiping her mouth. "Ready to head back to your office?" asks the red-haired human.
"Yes, please, I really need to talk to you," answers Liara. Shepard offers her hand to Liara, which she takes. They walk hand in hand back to Liara's office.
Liara kisses Shepard tendering on the lips, smiling after breaking the kiss. She then goes and sits behind her desk. The Commander sits in the chair across from Liara, "What do you need me to do today?"
Liara answers, "I need for you to go to Omega."
"Omega? What for?" asks Shepard's voice had a hint of surprised in it. Shepard hasn't been to Omega in months.
Liara says, "Aria has some information on someone from my past and this person seems to have a vendetta. Why, I am not sure yet. I do need it to be taken care of. I have paid Aria a great sum of credits to keep the information to herself until you arrive on Omega. She only agreed because of her respect for you, Leia." Liara has a little bit of a concerned look on her face while she was telling Shepard this.
"When do you want me to leave?" asks Shepard.
"As soon as possible, Leia. Aria won't wait long. She seemed eager to see you which is why she wouldn't just give me the information. She wants you to see it. Her reasoning for that is unknown. Shepard, I have a bad feeling this will be dangerous. Please be careful and come back," says Liara.
She hasn't called me Shepard in months. Not good. Shepard has a concerned look on her face after hearing Liara call her Shepard. "Will you be safe here? Because if you are not, I'm not leaving you here alone, Liara."
"I should be, Leia. Please, do this for me," says Liara with tears forming in her eyes. The last thing she wants is to put Shepard in harms way, but there is no choice in the matter.
"Fine, I'm going. It seems too important to you. I'll be back soon," says Shepard as she leans over the desk to kiss her bondmate on the lips, "I love you, Liara." Leia then flashed a smile that warmed T'Soni's heart.
Commander Shepard is back at the apartment busy putting on her old N7 armor, well it's not that old, it was the latest armor the Alliance used during the fight with the Reapers. It still fit perfectly. Placing her M-96 Mattock assault rifle in it's proper place on the back of her armor next to the Widow sniper rifle. The Phalanx hand canon went on her hip. Double checking everything, Shepard left to head to Omega.
Her and Liara bought a shuttle shortly after they moved to Nos Astra. Shepard even had it fitted with better armor while adding shields and weapons. They were not going to take any chances. Even though Commander was the savior of the galaxy. It didn't mean she didn't still have enemies. This trip Liara asked her to go on proves that. Well, I wonder who is after Liara. I wonder If they think she is an easy target. Which she is not. Not if I can help it. Hailing a taxi, Shepard heads to the dock were their shuttle is located.
Several hours later, Shepard is at Afterlife, meeting with the asari, the Queen of Omega if you are feeling dramatic, Aria T'Loak. Shepard says, "I was told you have some information for Liara, Aria."
"Yes I do. Tell, T'Soni, she owes me big time, Shepard. If she wasn't with you, I would not have passed this information to her," says Aria with her usual air of cockiness
"I appreciate that, Aria. What is so damn important with this information?" asks the Commander.
Aria laughs some, "You see, Shepard. T'Soni made an enemy or two before she joined you to fight the Reapers."
"Who?" asks Shepard getting a little annoyed now.
Aria laughs again, "She didn't tell you?" Aria was playing around with Shepard, because she knew Liara didn't know who was after her because she didn't tell T'Soni that part. She just wanted to get Shepard to Omega. Aria did like to play games with people at times and Shepard was her target this time.
"If she had told me, would I be asking, Aria? Stop jerking me around and tell me or give me the information so I can go." One of Aria's lackeys handed Shepard a data pad. "Thank you, Aria."
T'Loak says, "Oh, don't thank me, Shepard. By the way, good luck." Nodding to Aria, Shepard leaves the club and heads back to her shuttle to read what information was on the data pad.
As Commander Shepard was reading the data, she felt anger sweeping over her. What game are you playing Feron? Jack? What the fuck? Oh, shit. Jack thinks Liara is the reason she got arrested again? Liara was with me at the time, no way she did that. Fucking Feron. How many times are you going to be the betrayer? This will be the last time, Feron. I promise you that.
Jack, the super human biotic and one time teammate aboard the Normandy when they were going after the collectors is now after Liara along with the drell, Feron. Jack broke out of prison again just three days ago and confronted Feron about her arrest and he said Liara was the one that turned her in. Which is bunk because Liara didn't do that. Before the shuttle took off to head back to Illium she sent a message back home to tell Liara to hide. Now I understand why she wanted me to handle this. I don't know if I can take out Jack by myself without getting myself killed in the process. Fucking shit. Who to contact for help? Shepard's blood is now boiling. The shuttle mades the jump through the Omega relay.
Back on Illium, Liara received Shepard's message to hide. Shepard was smart enough to send it heavily encrypted, so when Liara deleted it, it would take a while to recover that message if someone was looking for it. T'Soni was sure, they would look for any clues to her whereabouts. The message Shepard sent just said. Feron and Jack are after you. Go and hide. I'll deal with it. Why they were after her, she was unsure on. Liara didn't stop at the apartment. She went straight into hiding.
Nos Astra was the capitol of Illium and there are plenty of places to hide out for a few days if the need arises. This is one of those times. Dr. Liara T'Soni checked into one of the shady hotels in the "azure" part of Illium. Hopefully this is a good place to lay low until Leia get back, which I hope is soon. Liara rubs her hand over her baby bump. Sighing she starts crying. These were more tears from her hormones from the pregnancy than anything else. Placing her hand over her eyes still crying, hurry, Leia, please my love hurry.
Liara had been in hiding for several hours before Feron gets to her office. He trashes Liara's office looking for clues to here whereabouts. The drell isn't finding anything. Taking the pistol and he shoots her computer terminal a few times. "Try to get more info from that, Liara," says Feron to himself. Completely trashing the office and not finding anything usable, he leaves and runs into Jack. "She not here, Jack."
Jack nods in return then speaks, "Any idea where she went? If you don't find her, Feron, I'll kill you then look for her myself. That asari bitch needs to pay for getting me put back into prison." She grabs the collar of Feron's shirt when she said that.
Feron is fearful for his life. He knows Liara wasn't responsible for Jack getting arrested, but Jack was told that the Shadow Broker had turned her in. Liara wasn't at the Broker Shadow base at that time, Feron was. He says, "I'm willing to bet she went into hiding, Jack. Liara isn't stupid or careless."
Jack throws Feron against the wall. "Well then, we must flush her out. Anything we can use as leverage?"
Jack didn't know that Liara and the Commander were together as bondmates. "Yes, we can use Shepard to lure her out,"says Feron as he picks himself off the floor.
"Commander Shepard of the Normandy?" Jack now thinking. Fuck, Shepard? We were friends once, but if she is with this asari bitch then she is my enemy too. Fuck her. No one puts me back in prison no matter if they were allies in the past.
"Yes that Commander Shepard, Jack. I don't know where she is, but if we find and capture her we can get Liara to come out of hiding." His voice is shaky, he thinks Jack is going to kill him anyway. Which is Jack's plan all along. But she needs Feron to find Dr. T'Soni for her.
Shepard was in full commando mode now. She was lucky to get a hold of the justicar, Samara. Samara was already on Illium doing a little justicar business when she received Shepard's message for help with Jack. Commander Shepard was no biotic and because of that she was going to need help dealing with Jack.
What seemed like days was really hours and Shepard landed her shuttle back at their private port. Samara was there waiting for her. "Thank you, Samara for helping me with this. I have to find Jack and Feron before they find Liara. I do not know where Liara is hiding, but I told her to do so. I have to protect her, Samara. I just have to." Shepard closes her eyes to steel herself.
Samara gives Shepard a pat on the shoulder then responds, "We will find Jack and Feron, Shepard." They left the dock and head towards Shepard and T'Soni's apartment.
When they get to the apartment, Samara has Shepard's back as they slowly make their way through the apartment. The apartment seems empty, but Shepard has a feeling in her gut that was not the case. Feron came walking down the stairs from the bedroom loft. He didn't notice Shepard standing behind the stairs or Samara on the other side at first. Then the drell notices the asari, and pulls his gun at her and when he did, Shepard hit him upside the head with the butt of the Mattock, knocking him out cold.
Shepard ties him up and gags him for now. A kick in the face for good measure. Why Feron. She saved your life? Why? Another kick this time to his torso.
"Shepard, stop," Samara places her hand on Shepard's shoulder. Samara has never see the Commander lose control before and she is losing it.
"Now to find Jack." says the human Commander quietly. They kept looking around the apartment not seeing Jack, so they went up to the loft to set up an ambush. Jack came in through the front door while Shepard and Samara was up in the loft waiting to ambush. Jack calls out, "Feron? Find anything on where that asari bitch is?"
Shepard's body got very tense when hearing Jack call the love of her life a bitch. Samara's body turned a blue/white color and a wave of dark energy hit Jack and threw her across the room. "Fuck" was all that escapes Jack's lips as she hits the wall behind her with enough force to put a hole in the wall.
Shepard uses her adrenaline rush then shot off two rounds from the Mattock that hit Jack in the right shoulder and upper chest. Jack slowly gets up. Jack starts to flares her biotics when Shepard shot her again in the chest. Jack hits the floor again, blood oozing out of the wounds and staining the floor. "Stay down, Jack. I will kill you if I must," yells out Shepard.
"Fuck you, Shepard," was the last thing Jack said because Samara walks up to the wounded human and hits her with a biotic punch that snaps Jack's neck.
Dr. T'Soni turned on the screen in the room to watch for any news. She didn't know if Shepard was back on Illium or on her way back. She is worried and a tad bit scared, but she didn't allow it to consume her. She didn't want to stress out the baby. Liara rubs her lower torso again, talking to the baby, "Everything will be okay, little one. I promise. There no one more trust worthy than your father." She wasn't sure if she was trying to comfort the baby or herself. Shepard has never let her down before, but she was very worried because of Jack. She kept the Locus SMG near by just in case. Not that Liara really needed the SMG, being a strong biotic herself, but she wanted to make sure she felt safe. The asari's omni-tool beeped softly. Then beeped two more times. Sighing in relief. That was a signal from Shepard. Things are going to be okay.
Shepard hit a few keys on her omni-tool, sending a message to Liara that everything was over. "Samara, I don't know how I can ever repay you. I am in your debt. Anything you need from me, please, ask. I will do my best to help." She then collapse on the couch the is located in the bedroom loft and places her hands over her face.
Samara sat next to Shepard and placed her arm around her shoulders and gave a squeeze. "It's over, Shepard. You don't owe me anything. It's my pleasure to help a friend and I don't have many of them. Not with me being a justicar."
Shepard hands are still covering her face and she is starting to get a major headache too. As Feron finally comes to, he struggles against his restraints. He looks up and notices Shepard sitting on the couch. Even though his mouth was gagged, he smiles seeing the human holding her hands over her face. He thinks Jack was successful in finding Liara.
Commander Shepard finally notices that Feron has come to, she get soff the couch and picks him off the floor and slams him up against the railing of the loft. "Why should I let you keep your life, Feron? Give me a reason why you betrayed the person that cared enough to save your life while you were held captive by the Shadow Broker? Just one reason, Feron," yells Shepard as she rips the tape off his mouth. Feron eyes Shepard before realizing she is going to kill him.
Feron starts to speak then Samara pushes Shepard away from Feron and says, "Shepard, don't."
"Why shouldn't I, Samara? He put Liara's life in danger over something he did, not her," says Shepard as she sits on the edge of the bed glaring at the drell.
"Why, you ask? Because this isn't like you, Commander. I have never seen you ready to execute someone, Shepard. I can't let you start now," says Samara as she takes Feron down the steps and sits him next to the dead human. Shepard walks down the stairs and heads to the bathroom to wash her face and try to calm down. Samara calls the Illium Law Enforcement.
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See everyone next week.