A/N: This scene makes several references to the ME comic series Homeworlds—Liara's issue, to be exact. It is highly recommended that you read the summary found on the ME wiki first before reading this.

This is Liara's first time on Arcturus Station, the heart of Alliance government, and she wishes the visit had been under better circumstances. Groups of navy blue suits walk past her in the narrow corridor she's waiting in. If they stare, she stares right back, crest held high in the face of those whose indictment of Shepard's actions on Aratoht could cost them everything. She clenches and unclenches her hands. This meeting with Hackett must go well; she needs access to the Prothean Archives on Mars. They could hold the key to the Reaper's defeat, a secret The Illusive Man clearly knows of judging by their confrontation on Kahje, and with Shepard out of the loop, possibly permanently—

Breaking off that tangent, she gingerly rubs the border of where her crest begins as a headache forms. Today hasn't been a good day. She checks the time, foot tapping. It hasn't been a few good weeks.

"Liara?"

She turns her head, sees the staff commander approaching her in hesitant steps, and gives a curt nod. "Hello, Kaidan. Good to see you."

Something in her stance puts him off because his hand jumps to the back of his neck. "This is the last place I imagined you would be, but it's nice to see that you're doing alright."

"I'm meeting with Admiral Hackett in an hour," Liara says bluntly, too tired of the endless conversational dances she's had to perform with Alliance bureaucracy since arriving here to give an old crewmate a proper greeting.

"Hackett?" She dislikes the follow-up question that isn't voiced.

"I would say more, but the topic is—"

"Classified," he finishes with a sigh. "Yeah, there's been a lot of that going around lately."

She crosses her arms as he stands beside her, the both of them looking out into space through reinforced windows. A steady pressure thrums along the indentations on her crest. "We're living in an uncertain era. None of the races wish to…upset the delicate balance already in place."

He frowns out of the corner of her eye. "This isn't the time to be keeping secrets but…Shepard already blew that clear out of the water."

Her jaw works up and down. "How much do you know about the mission that's led to where we are now?"

"Does it even matter? Enough, "Kaidan says roughly, "or not enough." That blasted hand runs through his hair. "Hell, I don't know anymore, I don't know her anymore."

"She had no other choice," Liara says quietly, her chest burning from his remarks. He's just like all the other officers on this forsaken space station.

"Was the call worth it though? How much time did it even buy us?" He shakes his head. "You think you know someone…"

The tightrope in her mind snaps as the headache fully blooms. "Shepard just turned herself in, if you haven't found out already. Perhaps she's still the woman you've always imagined she was."

A charged buzz spreads throughout her body as he stops staring at the stars to check the hallway for anyone who might walk by them. When the coast looks clear, Kaidan levels the full weight of his attention on her. "Excuse me?"

"She stopped the Reapers at our doorstep on a mission Hackett himself 'requested,'" Liara begins, facing him too, "and is about to go on trial for 300,000 lives, which could have been prevented if people had just listened to the warnings. Shepard needs people to advocate for her, now more than ever. She needs us."

"Not to be rude," he replies in that maddeningly passive tone, "but that's pretty rich coming from you."

"And why is that?"

"Where were you for two years? I went back to the Alliance because it was my duty, and my way of honoring Shepard's memory. You became an information broker."

Liara stares at him, her fingers curled so tightly the glove fabric squeaks. "You don't know the things I've done for Shepard."

"Then don't assume the same about me." Kaidan blows out air through his nose. "I'd join her in a heartbeat if I could, but look at the ship she came back in, the crew she's travelling with, the people she's reporting to. The Alliance has been my life for almost fifteen years, and she walked away from that like it was nothing—but I've always known where my loyalties lie."

The man in front of her used to talk to Shepard like there was no one else in the room even while others—like her—were present. The throbbing won't stop. Gritting her teeth, Liara keeps her voice light. "You certainly have an odd way of showing it."

Kaidan glares at her while she can only bristle at the kind of person he's become: stubborn, indecisive, and overly idealistic—or maybe those traits have always been there since the early days on the Normandy, and she'd been too inexperienced to spot them. No matter. He can shove his so-called integrity for all she cares. There's too much to consider, too much to prepare on borrowed time for her to delay by arguing in a circle with him. In any case, he's right. Shepard's changed (and so has she.)

Before either one of them can add anything else, her omni-tool gives a gentle ping. Liara drops her shoulders as she looks away, a hand rubbing her temple again. "I have to go."

He exhales harshly. "Your meeting, huh?"

"Yes."

"Liara," Kaidan starts, and she winces at his tone. "We haven't seen each other in God knows how long, and this is how our first conversation goes?"

Her crest twinges. "Reunions aren't necessarily a happy occasion."

"So you're leaving, just like that?"

Her next words are crisp and clipped. "Don't you usually run when people can't meet your expectations too?"

His mouth slightly sags open in surprise, and even Liara has to pause at herself. The moment is short, however, because she then straightens her posture, turns on her heel, and leaves.