A/N: I know it's been awhile, but between work and school time is at a premium. Part of that was working out the logistics of the chapter. Hope your all still enjoying the story. Again sorry for the delay. I will try to keep them at a minimum going forward. I can't make promises, but will try my best.


The sound of the door woke the Asari out of a light sleep. She quickly wiped the drool from the corner of her mouth before turning to face the door. As her eyes met the doctor's she noticed the smile.

"Glad to see you're sleeping without my assistance for once. Since you spend most of your time here, I instructed Campbell to have a bed brought in for you. I suggest you use it. James wanted to share the room, but I thought it would be better to have him bunk with Admiral Anderson."

She shook her head.

"The last thing I need is the two of you having a debate about biotics again. He already has two broken legs."

"It wasan accident."

"I know, Garrus admitted he intentionally distracted you. He didn't anticipate you would actually drop James."

She couldn't resist a smile. The human moved to a small tray of instruments. Liara couldn't see what she was doing, but assumed she was preparing the tubing. She recalled the memory of watching the tubing sliding over the tracheal tube. It had been explained that he was breathing on his own but the tracheal tube was to prevent the airway from swelling shut. The tube would help repair the damaged tissue. Knowing its purpose didn't lessen her discomfort at the sound of Shepard choking as it slid down his throat. She felt the uncomfortable flutter in her stomach.

"Is it time for his treatment already?"

She noticed the tremble in her voice and mentally cursed herself for showing such weakness.

"Liara , there is no shame in being upset by the procedure. It's one of the unfortunate realities of my profession. You sometimes have to cause pain to heal the injured."

The human turned to face her.

"Quite frankly, I'm glad to see you're not a hardened soldier. When I came aboard and saw how much you changed."

The woman's eyes darkened for a moment before she shook her head.

"A part of me was sad to see the hard edge in your eyes, but then I saw that beneath the changed exterior was the same caring, loyal, and gentle friend I had known. The only real change was that you were more confident and capable. You no longer followed any member of the crew around, but stood beside them as an equal."

Liara smiled as the human approached her. The hand placed on her shoulder was warm and soothing.

"If your mother could see you…She would be as proud of your accomplishments as I am."

She felt the tears stinging her eyes. She stood up and hugged the woman.

"Thank you, I always worried that I had lost something vital when I became a broker."

The doctor pulled away and held the Asari at arm's length as a nurse entered the room.

"My dear Liara, what defines us is the people we choose to surround us and how much we care for them. You have proven yourself time and again."

The woman smiled.

"Now, I need to get to work. By the way, Westmoreland asked me to tell you Joker has an urgent task for you. You better run along and see what he wants."

The Asari nodded before wiping the tears from her eyes and leaving the room. She could hear the doctor preparing the tubing and shuddered.


Ashley balanced her chair on the back two legs. She was watching Garrus and Tali eat some dextro concoction he'd made. Tali looked in her direction.

"Are you sure Javik will be able to instruct the Keepers? I thought they self destructed when people tampered with them."

Ashley looked over at Garrus.

"We were worried about that too, but Garrus and I think it will work."

The Quarian looked from the human to the Turian and back again.

"The two of you discussed it? When?"

Something about her skeptical tone struck Ashley as humorous. Garrus placed a hand on the Quarian's own.

"While you were teaching Grunt Wrex's reloading trick. No need to be jealous I prefer someone that doesn't require me to label the food containers."

The Quarian snatched her hand from the Turian.

"So Ashley what was the conclusion."

Garrus smiled.

"You remember all the pods on Illos. We figure the Protheans that altered the keepers assumed there were others in stasis."

Garrus continued from there.

"Based on our observations of Javik, the Prothean game plan wasn't to wait patiently for the Reapers to return. Imagine what would have happened if they created the means to destroy them. What would Javik do?"

Tali didn't think but for a moment.

"Use the Citadel as a relay to dark space. It provides the element of surprise and allows them to ensure there aren't any survivors. If he's any indication the Protheans weren't big on being merciful."

Ashley saw the pride in the Turian's eyes. She carefully lowered the chair and stood up. As she stretched she heard the familiar click of the comm. unit.

"Human, I have communicated with the creature. Citadel power stations are operating at limited capacity. Power output is being directed to crucial systems. There is insufficient power to access C-Sec at this time."

She started to pace and ran her hand through her hair.

"Is it possible to use precision charges?"

Tali nodded her head.

"I suppose it's possible, but once we gain access to the elevators we still have to climb down the shaft. Not to mention we would be walking down a dark corridor towards a crowd of scared and heavily armed civilians."

Ashley thought it over a moment.

"Javik, Can you get an ETA on the repairs?"

There was a long pause before the Prothean responded.

"It will take at least another two hours for the power stations to be back at full capacity. Even with the stations at full capacity it would take another few hours to get the Citadel fully operational due to debris in the substructures preventing access to some of the power conduits. I have instructed it to focus on the C-Sec power grid conduits and reroute the power necessary. We should have access to C-Sec within the next thirty five to forty minutes."

She nodded.

"Good work, Javik. Stay put in case we need anything else."

She deactivated the comm., "The Krogan should be here by then. If the Keepers fail we blow our way to the shaft and let them walk down that dark corridor."

She noted the odd expression on Garrus' face.

"What?"

"I was just wondering what we would have done if Shepard hadn't found a living Prothean?"

Tali looked upwards as she answered.

"Shepard would have found a way."

Ashley remembered the sight of the burned carcass that had once been her lover. Liara's words haunted her thoughts.

I have seen…worse.

Her voice dropped to a hoarse whisper.

"Yeah, he would."

She looked at her hands. It felt like a lie. They didn't know if he would even survive, but it wasn't something any of them were willing to consider. Not out loud anyway.


Liara stood in the control room. Her head down and her fingers pinching the bridge of her nose. She understood his distress. She refused to remember her own desperation all those years ago.

"The Geth keep giving me bullshit answers."

The human's voice changed to a monotone imitation of the Geth.

"We have insufficient data to reach consensus."

He rolled his eyes and returned to his normal voice.

"Aaaarghhh…do you realize how irritating that is?"

She sighed.

"Joker, I fail to see how this is an emergency."

"Liara, I'm getting the run around. A real friend would help me get through all this bureaucracy."

She lifted her head and crossed her arms.

"I do not believe the Geth qualify as a bureaucracy. However the Geth's response is accurate. In order to return EDI and the reaper coded Geth will need to wait until all the energy from the crucible dissipates."

Joker frowned at her.

"I should have known a scientist would take their side."

The best pilot in the Galaxy and he is an overgrown child. How Shepard avoided killing him or throwing him the brig is a mystery to me.

She took a deep breath and tried to be patient.

"I am not taking sides. I am trying to explain. Since a weapon of the Crucible's magnitude has never been activated we are unable to calculate the length of time required for dissipation. Hence, there is insufficient information to hypothesize the necessary timeframe. Not to mention the time it will take for a full size Reaper to …"

She tried to reign in her frustration as he interrupted her.

"I understand that! You of all people should understand where I'm coming from. I'm just asking for some assurance that she's out there, that she's okay. I finally understand how you felt back when Shepard got spaced. I just need you to give me something."

She looked up and stared him the eye. I do know. I also know the crippling pain of finding a corpse when I had hoped…She forced herself to focus on the present. She lifted her arms in a human sign of surrender. It is strange how many human gestures I have adopted as my own.

"I know what you are going through, but she knew she was leaving. Are you sure she did not leave you a message?"

She watched him roll his eyes.

"Don't you think I considered that?"

She stared at him a bit longer before deciding her first instinct was correct.

"No."

She noticed the small twitch at the corner of his mouth.

As I suspected, the thought never occurred to him.

"I'll let you get back to what you were doing. I'll just have to wait for the Geth to reach a consensus."

Without any warning he terminated the connection. She felt a sense of irritation. He could have at least told her of Ashley's progress. She sighed.

I should return to Shepard. No…Dr. Chakwas is most likely still performing the procedure. A slight shiver traveled down her spine as her mother's voice gently reminded her.

"Nightmares dissolve in the light of day, so why should we dwell on bad memories?"

Liara smiled despite herself. Her hand unconsciously moved over her abdomen as she headed towards the Galley.