Liara

Once more I found myself in the all too familiar position of crouching behind a crate while my enemies spoke to one another. Tazzik, the volus guide, several of the Broker's agents, and the Collector were gathered in the north bay of the Shadow Broker's base, standing over the box that contained my lover.

"You don't need to do an inventory." Tazzik growled into the Collector's direction, seeming entirely unfazed by the creature's grotesque appearance. "Everything that's Shepard is in there." he kicked the box with a dismissive armored boot and my grip on my pistol tightened.

The Collector stood over the box and leaned down with a boneless, fluid movement that made my gut churn.

"Hard to even tell what it is." Tazzik growled. "Burned and charred and all that. I myself don't even know if it's male or female, but the DNA checks out. If that's what you want, it's yours, as soon as the Broker receives payment."

"Remember what I said, Liara." Feron spoke, startling me out of my intense focus on the others. "Get Shepard, take the data, and get out."

He shoved his pistol in my hand and stood up.

"What are you…"

"All the times I've held you back?" he grinned. "And you're questioning my taking the lead? I owe you this, and I think I've got one last card to play. Just…kick ass and stay safe."

Feron approached Tazzik, his men, and the Collector with nonchalance in his shoulders and a confident swagger in his steps. The large, brutish salarian looked up and the corners of his mouth immediately journeyed downward.

"Taz, you salarian bastard!" Feron spread both empty hands, greeting the threat with intense bravado. "I thought that was you!"

"Oh. You." Taz ignored the exuberant greeting. "Didn't I see you skulking around back on Omega? You're an interruption and a nuisance, so the boss must have sent you here for a reason, if he sent you at all."

"Only the best of reasons!" Feron exclaimed, drawing closer to Tazzik and further from the Collector. "There's been a problem with the payment, and the Broker is not happy."

I watched as the Collector, by itself, lifted the pod that contained Shepard's remains. My mouth went dry as I remembered how many of the Blue Suns it had taken to move it…this creature possessed immense strength.

"There is no problem with the payment!" it roared with the voice of destruction and damnation, relinquishing the pod as other, strange appendages protruded from its body like arms. "Half rendered now. Half rendered when we have confirmed the identity."

"Not happening." Feron placed an assertive hand on the pod. "He wants the full payment now. If you don't agree, no Shepard. That's the new deal. Take it or leave it."

"Get your hand off of there." Tazzik slapped Feron's arm away. "We haven't heard anything from the Broker about a change in plans. What are you trying to pull?"

There is no way this will work, I bit my lip, waiting for my time to strike, because I knew that this would not end peacefully, and I did not know what sort of game Feron was running.

"In case you haven't noticed, Taz," Feron smirked, "Alignon's internal communications are down. The Broker gave me this order in person. Until a new agreement is reached, you keep Shepard. Think about it, Taz. You don't to piss off the Broker do you? He may not be able to talk right now but…" Feron paused carefully and scanned the ceiling before lowering his voice, "…he's always watching."

Tazzik bared his teeth. "Fuck this shit." he muttered, staring at Shepard's remains and signaling his men. They grabbed the pod and began to load it back onto the ship. "We'll keep Shepard until we sort this mess out."

The Collector's eyes flared, burning like the fires that had scorched the Citadel. "This is unacceptable!" it roared, and in the undertones I heard the thrumming notes that had lain in Saren's speech after Sovereign had resurrected him.

There is no question, I cemented my thesis, the Collectors are indoctrinated. Feron, what are you doing? What can you possibly hope to gain by this?

Noises came from the ramp of Tazzik's ship and the Shadow Broker's agents walked down, their burden once more stored away.

I watched the Collector, hearing a distant mumble that made it seem as though it were speaking to itself. But they had technology I did not know. Resources I could not fathom. One shot from their ship had ripped the Normandy in half…oh Goddess! What if it is in direct communication with the Broker!?

The Collector extended a taloned hand. "The Shadow Broker says that Feron is the traitor!" he thundered.

Tazzik immediately rounded on the drell, drawing a weapon. Feron backed away, raising his hands, an abashed grin on his face as he kept his composure in spite of everything.

"Taz, slow down." he urged. "Think about this? Who are you going to believe? Me, or that…thing?" Feron gestured to the Collector. "The Broker can't talk to us, what makes you think he can talk to that?"

Taz glowered. "How did it know your name, Feron?"

Shit! Feron knew this would happen! He did this to get Shepard back on the ship so I could escape! This isn't a fight…it's a sacrifice! No! Not this! Not again! I won't let it happen again!

Tazzik jammed his pistol against Feron's face. "You're smarter than you look, Taz." Feron's eyes flashed, almost desperate, but at the same time…resigned. "Still dumber than me. Liara, now!"

I broke from cover, my body surrounded by a rippling biotic shield. I did not attempt to streamline the energy into technique, merely let the raw power of it overtake me and stream out, striking Tazzik, ripping the pistol from his grip and throwing it against the wall so hard that the weapon became embedded in it.

The salarian and Feron fell with the force of the blow and I heard weapons drawn. Gunfire echoed. I turned and aimed both pistols at the agents who had returned Shepard's body to Tazzik's ship. The weapons, given to Feron and me by Cerberus, had been specially augmented, and the bullets ripped through the high quality armor and into the bodies. Once again, multi-colored blood spattered the floor in a grotesque mural while screams echoed in a cacophonic symphony.

I gloried in the brutal distraction, the shedding of blood for proper purpose. I focused my anger into my weapons, my rage into my biotics, using each to wreak havoc and once again destroy the constructs of those who would harm, who would steal, who would desecrate what was sacred. I felt as a holy avenger, set apart and untouchable as bullets fell, moot and useless against my shields.

"Asari bitch!" Tazzik shouted and I turned, looking into the barrel of another weapon. The salarian was on his feet, ready to charge. "Time for you to die!"

"Not today!" Feron cried, moving into Tazzik's way and surprising him with a knee snapped into the larger man's torso.

He'll die! I thought in horror as a roar made the ground tremble. Feron is grossly outmatched!

I started towards him and the Collector interrupted my path, all of his appendages threatening harm, his eyes aglow with malice, malevolence, and spite. It was stronger than I, but it was not more determined.

I fired my pistols, watching as bullets pierced its flesh. My guns overheated and I threw them to the side as the Collector slumped to the ground. Once more I ran towards Feron, who was caught in Tazzik's grasp as the salarian repeatedly punched him in the face.

"Liara…go!" he gasped, blood flecking his words. "Go now! Save Shepard!"

"I don't want to leave you!" I screamed as another roar shook the ground.

The Collector was not dead. It lifted its terrible body from the ground in languorous movements, blood pouring out of its wounds, but it refused to die.

"I'm not what's important!" Tazzik's fist snapped Feron's head to the side. "You promised!"

My eyes widened as I remembered him pressing the OSD into my hand, telling me that Shepard was the one who was important, that this data belonged in my hands. I had promised, no matter the cost, to escape.

So again, loathing myself, I turned my back on a good person and fled to the ship. I raced up the ramp and the Collector followed, moving faster now. Its talons clutched at the ramp and I snapped my leg out in a biotic kick, knocking the horrid thing away, praying to every god and goddess that might exist that it would fucking die.

I ran into the ship and slammed my hand against the ramp controls, breathing a sigh of relief as I heard the hiss of hydraulics, freeing me to run for the flight deck. I threw myself into the chair and opened the command console, scarcely able to fathom my luck as I saw that whoever had piloted the vessel had keyed a flight plan into the auto pilot.

"Engage." was the sole word I needed to say and the engines powered up.

The ship lifted off and turned, leaving the Shadow Broker's base and shrieking towards Alignon's atmosphere. I felt dizzy as relief punched me in the gut. My energy washed away and I slumped in the chair, my entire body shaking and trembling with the force of what it had just been through. I closed my eyes and Feron's image appeared, his face broken and bleeding, teeth missing, blood spewing from between his lips.

I shuddered and forced myself to my feet. I must keep moving, I thought, I must keep doing. This planet belongs to the Broker, and I am not safe until I am far from this place and out of his reach.

I moved slow, leaning against the walls of the unfamiliar ship for support as I found my way to the cargo bay. The box that held my lover sat there and I stared at it, biting my lip. I knew what I needed to do, and I dreaded it. But I had to know.

I had to know that death was true, that Serena was truly lost to me. I had come this far, hoping against hope that Cerberus had been right, that Shepard hovered in some limbo, that she might be awakened and returned to the galaxy, returned to me…able to help me find my way through the grief and rage conjured by her loss.

I staggered towards the box, falling to my knees beside it, fingers trembling as they hovered over the controls. One push of a button, and the window would lose its tint, allowing me to see the contents. I closed my eyes once more, picturing Shepard's face, the strength and severity of her features, the soft vulnerability of her lips, her silver, shining eyes. Inside my memory, I traced the brutal scar across her face, remembered the heat of her breath, her fiery kisses, her scarred, strong hands tracing my every curve.

I opened my eyes, exhaled, and pressed the button.