Liara smiled at Miranda and Kasumi, grateful that Miranda had surmised the current topic of discussion was perhaps not the best one for quiet recuperation. Even if Shepard couldn't be kept in the dark, removing reminders of the outside world from her immediate presence might help. "Thank you. I will see you both in a few hours," she said meaningfully, trying to convey her gratitude without drawing Shepard's attention to it.

"Of course," Miranda said with a serious look. "Just don't forget what I said about rest."

"I remember," Liara said, feeling a little heat rise on her cheeks and crest. "You need not worry."

Kasumi raised an eyebrow at that but then rose on her tiptoes herself, reaching up to rather dramatically smooch Liara on the cheek. The asari smiled and gave the thief an one-armed squeeze in return before letting her back down.

Shepard's voice rose slightly behind them as she tried to convince Grunt to make his way back to Wrex. "Just go in for a private talk, but make sure he also understands to only contact Liara when he's by himself."

"Come on, you big lump," Kasumi said cheerfully, reaching back to completely ineffectually pull on the krogan's arm. "You've got responsibilities to deal with. Then you can come back."

"That's not—" Grunt grumbled but apparently thought better of it as he noticed all three pairs of eyes staring at him from the door. "Fine, I will convey this message."

As the giant grudgingly lumbered past toward the door, Liara cast a quick glance toward the bed to see Shepard obediently laying down and closing her eyes again. She turned back just as Miranda a little hesitantly lifted her arm to almost take her by the shoulder, only at the last moment changing her mind and giving it an awkward pat instead. The woman drew her hand back quickly, but flashed a quick smile before turning to follow Grunt and the happily chattering Kasumi out.

One of the asari guards outside seemed especially curious behind her professional coolness today, Liara noted before banishing the thought as paranoia. Maybe she had just been trying to be nice or polite, even giving Liara a smile she reciprocated just as the door closed between them. She'd done cursory vetting on each of the handful of soldiers tasked with their safety, of course, but she couldn't well protest overtly even if she had found something troubling. With a quiet sigh, she crossed her arms and turned back to Shepard.

The woman hadn't gotten back up yet, but her head was turned toward Liara, the piercing eyes staring right at her over the top of her pillow. The earlier rage was gone, nothing remaining but a questioning, uncertain look. Liara held her gaze silently.

"Are you angry with me?" Shepard finally asked quietly.

Liara couldn't but love her incredible drive to make everything right, to solve every problem, but every single choice meant another risk. Another risk for someone else. "You almost didn't come back," she said coldly despite the hot tears welling in her eyes.

Shepard pushed herself into a sit and drew her knees up despite the obvious pain. She crossed her arms on top of her knees and laid her head on them, staring down into her lap. "That was no choice. You know we had to, or there wasn't going to be anything to come back to. And I did come back," she muttered.

"You did," Liara said quietly. "And now the war is over. We won."

"It's not over—"

"It is."

"What about the relays? The krogan?" Shepard demanded, turning her head toward Liara. "We can't just—"

"I don't care about them!" Liara shouted hotly before she caught herself, balled fists striking down through the air in emphasis. The anger hurt in her chest, her throat, her jaw, it pushed against all her muscles trying to get out as she forced herself calm. Embarrassed at her tears, she fiercely wiped her eyes with the back of her hand. "Goddess…I did not—"

"I know, it's okay," Shepard said after a brief silence, holding Liara's eyes again. "C'mere."

Liara stepped closer, keeping her stride steady despite the overwhelming urge to run. Shepard reached out as she came close, encircled her waist in those powerful arms, and laid her head against her stomach. Liara twined her fingers in the woman's short locks and held her close.

"I need time, Liara," Shepard murmured. "This is what I do. I can't just turn it off."

Liara reached down and tilted Shepard's head up to see her eyes. "I want to give you all the time in the world, silla," she said as she cupped Shepard's face between her hands and knelt down to bring herself to level with her bondmate. "That is what I am trying to do." Promise me.

Shepard didn't answer. She just leaned in, hesitantly brushing Liara's lips with hers. Liara tried to smile, holding Shepard's gaze for a moment before eagerly losing herself in the kiss.

She felt the woman's hands cupping her face when their lips finally parted, mirroring her own. They stayed that way, lost in eachother for an untold time until Shepard darted in for another quick kiss, a peck on the corner of Liara's mouth before she withdrew.

Shepard pulled Liara up and onto the bed, shuffling to the side to make room for the asari. Suddenly serious, Shepard spoke quietly even as she reached her arm across Liara's back and onto her waist. "How bad is it?"

"How bad is what?" Liara asked as she snuggled under Shepard's arm, puzzled.

"Who all did we lose?"

"It…" Liara started hesitantly, "it is…better than I hoped. Here," she said, reaching to the side of the bed to pull up the swiveled datapad, "we kept this roster in the hours and days after the battle. It…has everyone. It is in chronological order instead of alphabetic or something else. I thought…I am not sure, I felt it appropriate to retain it as it came to us, somehow—"

Shepard silenced her babbling with a kiss on her crest, and they both turned to the small screen—but only briefly before the woman suddenly jolted. "Garrus is alive?" she breathed out, aghast or in awe, as she sought out Liara's eyes.

"Yes, he is" the asari confirmed with a sharp nod, her immediate smile faltering a little as she thought how she missed the turian. "He has not visited here," she continued sadly, Shepard's expression transitioning from joy to disbelief. "I think he believes he failed you—and I—by not following you to the Citadel," she said by way of explanation. "He has stayed planetside, away from us."

"He hasn't come see you because he feels guilty about not following me?" Shepard demanded angrily. "Where's my omni?"

"Over there, on my desk," Liara said carefully, gently stroking Shepard's neck and shoulder, "but you should not activate it. It may trigger an alert."

"You call him then," the woman replied coldly. "Get that asshole up here."

"I have tried so many times, but he has not come. Even when he has to fly up for meetings, he avoids me. I am not certain he—"

"Tell him someone is going to tear his other mandible off if he doesn't get his ass up here right this fucking instant."

"I will try," Liara said quickly, trying to placate the rapidly winding up soldier. "But he is alive, at least," she finished hopefully.

"Not for long if he keeps this up," Shepard said grimly, but Liara's persistent gaze finally thawed her expression somewhat. "Fine, you're right…damn that stupid turian. He's got to answer for this," she grumbled as she reluctantly turned her attention back to the roster.

"Anderson is ali— What the fuck is this, Lilo?"

Liara shifted a little, her right leg still flush with Shepard's left one and her right shoulder still comfortably snuggled under Shepard's arm, but her body turned further toward the woman. "I thought it strange you mentioned him earlier. The admiral was grievously wounded before you ever made it to the Citadel," she recounted to her dumbfounded mate. "His transport took a near-direct hit hundreds of meters out from the lift. Only he and two others survived."

"…But…I saw him up there, with The Illusive Man. I spoke to him. I fucking held him when he died."

"I do not know what to say, Shepard," Liara said uncertainly, and not a little concerned. Even if some memory problems might be to be expected after what she'd been through… "It is definitely the Admiral. Kaidan helped him down on the ground, and Vega's been to see him since."

"What in the…" Shepard gasped just as the door chimed.

:

:

Garrus would've been easy to pick out of the crowd even without everyone kowtowing to him. He wasn't particularly tall or bulky for a turian, but James thought his self-assured comportment was pretty recognizable. "Vakarian!" he called out, not bothering with honorifics.

"Vega," Garrus said with a pleased jitter of mandible as he turned around and saw the newcomer. The assorted turian officers around him, initially pretty shocked by James' informality, split to make room for him to pass through. "Good to see a familiar face," Garrus said as he clasped James' forearm.

"You too," James said curtly, returning the grip.

"I see Jack's finally abandoned you," Garrus said, looking around and behind James exaggeratedly.

"Very funny, Garrus," James harrumphed. "I haven't even seen her all day. How did you—"

The turian clicked his mandibles and shuffled his feet slightly. "Kasumi keeps sending me mail."

"Oh. Huh," James offered. "Heard you were having some problems with the natives?" he asked as he followed Garrus' beckoning over to a tactical projection surface a few meters away.

"Not problems as such," Garrus replied, eyeing the assembled officers in turn as if to challenge his assertion. "They're just…unaccustomed to aliens. Seeing a turian in a vid isn't exactly the same as having one standing right in front of you."

"Yeah," James grunted sympathetically. "I bet most of these folks haven't even been to Luna or Mars, let alone anywhere vaguely cosmopolitan. Plus not that many other species on Earth yet…and even then probably just visiting bigshots and stuff, not hanging about with the regular people."

"So there's a little friction," the turian continued. "Nothing serious, but a few troublemakers and lots of people that go without help because they don't want to ask us. The children, though, seem quite interested and friendly."

James barked out a laugh, recalling the ragtag band of kids playing some kind of a ball game on an ashen field just outside the turian compound. "Yeah. The Alliance felt that it was best if all non-human teams partnered up with either Alliance or local troops. So, here I am. Actually only temporarily," he continued, "this isn't really my gig. They're supposed to have something else for me to do, but I figured I'd accompany Rivers here since I've a bit of leeway in what I do nowadays."

"Privileges of rank," Garrus said with an amused click. "Nice to see you all the same."

"You too, Garrus. We've missed you upstairs."

"I…" the turian started, faltering before he got any further.

"Dr. T'Soni's taken it kinda hard, Garrus," he added, not hiding the disapproval in his voice.

Garrus said nothing, only nodded his head as he turned to the projection for a bit. A few moments later, he straightened back up and turned to look James' squad over. "Where are my manners?" he asked. "Sorry. Welcome. It's nice to have you here, Sergeant…"

"Rivers, sir," the woman answered crisply, taking a step forward to be abreast with James and saluting.

"This is General Vakarian," James explained to the young sergeant, "an old friend of ours—so try to treat him with more respect than you do me, yeah?"

Ignoring James' barb, Rivers smiled up at Garrus. "Honored to make your acquaintance, sir. Heard a lot about you. Not from the LT, mind you, he never tells us anything. Can you imagine having to learn your CO worked with Shepard and the Archangel from the extranet?" she asked, casting an accusatory look at James.

"You and I will clearly get along very well, Sergeant," Garrus said with what looked like a grimace, but was probably meant to be an imitation of a human smile. Rivers, for her part, seemed to be pleased with the effort and grinned back.

Garrus clicked his mandibles, equally pleased, and turned to introduce James and Rivers to the dozen or so turian officers whose names James didn't even bother trying to learn…the military was easy, you can always just address everyone the rank–and that was visible. He did memorize what appeared to be the rank insignia, hoping that'd be enough for now. Garrus also gave them a short tour of their HQ and a quick run-down of the types of missions they performed—mostly still search and rescue, mixed with occasional excitement—and it wasn't until almost the end of round until the temporarily more relaxed turian suddenly got serious again.

Garrus grumbled quietly as he walked away from their fairly large group to lean against a still-standing door frame with no house attached, his words and sounds something that James didn't recognize and his translator didn't seem to accurately resolve, but sounding a lot like cursing very, very profoundly. "Vega," he said quietly, gesturing James over and pulling his omni projection for the marine to see. "Can you stick around down here for a bit? Looks like I've got to go."

James grinned as he looked up from Liara's message and at the dejected turian. "Told you she was taking it hard. Heard talk she was good at making threats, might be good to be cautious with your mandibles—"

"Can you imagine Liara T'Soni ever using the word ass in any context?" Garrus asked evenly.

:

:

Shepard woke up easily, languidly, a strange sense of contentment engulfing her. Not even a moment's confusion as she recalled herself in the hospital bed, free to move around at last. She lingered a moment, felt as though she owed it to Liara to not rouse herself immediately.

She felt refreshed after the sudden wave of exhaustion that had come over her after the nurse had visited to poke and prod her, and to finally extract the catheters—what a fucking relief that was. She'd ingested a small camera to ensure her bowel was healed well enough, and an IV to tide her over until the little machine cleared her for actual goddamned food.

She had gotten straight back to the datapad once the nurse had left, but an overwhelming sleepiness had struck her immediately. Liara, having noticed she could barely keep her eyes open, had badgered her with stubborn kindness until she had admitted that a nap might indeed be in order.

With a smile she remembered laying down on the soft mattress, and Liara curling up against her, promising to stay with her until she fell asleep. The asari had lain next to her, one leg twined around hers, arm protectively across her chest and face buried in the curve of the neck. Liara had nuzzled her neck gently even as her mind reached tenderly around Shepard's, soothing and calming, gently but insistently drowning all venturing, unruly thoughts under a wave of love and contentment in their small, private world.

Still smiling, she craned her neck a little to take in the room, and was not surprised to see Liara hard at work at her desk, brow furrowed, eyes intent on some piece of data or another. Jesus fucking christ, can I get any sappier? she thought with an inward grin, opening her mouth to comment on the simple wonderfulness of the sight. An uncomfortable cough interrupted her just before she did, though, and then Aethyta's raspy voice before she could panic about someone else being in the room.

{So, yeah. The funeral is tomorrow. I know your dealings with her…well, they didn't go so well from what I understand, but…I guess I'm saying I'd like it if you came.}

"I will, if I can make the time, father," Liara said, an edge of exasperation in her voice.

{I understand if you don't want to—} Aethyta started awkwardly before being interrupted by Liara's intent reaffirmation.

"No, I will. If I am able to."

{Okay, okay.}

Funeral? Guess there's many of those… Shepard quietly propped herself on her elbow to look and listen, not wanting to disturb the conversation despite her curiosity.

{There's something else too, kiddo. I, uh, need a favor,} the matriarch continued after a pause, working her way through the words as though every one was a proximity mine ready to go off.

Liara, though still visibly slightly irritated, apparently picked up on something in her father's voice, too, and tried to soothe out her tone as she replied, eyes pinched shut. "What is it?"

{I…need some people found. I thought I'd have enough leverage but I can't seem to get through anyone in the command to get in contact with them, and…and I'm kinda worried. I thought you might—}

"I can try," Liara replied curtly, but regretting her snappiness, hastened to soften her statement. "Who are we looking for?"

{Remember I told you about your sister? …Half-sister. Hanar.}

"Yes," Liara said, straightening up immediately. "Is she—"

{Her name is Lilani Napassa.}

"Li…lani?"

{What can I say, I've always liked li-names,} Aethyta said. Shepard could hear the grin. {Anyway, she was on Thessia, and— Look, I admit I haven't kept tabs on her recently except for the occasional chat. Didn't need the kind of supervision a certain someone does. But I told them to get safe a couple weeks before shit went down. She only argued a while before agreeing, so I hope…}

"I see," Liara replied, still curtly, but Shepard could see her excitement and worry. "She's traveling with family, then? Is her…father with her too? Or…"

{No, babe. Mykenares died…fuck me, almost 400 years ago,} the matriarch said wonderingly. {Lilani's much older than you, but she's got two little girls. I think her mate is in service somewhere, but might be with them too.}

Shepard's ears perked and, despite herself, she felt a little flutter at the mention of the name, though still forced herself to bite her tongue. Mykenares…a hanar. Surely not the Mykenares…? Though if anyone, Aethyta'd be the—

"Send me all the data you have, and I will see what I can do," Liara instructed her father kindly. "I suppose I should like to meet her too… You said some people?" she asked, as if an afterthought.

{Yeah…uh, there's another person,} Aethyta replied particularly awkwardly even for this conversation. {She's a huntress, in an independent commando unit. The last I know is that they were deploying somewhere in the Shrike Abyssal, just a little after the Reapers attacked.} She paused before continuing. {Her name is Linesse. Linesse Alene.}

Liara went silent for a while. "You have always liked li-names, have you?"

{Yeah.}