Chapter Forty Two: Reunion

Shepard took a long time to process traumatic events. Maybe it was the same for everyone, but he felt that he took especially long. Maybe that's what made him a good soldier. The ability to push back horrible memories was a gift, and one he used well. He didn't become one of the best soldiers the galaxy had ever seen by letting corrupted memories in. Down the road this would probably hurt him; repressing things usually made them worse.

Hours earlier, when he and Anderson had made their way to the Normandy, he had seen a child die in a shuttle. It wasn't just any child, either. It was the one who had played in the clearing below his cell, the one he had found in the vents, the one who had rejected his offer of help, and the one that looked horribly like Alex. Only now was the horror of his death hitting Shepard. He had seen the kid climb in, and watched the shuttle explode into a million pieces without actually seeing it. His mind didn't process the magnitude of that discovery, until now.

Ashley's constant questions regarding his loyalty to Cerberus were wearing thin on Shepard, and suddenly the memory of watching the kid die surfaced to the top of his mind. Her droning had been cancelled out by memories he had long repressed. The more he tried to deny the painful memories, the more they returned. He was in an awful position at the moment. He was on a crucial mission while the onslaught of memories raced through his mind. Any moments of peace between firefights were interrupted by memories of Alex. Colt was in a vulnerable position, a place most devastating to any soldier.

Shepard could count on one hand how many times he was distracted during a mission. You were either not distracted, or dead. Hopefully this Mars mission would end soon.

The ride on a lift was particularly annoying. Shepard could tell that Ashley didn't trust him. She kept asking him if he knew anything about this attack, and he had to keep explaining that he was in jail for six months with absolutely no contact with almost everyone. Vega backed him up with that one. When they were off the lift, Shepard even had to ask Ashley to trust him. That's how much their friendship had deteriorated.

Movement could be heard in the large cargo room they stood in. Shouting and gunshots made them run to a section of the room near huge windows. James was the first one to charge into that section, Shepard was close behind. A second later Colt brought his gun down, and relaxed. The only occupants were a familiar blue figure, and a certain Varren. Liara was finishing off a couple Cerberus troops that were trapped in her singularity. Rosebud had pinned another down, keeping him there until Liara had the chance to shoot him.

Vega continued forward with his gun raised, but Shepard forcefully lowered it, "Easy, they're friends." As ungracefully as possible, Shepard tore of his helmet in excitement. His eyes never left Liara. Shepard's mind tingled with emotions not his own. They were worried, and concentrating on something. He knew she hadn't noticed them.

"It seems like I've stumbled onto my favorite archaeologist, and my favorite Varren," Shepard smiled while speaking. Liara jumped a little before turning. Weirdly, Shepard could feel her surprise.

"And if it isn't my favorite Spectre," Shepard reached Liara at the end of her sentence. He hugged her tightly. Armor ruined the effect, especially the bulky armor that Shepard loathed. After a much too short embrace, Colt kneeled down to pet Rosebud.

"Did you miss me, girl?" Shepard scratched his Varren's ears. Her response to his question was an enormous lick across his whole face. He stood back up after that, and tried to retain his dignity.

"I can't believe you're here. How'd you get out of prison?" Liara was playing with his hands, and looking shyly at the ground. Her awkward archaeologist persona revealing itself.

"That is a story I'll tell you later. It's pretty long. Hackett told me that I'd find a friend here, but I had no idea it would be you. So why are you here?" Shepard rubbed his gloved hand over Liara's knuckles.

Liara dropped his hands, and looked outside the large windows. "Hackett got a hold of me, and asked me to use my resources as Shadow broker to find a way to stop the Reapers. The Alpha Relay incident bought us some much needed time, to find a way to stop them," Shepard knew she was trying to make him feel better about the incident. "Luckily, I did find a weapon, in the Prothean archives," Liara pointed out the windows towards another building. "We need to get to the archives using the tram, but Cerberus may have cut the power to the tram. They want the schematics for the weapon."

Ashley spoke up, "Anything that's powerful enough to defeat the Reapers is something Cerberus will want to get their dirty hands on," Ashley glanced at Shepard, suspicion flashing through her eyes. Shepard had to stop himself from calling her by her nickname, Assley.

Liara looked between the two before continuing, "Exactly." Liara paused before continuing, her voice was tight," I heard about Earth, Shepard. I am so sorry." Liara paused again. "I was so worried," Liara choked up a little. "Shepard, I'm really sorry I didn't visit you in jail," she wouldn't look him in the eye.

"It's okay, really it is. You were busy, and who would want to explain they were going to visit someone in jail?" Shepard tried really hard not to sound bitter, but it was difficult since he still felt hurt.

Colt could tell Liara had picked up that he was upset she hadn't visited. "Shepard..." she started.

"It's fine," Shepard turned towards James. "Get back to the shuttle. We need someone ready to get us," Shepard knew he was grumpy, he didn't care though, he deserved to be in a bad mood every once in awhile.

"Are you serious?" Vega stared at him incredulously. Shepard was getting angrier by the minute.

"Do you think I just want to hear my own voice. Of course I'm serious, now get your ass to the shuttle, Lieutenant," Shepard growled. Vega didn't argue anymore, and headed off.

Shepard shoved his helmet on, and started looking for a way out of the room. Liara and Ashley trailed him wordlessly, while Rosebud trotted by his side.

...

Cerberus had indeed tampered with the tram. Liara couldn't pull up a live feed of the tram controls, but old footage showed a doctor named Eva Core. Then Liara was able to open a door leading to the roof. When Shepard saw the breathing mask that Liara had for Rosebud, he nearly died of cuteness. She quite happily wore it while they were in un-oxygenated areas. This put Shepard in a decidedly better mood, but he was still annoyed.

Searching a creepy, darkened room full of dead scientists was also a real joy killer. Especially when he saw how they had died trying to claw their way out. This was harsh, even by Cerberus' standards. Shepard wanted to leave Mars as fast as possible, so when Cerberus troopers were revealed on the other side of glass, he took them out swiftly. Anger made him better.

On the other side of the glass they were able to re-pressurize the room, and find a recording of what happened. Eva Core had killed the security team attached to the scientists who had died due to lack of oxygen, and then she had vented the room. This allowed Cerberus to get in. Liara audibly gasped when they saw who the culprit was.

She turned away, and leaned heavily on a nearby desk, "I should've known. I could've saved all these people, but I was just too focused on the super weapon."

Shepard put his hand on her shoulder. "It's a damn good thing you were focused, or we'd have never found this super weapon. The whole galaxy would've been doomed if not for you. Besides how would've you known about Eva Core? She is trained to fit in, I probably wouldn't have found anything strange about her."

"You're right, of course. But what if all this time was for nothing. These could be our last days, and we spend them scurrying around trying to fix something that we can't. What if we spend our last days on something that doesn't work, instead of spending them with someone we care about," Liara's bright blue eyes seemed to burn into Shepard.

"We are going to win this war. No matter what, victory is waiting for us," Shepard couldn't explain the feeling he got, but he knew they would prevail. He could tell that Liara believed him, or at least she knew he believed every word he said.

"How do you keep going?" Liara asked.

"I think of everything that will be lost if I don't succeed. The people, my friends, and especially you," Shepard would've felt uncomfortable saying all of this in front of Ashley but she was patrolling around out of earshot. He put a hand on her shoulder.

"Really?" Liara asked this question like she didn't have him wrapped around her thumb.

"Really," he replied, giving her shoulder a squeeze and Rosebud a pat. Then he continued to another door, where more Guardians waited for them.

...

During the rather dangerous trip through Cerberus troops, a very deadly turret, Shepard learned a few things. One, his biotics were a lot less powerful than they should've been. Two, Rosebud could kick ass and take names. She would lunge out of cover, grab a hold of a Guardian, and wait for someone to shoot her victim. The final thing he learned was that Cerberus enjoyed grenades. None of them were powerful enough to bring his shields down, but he was sent flying if they went off near him.

They cleared an entire room of Cerberus, but found that they were locked out of the tram. Ashley actually came up with a good idea about how to get around that, which only put Shepard back into a bad mood. He didn't want to see or hear Ashley for the rest of the day. She made it worse by telling him how he could've been turned into a mindless husk by Cerberus. Who the hell tells their Commanding Officer that?

"You were a great leader once. I practically worshipped you. Now… I don't know," Assley said. Shepard was seriously considering court marshaling her for this insubordination.

"Lieutenant Commander," he made his voice cutting.

"I'm sorry, I just need time to work this out," she turned away from him, and managed to look apologetic.

"That's fantastic, take all the time you need Lieutenant. It's not like the end of the world is here, and we have only so much time. My suggestion is that you pull your goddamn head out of your ass, and keep your insubordination to yourself. I have no idea if you've forgotten what the military is like, but last time I checked questioning a senior officer about their loyalty at every chance you get is something that is frowned upon. Keep it up, and I'll write you up. Is this understood?" Shepard could feel his halo shrinking at every word. A part of him was convinced that he should've saved Kaiden.

"Yes, Commander," she said the title like it was fake. Liara had come in the room during his rant, and stared unbelievingly at the two. Shepard was so done with Mars. He was actually glad when Cerberus tried to kill them again - anything to get away from talking.

About an hour later they had made it to the location with the plans for the Reaper killing device. Shepard's day turned even peachyer when the Illusive Basterd showed up on a nearby hologram. There he was, still smoking his cigar. Shepard hoped he got lung cancer.

Shepard really tried to get the Illusive Man on their side. He spoke with all the diplomacy he could muster, but the Illusive Man wouldn't listen. He spoke about controlling the Reapers, and how Shepard's tiny little brain wouldn't be able to understand. He also told him how he was useless, and that his time was over. He sent Shepard a clear threat, and Colt couldn't help but feel that a great partnership had been ruined.

The data they desperately needed was being erased by someone nearby. Shepard started to look around desperately, until Eva Core came shooting out from behind some panels, Ashley in hot pursuit. Shepard would not leave without the super weapon schematics, so he charged after the Doctor.

...

Eva Core took off faster than any asari could go. Her speed was unbelievable, but the most shocking thing was how Shepard was able to keep up with her. At most, the distance between the two would be twenty feet, and that was rare. Liara and Ashley were left in the dust, and they weren't slow people. Rosebud was also successfully keeping up with the two until they came upon a ladder. Liara had to lift her up with her biotics, and then the Varren was off again.

Liara was still blown away by how fast Shepard was. She finally caught up to him when he stopped as Eva Core' shuttle took off. Colt screamed into his communicator for the Normandy or James to stop her. Seconds later a shuttle hurtled towards their location. Both Shepard and Liara jumped for cover as the Alliance shuttle hit the Cerberus shuttle. She heard James' excited yells as he drove the almost entirely intact Alliance shuttle around their location.

Pain shot through Liara's leg. On closer inspection she found that shards of shuttle were lodged in her leg. Before she could do anything Shepard appeared at her side, looking over her leg, then as gently as possible, he lifted her into his arms.

"Geez Liara, first mission and you're already getting hurt. The good news is that Rosebud is fine. She's right here. You're gonna be fine. We don't have a doctor yet, but I can patch you up," Liara would be lying if she said she didn't enjoy the closeness. She snuggled closer to Shepard.

An explosion made Shepard turn sharply; a very robotic looking Eva Core was running towards Ashley. Liara counted seven shots from Ashley into Eva. Unfortunately Ashley was losing, and was picked up by her helmet. Eva slammed her body into the nearby ruined shuttle; Ashley's body shuddered with each hit. Shepard put Liara down on her okay foot, and kept one of his arms on her shoulders to support her. Eva had dropped Ashley, and was running towards Shepard. He pulled out his pistol, and kept firing until Eva dropped.

"James, take her!" Shepard helped Liara over to James. Then he ran towards Ashley's still body. Shepard picked her up, and yelled at James to also take Eva's body. In that time the Normandy had landed, and Shepard was already aboard, and heading for the med bay. James helped Liara to the med bay, too. Shepard was standing over Ashley's body in the med bay, and he was as motionless as Ashley.

Liara limped over to him, "Shepard, Ashley needs immediate medical attention." Shepard just stared at her blankly. "Shepard! We need to go to the Citadel," Liara shook his shoulders, hoping to pull him from this.

"You're right. Joker, head for the Citadel," Shepard still looked shocked, but he was at least functioning now. "I need to patch you up, come here," Shepard started pulling the bits of shrapnel out of her leg. His hands were shaking badly.