Saren was dead. Sovereign had been defeated. The Council had been saved. The Citadel was being rebuilt.
But Shepard knew this war was only beginning.
The Normandy was in dry dock, getting some much needed maintenance. Most of the crew was on shore leave, with a few exceptions. Joker wouldn't leave, afraid the techs would do something to sabotage his "baby". Shepard herself was staying onboard, since her input as a Spectre was needed on any retrofits. And Liara stayed… well, because of Shepard.
A smile graced Shepard's face at the thought of the asari, despite the mountain of paperwork that she was currently facing. She'd offered Liara use of the small apartment the N7 program designated for her, not wanting her to feel pressured into staying in close quarters after their night before Ilos. Liara's response had been to take Shepard by the hand and lead her into the commander's quarters- their quarters, now- where she made it abundantly clear that she was staying with Shepard because she wanted to. Over and over again.
It was nice being able to spend time together, though… more than nice. Without the constant threat of death hanging over their heads they'd had time to go on a few actual dates on the Citadel, and if Shepard had had any reservations about their relationship before she definitely didn't now.
Shepard's terminal beeped, startling her out of her reverie. She worried at her lower lip with her teeth as she read the communication that had just come through from the Council, expelling a frustrated breath when she reached the end. Not what she had wanted to read, but not unexpected, either. She reached over and hit her comm button. "Joker?"
The speaker crackled in response. "Hey, no, don't change that, I just got it how I like it, leave it alone! Sorry, Commander, I'm here, what's up?"
Shepard chuckled, imagining the Normandy's helmsman trying to chase off one of the techs from the cockpit. "Rally the troops. New orders just came through. Need everyone onboard for a meeting tomorrow morning at 0900."
"Aye aye, Commander, I'll get right on it." Just before the comm cut out, she could hear Joker yelling again. "I said don't mess with that!"
Liara settled into a chair in the mess as the rest of the crew slowly trickled in, wondering why they were gathering here and not the comm room. Shepard had been cryptic the night before about their new orders, explaining that she wanted to make the most of their last night together before chaos descended again. Liara had sensed some other underlying emotion, but had let it go. She could no more deny Shepard something than deny herself. It had scared her, at first, when she had realized the depth of the emotions she felt for the Spectre. But those fears had been allayed when Shepard had confessed feeling the same about her, and had promised time and space to let her decide how she wanted to handle them.
And the night before Ilos… Thinking about it still sent shivers of pleasure up Liara's spine, even after all the time they'd spent together in bed since then. There was something magnetic about Shepard. Something that had drawn Liara into her orbit as soon as she'd laid eyes on her on Therum. Something that would keep her there for as long as Shepard would let her stay. It wasn't just isolated to their bedroom, either- it was in the way that the commander's eyes would stay fixed on Liara while she talked about some Prothean artifact she was researching, the way that she had slipped an arm around Liara's waist on a walk around the Citadel, unafraid to show the galaxy that Commander Shepard was taken. How her forehead would scrunch up when she was deep in concentration, and how her hair was always so tousled when she got out of bed in the morning.
Magnetic, hypnotic, entrancing… it didn't matter which word it was. Liara knew she was completely and inexorably tangled into Shepard's very existence. And she wouldn't change it for all the Prothean artifacts in the galaxy.
Liara was broken out of her reverie by Ashley Williams sliding into the seat next to hers, and she realized that the noise level in the mess had risen significantly. "Hello, Ash."
"Hey, doc," the gunnery chief greeted her. "What's going on?"
"I'm not sure. Shepard wanted to save it for the meeting." Liara offered a shrug and glanced around the room, realizing why they were having this meeting in the mess. The entire crew of the Normandy was here… Not just Shepard's "inner circle" but every active crew member. She saw Ash's eyebrows raise as the soldier realized the same thing, but before either one of them could voice their thoughts Shepard strode out of her quarters and into the midst of the gathering.
Silence fell without any need to ask for it as Shepard's crew gave her their undivided attention. Despite the Council's lack of faith in their newest agent, Shepard had gained the trust and respect of those that served aboard the Normandy, Liara knew. A smile ghosted across her lips as Shepard activated her omni-tool and began to speak.
"Our new orders came in last night," the commander began. "The Council, with the agreement of the Alliance, is dispatching the Normandy to eliminate pockets of geth that they suspect were in league with Saren and kicker," she said, projecting a galaxy map into the air, "is that nearly all of them are in the Terminus systems." She paused for a moment, noting how the crew exchanged glances at each other at this news. "I'm not thrilled about it either, but the Normandy's stealth drives should keep us out of sight of most prying eyes, and the sooner we take care of these geth the sooner we can get back to the real problem and figure out how to stop the rest of the Reapers." She stopped again, looking from crew member to crew member, smiling softly when her eyes met Liara's before continuing. "I've been given permission to retain or recruit whoever I deem necessary for this mission. That said… I'm not going to force anyone onto this mission. If you come, it's because you volunteer. I don't know how long we're going to be gone, I don't know how long it'll be until you see your families again." Shepard tapped another command into her omni-tool and beeps echoed through the room as each crew member's lit up in turn.
"For the rest of the day I'm going to be talking to everybody one on one," Shepard told them. "If you have questions, I want to hear them. If you want reassigned, I'll make it happen, no hard feelings. I just sent everyone their time slots, so keep an eye on your omni-tools and I'll see you in the comm room. Dismissed."
As the rest of the crew trickled out of the room to the rest of the ship, Garrus suddenly appeared at Ash's side. "The Council is trying to sweep this all under the rug," he muttered, mandibles flapping in irritation. "Why else send the Savior of the Citadel out to the far reaches of the galaxy?"
"I was thinking the same thing," Ash replied quietly, and Liara nodded her own agreement as well. The three of them were all that remained of Shepard's original combat squad- Wrex had gone back to Tuchanka to work on stabilizing things there, Tali had returned to the Flotilla to end her pilgrimage, and even now, nearly a month after Virmire, they all still felt Kaiden's loss. "She'll need us now more than ever."
Garrus nodded once. "I'm gonna go up and talk to Joker and see what kind of retrofits they did to the main gun. I'm sure I'll have to recalibrate it all over again. Just when I had it working so nicely, too."
Ash snorted in amusement as the turian stalked up the stairs to the CIC, but rose from her chair as well. "I think I'm gonna go see if they left us any new toys in the armory. You wanna come with?"
"I'll catch up with you later," Liara said. "I have a couple things I have to attend to first." Ash accepted this with a nod and headed off to the elevator, leaving Liara alone in the mess. The asari moved to the galley to make herself a cup of tea before heading back into the commander's quarters, mulling over what they had just learned. She knew that this had to be hard on Shepard, and that the Spectre had likely realized the same thing that Liara, Ash, and Garrus had. She settled onto the couch with her tea, tapping on her omni-tool to send a message of encouragement to the commander, but Shepard beat her to it and the device lit up with a new communication.
Saving the best for last. Sorry you have to wait all day. I'll make it worth it later. ;)
Liara smiled at that. She'd been so confused the first time that Shepard had used English punctuation to make faces, and Shepard had had to explain them all to her, but now it was just one more thing that endeared the soldier to her further. Satisfied that the commander would be all right until later that evening, Liara instead began composing a message to Tali. The quarian had been invaluable during their previous encounters with the geth, and if she could provide them with any other insights Liara knew that Shepard would be grateful.
It was an exhausted looking Shepard that finally stumbled into their quarters several hours later. Liara had taken up residence on the bed to read hours ago, and without preamble Shepard kicked her boots off and collapsed onto the bed next to her, resting her head on the asari's stomach.
Liara gently worked her fingers into Shepard's hair, enjoying its soft texture while stroking it gently. "How'd it go?" she asked softly.
"Better than I thought, honestly," the Spectre admitted, her words slightly garbled since her cheek was pressed against Liara's stomach. She reached up an arm and curled it around the asari. "Jackson's got a baby on the way and McElroy isn't re-enlisting. Everyone else is on board so far." Her voice hitched a little, and her arm tightened ever so slightly, but enough that Liara noticed.
Liara dropped a kiss onto the top of Shepard's head. "So far? Didn't get through everyone?"
The commander sighed softly, arm tightening around Liara again. "I told you I was saving the best for last." This time, Liara heard the worry that laced Shepard's voice, the fear of losing someone else, someone that had become so intrinsically important to her. She pulled away to sit up, and Liara let her, but took her face in her hands as soon as she was upright.
"I'm not going anywhere, Shepard," Liara told her, blue eyes boring into green ones. Shepard's hands came up to cover hers and the soldier looked at her, searching her face. Liara smiled gently. "Where else would I go?"
Shepard's eyes drifted shut and she inhaled deeply, as if trying to brace herself. "I don't know. Another dig site, doing what you love, instead of flying around the galaxy being shot at constantly?"
"If you recall, I was shot at when I was at my last dig site," Liara said wryly. "And digging up Prothean ruins won't do anyone much good if the Reapers invade." She leaned forward, touching her forehead to Shepard's. "Krae," she whispered softly, and the Spectre's eyes opened at the use of her first name. "I love being here with you. There is nowhere else I would rather be. Where you lead, I follow. Always." Liara watched the relief cross Shepard's face and let herself be drawn into her lover's embrace, enjoying the feel of Shepard's strong arms wrapped around her.
"Thank you," Shepard whispered into her aural, squeezing her once before turning her head and pressing their mouths together. "Thank you."
Liara could almost see the weight come off of Shepard's shoulders, and she reached up to toy with crimson hair again. "I will follow you to the ends of the galaxy," she murmured. "If you believe in nothing else, believe in this. Believe in us."
"I do. I just wanted you to have the same choice everyone else had." Shepard pulled them both down onto the bed and turned so they were lying facing each other. She reached down and took one of Liara's hands in hers, lacing their fingers through each other, and touched their foreheads together again. "I will never take you for granted, Liara," she whispered.
Liara smiled at her, hooking an ankle around one of Shepard's and intertwining their legs. "Nor I you." She kissed Shepard gently on the nose, eliciting a smile from the Spectre that sent her heart racing like it always did, before burrowing into her arms and resting her head against her chest.
The rest of the galaxy could wait another night. Tonight was theirs.