The Normandy was… abnormally quiet. A grim sense of determination had settled over her crew after the events of Mars, resulting in a subdued hush that blanketed the various decks. It was only disturbed by the hum of electronics, the buzz of the drive core, muted voices when speech was absolutely necessary. If the ship and her crew had been a single entity, they would have been waiting with baited breath while their commander attended to matters with the Council and worried over Ashley Williams.

Liara was glad that she was able to distract herself with setting up remote access for her networks. Ash was a friend of hers, as well, and even though they'd fallen out of touch Liara still cared for the marine, and knew her bondmate did as well, despite Ash's misgivings about Shepard's time with Cerberus. Ash was a tenacious soldier, almost Shepard's equal in battle, and seeing how easily Cerberus's android agent had incapacitated her…

Liara shook her head, clearing the thoughts from her mind before the mental replays could begin all over again, and turned her attention back to getting her terminal up and running. Shepard had given her what had once been the XO's quarters, since it had the most room and she could set up a screen array on the wall. And being able to hide behind a locked door meant that she could hide her identity as the Shadow Broker away from the majority of the crew.

Having EDI to help her set up the network encryptions was a pleasant surprise. The AI hadn't been unshackled the last time Liara had been aboard the Normandy, and even at that she hadn't had much reason to interface with her. And though Liara had been uncomfortable with the idea of a Cerberus-created AI at first, EDI had turned out to be quite a boon, and one she was thankful for.

The corners of the asari's mouth turned downwards in a frown as her network links began lighting up green one by one and information began to flow across the terminal. Similar reports came from all of them- unrest was spreading through the galaxy as the footage of the Reapers invading Earth circulated and more sightings of them were disclosed. Finding nothing that required her immediate attention, Liara plugged in the station that would generate Glyph, the info-drone that had inhabited the Shadow Broker's ship when she'd taken it over. The glowing orb sprang to life in front of her, and she turned her focus to calibrating his research terminal. With the right information, she knew, Glyph's analyses would be able to provide them with an array of gear upgrades that would prove useful in this war.

She had just finished setting up her bank of monitors and stepped back to admire her handiwork when her main terminal dinged with an incoming transmission. Dropping her tools, she moved to the desk and entered her password with a few quick keystrokes, eyes narrowing as they scanned over the new information.

Liara had worked tirelessly to turn as much of the Shadow Broker network innocuous as she could. If information or other needed resources could be gathered without bloodshed or other harm, her agents operated under instructions to do so. The transition had been a bit of a rough one, but she had persisted, and now it was possible more often than not.

This, unfortunately… was not going to be one of those times. Liara's expression hardened as she verified this particular agent's assignment- information on Cerberus that she'd been trying to find since Shepard had destroyed the Collector base. Information that they needed if they were going to have to fight the Reapers and deal with Cerberus at the same time. Before she could second-guess herself, Liara typed out orders to the agent.

Obtain information at any cost.

One final keystroke transmitted the command, and Liara busied herself with checking on the rest of her agents, trying not to dwell on the decision she'd had to make. While the logical part of her mind knew that her profession required a certain amount of ruthlessness, the extent of which paled in comparison to her predecessor's, sometimes she still wondered if she was doing enough to avoid it. If it wouldn't just be better to eliminate the network all together, so that the potential power that came with it wouldn't exist, begging to be abused. But she'd had this mental argument with herself before. The network had existed before her, and the void its destruction left wouldn't last long before someone began to rebuild it. Better that she maintain it, continue to use it for good.

Buried so deep in her thoughts, Liara didn't hear the door slide open, didn't register Glyph's mechanical voice speaking to someone else. Only when a pair of strong arms slid around her waist from behind did she realize she was no longer alone, and a smile replaced the grimace she'd been wearing as she leaned back into Shepard's embrace.

"Hey," Shepard's voice was low and husky, and Liara made a satisfied noise at the back of her throat as her bondmate's lips found her neck. "You okay?"

"I should be the one asking you that," Liara murmured as she turned in Shepard's arms, rocking up on her toes to press their lips together. "How's Ash?"

"Still in a coma, but stable. They said we got her there just in time. Now it's… just a waiting game." Shepard exhaled softly, pressing her cheek against Liara's. "And the Council reinstated my Spectre status… again."

And likely gave the commander thinly-disguised orders masquerading as suggestions, Liara knew, and skipped to the chase. "Where are we going?"

Shepard offered her half a smile. "Palaven. Well, one of the moons, at least."

"Garrus?" Liara asked, tilted her head to the side inquisitively.

"The Primarch. We need a summit to get the races united, and the Reapers got to Palaven, so we're going to extract him." The human huffed a short sigh. "Garrus was on Palaven last I heard, but he hasn't responded to me yet, so I don't know. Hopefully…"

Shepard's voice trailed off, but Liara could finish the unspoken sentence. Hopefully he's still alive. "I'm sure he is," Liara reassured her. "If he survived Omega on his own, he'll survive this."

Her bondmate smiled gratefully and reached up to brush a thumb tenderly across Liara's cheek. "Yeah. You haven't answered my question, though. You looked- and felt- upset when I came in." Her eyes scanned Liara's face, searching, while concern radiated through their bond.

Liara smiled ruefully. They'd spent so little time together since they'd rebonded that sometimes she forgot how hard it was to hide even the little things. "I'm all right," she assured Shepard, leaning into her touch. "It's nothing important." Nothing compared to everything they'd been through in the last couple of days.

But Shepard caught that sentiment, and shook her head. "Spill, T'Soni," she teased gently. "You're important to me, so it's important."

Knowing that Shepard wouldn't give in on this, Liara relented. "I just… question myself a lot. My motives with the network. Whether the ends always justify the means." She laid her head against Shepard's chest, tucking her head under the human's chin. "Whenever innocent lives are on the line…" She shook her head as much as their proximity allowed. "I just… feel like I'm sinking, sometimes. Like it's dragging me under."

Shepard's arms circled her shoulders, pulling her in closer. Understanding flowed across the link that connected them, and the commander was silent for a moment as she chose her words. "You're not him, Li," she whispered softly. "You could never be."

"I don't know if that's true," Liara answered. "Sometimes… sometimes I feel like it might be easier if…"

If I became my demon.

And that was the crux of the matter, Liara knew. She'd spent two years hunting down the Shadow Broker. Two years that she'd struggled to listen to her moral compass, blinded by the grief and rage that had driven her to find revenge. Two years that she'd dug and clawed for every scrap of information that she could find on the elusive information broken, gathering bread crumbs and clues one by one that she used to build the bigger picture. If Shepard hadn't been there when the Shadow Broker had finally fallen…

"Stop." Her bondmate's voice interrupted her inner reflection, and Shepard put a finger under Liara's chin and gently tilted her face up. Green eyes bored into hers, brimming with surety. "It doesn't matter what might have been, Liara. What's important is what actually happened. You will never be him."

"How can you be so sure?" The words were little more than a breath, yet Liara's voice still trembled with uncertainty.

Shepard's gaze softened, and she smiled gently as she reached down to tap the spot on Liara's chest where she knew an old, battered pair of dog tags rested. "Because you are my heart," she whispered back lovingly, and then her hand fell to Liara's left wrist, gently fingering the bracelet that adorned it. "And my soul." She tapped it once, and Liara's gaze followed the commander's, watching as a finger traced gently over the words inscribed on the bracelet.

Now and Forever, We Are One.

When Liara looked back up at her bondmate, she almost melted at the tender smile on Shepard's face that radiated adoration down at her. "You were there for me when I thought I was nothing more than a pawn of Cerberus and helped me through that storm," Shepard murmured. "Let me help you weather this one." Her hand came up to cup Liara's cheek. "We're both stronger when we're together. I won't let you drown." Her lips quirked up in a sly smile, and she repeated the words that Liara had once said to her, so long ago. "If you believe in nothing else, believe in this. Believe in us."

And Liara did. She reached up, tangling one hand into Shepard's crimson locks, and tugged her bondmate's head down to hers. She lost herself in the kiss, letting her worries, her fears evaporate, let the torrent of emotions between the two of them wash them away, replacing them with the love and security she always felt when she was in Shepard's arms.

"I love you," Liara said softly when they pulled apart, foreheads still touching.

"I love you too," Shepard answered her. "Always." A touch of playfulness filtered through the bond, and Liara tilted her head to the side, questioning. In response, Shepard offered her a cheeky grin and jerked her head to one side, toward the sleeping area of the room. "Wanna break in the bed?"

Liara smirked, and a gentle push of her biotics sent Shepard stumbling backwards, falling onto the bed when the backs of her knees hit the edge of the mattress. Liara was on top of her a moment later, grinning down at her bondmate affectionately, seeing the same emotions she was feeling reflected back at her in Shepard's brilliant green eyes. She felt a light tug at the back of her mind as Shepard reached for their bond, followed by the elation that the human always felt at being able to do so, and Liara reached back, her mind latching onto Shepard's and letting the meld sweep them away.

This was a different kind of drowning, she knew. One that strengthened them both, instead of eroding away their courage. One that let them fill in the cracks and fissures in each other's souls.

One that she would fight with every fiber of her being never to lose again.