The airlock hissed as it cycled open and Tali blinked against the bright, neon lights of the spaceport. Shepard stepped out, shoulders straight, and Tali glanced over at Garrus. He flicked his mandibles thoughtfully.
"Why does it always seem to be night time when we're on Illium?"
Getting through the spaceport security was surprisingly easy - a lot easier than a lot of places Tali had come to on her own - though she supposed it made sense. Illium depended on not asking too many questions.
"It'll be good to see Liara again," she said. She hadn't seen her since she'd left the original Normandy, all that time ago in 2183. Liara hadn't come to - to Shepard's funeral.
"Mm." Shepard's tone was non-committal as she hailed a cab, tapping in the address of Liara's information brokerage.
Tali frowned at her back. It wasn't like they had a lot of friends left, and she'd been part of the grim, stressful meetings between the ship's leadership during first their drift to Omega and then the careful flight to Illium. Meetings deciding what had to be repaired now, what could be left, what could be temporarily patched up, and that was before the question of fuel, supplies and crew pay had come up.
The Illusive Man had made sure they'd be isolated if Shepard left Cerberus, the bosh'tet. Tali really wanted to introduce him to her shotgun.
The ride was quiet as their taxi slipped through the streams of air traffic, lights flashing past them. Even Garrus' jokes were suppressed by the tense expression on Shepard's face.
The office was nearly empty when they arrived, most of Liara's staff gone home for the night. Liara herself, however, was waiting for them, dressed in a sleek dress that matched Illium's latest fashions, her hands covered in elbow length white gloves. She looked - ageless - as always, but there was something hard in her blue eyes now, even as she stepped forward to hug Tali.
"It's good to see you," Tali told her and meant it. It'd been so long since they'd seen each other. Before Alchera, before the funerals - the ones Liara hadn't attended.
"You too, Tali," Liara said with a soft smile, one that reminded Tali of the people they'd been back then.
"Liara," Shepard said, and Liara tensed as she stepped back.
"Shepard. I've already transferred the money required for your final repairs - and to refuel," she lifted her chin.
"Thanks." The Commander shifted her weight from one foot to the other.
"Congratulations on your success against the Collectors, all of you, and my sympathies."
"Justiciar Samara died a hero," Shepard's mouth flattened into a line.
"She saved my life," Garrus' tone was close to gentle, his bright blue eyes flicking between Liara and Shepard's forms, mirrored in tension.
"It is my honour to make sure she returns to Thessia with the respect she deserves. You don't need to worry about that," Liara laced her hands together, "her Order will know what she did."
"None of us really knew what to do," Tali admitted. She hadn't been close to Samara exactly - the Justiciar had been intimidating, her calm, quiet sadness as impenetrable as armour. But she'd been one of the crew and she'd died saving Garrus and his team.
"Would you like to sit down?" Liara asked, "Miranda's email said you had something further to discuss with me."
"Yeah."
They followed Liara through the darkened floor to her office, settling on surprisingly comfortable office chairs. Liara brought up her omnitool, orange light spilling across the planes of her face.
"There, Shepard. The contact details for my new assistant, in case you ever have trouble getting in contact with me. She can make sure you have the funds required for the Normandy if there's any issues in the future."
"You can afford it?" Tali frowned underneath her visor. Running ships was expensive, especially ships like the Normandy. Even if she hadn't grown up on the Flotilla, the recent arguments between Shepard and Miranda would have made that clear.
Liara smiled faintly. "My mother was wealthy, even by asari standards, and I do well for myself on Illium."
"New?" Shepard interrupted, crossing her arms, "what happened to Nyxeris?"
Liara lifted her chin. "She was a spy for the Shadowbroker. Very talented, but her barriers needed work."
"You killed her? Jesus, Liara-"
Liara's eyes flashed. "Don't be hypocritical, Shepard. I'm sure you've not forgotten Keera A'Tura, right here on Illium."
Surprise crossed Shepard's face, followed by anger. "That was different."
"Because a government told you to do it?" Liara asked coolly.
"She was a pirate-"
"And Nyxeris was an agent of the Broker who sold your body to the Collectors," Liara snapped back, "and likely leaked the location of the first Normandy to them in the first place. He's as much your enemy as he is mine."
"That's why we're here," Garrus broke in, ignoring Shepard's sharp glance, "the Shadowbroker, that is."
Liara blinked. "What?"
Shepard fished the OSD out of her pocket and handed it over. "Intel on the Shadowbroker. Might help you find where the network is run from."
Liara very nearly snatched it from Shepard's hand - barely controlling the impulse until Shepard set it in her palm, and then her fingers curled around it, tightly. "How did you…?"
"Cerberus found it. Gave it to me. I'm pretty sure Timmy wants you to take the Broker out." Shepard crossed her arms again.
Tali didn't like the idea they were still doing something the Illusive Man wanted, but she had to trust Shepard knew what she was doing.
"You're right about one thing," Shepard continued, "the Broker is an enemy. He's chosen his side, and we can't let someone with that much intel on the galaxy live."
Liara connected her omnitool to the OSD. "It appears to be an intercepted transmission and metadata. It's...it's about Feron. He's alive!"
"Your friend," Shepard said quietly.
"Yes. The one who sacrificed himself so I could escape - with you," Liara didn't look at Shepard as she said it. Tali felt as if she was missing half the context for this conversation.
Things had been - easier, after they'd defeated Saren. The Normandy had received a hero's welcome back to Arcturus Station. They'd all parted as friends.
"Another debt I owe, then." Shepard glanced out the window, at the flashes of skycar traffic winding past skyscrapers.
"Not your debt, Shepard," Liara's voice was heavy, "mine."
Tali leant forward, awkward in the heavy air hanging between her two friends, "Can you work out where the Shadowbroker is operating from with that?"
"Not personally, but I know an analyst who can help. I'll send this to him."
"Call me once you've heard back from him and we can work out our next move," Shepard rose to her feet.
Liara blinked. "You're going to help me?"
Shepard frowned. "Unless you've got another stealth warship and special operations expert standing by…?"
"Thank you."
"Yeah, well. The Broker needs to be dealt with. C'mon, you two."
The three of them escaped into the night air of Illium.
When Shepard stepped into the cargo bay after meeting with Liara, her anger still burning in the pit of her stomach, several of the former Cerberus crew were getting ready to leave the ship. Whatever they'd brought aboard the ship was packed into seabags, very much like the seabag Shepard had carried her life around in back in the Alliance. Colour aside.
They'd let the first group off on Omega - the Cerberus diehards, those who she'd had EDI watch the entire way back from the Omega-4 Relay, even shell-shocked and exhausted as everyone had been.
Kelly had left pretty much the moment they'd docked with a ticket to a quiet colony where she had family. She'd burst into tears when Shepard had broached the topic, had confessed reporting to the Illusive Man, and then sobbed into Shepard's shoulder for a good fifteen minutes. Everyone had dealt with the whole ordeal differently, but Kelly just hadn't been coping.
Hopefully time away from the ship amongst people who loved her would help Chambers in a way Shepard couldn't.
Richard Hadley was the first to notice her. He was still in crutches, but at the sight of the Commander, he determinedly made his way over.
"Ma'am."
"Hadley. How's the leg feeling?"
"Hurts like a bitch, and Chakwas says I should be in the cast for another month, but I'm alive."
"That you are. Got your flight sorted?"
"Yeah. All the way back to Terra Nova. Miranda organised it - and a job for me, can you believe it? I'm gonna be working on the planetary defence systems."
"That's great to hear, Hadley. You'll be missed." She shook his hand firmly as he balanced carefully on one crutch, "Look after yourself."
"I will, ma'am."
Miranda had been mystified, when the crew had trusted her to organise their flights, their cover - and some jobs it seemed. But Shepard thought they all knew Miranda had much more to lose by leaving Cerberus the way she had. There was no going back for the former operative.
Next was Nayyir Mussa. He shook her hand as well. "It's been an honour working with you Commander. Even if you are a Serrice fan."
She laughed. "Good luck for the future, Nayyir. Keep safe."
She shook hands and even gave a few hugs. She'd trusted none of them to begin with - had resented that they weren't the crew that the Collectors and time had taken from her, but they had followed her into the darkest parts of the galaxy. That deserved some of her goodwill.
"Commander?"
Thane Krios, with his worldly possessions over one shoulder, reached out with one, dark green hand. They shook, his scales cool against her palm.
"I apologise for leaving on the eve of another operation," he said, voice rasping.
She shook her hand. She hadn't asked Chakwas for details - it wasn't her business - but it was clear Thane's health was taking a turn for the worse. "You did more than enough, Thane. You just worry about yourself and Kolyat."
The Citadel had his son and a lot of damned good doctors. That was the place for Thane now.
"I will spare some worries for you as well, my friend," he said with the ghost of a smile, "be well."
"You as well, Thane."
Jenny Goldstein waited until her farewells with Thane were done, shifting from foot to foot. Behind her were the two engineers, Daniels and Donnelly.
"Hey," she raised an eyebrow. They all looked nervous. The same expression she'd sometimes caught on the SR1's engineers when she got too close to the still they thought she didn't know about.
"Commander, I - we," Goldstein glanced back at the engineers, "would like to stay. I know a lot of the ground crew and Joker are, and so would we."
"Jenny," she said slowly, "I can't exactly offer you a retirement package."
"We know," Gabby broke in.
"We all joined Cerberus because well - we wanted to serve with you, protect the colonies," Goldstein winced, "and our Alliance careers were over. That still holds true. The Alliance isn't gonna take us back, especially not now, and I want to help. I can't just...sit at home back on Earth, knowing what's coming. Ma'am."
"As long as you know what you're getting yourselves into," Shepard warned, "we don't have a lot of friends left."
"We know, boss," Donnelly said, determined, "and we know we want to be on this ship."
"Alright, alright. Let Miranda know and she can set up everything."
"You won't regret this, Commander."
"Goldstein," she said, stopping the other woman.
"Yes, ma'am?"
"I am very sorry about Vadim."
Goldstein and Vadim Rolston had been close friends, hanging out in the mess hall and messing with Gardner. And from what Chakwas had said, Goldstein had been among the crew members who'd watched, helpless and paralyzed, when the Collectors had executed Rolston.
Goldstein swallowed and raised her chin. "Thanks. I'm going to make sure his daughter always knows how amazing he was, and that he was always thinking about her."
Shepard hadn't even known Rolston had had a daughter. Something like regret twisted in her gut.
As she watched them leave, Shepard wondered if she really deserved their respect and loyalty.