Shepard leaned forwards through the open door of the prefab, checking her corners with her pistol raised as she moved into the building. After a quick visual scan to confirm that the small conference room before her was empty, she holstered her weapon and rolled her shoulders to release some of the tension building at the base of her neck.

She turned back over her shoulder to signal to Jack only to find her already in the room, her hands in the pockets of her ratty cargo pants as she sullenly stared out a nearby window. Resisting the urge to roll her eyes, Shepard settled for arching a brow skeptically instead as she called out, "This one's clear."

Jack grunted in response, favoring Shepard with the briefest of glares as she passed by before stomping forwards towards the exit on the far side of the structure.

Allowing herself a small sigh, Shepard trudged after her. This building marked the twelfth such prefab the two had cleared in the last thirty minutes, with Shepard diligently sweeping for any signs of Cerberus stragglers while Jack generally made herself as unhelpful as possible.

Despite her present company, Shepard found herself sinking into old rhythms as memories of countless Alliance breach and clear drills took hold. A constant drone of casing door frames, checking corners, and managing lines of fire soon created a comforting drone in her mind, allowing her thoughts to wander to more pleasant things.

Almost immediately, daydreams began to surface of cobalt eyes and long, slender fingers wrapped around her own hands. An achingly beautiful laugh echoed across her memories, followed by the warmth from a thigh pressed up against her own and a bashful voice in a quiet room. I care about you, Shepard.

"Hey, what's the holdup?" Shepard started, inhaling sharply as her vision of Liara's adorable blush evaporated. Across the room from her, Jack's usual scowl had taken on a slightly confused look. "Something I'm missing about that ugly ass table?

Looking down, Shepard belatedly realized she had been staring a hole into the factory issue plastic furniture before her. "Nope, we're-" she began, her voice suddenly hoarse. Roughly clearing her throat, she continued, "We're good, rooms clear."

Jack stared her down over crossed arms for a moment, her eyes squinting suspiciously. "Right." An awkward pause filled the room, before finally she turned to rifle through a stack of datapads nearby.

Sighing, Shepard turned to move forwards into the next section of the building with a frown. Alluring doctors and whispered confessions were good and all, but a combat zone was still a combat zone. If someone got the drop on her because she was pining over Liara like a lovesick teenager, she knew she'd never hear the end of it.

Nevertheless, thoughts of the asari doctor refused to leave Shepard's mind as she entered what looked like a large communal kitchen. As she peered around rows of cabinets, she saw the peaks of Liara's collarbones peeking out from behind the buttons of her shirt. There, under a set of wide tables, was the nostalgic smile she wore at the sight of the Serrice skyline along with the concern in her eyes as Shepard spoke of her childhood.

A slow, simmering guilt began to seep through Shepard as the barrage of daydreams continued. You still have a job to do, feelings are a luxury. Shepard frowned, the bubble of yearning around her head popping like a balloon as old instincts awoke with a vengeance. Don't let your guard down, you can't afford to get comfortable, you don't deserve to—

"Jesus," she muttered, cutting off her own internal monologue. Satisfied that if someone had been in the room with her they would have attacked by now, she turned in desperate search of a distraction. Peering back through the doorway into the kitchen, her gaze landed on Jack as she petulantly kicked over a trash can. Shrugging to herself, she moved to lean up against the doorframe as she called out, "We're all clear. Pretty sure this is the last one to check, too."

"Finally," Jack grunted, turning to leave back the way they came in.

Following closely behind, Shepard stepped through the empty prefab and back out into the open air of Rayingri. The sun had long since fallen below the horizon, providing just a hint of an orange glow to the otherwise darkened sky. Thankfully, the winds had also died down a bit over the last hour, a respite that Shepard welcomed gladly.

Unwilling to walk in silence as they traipsed through the empty compound, Shepard strolled up next to Jack with an innocent expression. "So, you Miranda's merc or something?"

Jack's head snapped over towards her, a frown already in place. After a brief silence, she asked in a flinty voice, "What's it to you?"

Shrugging nonchalantly, Shepard looped her hands through the straps of her vest. "Just curious, is all. You two don't really have a friendly vibe about you, so I thought maybe she hired you on for some extra muscle."

Rolling her eyes, Jack turned away to stare angrily forwards. "Look, I don't really give two shits about what you think, but I'm definitely not anybody's merc so you can forget whatever buddy cop routine you're going for."

"Alright, then what do you do?" A beat passed as Jack ignored her, prompting Shepard's brow to steeple into an incredulous frown. "What, nothing? It's not like I'm asking for a resume."

Jack shook her head mulishly. "I got nothing for you, Shepard, so maybe you should stop asking while you still have all your limbs."

Unperturbed, Shepard cajoled, "Come on, if we're gonna keep meeting up like this we might as well get to know each other, right? We're practically coworkers by this point."

Jack scoffed, still staring stubbornly ahead. "Piss off, you fucking girl scout."

Despite the obvious hostility radiating from her, Shepard found herself grinning as a kernel of fascination began to take root. As a mercenary, she had always enjoyed the challenge of trying to figure someone out, whether they be a client or potential enemy, and throughout her career the skill had helped her many times. Jack, however, was starting to give her the impression of a tightly closed safe that might explode if she got too close.

Deciding to push her luck, Shepard drawled, "Hey, if you're nervous about Miranda finding out about us, I won't tell if you won't."

"I'm not your fucking girlfriend!" Jack whirled around, teeth bared in a snarl and her hands clenched into fists. "I don't know you and I don't fuckin want to, either."

She advanced on Shepard, extending a finger to jab her in the chest as a dangerous biotic light began to sizzle in her eyes. "All you need to know is that I'm the bitch that'll tear your ass apart if you don't leave me the hell alone, got it?"

Shepard's eyes widened, her stance instinctually squaring up against Jack as she raised her hands in a pacifying gesture. "Okay, right, my bad."

Jack continued to stare her down, murder in her eyes as Shepard held her ground. An aura of pure malevolence now poured from the woman before her, leaving her feeling like she was face to face with a deadly predator waiting for any sign of weakness. Resisting the urge to flare her own biotics, Shepard steadily maintained eye contact as her mind raced through the potential scenarios before her. She could probably survive at least one swing from Jack if it came down to it, but she was less confident about avoiding any follow up strikes.

Before she could come to a decision, however, Jack scoffed and unclenched her fists, checking Shepard with her shoulder as she stomped back down the road. Forcing herself to take a deep breath, Shepard took a moment to try to slow her heartbeat before following behind. A brief flash of guilt appeared within her as she looked up at Jack, whose hands were once again shoved into her pockets as she stalked away from her. Perhaps her people skills were a bit rustier than she thought.

Quickening her steps a bit, Shepard pulled herself up alongside Jack once again. Purposely staying out of arm's reach, she awkwardly scratched the back of her neck as she began, "Sorry for all that, I shouldn't have started off so strong." She tucked her own hands into her pockets to match Jack's posture. "I just thought it would be useful for us to get to know each other if we're gonna keep fighting off Cerberus together, you know?"

"I don't know shit except that whatever you want from me, you're not gonna get it."

Shepard frowned. "We're just talking, it's not like I'm trying to rob you."

Barking out a bitter laugh, Jack rolled her eyes and said, "Everybody wants something, Shepard. You either wise up enough to see that or you get dead real fast."

Shaking her head skeptically, Shepard let out a beleaguered sigh. "You've got a damn cynical view of things, you know that?"

Finally glancing over towards her, Jack bared her teeth in a vicious smile. "Well I'm not dead and a lot of other shitheads are, so I'd say it's worked out pretty damn well so far."

Shepard fell quiet at this, and as they turned a corner an uncomfortable silence fell around them. Glancing over towards Jack, she realized that she wasn't quite sure what to make of her. Despite all of her instincts for self preservation telling her to stay far away, she couldn't quite quash the feeling that Jack had more to her than your average angry thug, some hidden depth of character buried in there somewhere. At this rate, however, she wasn't sure she would live long enough to find out.

The pair cut through an abandoned building as Shepard mused quietly to herself, moving through what looked like an empty storage room to emerge out onto a familiar stretch of dusty road. Peering forwards, Shepard's face lit up into a grin as she spotted Liara posted up in the center of the small command station they had cleared on their way in, her mouth pursed in concentration as she bent over a set of monitors.

Quickening her pace, Shepard strode past Jack and jogged the last bit of distance to stand at the base of the steps leading up onto the platform. Striking a casual pose, she called up, "Hey Doc, find anything good while we've been gone?"

Liara briefly flickered her gaze up to meet Shepard's with a warm smile before looking back down towards the display before her. "It appears that Cerberus has been set up here for several weeks already, but according to their records they never actually found a way into the pyramid." With a sigh, she deactivated the terminal. "I believe they were about to place explosives to simply blast their way in instead."

Shepard snorted. "Very subtle, these guys. I guess that means we get to do all the hard work ourselves, then?"

"Yes, it seems so." Liara paused for a moment to glance between Jack and Shepard. "How did your search go?"

Waving a hand dismissively, Shepard replied, "The only things here besides us are a bunch of empty buildings and a whole lot of sand." She glanced over towards Jack before continuing, "Jack and I just took the time to get to know each other a bit."

Jack rolled her eyes. "Yeah, we had a great time," she said, her voice scathing. "Anyways, I'm sick of all this sand getting up my ass so I'm heading back."

With that, she turned away and walked off into the night, leaving Shepard to turn towards Liara with a bemused expression. "I don't think she likes me very much."

Liara matched her gaze with an exasperated grin curling at the corner of her mouth. "Getting to know each other didn't go well, I take it?"

Wincing, Shepard replied, "It went great right up until I asked her anything about herself at all. I don't think she got too pissed though, she only threatened to tear me limb from limb."

Liara laughed softly as her grin widened into a full smile. "Well, I'm glad to see that you really do try to befriend every single person you come across."

Shepard's heart kicked in her chest as she playfully scoffed, "What, not everyone I meet. Sometimes I skip right to where they start shooting at me."

"You do seem to have that effect on people, yes." Liara paused, the glimmer of humor in her eyes dimming a bit as she looked out in the direction Jack had disappeared. "Which one do you think she is going to be?"

Shepard sighed as she started rubbing her scarred arm. "I don't know yet, could go either way."

The two stood quietly for a moment, only for Shepard to shiver as a cool wind swept through the encampment. Rubbing the exposed skin of her arms to try to warm up a bit, she began, "Hey so do you want to head back in soon? I don't want to accidentally wake up Jack and have her try to murder me for it."

Liara chuckled as she descended the set of steps to reach the ground. As she passed by Shepard, she gently laid one hand on her arm and said, "I suppose we had better go now then, since I'm quite fond of your limbs where they are."

"Not as much as I am," Shepard grumbled, hoping the heat now suffusing her face wasn't showing as she turned to follow.

The pair moved together down the dusty path, both quietly walking nearly shoulder to shoulder. A silence fell around the two of them, not stifling or awkward but simply comfortable as they passed by empty prefabs and around fallen Cerberus troopers. Stepping over one such body, Shepard blinked as she realized that somehow she felt more at ease here with Liara in this military encampment than she had throughout her entire stay at Serrice. She frowned as the urge to trace her scars bubbled up once more. Shouldn't she be more on edge here than in some beautiful asari city?

Her hand brushed up against the back of Liara's, causing her to jump. The heat simmering in her cheeks flooded out down her neck as she turned with an apology primed on her lips, only to find Liara gazing towards her with a mischievous smirk. A moment later, she casually bumped her shoulder into Shepard's, then laughed as Shepard clutched her arm in mock pain.

Releasing her arm, Shepard chuckled as well as she softly bumped Liara back. The movement brought the backs of their hands together once more, and before she knew it she found herself trapped under Liara's gaze as her rich blue eyes twinkled with something she couldn't quite place.

Liara beheld her for a few more seconds before eventually turning back forwards, a faint smile ghosting over her lips. Forcing herself to look away, Shepard swallowed thickly as butterflies swirled around her stomach. Internally, all her thoughts blanked out except one phrase she found herself chanting like a mantra. When we're both ready, when we're both ready…

A few minutes later, the pair rounded one last corner to find themselves back at the impact crater of the crashed shuttle. The fire consuming the area had long since burned itself out, but a thin pyre of dark smoke continued to waft its way upwards into the night sky. Moving past this, Shepard followed Liara up a set of metal stairs and past several more dead Cerberus troopers to once again stand in front of the large set of doors to Jack and Miranda's refuge.

Slapping the door release, Shepard stepped forwards into the room as the doors parted with a hydraulic hiss. Before her, the room remained largely the same as the last time she had seen it; shattered pieces of furniture strewn across the floor and walls littered with blast marks, bullet holes, and broken windows. Now, however, she saw that the corpses from Jack and Miranda's last stand had been moved outside, and at some point someone had made an attempt to pile the largest pieces of debris into a pile in the center of the space.

Miranda herself was now leaning up against a wall as she checked her omni-tool, her black hair somehow still as luscious as ever despite the several small nicks and scrapes adorning her otherwise flawless features. Jack, however, had settled against the far wall of the prefab with her arms crossed as she watched the rest of the room like a hawk.

As Liara stepped in behind Shepard, Miranda looked up from her omni-tool with an expectant expression as she called out, "Did you find a way in?"

Liara shook her head, prompting Miranda's mouth to twist slightly. "That's unfortunate." She paused for a moment before eventually shrugging. "At least Cerberus didn't beat us inside, I suppose," she muttered. "Still, they won't stay away for long. We'll have to find a way inside ourselves tomorrow."

Shepard frowned. "Wait, why are you two trying to get inside?"

Sliding her gaze back over to Shepard, Miranda regarded her with an icy stare. "You are not the only people in the galaxy interested in the Ring of Life."

Crossing her arms, Shepard retorted, "Sure, but we are apparently the only ones who actually have a piece of it, so I think I'd like to know more about the people I'm working with before we go for the second."

She stared down Miranda with her most stubborn frown, daring her to challenge her resolve. Miranda, for her part, simply blinked in surprise, as if the idea of someone standing in her way hadn't occurred to her before.

The silence began to stretch to uncomfortable levels, until Liara stepped forwards and cleared her throat. "You have already helped us out of a dangerous situation once," she began, her eyes briefly flitting to Shepard, "and we appreciate that. However, I believe what Shepard is trying to say is that we would all work much better together if there was an exchange of trust of some kind."

Miranda's eyes narrowed slightly as she looked between the two of them, then finally she nodded to herself as if coming to a decision. She deactivated her omni-tool with a snap of her wrist, then folded her hands together in her lap. "Alright, what do you want to know?"

Shepard shot Liara an appreciative smile before responding, "Well, you already know our names, so let's start with this: T'Soni's here because of her research in Prothean history and archaeology, and I'm here as a merc to keep her out of trouble." She gestured towards Miranda. "You got anything along those lines for us?"

Miranda nodded, mulling over her words for a moment before beginning, "You know our names already, so I'll give you some facts instead." She shifted to sit up straighter, wincing for a moment as she shifted her left foot. "I'm here because Cerberus is here, and Jack is here because I've asked her to work for me."

She hesitated for a moment before continuing, "What do you two actually know about Cerberus?"

Shepard shrugged as Liara replied, "Very little, actually, except that they seem to be following us."

"Yes, that tracks." Miranda activated her omni-tool again and keyed in a command to project a holographic image of the double bracket logo stamped all around the encampment. "Cerberus, officially speaking, was a top secret black ops division of the Alliance military until they were shut down about forty years ago. In reality, however, they are a rogue paramilitary group operating across most of the known galaxy with a focus on tech development, political manipulation, and asset acquisition, all of which forwards their goals of promoting human dominance."

Shepard let out a low whistle. "Guess that explains how they have all this hardware just laying around." Her mind began to race as she thought through these newly revealed facets of their pursuers. "How does nobody know about something like this?"

"Any Alliance officials that would've had the clearance to know about Cerberus before they split off are sworn to secrecy, and as far as any other government is concerned they simply don't exist." Miranda sniffed disdainfully. "Cerberus has invested a massive amount of effort and capital into maintaining the illusion that the organization withered away decades ago."

Liara frowned as she began to tap her lower lip with one finger. "This doesn't explain why they are hunting us down, though. If these Cerberus people are human supremacists, why do they care about Prothean ruins?"

"Three years ago, they began to shift their focus towards investigating Prothean ruins for any artifacts or technology that could be recovered. Any initial interaction with you," she said, motioning towards Liara, "was likely a mere coincidence. However, now that they know you're after the same thing as them…" Her mouth twisted into a grimace. "Let's just say that Cerberus doesn't appreciate having competition."

As she spoke, Shepard began to frown as a nagging suspicion began to itch at the back of her mind. Subtly shifting her weight to widen her stance, she forced herself to keep her arms casually crossed. "For a top secret organization, you sure seem to know a lot about them," she said, trying to keep her voice light. "Why is that?"

Across the room, Jack tensed and started to rise, only for Miranda to stop her with a quick shake of her head. Turning her gaze back to Shepard, she pursed her lips as her stare once again went cold and calculating. After a moment, however, she sighed and averted her gaze to stare up at the ceiling. "I know so much because I used to work for them."

"Excuse me?" Shepard exclaimed, her blood running cold. Dropping her calm facade, she dropped one hand to the grip of her pistol as Liara flared her biotics, only for Jack to growl as her fists began to glow. Suddenly very aware of the lack of cover in this room, Shepard took a step forwards to place herself between Jack and Liara. "You work for those bastards?"

"I said I used to work for them, but I don't anymore." Miranda waved dismissively towards Jack, who reluctantly let her biotics wink out. "I left a little over a year ago, and I've been sabotaging them any way I can ever since."

Shepard relaxed her posture as Liara's own biotics dispersed, but she pointedly left her hand resting on her gun as she asked, "Why did you leave?"

Miranda's gaze briefly flickered over towards Jack. "I disagreed with some of their methods." Shepard arched a brow, prompting Miranda to roll her eyes. "Look, if I was still with Cerberus why would we have helped you before? Or, even better, why would we have let Doctor T'Soni keep the relic while you were unconscious?"

Liara slowly nodded with a conflicted frown. "I wouldn't have been able to get you out of there by myself, Shepard."

Shepard clenched her jaw and exhaled sharply through her nose. "Right." Finally lifting her hand from her pistol, she once gestured towards Miranda. "One more question, then. Can we trust you?"

Rather than answer immediately, Miranda tilted her head to one side with a bemused quirk to her lips. After a moment, she replied, "Do you have a choice?"

A humorless grin spread across Shepard's face. "I guess not." She glanced out a nearby broken window, the night sky now completely dark. "We should go, it's getting late."

Miranda nodded, the same smirk still in place. "Tomorrow, then."

Glancing towards Liara, Shepard shrugged before turning to walk over to the far side of the room. Once she picked out a spot relatively free of demolished furniture or burn marks, she slid down to the ground with a thump, stretching out her legs before her as she leaned back against the cool metal wall of the prefab.

Peering across the large space, she saw Miranda once again frowning uncomfortably as she gingerly prodded her left ankle with slender fingers. Sliding her gaze over to Jack, Shepard's brow rose a fraction as she noticed Jack also staring at Miranda with an odd intensity.

Movement to her side broke Shepard's concentration, and looking over to her left she found Liara now seated by her side, their shoulders nearly touching. A warm and gooey feeling began to spread across her chest despite the chill of the room, and as Liara flashed a tiny smile Shepard found the tension of the day draining away. Once again, she found herself almost completely at ease as she stared into Liara's eyes, like nothing else in the world was quite as real when those cobalt irises met her own.

A wave of heat raced up her neck at her train of thought. Suddenly in need of a change of subject, Shepard asked in a soft voice, "So, Doc, what do you think we'll find tomorrow?"

Liara shifted to lean her head back against the wall as she looked up towards the ceiling. "Well, we either will find the next piece of the Ring of Life and be very happy, or it won't be there and we'll just have some more empty ruins." Her lips quirked into a grin. "Not that I would mind that, but I suspect the rest of you would be quite disappointed."

Shepard chuckled. "Oh, I'm a big fan of decrepit old buildings full of dead people and creepy statues."

Liara laughed and softly swatted Shepard's arm. "I'm glad that you have such a high opinion of my work."

Shepard swallowed thickly and averted her gaze, suddenly nervous as she replied, "What can I say? A certain archaeologist has really gotten my attention the last couple months."

Risking a glance to her left, she saw Liara duck her head with purple cheeks and a bashful smile. Grinning widely, Shepard let her head fall back to rest on the wall as her heart raced beneath her ribs.

They sat in companionable silence for a minute, and as her pulse gradually returned to normal Shepard felt the first tendrils of sleep start to pull at her eyelids. Before they could fall fully shut, however, Liara shifted and asked in a small voice, "Shepard, do you really think we'll be able to get inside?" Blinking the sleep from her eyes, Shepard turned to find Liara biting her lower lip anxiously. "I mean, there are no records of anyone ever finding a way in. Who is to say that we will be any different?"

Shepard shook her head firmly. "You can't start thinking like that. By the end of the day tomorrow, we'll have found all kinds of weird rocks in that thing, just you wait."

Liara's brow furrowed. "How can you be so confident when everyone else has failed?"

A reassuring smile spread across Shepard's face as she nudged Liara's shoulder with her own. "Easy, T'Soni. None of them ever had you here with them."

Two vibrant points of lavender appeared on Liara's cheeks as she stared towards Shepard with a starstruck expression. Suddenly self conscious with how earnestly she had spoken, Shepard coughed as her own face began to burn and turned away to lean back against the wall. Silence once again filled the room, and after a few minutes Shepard felt her eyes begin to droop downwards once again.

Just as she started to drift off, however, Liara's voice cut through the fog of sleep. "Shepard, can I ask you a question?"

"Yeah, of course," she slurred, her voice rough with sleep.

"Why do you only use my name when one of us is in danger?"

Shepard blinked, feeling the last dredges of sleep abandon her. "I use your name all the time."

Liara shook her head. "You use my last name a fair amount, or sometimes just 'Doc', but I can count on one hand the amount of times you've used my first name."

Shepard's brow furrowed. "No, I have to have used it at least a couple times, right?"

Liara shook her head again, a determined furrow appearing between her brows. "Never once outside of a fight."

"Damn." Shepard sighed and started to massage her temples. While not always a conscious choice on her part, she knew deep down that she had been avoiding Liara's name. Last names were safe and easy, always offering that slight layer of distance between two people as a buffer if needed. Peering over towards Liara, she smiled weakly. "Not a fan of nicknames, then?"

Liara arched a brow skeptically, and after a moment Shepard sighed and said, "I don't know, I guess I never really thought about it." The lie rolled off her tongue easily, but left an uncomfortable aftertaste all the same.

Frowning, Liara blinked and said nothing. Shepard watched as emotions flitted across her face, then began to worry her lip between her teeth over some internal debate. Finally, she reached a hesitant hand out to rest on Shepard's arm as she said, "I would like it very much if you would use my name."

Shepard froze as a wave of tension rolled through her. Across from her, Liara pointedly stared her down, her eyes shining with resolve even as her cheeks burned violet. With a start, Shepard realized that Liara must be reaching far out of her comfort zone to ask this, yet the strength in her gaze issued only a challenge. Her thoughts started to race through her mind as a defensive haze started to settle over her. You can't do this for her, this is one of the last walls you have left, you cannot let her in, this is best for both of you.

Shepard wet her lips and shifted to face Liara more fully. "Alright, Liara."

The name rolled off of her tongue like her mouth was built to say it. Across from her, Liara's pupils began to dilate as her mouth fell slightly open. Throwing all caution to the wind, Shepard leaned slightly forwards and whispered once again, "Liara T'Soni." A shiver ran down her back as the words seemed to shimmer in the air between them. Her cheeks were flaming with blush now, matching Liara's own purpled face, and as if on queue they both began to smile.

"Thank you," she murmured, squeezing Shepard's arm.

"You're very welcome, Liara T'Soni," Shepard replied with a grin.

Liara laughed softly. "You don't have to say my name every time you speak, you know."

"I don't know, Liara, I think I kinda like it." Shepard felt as if her smile might split her face in two. "I might have to just keep saying it all the time, Liara."

Now fully giggling, Liara released Shepard's arm and leaned back against the wall. "You are doing an excellent job at making me regret this."

Shepard simply laughed in return, leaning slightly over to one side until their shoulders touched. As they lapsed into silence, the comfortable atmosphere between them returned in full force, manifesting as a smoldering core of happiness deep in Shepard's chest. Somewhere within her, a wall was crumbling for the first time in years, but she suddenly found that she was rather interested in seeing what lay behind it.

In this silence, a long buried memory arose, unbidden. Come on then, what are you waiting for? Rich brown eyes and dimpled smile flashed before her mind's eye, accompanied by the voice that haunted her dreams. It's okay, Cam, just let go.

Shepard let out a shuddering breath as the memory faded. Blinking back a fresh wave of grief, she inhaled deeply as her right hand found its way to tracing the scars on her left arm once again. She knew she would never forget this wound, but even still the strength of the pain surprised her.

Glancing over to her left, she found Liara leaning her head back with her eyes closed and a peaceful smile across her face. The molten core within her flared through the haze of memory and pain swirling around her, mixing up an emotional maelstrom of happiness and regret, pain and peace all mixed together until they began to blend into something new. Liara had reached out to her, Shepard reminded herself. Ever since they had really begun to get to know each other, Liara had been extending out of her own comfort zones to try to meet Shepard where she was. It was time to do the same, even despite the pain.

"Liara." Shepard croaked, her voice hoarse. Liara's eyes slid open as she looked over with an inquisitive expression, and Shepard swallowed again. "Liara, do–." She stopped, exhaled sharply, and tried again. "Do you want to know my name?"

Liara's brow furrowed slightly. "I thought your name was Shepard."

Shepard let out a strained chuckle. "Yeah, it is, but that's my last name. My family name, more accurately. But, uh." She sighed and glanced up towards the ceiling, before forcing herself to look Liara in the eye. "Would you like my first name?"

Liara's brow lifted in surprise. A moment later, however, she relaxed as an achingly kind smile grew on her face. "I would like that very much."

Nodding mutely, Shepard forced herself to calm her breathing as her heart began to race. Her jaw clenched, then relaxed as she forced herself to relax. Looking down, she found that her right thumb had stopped on one of the few patches of scarlet ink still visible through her scars, and her heart kicked in her chest. Just let go.

"My name is Cameron," she forced out, nearly gasping from the effort. "I just go by Cam, though."

Liara's smile widened, and in a reverent voice she said, "Cameron Shepard."

Shepard shivered as her full name echoed through the small space between them. Inside her chest, another chunk of the wall fell to pieces. Feeling suddenly vulnerable, she quickly said, "Most of the rest of the crew knows my name but none of them really use it, and I leaned into the whole 'Shepard' thing because it was just easier, and then it became my whole brand as a merc so no one even knows my name anymore–"

A soft finger across her lips cut off her rambling. Feeling her cheeks begin to warm once again, she looked up to find Liara smiling towards her. The frantic energy slowly began to drain out of her, leaving behind a simple sense of thankfulness. Her mouth quirked into a self-deprecating smile for a moment before she began again, "If you want, Liara, you can use my name. I think I'd like that."

Liara lowered her hand to rest on the scars spiraling up her arm. "Thank you for sharing this with me, Cam."

Shepard ducked her head, feeling as if her whole body might start vibrating. Reaching her right hand over, she gently squeezed Liara's hand once before turning to lean back against the wall. A deep sense of peace settled over her, and as she closed her eyes she mumbled, "Goodnight, Liara."

There was a sound of rustling fabric, and a moment later a weight appeared on Shepard's shoulder as Liara leaned into her. "Goodnight, Cam."

Liara came to consciousness slowly, groggily becoming aware of a firm mass to her side radiating warmth and a gentle weight on her head. Yawning deeply, she frowned as she felt an odd tingling sensation across her crest as her head rubbed up against something soft.

She cracked open her eyes and slowly extricated herself from the weight, only to look over to see Shepard fast asleep by her side. Liara grinned as she eyed the mussed up hair on the left side of her head, recalling how the short strands had felt against her skin. Reaching forwards slowly, she lightly touched Shepard's arm and whispered, "Cam, time to wake up."

Shepard's eyes snapped open instantly as she started forwards, fully awake in a single moment. Her eyes flitted around the room rapidly as she scanned for danger before finally her gaze landed on Liara. She slowly relaxed, her shoulders sagging as a slow smile slid across her face. "Hey, you," she murmured, her voice entrancingly husky with sleep.

They sat still for a moment, simply gazing into each other's eyes. The intricate atmosphere from the previous night surrounded them once again like a warm embrace, leaving Liara feeling as if she had found a small corner of the world where only they existed.

Loud thuds of boots against the floor rang out through the room, rudely shattering the mood as they both flinched away from each other. Leaning forwards to look past Shepard, Liara saw Miranda already on her feet as Jack stomped noisily towards the door. By her side, Shepard sighed with a wry smile. "Guess we'd better get to work, then."

Liara nodded and reluctantly stood, with Shepard following suit with a groan. Shaking off the last vestiges of sleep, Liara slung her satchel over her shoulder and checked to make sure her pistol was still strapped to her hip, then stepped forwards towards the exit as Shepard followed closely behind.

At the base of the stairs they found the others already waiting, Miranda with a vaguely impatient twist to her lips and Jack with her usual scowl. Once everyone had fully exited the prefab, Miranda silently spun on her heel and began marching north towards where the tip of the pyramid was visible as it towered over the rest of the compound. Liara watched as Jack turned to follow, then briefly glanced towards Shepard who simply shrugged as she too started walking.

The group traveled at a brisk pace through the compound, occasionally stepping off the main paths to cut through some of the larger buildings. Even still, it took more than ten minutes before the buildings started to thin out at the edge of the encampment. Finally, after walking around what appeared to be an empty set of barracks, another chain link fence came into view, complete with a large gate already thrown wide to reveal the landscape beyond.

The group came to a stop as all four of them took in the sight before them, and to her side Liara heard Jack grumble, "If we have to climb that thing I'm gonna be pissed."

A single, massive stone pyramid now lay before them, towering hundreds of feet up into the air as its four sides sloped steeply upwards to meet at a single point. Even from nearly half a mile away, Liara found herself having to crane her neck to peer up towards the very apex of the structure. Trailing her gaze downward, she found that rather than be constructed from several stone blocks stacked on top of each other, as she had assumed from a distance, each side of the pyramid appeared to be covered in massive grooves and curled lines chiseled into a solid rock surface, all criss crossing over themselves to give the appearance of being enshrouded by thick vines of some sort.

"It's like that mural we found in the mines," Shepard murmured, and Liara found herself nodding in agreement as the similarities could not be denied.

Where the base of the pyramid met the ground, a small set of ruins dotted the landscape. Pieces of toppled columns and fragments of walls that collapsed thousands of years ago stretched the distance between the compound and the pyramid, occasionally decorated with what looked like pedestals for large stone statues. However, many of these sculptures had seemingly eroded away in the sandy winds of Rayingri, with many pedestals only holding pairs of disembodied legs or a shattered torso.

Liara, of course, had already known the ruins would be there as they were the only thing any previous archaeologists on the scene had been able to uncover. However, this did nothing to quell her excitement at seeing yet more gifts of the Protheans left behind for those who wished to study their legacy. She whipped out her notebook from her bag, already starting to sketch the closest set of crumbled statues as Shepard lightly chuckled by her side.

The four of them, after a brief pause to take in the view, started forwards through the ruins. Liara and Miranda eagerly drank in the sights, the latter activating her omni-tool to take pictures while Liara furiously scribbled away in her book. Glancing to her side, however, she noticed that both Shepard and Jack seemed much more wary of their new surroundings. Both wore the vaguely bemused expression of tourists coming across an attraction they hadn't expected to visit, but Liara noticed that neither allowed their hands to stray far from their weapons.

The group soon arrived at the base of the pyramid and found themselves confronted with an unyielding wall of stone. Liara found that she could no longer make out the top from this position, and she swallowed down a wave of trepidation. The wall extended outwards in every direction, yielding no hints or clues towards a passage inside beneath the curved grooves carved across it, leaving her to realize just exactly why no scholar had ever penetrated its secrets.

A few feet away, Jack grunted with an unimpressed frown. "So how do we get in?"

By her side, Miranda rolled her eyes. "If we knew that, we'd be inside already."

Jack scowled and turned to stomp away in a huff, with Miranda following a moment later with an exasperated sigh. By unspoken agreement, Liara and Shepard turned towards the opposite side of the ruins as they spread out across the area.

The rest of the morning passed in a haze of heat and sand as Liara exhaustively examined every fallen piece of stone and sifted through every small pile of sand she could find. In less than an hour she filled three and a half pages in her notebook, only stopping to sip from her water flask or to consult older entries in her notes. Unfortunately, as the day progressed the temperature began to climb with the sun, and soon Liara found herself feverishly wiping away sweat before it could drip off her nose and onto her notes.

Much to her displeasure, however, nothing she could find seemed to have anything to do with opening the pyramid. The few statue pedestals still intact she investigated all seemed to be purely decorational, and while the shattered walls offered an entertaining glimpse into Prothean architectural styles, nothing about them offered any insights towards the pyramid. Even Shepard, who at first had seemed quite interested in helping Liara hunt for clues, had apparently found the limits of her education as she had spent the last hour meandering around and muttering helpful comments such as, "This rock looks suspicious, right?" or "Do they build these pillars specifically to look cool when they fall over?"

Just before the sun fully reached its apex, Liara stumbled forwards as the tip of her boot caught on something. Steadying herself against a chunk of what looked like it might have been a tiled roof, she glanced down towards the ground to find the corner of what looked like a block of stone poking up through the sand. She tilted her head to one side, staring at this stone, before dropping to her knees as she started to dig. The sand was coarse on her hands and uncomfortably warm to the touch, but Liara continued forwards heedless of the discomfort.

After several minutes, she sat back amid the small dune she had relocated to examine what appeared to be the upper corner of a large stone cube. Only the top several inches were visible before the rest of it sank beneath the surface, but from what she could see Liara noticed the outer surface seemed to be completely smooth and void of any seams or cracks. Furthermore, while she had uncovered a sizable chunk of this upper corner, the vast majority of the object appeared to remain buried, belying a massive size.

Liara quickly sprung back up to her feet, wiping away the sand clinging to her hands across her thick cargo pants. "Shepard, I think I found something!"

She turned over her shoulder to look for Shepard, only to find her standing back towards the base of the pyramid, her hands in her pockets and a stony frown on her face as she stared up towards the sky. Hesitantly, Liara moved away from the stone object to move closer to her, her brow furrowing in concern. "Shepard?"

"We still haven't heard back from Tali or Garrus," she replied, her voice thick with emotion. Liara followed her gaze upwards and found herself staring at the massive form of Vahtz overhead as it dominated the sky above. By her side, Shepard started to pop her knuckles as she began to pace. "They've been radio silent for almost twenty-four hours, but the signal distortion is still up. Something must've gone wrong."

Liara frowned as concern began to twist in her stomach. "Perhaps they're just taking it slow. We have been off the Normandy for almost just as long, right?"

Shepard shook her head. "This place had a small army waiting for us, and that's not even including all the guys Miranda and Jack killed before we even got here." Her hands clenched into fists as blue wisps of light began to flash around them. "Shit, I knew sending them by themselves was a mistake, what was I thinking?"

"Shepard, I'm sure they're fine—"

"God, Liara!" Shepard yelled, cutting her off. "Just stop, please." Liara's mouth fell shut as Shepard slumped up against the pyramid and slid down onto the ground, her expression miserable. "I appreciate what you're trying to do, really, but I don't need the platitudes."

Liara's hands twisted the strap of her satchel, her heart throbbing in sympathy at the sight of Shepard hunched over in the sand. Cautiously, she asked, "What do you need, then?"

Shepard sighed and let her head fall back against the pyramid wall. "A way inside this goddamn pile of bricks, for one thing."

A ghost of a smile flickered across Liara's face as she crouched in front of Shepard. Reaching out, she placed a hand on her bicep. "Shepard. Cam." She waited for Shepard to meet her gaze before continuing, "Your line of work is a dangerous one, and there is little either of us can do to change that."

Shepard's face soured, but Liara continued forwards before she could interrupt. "However, what's more important is that your crew chooses to work for you anyways. Tali and Garrus know that every day there is a chance that they could be injured, or worse, but they choose to stand with you despite this." She smiled encouragingly. "I am fairly certain that even Doctor Chakwas would take up arms if you asked."

Shepard's brow furrowed as a storm of conflict raged in her eyes. "But it's my job to keep them all safe, they shouldn't have to do that."

Liara shook her head gently. "That isn't your choice to make. They all choose you because they believe that, at the end of the day, you will do whatever it takes to get them home alive. All that is left for you to do is to accept their choice and to believe in them, as well."

Shepard sighed, then tilted her head to one side with a slanted grin. "Well damn, T'soni. When did you go and get so wise about the burdens of leadership?"

Liara smiled in return as a soft blush spread across her face. "Well, my mother is quite a respected matriarch, and she has always been very fond of dispensing morsels of wisdom to those around her."

"Sounds like she should write a book." Liara chuckled and squeezed her arm before releasing it as they both stood. Rolling back her shoulders, Shepard turned to sweep her gaze over the ruins once again. "Right, no more moping until we get inside this…"

She trailed off, her gaze suddenly fixed on the wall of the pyramid beside them. Frowning, Liara followed her gaze, only to see more blank stone spliced by intersecting grooves. Feeling the apprehension beginning to grow, she asked, "What is it?"

Shepard blinked, an odd expression on her face, then shook her head as if trying to focus. "I don't know, it's just…" She moved down the wall, sliding her palm across the weathered surface as she moved. "Something about this feels familiar, somehow. Like I've seen it before."

Liara's brow furrowed as she began to tap her bottom lip with one finger. "I don't see how that is possible, unless you somehow have been here before and forgot?"

"No, I've never had reason to come out here before." Her fingers dipped into a groove as she moved further across the wall. "So why do I feel like I should know this?"

Liara bit her lip as she wracked her brain for a possible solution. Throughout her own career, she had visited several Prothean dig sites that were all vaguely similar to this place, but when would Shepard have seen something like this?

She froze as a memory flashed in her mind. "Unless you really have seen this before."

Shepard turned to look towards her with a skeptical frown. "What do you mean?"

A buzz began to course through Liara as a theory began to form. "Your vision, Shepard, from the Ring fragment. What if it showed this place to you?"

Shepard's brow scrunched up into a frown as she scratched the back of her head. "I showed you my vision though, and I don't remember anything like this."

"You showed me the main parts of it, yes, but so much of it consisted of quick flashes of emotion or bursts of imagery that it was impossible to make sense of it all." Liara stepped forwards to place her hands on Shepard's shoulders. "There is a technique that asari are taught for situations like this, where during a meld information might get buried underneath a flood of memory. Would you like me to share it?"

Shepard stared her down for just a moment before nodding with a resolute set to her jaw. "Do it."

Liara bowed her head forwards until their foreheads were nearly touching. "Close your eyes, then, and breathe deeply."

Shepard's eyes slipped closed, and a moment later Liara continued, "Can you find your memories of what the fragment showed you?"

Shepard's face contorted into a slight frown as her nostrils flared, but a moment later she nodded. "Yeah, still got them."

The distant sound of Miranda and Jack bickering wafted by on the breeze, but Liara ignored it. "Alright, this is the most important step." She closed her eyes, and in a grave voice she repeated the words taught to her long ago. "Do not try to force the memory you seek to appear, else it will slip through your fingers like water. Instead, relax and open yourself to the sea of your mind. You have already seen the memory once, so allow it to become a star above the waters to guide you home."

She slowly opened her eyes again, blinking as she suddenly realized how close they were. A small furrow had appeared between Shepard's brow, and Liara found herself wanting to smooth it out with her thumb. Glancing downward, her breath caught in her throat at the sight of Shepard's lips, only inches away. If she simply titled her head to one side, she could press a kiss to the frustratingly attractive scar across her upper lip.

She flinched backwards, her cheeks suddenly burning as her heart beat against her ribs. She glanced over one shoulder, but the others were still on the far side of the small set of ruins and too far away to see Liara embarrass herself.

"I think I got something." Liara turned back to see Shepard open her eyes, her face set in a focused frown. She turned to face the wall once again, taking a few steps back to get a better view as she muttered, "It was quick, but something about this part of the pattern stands out."

She approached the base of the pyramid at a confluence of dozens of interlocking grooves and curves carved into the stone. She paused for a moment, then began slowly and methodically sliding her fingers through the grooves as her mouth puckered in concentration.

By her side, Liara watched with bated breath. Eventually no longer able to stand the suspense, she asked, "What are you looking for?"

Shepard's hands stopped moving, and as she turned towards Liara a crooked grin spread across her face. "The real question is what did I just find?"

She withdrew her hands from the groove and stepped aside to make space for them to peer forwards. Before them, a specific intersection of several curved lines widened the groove set into the wall by several inches, creating a gap large enough to fit a hand into. Through this gap she saw a recession carved into this hidden part of the wall, creating a roughly six-inch tall pocket of empty space. The base of this depression was rectangular, but as it traveled upwards it began to lose its shape and expand outwards, as if someone had carved the shape of a burning flame.

Liara's eyes widened as a jolt of recognition struck her like lightning. "Goddess, could it be that simple?"

Slowly reaching into her satchel, she fumbled around for a moment before withdrawing the small Prothean sculpture she had recovered from the vorcha-infested mines. Despite the heat of the day, the metallic surface was cool to the touch. Holding it out in front of her, the light caught on the many twists and curves of its upper half, where the steel bar at the base appeared to burst into flame. Carefully, she slipped the sculpture into the stone groove, and in a single smooth motion she pressed it into the gap in the wall.

The sculpture slid flush against the surrounding stone, and immediately the ground below their feet began to rumble as the sound of grinding stone filled the air. A sharp crack rang out, prompting Liara and Shepard to step back as splits began to appear in the stone before them. As they watched, a large chunk of the wall around the sculpture began to slide back into the pyramid, revealing a large metal grate beneath their feet. The ground shook again, strong enough to nearly throw Liara off her feet as plumes of sand exploded up into the air all around her, and by her side Shepard sank into a crouch to keep from falling over.

Finally, the stone wall came to a stop with a loud click, and moments later ground ceased shaking beneath them as everything fell silent once more. Liara stood slowly to her feet, feeling particularly rattled around, and offered a hand to Shepard to help her stand as well.

"What the hell was that?" Spinning around, Liara saw Miranda running over with Jack close behind, both of them looking disgruntled by the sudden quaking.

Shepard clapped Liara on the shoulder as she proudly proclaimed, "Liara found us a way in."

Liara rolled her eyes as her cheeks warmed slightly. "It isn't a way in just yet, but it might be soon." Leaning past Miranda, she pointed back out towards the ruins. "Look over there."

Extending out from the newly revealed recession in the pyramid was a long rectangular stone surface, now risen up out of the sand several inches to create a smooth platform in the center of the ruins. This platform extended all the way out to meet the base of the pyramid, where three sets of thin grooves carved into the stone ran directly into the edge of the grate the four of them now stood on. Tracking these grooves as they shot away from the grate, Liara found that each ran into the base of new blocky pedestals that had risen up from beneath the sand, each with a familiar stone statue of a figure with its head bowed and neck outstretched.

"My god," Miranda breathed. "These are just like the statues we found on Jiwai."

Jack grunted with an unimpressed scowl. "Not exactly the same. Where are all the ones with the swords?"

Just as she finished speaking, another small tremor shook the ground beneath their feet. Liara reached out to place a hand on the inner pyramid wall for support, only to flinch backwards in surprise as she felt it move beneath her fingers. Stepping back in alarm, she turned and saw a small square plate shift several inches to the side, revealing a hidden panel set into the wall.

Just as soon as it had started, the tremors stopped as everything went quiet once again. Satisfied any potential danger had passed, Liara motioned to the newly revealed panel and said, "Perhaps this will tell us."

The four of them gathered together, all awkwardly pressed together in the small space as they peered towards the panel. Set a few inches back from the rest of the wall, a circular plate of stone was now visible, a thick layer of dust almost completely obscuring some sort of emblem barely visible on its surface. Reaching into her bag, she quickly withdrew a coarse brush from her small archaeology field kit, then began to ever so gently brush the dust away.

In only a few moments, the stone beneath the dirt was swept clean, revealing an imprint of a three fingered hand set into the disk. Liara quickly stepped back to allow the others to take a look as she packed away her brush, and by her side Shepard hummed thoughtfully before asking, "Why is there a turian handprint here?"

Miranda shook her head. "It's too small to be a turian, and the fingers don't appear to end in talons."

"It is unlikely to be a quarian, either," Liara added. "Look how thick the fingers are and how wide the palm is."

Jack sniffed disdainfully. "I mean it's obviously from a Prothean, right?" She paused as everyone else fell silent to stare at her. "These are literally Prothean ruins, why would it be from anything else?"

Shepard shrugged and turned to Liara with a crooked grin. "Makes sense to me."

Liara returned her gaze to the disk, a feeling of awe slowly settling onto her shoulders. She had been chasing in the footsteps of the Protheans for her entire life, and here was explicit evidence of not only their culture, but of the Protheans themselves. She reached forwards reverently towards the print as her pulse began to quicken. By touching this disk, she would be potentially the very first being to lay her hands on it in fifty thousand years.

Her fingertips brushed lightly across the three digits imprinted into the disk, and a shudder ran across her body. A moment later, the disk slid back a few millimeters towards the wall, where it stopped with a soft click. Instantly, the sound of stone scraping across stone echoed from outside, only to stop again a second later. Finding herself uncomfortable with how often things seemed to rearrange themselves around the pyramid, Liara quickly stepped back out into the sunlight with the rest of the group close behind.

They made their way to the far side of the raised stone platform, all the while carefully avoiding stepping too close to its sides. Upon finally arriving at the opposite end, they stopped to see three thin stone slats had shifted aside, revealing thin compartments set into the floor. Inside two of these lay long one-sided blades with wicked notches set along each curved length of steel. The third blade, however, had broken in several places, leaving various shards of rusted metal scattered about the compartment.

Gazing down at the weapons, Miranda blithely remarked, "Seems your wish came true, Jack."

Jack pointedly ignored her, choosing instead to grab up one of the blades. Deciding to follow suit, Liara picked up the second to run an appraising eye over it. Immediately, she noted its surprising heft in her hand, and as she tested the blade with her thumb she found that it was still sharp. Twisting it over in her hands, she frowned as she noticed several scratches notched into the side of the metal about two-thirds of the way down the blade.

A few feet away, Jack gave her blade an experimental swing, looking mildly impressed as the weapon sliced through the air. By her side, Miranda backed a few steps away with a nervous expression as she said, "If you cut something off yourself with that I'm not paying to have it reattached." Rather than respond, Jack gave her a leering smile as she angled her next swipe in her direction.

Looking away from the pair of them, Liara instead turned to find Shepard staring into the empty third compartment. Walking over to her, she too peered down towards the broken metal. "I suppose something must have happened to the third blade between when they were buried and now," she said. "Perhaps whatever seal protected the other two from the elements failed on this one."

Shepard nodded, a thoughtful expression on her face. "That would make sense, yeah." She shrugged, then turned to grin towards Liara. "It's alright, I'm not super big on swords anyways."

Liara arched a brow in disbelief. "Really? You strike me as the type to have grown up on all those human stories of heroes with legendary swords slaying evil or saving the innocent."

Shepard paused, her mouth slowly curving into a sly grin. "Since when do you know so much about human fantasy stories, hm?"

Liara blanched, a blush threatening to spread as memories of covert extranet searches of 'human culture' and 'famous human adventures' flashed traitorously in her mind. Across from her, Shepard laughed at her stricken expression. "It's alright, I won't tell anyone about your secret reading tastes."

Her smile flickered for a moment, fast enough that Liara wasn't sure if she had imagined it as she continued, "But yeah, I've been stabbed a couple times too many to still really enjoy stuff like this." She nudged a shard of the blade with her foot. "Plus, punching stuff is way more fun."

Liara scoffed as her mouth curled into a fond smile. "Now you just sound like a krogan."

She paused suddenly, her gaze fixed on something further down the platform. After a moment of consideration, she planted one boot on the stone and stepped up onto the stone surface. Aware of Shepard's eyes on her, she strode past the open compartments to kneel down next to where yet another small slab had shifted aside.

Beneath this piece of stone was yet another marking, this one in the shape of a foot with two large toes protruding from it. Liara bit her lip, then on a hunch scanned the nearby area for similar markings. To her satisfaction, she found two more footprints impressed into the stone, one on either side of the first.

She stood carefully, switching the blade she still carried to her other hand as she waved over the others and yelled, "Look, I've found something else!"

The other three quickly hurried over, their expressions ranging from mildly curious to warily suspicious. Gesturing down towards the footprints, Liara stated, "It seems that whatever mechanism the Protheans built into this place, it very much is intended for three people."

Miranda nodded thoughtfully, while by her side Shepard stared down towards the three markings silently. After a moment, she looked back up with an excited grin. "Right, so who wants to step on it first?"

Jack immediately stepped back from the footprints as she replied, "Absolutely not me, fuck all that."

Miranda laboriously rolled her eyes. "What would we ever do without you, I wonder?" A moment later, however, she turned towards Shepard with an unrepentant set to her jaw. "Obviously though, I won't be going first either."

Shepard scoffed as Liara arched a brow skeptically. Deciding she'd had enough of listening to everyone bicker, she silently stepped forwards to plant the sole of her boot squarely over the footprint.

The stone plate immediately sank down an inch under her weight, producing a dull clank that reverberated up through the ground. A moment later, a scraping sound filled the air as another footprint was revealed, this one further down the platform and slightly angled off to the left. Furrowing her brow, she stepped forwards once more to place her left foot over the new plate. Once again, the plate sank beneath her weight, producing another loud mechanical sound as yet another footprint appeared, this one facing backwards.

"It's almost like choreography," Miranda murmured. "Like it's teaching you a dance."

Liara nodded thoughtfully, wondering what secret the pyramid could be holding that would warrant such a mechanism. Shifting to hold her blade a safe distance away from herself, she nimbly leapt forwards and began to follow the footsteps of the Protheans.

She moved quickly and confidently, flowing from one pressure plate to the next nearly as quickly as they appeared. As she followed the footprints, she found herself agreeing with Miranda as her body was forced to twist and contort to reach each successive plate, creating a complex dance full of spins, backsteps, and leaps when the next footprint was too far for her to reach otherwise. Every step of the way, the plates sank beneath her feet, and every time another loud thud rang out like the tumblrs of the world's largest safe.

Finally, she executed one final rotating backstep to find herself standing at the far end of the stone platform. Directly before her now sat the middle pedestal, upon which the featureless statue kneeled with its head held out in Liara's direction. Her heart pounding in her chest from exertion, she glanced around for any other pressure plates or indicators of what to do, but none presented themselves to her. Stymied, she frowned and shifted her weight on the final pressure plate as she tried to think of how to proceed.

She found herself staring down towards the statue before her, its neck still bared to the world. A memory flashed in her mind of similar statues that had guarded the first piece of the Ring, and she glanced down towards the blade still clutched in her fingers with a bout of trepidation. Could this really be what the Protheans had intended?

Hesitantly, she clutched the blade with both hands and raised it up over her head. A wave of outrage began to bubble up within her as her inner scholar rebelled against her train of thought, but with some difficulty she managed to tune it out. If her plan didn't work at least there would still be two statues left for future study, she reasoned, though the thought did little to console her.

Belatedly, she realized she had been standing still with the blade raised for several seconds. Huffing out a breath, she squeezed her eyes shut and swung the blade down with all her might before she could stop herself.

The weapon bit deeply into the statue's neck, jarring Liara's fingers as it sank over halfway through the stone before coming to a stop. For a heartbreaking moment, nothing happened and in the silence she heard Jack mutter, "Damn, no one told me we can break shit."

A few seconds later, however, Liara heard a soft gurgling sound begin to emerge from the statue as a familiar black ichor started to well up around the blade. This liquid rapidly began to gush from the wound she had inflicted, creating a deluge of the viscous fluid onto the stone below. Looking downwards, Liara saw the dark blood land in the grooves she had noticed earlier, and as she watched the blood funneled down towards the pyramid until it vanished into the metal grate set into the ground with a splash.

Cautiously, she stepped back off of the final pressure plate, and to her satisfaction it stayed depressed as she moved backwards. Turning over her shoulder, she motioned towards the black blood still running from the statues neck as she called, "I think all three of us have to kill a statue to get in."

Jack and Shepard glanced towards each other, and with a shrug they both stood up onto the first footprint on their respective sides. Liara watched with a growing smile as they each attempted to replicate her actions, both of them stumbling forwards to each successive pressure plate with significantly less grace than she had displayed. As they moved, the dull echoes of some massive mechanism continued to sound, creating a cacophony of overlapping impacts.

Eventually, the pair completed their strange dances across the stone, depositing them both in front of the remaining statues. Jack brought her blade flashing down with no hesitation, cutting through almost the entire neck in a single chop. Dark blood immediately flooded forth, splattering onto the sandy stone below before racing down a second groove to exit into the grate.

Glancing over towards Shepard, Liara found her just standing next to the final statue with empty hands and a puzzled expression. Frowning, Liara realized with a sinking feeling that she hadn't considered how to complete the ritual with the third blade in pieces. Before she could think up a second idea, however, Shepard activated her omni-tool and extended out a glowing blade with a flick of her wrist. Stepping forwards, she brought the omni-blade down across the statue's neck only to cleanly decapitate it, sending the stone head flying in a spray of thick black goo.

Shepard reeled back, her torso now splattered with dark blood. Deactivating her omni-tool, she wiped off her face with a queasy grimace. "Sorry, Liara, but I think I broke your statue."

Liara smiled and stepped closer to her to wipe a smudge off of her forehead. In a teasing voice, she asked, "Has anyone ever told you that you can be quite impulsive at times?"

Shepard smirked. "Not that I'll admit without my lawyer present." Her smile fell, and an earnestly worried expression appeared in its place. "I didn't ruin your whole thing though, did I?"

Warmed by her concern, Liara squeezed her shoulder before turning back towards the pyramid. "Let's go find out, shall we?"

Liara hopped down off the platform and strode over towards the opening in the pyramid wall with Shepard close behind. They both stopped at the one side of the grate, watching as a flood of black liquid poured through the metal slats and disappeared into some unseen space. Across the flow of blood, Jack and Miranda stood side by side as they too watched results of their handiwork.

Shifting to edge slightly away from Jack, Miranda asked, "Should something have happened by now?"

Liara shrugged and replied, "The other hidden mechanisms we've encountered that used the same liquid usually worked quickly, but there is no way to know for sure."

Jack frowned and gestured to the statues behind them. "What's the deal with all this shit anyways? Why make us dance around like some dumbasses just to kill some statues?"

Liara peered towards the three statues as her brow furrowed in thought. "I suppose whoever built this place wanted anyone who got inside to partake in the act of death."

Silence fell as the group pondered the weight of Liara's words. Even she found herself unsettled by the obsession with death they had revealed both here and under Jiwai's surface. Surely, she thought, this must be the work of some offshoot from main Prothean society. Not only did no other records of Prothean architecture mention devices such as these, but she found she couldn't believe that the history of the people she had studied so thoroughly had such morbid undertones.

As she pondered this, she belatedly noticed the sound of running liquid had slowly begun to fade away. Glancing downwards, she watched as the last dregs of viscous fluid flowed into the grate, and looking back outside she saw that the three statues had finally been bled dry. Only moments later, the ground began to shake once again as several mounds of sand started to rise up all around them, at least ten on either side of the stone platform. As Liara watched, the sand of each mound fell away to reveal a host of stone statues rising up from the ground in a loose arc bordering the recession in the pyramid wall. Each of these figures stood at attention, their hands clasped together and feet spread wide across the stone pedestals rising up beneath them. In their stone hands, each statue held its own steel blade pointed downwards to rest the tip between their feet, and Liara felt her heart flutter with nerves at the sight of this host of stone warriors now surrounding them.

A loud crack rang out behind them, and Liara spun around to see a split now running through the recessed portion of the wall. Stone grated across stone as this crack widened slightly, revealing a small gap running directly through where she had placed the metal sculpture into the wall. As she watched, the crack grew slowly as the two new halves of the wall slid away from each other, and after a few seconds the sculpture itself was dislodged by the motion and plopped onto the sand below.

Finally, the two stone halves ground to a halt, revealing a new five foot wide doorway in the side of the pyramid. Beyond the doors, only a few feet of a new sandy passageway were visible before it faded into darkness as no light was visible from within. A burst of musty wind flowed out from this new space, carrying a sickly aroma that forced Liara to hold her breath to avoid gagging.

By her side, Miranda began to cough as her eyes started to water. "God," she forced out, "what is that smell?"

"Dead people," Jack replied, staring warily down the passage before them. "Dead for a long time, too."

Liara glanced back towards the ring of statues behind them, a chill running down her spine as she looked between the many notched blades in their hands. Forcing herself to look away, her gaze instead landed on the metal sculpture now resting where it had fallen onto the ground. She stepped forwards cautiously before kneeling down to gently pick it back up out of the sand.

T'Soni…

Liara froze, a spike of ice cold fear piercing through her chest. Snapping her head up, she frantically looked around for any source of the sound, but all she could see was the looming darkness before her. Another burst of air gusted out of the pyramid, strong enough this time to kick sand up in small eddies as the stench of rot returned. Liara, however, registered none of this as a flurry of whispers slithered around the very limits of her perception, soft and fleeting enough that they could have been the wind if not for a single word clearly ringing out in the dark.

T'Soni…

Stiffly, Liara forced herself back to her feet and took a step backwards. Turning back over her shoulder, she asked in a quavering voice, "Do you hear that?"

Shepard's brow furrowed. "Hear what?"

Swallowing thickly, Liara turned back towards the black passage before her. "Nothing, I suppose." She paused to listen once again, but after several seconds of silence she sighed as a band of tension slowly started to constrict around her ribs. It probably was nothing, right?

"So are we raiding this bitch or what?" Liara flinched and turned to see Jack staring expectantly at her.

By her side, Miranda groaned. "Try to show at least a little respect, Jack, this place is probably a tomb," she admonished.

Jack snorted. "Since when have you been above tomb raiding?"

Rolling her eyes, Shepard stepped forwards as Miranda and Jack started quietly arguing between themselves. Stopping next to Liara, she placed a hand on her shoulder with a concerned frown. "Are you good?"

Liara nodded, forcing herself to smile weakly. "I'll be alright." Turning to face the darkness before her, she set her shoulders determinedly. "I was never one to be afraid of the dark."

With that, she strode forwards down the new passageway, pulling out a small flashlight from her bag to light the way as the others followed behind. Strange whispers or not, there was history hidden away in this pyramid, and Liara would see it uncovered.

A/N: hey gamers! i know this one took literally forever, but in my defense for the last two months ive been in a workplace hell of six day weeks, ten hour shifts, and studying for tests at home. like i literally wrote 90 percent of this on my phone during breaks lmao. the good news, however, is that i dont have to do any of that shit anymore! so hopefully i'll be able to pump these out much, much faster than this one. also, we're officially getting close to the end! i'm calling my shot rn and im gonna say there will be six more chapters after this one, but we'll see if i'm write or not. anyways, hope you're all enjoying these brief little glances into Shepard's backstory! who knows when we'll get to see more of what's going on with her? also i love all of you who read this, thank you all so much! see you guys next time