T'Soni residence, Thessia
Shepard stood just inside the large living room looking out across the formal gardens. The warm breeze bringing the tang of the ocean; gently ruffling leaves and setting fragrant blooms rocking almost imperceptibly.
The wide, multiple doors in the rooms glass wall were all open giving the impression the garden was an extension of the room. The smooth stone patio that ran the length of the back of the house blended interior with exterior seamlessly.
The small bundle of new life nesting in the crook of her arm shifted slightly in her peaceful sleep and brought a strong memory of holding her son in the same way over a year ago on Illium.
Smiling down she ran a finger softly over her daughter's cheek, and wondered if her other self was getting any closer to finding him. You still can't quite bring yourself to call her either clone or sister can you.
Clone had very negative connotations in Council space and humanity had outright banned any form of whole person cloning over four hundred years ago. But she'd fought cloned Krogan's and her intelligence briefings were full of possible human cloning by Cerberus. Why does everyone try to build super soldiers loaded with psychotic blood lust. Why not healers, teachers, or scientists, her mood darkened at the trail her of thoughts.
That was the worry in the back of her mind about Vega, and yes it was easier just to use her chosen name. For her plan to get Liara and her children as far away from the Reapers as possible to succeed, she needed to know her clone was truly stable and an almost complete copy of herself.
Because Lee would never leave her, she knew that, but this way she wouldn't have too.
Movement at her feet drew her attention as the huge, ugly but devoted varren sat up and looked at her with big sad eyes. He had taken up the role of guardian to her daughter the way he had with her son and was never very far away. Despite the best efforts of her daughter's nurse and Lees' personal assistants.
Surprisingly, considering how much the Asari loved beauty and grace most of the household had a soft spot for the brutish looking and clumsy dog like creature. Most Asari preferred a companion animal which was lithe and elegant more like an Earth cougar.
Again, her mind wandered back to her son for whom Wrex had brought the varren puppy. Ike had pinned terribly when his adopted family didn't return from their short vacation on Illium and the household staff had all rallied round to look after him.
She felt sure that everyone had used him as a focus for their own grief at the tragedy and knew Kasumi had welcomed his quiet comforting presence for her personal loss of Jamie Skorsgaard. Before she could fall down that particular rabbit hole of grief and anger her daughter stirred again.
Blue eyes seemed to search her face and she brought her arm up a little higher moving her finger to brush the tiny fists that opened like the petals of morning daisy's searching, not for the sun, but the comfort of physical connection as tiny fingers grasped her own.
"Hey baby girl, you hungry yet," her smile was evident in her voice and in that moment, there was only love and light and joy. As with every other time she looked at or held the miracle that was her daughter the darkness was banished, pain and fear erased, and hope once again held a corner of her mind.
She sensed more than heard her bondmate coming to join her.
"Here's your mama little one," she turned to look into piercing blue eyes that reminded her of deep Thessian Ocean's. While at other times they could be as hard as ice chipped from the glaciers on the southern continent. Blue, like I've never seen before, but always known, eyes that hold me fast in their loving connection.
She felt the soft brush of her lover's mind against her own and smiling, without need of words, leaned forward for their lips to meet in a moment of sheer bliss.
They parted a little and she felt a hand on the back of her head, running fingers across short hair, their eyes still searching each other's soul.
"How is the world of Asari politics," she said softly into the silence.
Liara smiled and shook her head a little, "it is very much like trying to peel an onion while your hands are encased in gauntlets."
She returned her lover's smile and they both looked down at the happy, gurgling sound that rose between them.
"Shall we sit outside," Liara said as she took the offered bundle into her arms.
"Yeah. Did you get any food yet?"
They settled themselves onto a plump, upholstered bench and she adjusted the shade slightly to keep the bright, piercing sunlight out of their eyes. Liara opened her crisp white linen shirt as she settled her daughter more comfortably in the crook of her arm and offered her breast.
She had seen this ritual more times than she could count since the birth yet she never tired of the shared sense of completeness in this most basic of intimate moments.
Wrapping her arm around the young Asari's shoulder's, who responded by leaning in, she said, "I don't know how much longer I can avoid going back." Her tone was heavy with sadness and regret.
"I know… it is just… she is not even one month yet," Liara also spoke softly and she heard the edge of sorrow that her bondmate was fighting to keep at bay.
She kissed Liara's forehead and reached for her lover's left hand with her own. As she lifted their hands to her lips to kiss slender blue fingers the sun flashed off the silver of the ring's they both wore. Not for the first time was she caught by the audacity of their decisions.
To have found each other in the first place felt like a miracle, to have fallen so deeply and completely in love seemed impossible. And for that love to survive and thrive against all the odds, amongst all the death and heartache, knowing what they had to face; she gave thanks to the universe every day for this gift.
The edge of another small but bright consciousness drifted like the softest, feintest, summer breeze. Almost indistinguishable for the powerful warmth of Liara's sun like presence. Her daughter. More like a cat's purr of contentment than clearly defined emotions, and another unexpected benefit of her bond with Liara.
A slight pulse on her wrist informed her she had a message. For a moment she cursed herself for not setting her divert ensuring all calls or messages went to the comms centre where only something of serious urgency would be relayed to her.
She had little enough time remaining with her family having already spoken to Anderson the previous evening. Then, a moment later, she realised that the only channel that was not and never had been set to divert was her very private one.
Only two people had access to that channel now her mother was dead. One of them was sitting next to her which meant Vega was trying to make contact.
"What is it my love," Liara asked turning her face towards her.
She kissed the soft blue hand once more and reluctantly released it.
"It's nothing, I just need to check…"
"Yes, I felt the vibration from your comm, but there is something else," the question was asked gently but she felt the expectation of an explanation.
Moving to the edge of the seat she turned to face Liara. Concern was etched deep on her lovers face.
"I promise I'll tell you everything once I've taken this call," she leaned in and kissed her lightly on the lips then rested her forehead on Liara's for a moment before standing up.
Their eyes held and finally Liara nodded, "this feels big, important… please do not shut me out Shepard."
She nodded her head a little, "everything… I'll tell you everything, just… when I know."
"Even if you cannot bring him home, I need to know," Liara's voice was almost a whisper and she wrapped her arms protectively around their daughter as a single tear escaped long dark lashes.
Squaring her shoulder's and with a final nod she turned and walked away their shared pain like a shard of crystal in her heart.
Moving from the bright sunshine into the house she raised her left wrist and pushed gently on the control panel embedded under skin. The basic holo projector flashed to life just above her forearm.
Using the haptic interface, she retrieved the message that was blinking for attention at one corner of the screen.
Her clone's face appeared looking tired but wearing a smile, "we're just outside the Parnitha system and that's as far as I can go with my credentials. Good as they are, they won't stand up to Asari home system scrutiny."
The women turned and seemed to reach out for something off screen, and when she moved back into range of the vid feed a small child wriggled in her lap. Thin arms wrapped around her neck and face buried in Vega's sweat shirt.
"I've sent my coordinates so you can rendezvous with me and you may want to bring some medics," her tone was serious and she was looking down at the child in her arms.
Then continued more quickly looking directly into the screen, "he's not hurt in any physical way I can see. My team medic patched up the places they had him hooked up to machines, but he still has a couple of ports that will need removed," her eyes and voice softened, "but he's… terrified, and he keeps reaching out to me with a meld, its rough and not like a controlled joining but I can feel his fear and confusion. Vega out."
She was still walking through the house as she watched the message with the audio playing through her ear implant so no one passing could hear. Her mind was reeling, her son had grown so much, from the little she saw of him.
Once in the bedroom she shared with Liara she found her omni-tool and pulled on the soft wrist wrap allowing it to self-secure on her left arm. The tool, like other comms devices, amplified her personal comm and she sat on the edge of the bed and watched the message again on the much bigger holo screen generated by the tool.
She froze the screen at several points and focussed in on the back of her son's neck looking for a long time at the implanted hard port at the base of his skull. A tension raked through her body and her breath quickened as fury blazed through her mind at the realisation the small body on the screen had been the subject of who knows what kind of sick experiments.
Moving quickly and feeling she needed to be doing something before her rage would only be sated by physically destroying something near her, she headed out of the room and down the corridor. Once in Liara's private office she sent two encrypted messages from her Spectre account.
The first was to Thessian system defence and air control alerting them to an incoming flight which she designated as secret with highly restricted access. The return data package contained clearance codes and a flight path that would allow landing on one of the T'Soni estates private pads.
The second was to Miranda Lawson, it was short and to the point, "need you at the estate. Extremely urgent."
She sat back in the chair and looked out the window not really seeing the crystal-clear blue sky or the line of lush green trees in the distance. Her eyes narrowed and she felt a small tremor in her body from the adrenaline pumping through her veins.
I will tear you to pieces with my own hands Harper and feed the pieces to the nearest Reaper. Keying in a call on her private channel she tried to calm herself by taking deep steadying breaths.
The call was answered by an eerily familiar face, "I see you got my message."
"Yeah, but I'm sending you a flight plan and clearance codes for Parintha system space and for a landing on Thessia."
She sent the data package and waited. This wasn't a QEC connection, it was almost light speed via the uplink platforms in the Asari home system and the FTL link through the relay, but there was still around a ninety second delay.
While she waited for the reply, she moved from behind the desk to the window just for something to do with her body.
Her clone's demeanour changed as she read the message and replied with a troubled expression, hesitation clear in her voice, "I… you shouldn't let her see me, too many questions. You shouldn't let anyone see me. If you insist on me bringing him all the way of course I will, but… I'll need to leave quickly."
"I'll meet you at the landing pad. We'll talk then without the delay, Shepard out."
Closing the comm connection she leaned her forehead against the cool glass and wished, not for the first time, she could ask her mother's advice. I don't know what to do mum, for my plan to work I need Lee and Vega to meet, for Lee to see her as a better version of me… but I don't know if I can complete my mission without her.
The rage bled out of her body, replaced with a heaviness that crushed as if someone had turned the gravity up. She felt her shoulder's sag and the darkness at the edge of her mind pushed in against even the much brighter, if tainted, thoughts of her son's return.
She checked the time. Vega would be hitting dirtside in a quiet corner of the estates private landing area in around two hours. Did she tell Lee now or wait until she'd seen her son first? How would she introduce them, who else should she tell?
Her head was a whirling dervish of indecision, doubts and fear. The one person who could calm her and bring order back was the one person she couldn't talk to until she had her head straight.
A reflex, engaged almost without conscious thought, pulled her arm back and punched her fist into the wall. The satisfying physical pain brought all her attention to the knuckles in her hand and as she was considering doing it again a voice spoke from behind her.
"No secrets Shepard, we share everything or we share nothing."
She turned and looked into blue eyes as translucent and compelling as anything she had seen in the most beautiful nebulae.
Without a word she closed the distance between them and wrapped her arms around her lover, bending her head down so she could bury her face in Liara's neck.
The strong arms that encircled her gave respite and peace and a calm that only came from her bond with this amazing being, her soul mate, her light.
Merc frigate private landing pad, T'Soni Estate, Thessia
Vega checked the sleeping child in the co-pilot chair again and unnecessarily adjusted the light blanket that covered him. She moved her focus back to the cockpit windows and on not pacing the deck like a caged animal.
She had landed only ten minutes ago but it felt like hours. Forcing her body to still she took up a comfortable pose, leaning back just a little on her right leg, arms across her chest and fingers tucked under her arm pits.
And breathe, nothing to worry about. Shepard will pick up John, we'll say our farewells and I can get on with carving out a life with killing Cerberus at the top of my to do list.
A hard smile played on her lips at the thought of taking the organisation apart, and as often as possible from the inside out. She would leave the Reapers to Shepard, Cerberus was hers.
Movement brought her back to the present and she watched a small estate shuttle land one pad over. She was about to move back to open the side doors when an Asari jumped from the shuttle even before it had properly settled on the ground.
Her body went rigid and her hands moved to an almost defensive position in front of her and she walked backwards a few steps. She felt a harsh sting behind her eyes but couldn't look away from the tall, elegant figure walking purposefully towards her shuttle.
She remembered the first time she had touched that beautiful face, the soft, warm skin. The heat of their bodies, the searing connection of their souls.
Liara, the name escaped her as a whispered reverence.
Almost tripping on her own feet, she turned quickly and took the dozen paces to get to the doors without seeing anything in front of her. Memories and feelings whiplashing her mind rendering coherent thought almost impossible.
Yet one thought had her by the throat, almost literally, making it hard to breathe, hard to swallow. Please don't hate me, you won't love me but please don't despise me for what I am. This more than any other reason was why she hadn't wanted to meet Liara.
At least she had her memories. Memories filled with love and friendship and connection between her and the woman she would love for the rest of her life. But now she would have her own, real, memory that would cast a shadow over everything that was just about holding her together.
She punched the door panel control and stepped back as it whooshed open filling the space with bright, natural light, un-scrubbed air and the smell only dirt could produce. For a moment blinded by haze she couldn't see anyone outside and then an instant later she was there in front of her, "where is he?"
Those piercing blue eyes searched her face and Vega looked down at her feet nodding her head towards the cockpit. As Liara moved away she remained rooted to the spot, too much pain, too much grief and confusion. She didn't know how to hold it all together, hold herself together.
Then another figure was in front of her and strong arms were pulling her into a hug.
"I'm sorry, I wanted you two to meet in a less… dramatic way," Shepard's voice was low and soft, "I know your worried but it's all going to work out, trust me."
Wanted them to meet, Shepard wanted them to meet. Why, what could she possibly want from them meeting. Then it struck her that perhaps Shepard thought it would be good for her to know first-hand that Liara hated the very idea of her and felt defiled by the memories she held.
Asari had a lot of taboos around their ability to join minds and nervous systems and having memories that don't belong to you sat near the top of that list.
A part of her mind rebelled, a sense that this was a shit thing to do when after all none of this had been her choice, not her doing, that all she'd tried to do was the right thing. But what would she do in the same situation; well I guess I'm finding out… great. That thought rode on a physical sigh and she realised she was on her own at the shuttle door.
Not wanting to intrude she stepped out into the sunshine and moved a little away. No one else had left the other shuttle and it didn't look as if anyone else was inside.
Terrible security, she'd need to have a word with Shepard about that. The amount of intelligence Cerberus had about Liara and her movements, the estate and even about her security team was troubling. Another thought struck her which sat a little easier on her troubled mind. Shepherd must trust me enough not to have brought a squad of Asari commandos with her.
Movement drew her eyes back to the shuttle entrance and she watched Liara step out carrying the toddler her face a mix of pain and joy. She gave Vega a quick glance and a sharp nod of the head and continued walking.
Shepard followed her out and her expression was easier to read. It was fury but she could also see the pain in the green eyes as clearly as if she was looking in a mirror.
"We're just going to get him to the medics then I'll be back for you," Shepard turned to follow Liara.
"No… I should go… she… I'm not needed here," she began moving back to the shuttle but Shepard turned and stepped back to her.
"We need to talk," Shepard placed her hand's on Vega's shoulders, "she wants to meet you, to say thank you properly. Now I have to go, I won't be long."
As Shepard trotted away from her and jumped into the other shuttle, she felt a strange sense of loss. The need to serve, to protect the weak and vulnerable, to live up to the lessons her family had taught her, and to her own expectations for herself was almost a primal drive.
But she had nowhere to put it. No path to follow. Shepard was living that life, her life. It made her sick to her stomach, her head hurt with the fucked up'ness of it all. And she didn't want to be angry but she knew she was.
With a heavy sigh she trudged back to her shuttle and considered drinking herself to a place where she wouldn't care. Wouldn't care that she was a fake, none of what she felt or remembered was really her, that she was someone else's pale imitation. The worst of it all was that the women she would die for would only ever see her as something obscene and unnatural, hateful and possibly even dangerous.
Estate shuttle
Liara held her still sleeping but restless son tight in her arms as Shepard flew them back to the main house.
Her mind was a rush of competing emotions. Thoughts flew around her mind like leaves caught in a high wind.
"What…," the sound of her voice felt brittle in her mind but now was not the time for a meld, "do you know what they did to him?"
"Not yet, but I have all the data from the lab," Shepard cast her a quick look as she let the shuttle settle close to the house entrance, "he's much bigger than he should be for a human child his age."
"I believe his accelerated growth has continued in line with his Asari DNA," she tried not to think about the possibility that his mental and emotional growth had not kept up with his physical development.
They moved through the shuttle to the exit ramp where a team of healers and medics were waiting with a hover medibed.
"Where is Lady Nara," she asked reluctantly letting go of her son so he could be laid on the bed.
"She is on her way and will meet us shortly," one of the priestess healers said.
She reached for Shepard's hand and they followed behind.
"Put her in the guest house I used, the one on the path to the beach," she didn't look at her bondmate but felt her stiffen.
"I know this is hard and…"
"You should have told me about her the moment you knew," she snapped cutting off whatever else Shepard was going to say, "we will talk about this later."
The anger fell away as easily as it had risen and she leaned into the strong woman at her side welcoming the arm that fell around her shoulders and held her tight.
"To say this is hard is quite the understatement," her voice was quiet and even to her own ears a little shaky, "you know how my people feel about cloning and if it was anyone else…"
They had reached the medical centre and she watched as her son was moved into position to be fully scanned.
Yes, if she had met a clone of anyone else in the Galaxy, she probably would have shot it herself, and definitely informed the authorities. Not doing so ran completely counter to some of her deepest Asari values.
But that was no monster who had brought her son back. She had seen Shepard standing before her, albeit a younger less burdened version of her lover. The brief sense she had when they were close was so familiar it constricted her throat and left her breathless.
Forcing those thoughts from her mind she focussed on her son, he was her priority in this moment and everything else would just have to wait.
