Three Little Lovebirds

Chapter 9 – The Gathering Storm

Lucy Shepard hefted the enviro-suit chest plate, grunting at how surprisingly heavy it was. She'd barely registered its bulk during her passion fuelled escapades, but now the damned thing seemed to weigh almost as much as its owner.

"I don't like this," Lucy commented sadly, fixing Tali with a pained look "It seems criminal to shut away someone so beautiful..."

The Quarian blushed, this time displaying the darkened hue in all its glory. Lucy could see now how the flush spread across her chest, just brushing the tops of the engineer's delectable breasts. The sight made Shepard's mouth water; it brought back all the wonderful memories of last night and the morning afterwards. She'd awoken to the sweetest kiss Tali had given her yet and it wasn't long before the lovemaking escalated. God...those fingers were even better than she'd dreamt. Her legs still felt weak in the knees and with the added weight she bore in her arms it was all she could manage to simply stand upright.

Coughing as she pulled herself back to reality, Lucy hauled the chest piece over to her lover. She gazed with longing at the expanse of milky flesh she was about to conceal. Okay...maybe not just longing. Despite her best efforts, the spectre was unable to resist placing a single farewell kiss on each rosy nipple.

"I'll be seeing you again soon." she murmured as the rough flesh rubbed sensually against her lips. The sensation was intoxicating and the small moan that escaped Tali's throat was not helping her self-control. It took every ounce of willpower the Commander possessed to stop her undoing all her work and stripping the young girl naked again for another passionate session.

Sadly though, she didn't have that luxury. The Quarian vaccine boosters Tali had taken before coming to her quarters the previous day would wear off within the hour. After that, there would be no way to guarantee the engineer's safety.

Fitting the top to Tali's torso was harder than it looked and it took much fumbling and shuffling around before it finally resumed its original skin-tight position. Lucy grabbed the last two belts and lashed them across the Quarian's lower chest. They fit snugly but Shepard still took the time to adjust them, undoubtedly due to how her fingers pressed softly against Tali's bosoms each time she did.

"You're insatiable Lucy," the engineer giggled. "Not that I'm complaining."

Feeling emboldened by all the kind words the spectre had shared with her, Tali planted a playful kiss on her lover's lips. Humour quickly became surprised joy when Lucy hungrily returned the gesture. Several more minutes were lost as the tender kiss captured both women and submersed them in the love they shared for each other.

"I don't know how I'll manage without the feeling of your lips on mine," the Quarian said sadly "Thank you Lucy...for introducing me to the most special moments of my life."

"You make it sound like we're never going to see each other again." Shepard commented. It was meant as a joke, but hearing the words scared her more than she let on. Up until this point, she'd avoided discussing or even thinking about what would happen when Tali's Pilgrimage ended. Deep down, Lucy hoped that the love they shared may be enough to keep then together. Was she being selfish? It certainly seemed like it...hoping the Quarian would abandon her entire race, her way of life just to make the spectre happy.

'Tali wants this too,' she reminded herself. 'She loves you Lucy and if you want her to stay, you should damn well love her back with all your heart.'

Guilt clawed at her insides. She still hadn't given Tali the Geth data she'd gathered on Verdus. Lucy kept telling herself that she was waiting for the right moment but now she knew that wasn't the reason. The fact was she was terrified that if she handed it over, her darling engineer would see no good enough reason to stay. Was her loyalty to the spectre greater tha her loyalty to her people?

'Dear god...' Lucy thought, feeling rotten to her core 'I can't ask her to make that kind of decision...'

Suddenly a lot more subdued, Shepard made the finishing checks of Tali's suit. All that remained was to clip on her visor and the girl she adored would once again be separated from her.

Of course, there was something else. No matter how hard she fought against it, Lucy couldn't keep images of Liara from her head. She'd almost been able to forget the Asari when making love to Tali...was almost able to dismiss her as a silly crush when her beautiful partner was keening with pleasure beneath her. Now though, as the spectre's thoughts took on a more melancholy tone, she was unable to deny the depth of her feelings for the shy scientist. It made her insides hurt just thinking about it...made her feel like she was betraying the young Quarian without even doing anything. Lucy loved Tali dearly but it was foolish to think she didn't love Liara just as much. In the short time they'd known each other, she'd sensed a connection so deep and so profound that it made her feel like they were just meant to be together.

She couldn't let things continue the way they were. It was the worst feeling she'd ever experienced, loving two people and knowing that when she chose one, it would break the other's heart. Perhaps that was why she'd thrown herself into a relationship with Tali so readily, to try and focus all her affection on one person and block the other out. It wasn't working...Liara was appearing in her dreams more and more frequently. Lucy was certain they'd dream-joined on several occasions, although each time it had just been her watching the Asari sleep. Shepard could have spent hours just staring at Liara's gorgeous blue skin, admiring how perfect the scientist's body looked in the ethereal glow that permeated her subconscious.

Giving Tali one last chaste kiss on the lips, Lucy handed the Quarian her visor. She could feel the adoration radiating from the young girl wash over her, stoking the flame of guilt in her chest. Before she could stop herself, the words came tumbling out.

"Tali, I've got something I need to tell you..."

"What is it love?" God, those innocent eyes were so perfect. Lucy choked on the lump in her throat, immediately regretting what she'd just said. How could she be so cruel? How could she possibly begin to say what needed to be said, knowing full well how much it would hurt Tali? Images of the Quarian's tear-streaked face, twisted with the pain of grief and betrayal swam mockingly before her.

"I..." Oh god...forgive me, my love "I..."

"Joker to Shepard."

Lucy had never been more grateful for her pilot's terrible sense of timing.

"What is it Joker?"

"We've got a...situation here Commander, you'd better come to the bridge."

"I'll be right there."

Lucy cast Tali a deeply apologetic look. She knew the Quarian understood that duty must come before their personal feelings...that was one thing the young girl would not begrudge her for. The spectre hurried from her quarters as if the devil himself was hot on her heels.

Liara T'soni exited the Medbay as quietly as she could...she didn't feel like attracting any attention and the inevitable socialisation that would come with it. While she was usually shy, the Asari found herself fearing even the nods and mumbled 'Hellos' of her fellow crewmembers. The thought of what might happen, should someone pry too closely and discover the gaping chasm of longing that engulfed her entire body didn't bare thinking about. Liara still felt teary, although her heartache was more a dull throb deep within her chest as opposed to the very real pain that had pierced her last night. Stopping briefly to analyze her distorted reflection in a shiny section of metal plate, she surmised that her eyes were not quite bloodshot enough to give away the fact she'd spent the whole night crying.

With a minute adjustment of her lab coat, she ambled meekly in the direction of the food dispenser. The unconscious grace and poise of all Asari were still evident in her movements but any onlooker would have spotted how subdued the scientist looked. That is if anyone cared enough about her to spare her a second glance.

Sighing as the familiar sense of isolation permeated her small bubble of solitude; Liara ordered a coffee from the machine. Perhaps the brown nectar might temporarily alleviate her weariness. Allowing her mind to wander as the drink was prepared, the Asari realised that a conversation was occurring between two other occupants of the dining area. From the sound of their voices, it was Ashley Williams and Kaiden Alenko. Liara didn't give it a second thought until she heard Lucy's name being mentioned.

'Don't take the bait,' she thought desperately to herself 'It's none of your business...remember what happened last time you eavesdropped.'

It didn't work; even the mention of her beloved's name drew her like a moth to a candle. Loathing her lack of willpower, Liara shuffled closer and focused on the hushed semi-whispers of the two Alliance soldiers.

"How can you not know LT?" Ashley cried incredulously, "Even Joker's heard about it by now."

"Scuttlebutt's not really my thing," came Kaiden's calm reply. Liara could almost see the biotic shrugging his shoulders and Ashley's irritated look at his apparent lack of interest.

"You were in the cargo bay right after the ground team got back, don't tell me you didn't see what happened."

"I was neck-deep in Mako wreckage at the time Chief," Kaiden replied. He was trying to sound dismissive but it was obvious that like every soldier, he couldn't resist a juicy piece of gossip.

"I'd have thought a chauvinistic man like you would have been the first to notice," Ashley retorted although the accusation was nothing more than light teasing "I didn't think anyone could miss Tali and the skipper's little display...she was practically tearing our spectre's clothes off there and then!"

A loud clatter stopped the conversation dead in its tracks. Ashley whirled around on the swivelled chair, her soldier's sense allowing her to instantly zero in on the disturbance. Behind, she felt a tiny tingle as Kaiden's biotics powered up. You could never be too careful when so many things in the galaxy wanted you dead.

The sight she saw was not what she'd been expecting. A large blossom of spilled coffee fanned out across the deck, pooling around the feet of a certain Asari scientist. The polystyrene cup lay on the ground where it had slipped from her grasp, the murky dregs still steaming slightly. Liara made no move to pick it up. In fact, her hand was still held numbly outstretched as if the dropped drink hadn't even registered. For a tense second, the only movement was the maiden's faint swaying.

Then, as if some bewitching spell had been suddenly broken, Liara collapsed painfully to the floor.

"What the hell?" Ashley's exclamation ended the silence. She leapt to her feet, jarring the table and nearly sending the half-finished food and drink flying.

"I'll find the doctor." Kaiden said, dodging past the Chief as she knelt beside the prone form of Liara. Making his way to the sleeper pods, the biotic quickly located Chakwas and punched in the code to start the wake-up process.

"I'm not getting a pulse!"