Three Little Lovebirds

Chapter 30 – A Dish Best Served Cold

Fury is a lot like love, Liara thought. Both are only stirred occasionally, both have the power to override logic and reasoning, and both are unimaginable until you experience them for yourself. You can guess what they might feel like, from a description or from observation of others' experiences, but you can never really tell until you're there, in that moment.

Lucy had shown Liara what it was to love someone. She had made the asari realise how a simple emotion could consume your entire existence; how it could rule your life and become the foundation for every action or inaction you made. Love was terrifyingly powerful, and could drive a person to abandon their principles or even change their core beliefs. Love had enslaved Liara, turned her into its pawn and played her off against its other puppets in a game where the stakes were perhaps even higher than life or death. She had been unable to do anything but be swept along for the ride; it wasn't optional, she could not have chosen whether or not to love Lucy. In the end, she had been fortunate. More by chance than any kind of skill, she'd won the game. In that way, love had transformed her, and made her capable of things that would otherwise have been unthinkable.

Well, if Lucy had taught her love, then this stranger had taught her love's bastard siblings, hate and fury. Liara had been angry before; in the playground when the other maidens picked on her for being a pureblood, when her mother had left without so much as a goodbye, when her university's journal had refused to publish her research after years of work. How trivial those moments seemed in hindsight, like raindrops in the ocean. She'd thought she'd known what anger felt like, but oh, how wrong she'd been. The rage inside her now was something much deeper, and much more dangerous. Its sickly, diseased roots reached down into her soul, using the passion it found there to fuel its growth. For only an emotion as strong as love could possibly have created a fury so overwhelmingly strong that it blinded the usually mild-mannered, unobtrusive Liara to everything but a single thought.

She had never known the desire to kill before, nor did she ever want to again. It was sickening and went against everything she believed in. But like a cancer, it spread from cell to cell, subverting and intoxicating. Liara had never felt so violated. The disgust fed her hatred. This...this thing had made her feel this way by daring to hurt the woman she loved.

I will kill him. By the Goddess if it is the last thing I ever do I will see this monster dead at my feet.

"Ah, Dr. T'Soni. A pleasure to meet you again." The Shadow Broker turned from his quarry, levelling his gaze at the newcomer. The pool of light he stood in cast everything into stark relief, shadowing his skeletal features beneath the brim of his hat. Three points shone from where his face should be; two red eyes filled with calculating menace and a glowing cigar stub. The latter sizzled with a sticky red liquid, filling the air with the metallic stench of coagulating blood. He didn't release his steely grip on Shepard's defiled face.

Again? Despite her rage, the words perplexed Liara.

That strange, tall hat...the dangling strips of cloth which hung down the back of his legs...the shiny, chrome skin that showed a warped reflection of the world around him. Surely she would remember...

Oh Goddess.

She did recognise this madman, although the circumstances of their last meeting had been very different. Liara recalled the vision she'd had while unconscious; of a guardian angel who had tried to convince her to give up the fight. How had she forgotten that? It was only now in this...place that the memories came clearly to her. How could such a traumatic event slip her mind?

"Playing catch up are we?" The Shadow Broker said, his voice maddeningly calm after what he'd just been doing. "No one ever thinks to look for the enemy inside themselves. You'd be surprised at what can lurk buried in the subconscious, out of sight of the waking mind. This Shepard," He shook Lucy's head to emphasise his words. "may have stopped me before I could get to you, but she herself was not so fortunate. Now every time she closes her eyes, she enters my domain. I must say she's done quite well, for a weak-minded organic. Not everyone could last this long. But I have all the time in the universe, and she can't hold out forever. Her spirit will break and once that happens, all that strength will mean nothing. When the time comes, she will welcome the rest of me into her mind as eagerly as she welcomes you."

That was the final straw. Hearing the synthetic compare himself to her snapped something deep inside Liara. The insidious tendrils of hatred tightened their hold on her heart until, like a dam bursting under the strain, it exploded into a torrent of deadly, venomous fury.

Liara screamed, or shouted, or yelled...she wasn't sure which. The sound was unlike anything she'd thought herself capable of producing. Then again, she hadn't thought herself capable of desiring another sentient being's death either. The thought would have scared her, if she wasn't completely blinded to everything except her adversary and the broken body of her soul mate which he was besmirching with his hateful claws.

Her biotics flared to life. This wasn't a gentle charge or a slow increase in power; vibrant blue energy exploded out of her like a cyclone, whipping debris off the floor and shaking the walls of the Normandy to their imaginary foundations. Metal groaned in protest, but Liara didn't stop to consider how this dream world might react to her actions. She didn't care if she destroyed everything around her, if she reduced the Normandy to ashes. The synthetic had to die.

"So it's a battle for Shepard's soul?" The Shadow Broker finally unhanded the limp Spectre, turning fully to face the enraged asari. "How dramatic. You must know however that you cannot win. I am a god. You are bacteria. By the time I am done, nothing will remain of what was once Liara T'Soni; just an empty shell with a half-formed memory of failure."

"We shall see." Liara snarled, barely able to speak through her clenched teeth.

The Shadow Broker's body twitched slightly, various joints adjusting themselves in preparation, perhaps increasing his mobility. Blades made of the same silvered material as the rest of his shell sprung from the back of both his wrists, extending to nearly two feet in length and locking into place. A low hum and the stench of ozone filled the air as ionising plasma powered up along the swords' edges. The synthetic hunched down, lowering his centre of mass and spreading his feet wide for better balance. He now looked more like a feral predator than any kind of man.

The two regarded each other for a moment, both searching for a weakness. Liara hung suspended in the air, wreathed in pulsating dark energy. It reminded her of her experience in the Prothean ruins. This time though, she was far from helpless. Lucy had saved her that day. Now it was time to return the favour.

The Shadow Broker made no sound when he struck. Liara had little combat experience, but even she knew that any normal person would grunt or cry out, if not with exertion than in attempt to intimidate their opponent. The Shadow Broker gave no such display. He did not his intentions. One moment he was stationary, the next he was at her throat, twin cutting edges bearing down at lightning speed.

Her aerial position gave her manoeuvrability however, and she willed herself to one side. The biotic energy at her command responded like an extension of her body, boosting her out of the way just in time. Sparks flew as her attacker's blades carved a chunk out of the wall behind where she had been. Liara alighted on the deck, skidding slightly but maintaining a firm footing. It was just as well. The Shadow Broker took zero time to recover, instantly twisting away from his missed blow and delivering a scything uppercut in her direction. He moved as if the laws of physics simply refused to affect him. Everything was choreographed perfectly, and there was an economy and precision in his movement that no organic could hope to emulate; no matter how many years they spent training.

Liara found herself on the defensive again. This time she leapt back, watching in horror as a blade sliced through the spot she'd been occupying a microsecond earlier. The air crackled and sparked in its wake, suffused with an ethereal glow as hydrogen and oxygen molecules were stripped of their electrons by the sheer amount of energy concentrated on them. Again, the Shadow Broker didn't stop; his waist simply rotated a full 360 degrees to bring his other weapon to bear.

Liara moved to back-step the attack, but found that she'd already been forced against the wall. With only a fraction of a moment to act, and no time to ponder if she was about to be eviscerated, she did the instinctual thing and threw up a biotic barrier. Time seemed to slow down as the ripples of energy formed in front of her, racing to intercept the Shadow Broker's blade before it buried itself in her skull.

A phosphorescent flash of dazzling light and her continued ability to breathe signalled that the defence had been successful. Liara had blocked the blow, but the strain in her mind was enormous. It wasn't like blocking a biotic attack of a rain of bullets; the blade focused all of the Shadow Broker's immense power onto a single point. He didn't relent; rather than letting the sword bounce off, he increased the pressure. Liara almost fell to her knees with the effort of keeping her barrier together. If she let it drop, momentum would do the rest and she'd find herself without a head.

Perhaps that was the solution though. She couldn't keep up the shield for more than a few seconds, so, while she still had some reserves to draw on, she focused on building the pressure behind her defence. For a tense moment, nothing sounded but the electrical fizz of plasma. Then, hoping dearly that she hadn't miscalculated or underestimated her adversary, she let her barrier give way with explosive force.

The Shadow Broker might have been strong, but even he had a finite mass. He saw Liara's plan a millisecond before being hit, and dug his clawed feet into the floor, drawing out a tortured screech of metal scraping on metal. It wasn't enough though; the wave of concussive force ripped him off the deck and blasted him across the room. Liara had a moment of heart-stopping panic when it looked like he would sail right into Lucy's limp form. However, whether by chance or his own intention, the Shadow Broker twisted to land better, and in so doing missed the Spectre by mere centimetres.

Liara knew she had to move quickly. Her opponent would never tire and even if she could keep him at bay, it was only a matter of time before her body would be too exhausted to continue. Rage-fuelled adrenaline infused her every muscle, powering her biotics and silencing her fatigue, but it was only sustainable for so long. She had to finish this fast, and the only way to do that was to strike first. If she allowed the Shadow Broker to put her on the defensive again, she was as good as dead.

As if reading her mind, the synthetic didn't try to waste time closing the distance between them. Instead, he remained where he was and used some kind of emitter built into his exoskeleton to fire a deadly laser in her direction. Holding out his hand and directing the beam from his finger tip, he swept the torrent of pulsating red energy across the room. Liara dived to the floor, narrowly avoiding the deadly weapon as it scythed overhead. She couldn't see how close it came, but the momentary, intense heat on the back of her neck gave a harrowing indication.

She took the moment of opportunity while the Shadow Broker reacquired his target to send a roiling mass of dark energy in his direction. It was a vicious, impulsive attack; not the subtle, finely crafted style she had been taught. Panels and girders warped and ruptured in its wake, distorted by the physics-bending properties of the mass-effect field. There was probably enough energy in that shockwave to rip apart a tank.

All that power came at a price; the bolt travelled slowly, and with his superior reflexes, the Shadow Broker easily sidestepped it. It wasn't completely futile however. The seconds it took her adversary to dodge the attack were seconds Liara could use to her advantage, and seconds where she wasn't being shot at. Using her biotics, she boosted herself off the floor. She knew she had to get in close. At range, it wouldn't take long for the Shadow Broker's directed energy weapons to dispatch her. She didn't even have a gun.

Liara surged forward, dark energy flowing from her body like a deadly comet-trail. If she could get inside the synthetic's reach, past his eviscerating blades, she might have a chance. Biotics could enhance their users' strength and speed, perhaps enough to give her an edge over the Shadow Broker's more cumbersome, sword-like weapons. In truth, these thoughts only occupied a small part of Liara's mind. She wasn't really focused on tactics or even her own self-preservation. No, the majority of her thoughts were still filled with the heartbreaking image of her strong, beautiful Spectre paralyzed and screaming with agony. Like a broken omni-tool, her mind's eye played back the images over and over again. She could see the Shadow Broker's hands coated in blood, see the grin on his deathly features as he marred the perfect, golden skin of Lucy's face with his vile, barbed fingers. She'd gladly have traded places with Lucy. No damage he could inflict on her body could equal the damage done to her soul by being forced to endure those images. They would haunt her forever, dream world or not. This may all be an illusion, but memories like that could not be dismissed.

With a roar, Liara dove at the source of her outrage. By now the Shadow Broker had regained a steady platform from which to unleash an attack. Multiple lasers, or Goddess knew what they were, pierced the air, each one of his digits spitting white-hot death at her approaching form. Metal designed to withstand mass-accelerator rounds melted away like ice, electronics exploded in plumes of acrid smoke and vengeful sparks, the entire Normandy screamed as the Shadow Broker's attack punished it. Were this the real craft, it would no doubt have been torn apart long ago. As it was, through the cracks in the hull, Liara could sense a maddening frenzy of light and sound; a hellish nightmare designed to drive organic minds to the brink of insanity. She paid it no heed.

Amidst the maelstrom summoned forth by the Shadow Broker, Liara flew like a leaf caught in a hurricane. Her body flitted between the deadly rays, borne aloft by a biotic prowess she didn't know she had. Perhaps in a dream the rules were different, or perhaps she'd simply forgotten her limits in her one-track quest for vengeance. Either way, she kept her gaze fixed on her opponent and let herself flow through the storm. A grimace of satisfaction graced her lips at the very real, very organic look of fear that seeped onto his face as she drew closer, untouched by his best efforts to force her back. If what he'd said was true, the real him might have stood undaunted, but this fragment, this after image...it knew fear, just like it knew sadistic glee.

At the last moment, the Shadow Broker broke off his attack and attempted to bring his blades to bear. It might have been successful but for one thing; Liara had been holding back. She'd realised that the machine she was facing could anticipate her every move; so it was time to be a bit unpredictable. Focusing her remaining dregs of power into one final lunge, she accelerated at breakneck speed. She couldn't dodge now, no matter what happened.

The Shadow Broker was fast. Impossibly fast. Even for a synthetic programmed to perfection, he moved with the speed of a demi-god. Deep down, Liara had known that there was no way she could go up against an enemy so powerful and come away completely unscathed. Now that macabre thought was hammered home. She was just a pace away from her quarry when he struck. Her sudden burst of biotic power was all that saved her from what would otherwise have been a fatal blow. As it was, the strike aimed to decapitate missed its mark...but not entirely. Barbs of agony clawed at her skull as the superheated plasma cleaved the tips of her head-crests from her body. The fragile cartilage parted without hesitation under the blade's caress.

For Liara, time slowed to a crawl. Whether it was the pain, the biotics, the dream or the adrenaline she wasn't sure. Perhaps a mixture of all four, or maybe, it was just a heightened state of consciousness only attainable when you came within microseconds of death. The neurons in her mind sparked and fired, each one individual and distinct, like gunshots in the dark. She could feel the pain, the anger, and the sorrow as it travelled from synapse to synapse. Her brain was a battlefield, each impulse warring for control of her actions.

Then the moment was gone, lost between two rapid beats of her laboured heart. And with its disappearance and fresh wave of resolve, Liara knew that anger had won.

"You will...not...touch...her...ever...again!" Her voice cut above the crescendo of sound that surrounded their bubble, ringing out clear and pure. Like an avenging angel, Liara smashed into the Shadow Broker. She could barely make out what was happening as they tumbled over and over, but that didn't stop her bringing her fist back again and again, smashing it into anything that shone silver. The world spun in a blur of chrome, gunmetal grey and brilliant blue light.

With a crash that was lost in the din from outside, the whirling mass of limbs collided with the far wall. Liara was thrown clear of her opponent, and for a few moments, experienced a dizzying sensation of weightlessness as she spun through the air, unsure of which way was up or down. Then, she hit the floor with enough force to knock the wind right out of her chest. Her lungs ached at the sudden lack of oxygen and she struggled to gulp down large mouthfuls of air. She had to get back in the fight quickly. If she could just...

Already, the deck rang with the sound of footfalls. Overhead, the Shadow Broker loomed like an angel of death, already recovered from their breakneck tumble. Liara took some small comfort in the visible damage she'd inflicted on him. His carapace bore many dents and in a few places, exposed circuitry and a white paste similar to the geth's 'blood' could be see leaking out through cracks in his once indestructible shell. He still carried himself with immaculate clarity of movement, but the slight stiffness in one of his legs also spoke of some internal damage.

"Not bad, T'Soni." He said, voice just as calm as before. Unlike her, his injuries didn't carry over to the way he spoke. "You're quite the fighter. Of course, it proves nothing. This is but a shadow of my true self and possesses limited power."

Liara tried to rise, but her arms were still too weak to support her weight. She winced as multiple lacerations she'd been numb to before made themselves known and a deep throbbing on the back of her head also reminded her of the near-mortal injury she'd sustained. She could see her blood on the Shadow Broker's ruffled clothing; whether from her cuts or from her fist as she'd struck, she wasn't sure.

Before she could summon the strength to stand, her enemy's hands were at her throat. Hefting her effortlessly, the Shadow Broker took a moment to watch her spasmodic motions before flinging her back the way they'd come. For the second time in as many minutes, Liara found herself airborne. This time her fall was broken by the pedestal where Lucy was chained and she collapsed in a heap at its base, crying out as the impact jolted her already battered frame.

"You're a smart girl. You must have known there was only one way this could have ended." The synthetic seemed to be in no hurry as he casually sauntered over. He knew the fight was leaving her system. "In a way, this works out perfectly. I've killed your image in front of our friend here many, many times, but I think it will have a little more impact if she knows it's the real you. If she knows that out there, you'll be nothing more than a brain-dead sack of flesh."

Liara clawed at the deck, willing herself to go on, but she knew it was futile. Her eyes were drawn upwards to Lucy's limp form, suspended like a grotesque puppet. This close, she could see the true extent of the injuries inflicted on her beloved Spectre. Lucy was naked, but she wore an outfit of scars that hid her radiant skin from view. Instead, it had been beaten into sickly shades of purple, blue and green. Cuts adorned almost every inch of her body and Liara was horrified to see that her lower legs were in fact missing an outer layer of flesh altogether.

It's a dream...a dream, it's not real. Goddess, it can't be real!

That may be true, but she still felt every wound and there was no doubt it was the same for Lucy. Pain itself was a fabrication of the mind...did it really matter whether the cause was real or imaginary?

More footfalls, behind her this time. Liara didn't turn. If this really was to be her last moment, she wanted to die with Lucy, not staring into the eyes of some sadistic monster. Even with the disfigurations, the lacerations, and the twisted, broken bones, her soul mate was beautiful. It was something their torturer could never take away, because no matter how hard he tried, he could only mar Lucy's physical form...and her beauty ran much, much deeper than that.

"Time to perish, Liara T'Soni." The Shadow Broker's blood-soaked hand grasped her head, sharpened points digging into her flesh. They burned red hot from the recent discharge of energy, and he made no effort to avoid the bleeding stumps where her crests had been. Liara managed to avoid any sounds of pain; she wouldn't give him the satisfaction.

Dragging her up, the synthetic flipped her around to face him. Liara tried to resist, but she might as well have tried to move the Citadel. His strength was undiminished, despite the damage.

"You see, asari. Even the strongest you have to offer is not enough." The Shadow Broker readied his blade for the finishing blow. In her final moments, Liara searched his eyes, looking for anything to indicate there was a way out. She found nothing. There was no remorse in those eyes, no pity. He could not be bargained or reasoned with.

This is it then...

Liara didn't cry. Or maybe she'd been crying the whole time. What did it matter now?

She'd failed.

Lucy...I'm so sorry. Oh Goddess, my love, I'm so, so sorry...I wasn't strong enough to save you.

"Your quest, like your galaxy, was doomed to begin with. This is a dream world Dr. T'Soni, and in here, I have complete control." He drew back his arm. At least it would be over quickly; he was nothing if not efficient.

"Wrong."

The voice was weak, barely more than a whisper. It sounded like its owner hadn't spoken in years.

"My head..." Lucy's body shook with the effort of forcing words from a shattered ribcage and punctured lungs. "...my...rules."

A dazzling explosion of light filled the Normandy. Unlike the hateful mockery of colour that cascaded outside, it shone bright and pure, casting long shadows from every fragment of rubble and every twisted section of hull. It was enough to make the Shadow Broker pause as he assimilated the new information.

Squinting, Liara could see something solidifying in her right hand. The brilliant white radiance was coalescing into something solid. She could feel its weight and warmth against her palm. The sensation brought a smile to her face, an incongruous expression of hope amidst the carnage. Fear was driven from her heart, and hope rushed in to fill the void; for she could tell what this meant.

Lucy's subconscious was fighting back.

"Enough tricks." The Shadow Broker turned back to his prey, only to find that in the second he'd been distracted, she'd grown a new set of claws.

Screaming a hoarse cry, Liara hefted the radiant, shining spear and with every ounce of rage, hope and strength she could muster, plunged it into the Shadow Broker's chest.

Metal warped, buckled, and finally snapped under the weapon's impact. Liara's whole body shook and she nearly blacked out from the effort it took to drive the tip all the way through. Faintness clouded her mind, and for a few seconds, her vision condensed to a single tunnel, focused on the point of impact. She kept driving, utterly indifferent to her near-fatal level of exhaustion. If it killed her, then so be it; justice would have been done, and her Lucy would be safe.

Just before the terminus, beyond which blackness would have claimed her, Liara's efforts were rewarded. The Shadow Broker staggered back, pulling the spear from her hands as he did. It had impaled him right through the heart, or at least, where his heart would have been. Inorganic sounds of pain and anger filled the confined space.

"This changes nothing." He spat, locking gazes with Liara in his final moments. All efforts to emulate organic speech had been discarded. His true voice was deep and rumbling; resonating through the floor, ceiling, and every wall with all the subtlety and anger of an avalanche. It truly was the sound of nightmares. "I am the vanguard of your destruction. You may attempt to resist, but you will fail. The Harvest will come. It is inevita-"

With a force that sent shockwaves rippling through the air, the shaft of light detonated, splitting into a million phosphorescent pieces and tearing the Shadow Broker apart. Every trace of his loathsome presence was burned away by the cleansing white fire until, when the spectacular display had subsided, only dust and echoes remained.

Liara just lay there, struggling to breathe and bring herself back from the brink. She'd been so close to failing and yet, by an almost literal miracle, she'd managed to prevail. Right now, she was just glad she still had her sanity.

*"Goddess..." She murmured, more to reassure herself than anything else. "He's gone...he's really gone."

She could feel the anger and adrenaline leaving her system, coiling itself up deep inside like a slumbering serpent. It was not extinguished, not truly; the focus of her hatred still existed outside, in the physical world. For now at least though, it was tucked away again, in a place where it could harm no one.

So much the better. Liara thought. The fury had given her strength, but it had also warped her to a point where she'd barely recognised herself anymore. If she never went through such an ordeal again, it would still be a lifetime too soon.

"Li...Lia-ra?" Lucy groaned from behind her. "Is that you? I-I can't see."

Shepard!

Liara dragged her weary body to its feet, ignoring the pain that shot through her as she did. Now was not a time to think of herself.

"Yes...yes Lucy, it's me." She hurried up the steps of the plinth, and was about to embrace her beloved Spectre when she forced herself to stop. Lucy was absolutely covered in injuries, and no doubt any touch to her body would cause immense pain. Instead, she got as close as she dared, and continued.

"He's gone now. We did it...you did it. He can't hurt you anymore."

Liara had to fight back tears. Seeing the strong woman like this, so broken and abused; it was beyond horrific.

"I-It's okay my love." She continued. "This is not real. None of this is real. It's all in your head; a dream, that's all it is."

"It...hurts." Lucy whispered, skinless legs twitching as she tried to find purchase on a floor slick with her own blood. "A-All of me...it hurts."

"I know." Liara choked on the words. "But it won't anymore. You're free Lucy."

Leaning in, she gingerly pressed her lips to Shepard's, careful to avoid any undue pressure. Through the contact, she established the link that was needed to bring them both back to the waking world. Lucy responded, weakly but definitively, moving just enough to show that she was still aware of what was happening.

"Time to go home my love."