Chapter 11

Kaidan lingered outside the apartment's platinum door. His boots squeaked on the marble floor as he pivoted looking around the tall glass walls. The sun, just a bright glow in the haze, was more on the ocean than mountain side now. Vid chatting with his team in Tokyo, debriefs and material review, had used up most of the day. He checked the time on his Omni-Tool and glanced back at the elevator. He'd gotten this far. His eyes strayed to the gray water of the bay. It looked like it might rain.

A mechanical hiss. Kaidan reeled around. The door slid open. His muscles uncoiled and his hand dropped away from his belt. Tearing out your pistol probably wasn't the best instinct to foster in civilian life, at least for an opening door, even if unexpected.

"Oh, hey," Kaidan said. "I was about to ring."

Liara pursed her lips but didn't dispute it. He wasn't fooling anyone. She was the Shadow Broker. She'd probably know the minute his foot touched down from the skycar. She'd probably been waiting for him to ring with mounting impatience as he just stood here.

"Well, eventually," Kaidan amended.

Liara stepped back from the door and let him pass. Her apartment was the same. Same wide, open space with that faint lavender smell to it. Gray clouds rolled past the balcony on the other side of the glass walls. No assistant dithered in the corner this time. It was silent.

"How has everything been?" she asked coming around him from behind.

He looked away from the clouds. "Still nailing down information on the potential Summit attack. Or trying to."

"Terra Firma?" Liara asked.

Kaidan nodded.

"Just a potential attack?" she repeated. "I thought it was a known plot."

"It's known, but it hasn't happened yet. Just a potential attack."

Liara wandered to her left into a dark room lit by monitors. Kaidan hesitated before follow her in. The room was set up much like she'd had on the Normandy with wide screens covering the wall and multiple terminals.

"You miss Glyph?" he asked.

The minute he said it, he felt stupid. He knew she missed him.

"Yes," Liara said simply.

Kaidan came up beside her, and she brought up a holoscreen.

"Here," she said. "This is what I wanted you to see."

Kaidan's eyes skimmed over it. "An expense reports?"

"My source believes it's associated with the Terra Firma attack," she said then corrected. "Potential attack."

Kaidan gave her a small smile then turned back to the report.

"What are the highlights?"

"Construction materials. A lot of it. Marble, blue quartz. Some of the materials are used when working with eezo."

Kaidan touched his jaw and stood back. "Can you send them to me?"

"Of course. Here." She handed him a chip.

He palmed it then plugged it into his Omni-Tool.

"New Omni-Tool?" she asked.

"Uh, yeah. Had a nice shopping venture first day back."

"Not everything you had before though?"

He shrugged. "Take some mods and adjustments then eventually. Wish I'd saved more on back up."

Liara watched him passively with a blank face.

"Hey," he said. "I used the code you gave me. It worked. Perfectly even. I extracted a lot of useful data from those messages. Only big break we've had so far."

"Then," she gave him a flat smile, "you're welcome."

She twisted away and strode to the central terminal. Kaidan's chest tightened watching her rigidly click through the window screens. He glanced back at the door and gazed around the room in thought for a moment. Finally, he moved up beside her and turned his back to the screens to face her.

"Liara. I'm sorry I got upset with you."

Liara looked up but didn't say anything.

"I know you were just trying to help me," he said.

Liara tapped off the screen and turned to him with a tight face.

"You know it was more than that, Kaidan."

Kaidan took a deep breath and dropped his eyes. "I know."

Liara didn't say anything, but he could feel her eyes on him. He looked up sharply.

"I have dreams. I think they're your memories."

"Resonance," Liara said. "I'm having it too."

"Then this is normal?"

"I know of it, but it's uncommon."

Kaidan crossed his arms and focused on the floor for a few breaths.

"Is something wrong then?" he asked finally.

"No," Liara frowned. "It's just uncommon. The depth needed to touch the subconscious and cause a resonance is rare. Most … encounters are too guarded."

"But it will go away?"

"Eventually, it should fade."

"Fade? Fade away, right? Not just fade." Kaidan kept his voice even, but Liara's eyes widened at the tone.

"From everything I've heard—"

"You don't know?" he asked.

"No," Liara snapped. "I don't. This hasn't happened to me before either, Kaidan. I've only shared memories with Shepard, with my mother. Nothing like this."

Kaidan's brows drew together. His lips parted, but he wasn't sure what to say. Liara pulled her eyes away and passed around him. He caught her arm.

"Liara …"

She turned her head but didn't meet his eyes. "It will go away eventually. You're fine."

He dipped his head to catch her eye.

"Hey. I'm sorry. I didn't know."

Her eyes rose to his. The wall of monitors cast soft light onto the side of her face as she studied him. Blood rushed in his ears. She stepped closer.

"Kaidan—"

The door buzzed. Liara's head snapped toward the entryway. She turned back and touched Kaidan's shoulder. Her hand slipped down his arm, and she gave a squeeze before turning and leaving the room. As her shadow left the doorway, Kaidan released a long breath and covered the lower part of his face with both hands. His breath warmed his face as he paced slowly back and forth in the room. He wasn't sure who he was anymore. His eyes stopped on a screen. He dropped his hands and moved in closer. It was the Summit's unofficial agenda with times, presenters, awards, and topics of discussion. "Council Summit" read across the top. Kaidan's breath slowed as the words burned his vision.

"Went on about the s-summit, stuttered with the name. Wrong time, wrong place."

S-Summit wasn't a stutter. S. Summit for Spider Summit. He stumbled back and spun to the door. His steps slowed through the doorway.

"Javik?"

Javik stood in the apartment's entryway with Liara. He regarded Kaidan with twisted lips.

"Oh. It's you."

"You remember Kaidan." Liara motioned to him.

Javik turned his back to Kaidan and faced Liara. "You have made me late, Liara T'Soni. Even in my cycle such behavior was rude."

"We're not late," Liara huffed. "I told you three to three thirty."

"And it is three o'clock now."

Kaidan checked his Omni-Tool. An alert blinked on his calendar. He'd almost forgotten. Liara released a long breath and looked past Javik at Kaidan.

"You're coming?" she asked.

He nodded. "Yeah, of course."

"Then we can all go together. Javik, you're ready?"

"Yes," Javik hissed and punched the open button on the apartment door.

"Let's go," Liara said.